Starcrossed (Starcrossed 1)

?I know, I?m such a big geek it?s gone viral,? Helen replied,

Claire?s teasing instantly forgiven, as usual. ?Aren?t you afraid

you?ll catch a fatal case of loser from me??

?Nope. I?m so awesome I?m immune. Anyway, geeks are the best.

You?re all so deliciously corruptible. And I love the way you blush

whenever I talk about underpants.?

Claire was forced to adjust her stance as a couple of picturetakers

barged in close to them. Working with the momentum of the

deck, Claire nudged the tourists out of the way with one of her

10/395

ninja balance moves. They stumbled aside, laughing about the

?choppy water,? clueless that Claire had even touched them. Helen

fiddled with the heart necklace she always wore and took the opportunity

to slouch down against the railing to better meet her

friend?s small stature.

Unfortunately for achingly shy Helen, she was an eye-grabbing

five feet nine inches ta

ll, and still growing. She?d prayed to Jesus,

the Buddha, Muhammad, and Vishnu to make it stop, but she still

felt the hot splinters in her limbs and the seizing muscles of another

growth spurt at night. She promised herself that at least if she

topped six feet she?d be tall enough to scale the safety railing and

throw herself off the top of the lighthouse in Siasconset.

Salespeople were always telling her how lucky she was, but not

even they could find her pants that fit. Helen had resigned herself

to the fact that in order to buy affordable jeans that were long

enough she had to go a few sizes too big, but if she didn?t want

them to fall off her hips, she had to put up with a mild breeze flapping

around her ankles. Helen was pretty sure that the ?wicked

jealous? salesgirls didn?t walk around with chilly ankles. Or with