Starcrossed

normals could hear it. But Helen could.
    All of a sudden she felt like she’d had enough intimidation for one day. Goaded on by the Furies, she took a tiny step toward Lucas. She saw him inhale sharply, and understood in a flash that Lucas had probably spent just as much time trying to scrub away her scent after their little tumble in his front yard as she had spent trying to scrub away his. The thought made her so happy she almost laughed.
    “Tell Noel the olive oil she sent was the best I’ve ever tasted,” Helen said with a wicked little smile. She saw Lucas’s eyes snap open a little wider with fear, and she knew she had guessed right. There was something different about his mother. “Anytime she wants to try my bruschetta she’s more than welcome to stop by.”
    Lucas made a move toward Helen, but Jason was suddenly at Helen’s elbow, pushing her gently to the side as he forcibly pulled Lucas to the lockers. Helen took the opportunity to be on her way, but she couldn’t resist one final jab before she left.
    “Tell your aunt I said hi,” Helen breathed through bared teeth as she passed Hector, mimicking his menacing tone perfectly.
    She didn’t stop to wait for a response. As she sauntered down the hall she could feel all three Delos boys staring holes in her back, but it didn’t make her the least bit nervous. She was so pleased with herself that she even forgot to slouch.
    Tuesday wasn’t much better, but at least Helen had stopped trying to alter her schedule to avoid the Delos kids. Instead, they were altering their schedules in order to avoid her . . . so, of course, she was running into them all day long. It seemed like every time she turned down a hallway she bumped into one of them.
    To make matters worse, her friends were starting to get annoyed with her. Claire thought Helen was being a spineless wuss. Matt got all sullen and huffy every time Helen flinched because she and Lucas had made eye contact.
    On Wednesday, the Delos clan changed tactics. First thing in the morning, Helen went to her locker and found Jason waiting for her there, leaning up against the wall like he’d been put there to decorate the place. Jason had the kind of body that was built to lounge, very catlike, as if he was capable of stretching out and taking a nap at any given moment. He was more gracefully built than his cousin or his brother and when he stood next to them he seemed small, but in the same way a panther is small when compared to a lion or a bull. To Helen, seeing him by himself in the relatively empty hallway, he was big. She forced herself to keep walking forward, and when he glanced over at her she noticed that he had the most outrageously long eyelashes she’d ever seen on a boy.
    “Do you have a sec?” he asked in a stiff but polite manner. Helen could see him concentrating, probably trying as hard as she was to block out the Furies.
    “All right,” Helen answered, keeping her eyes on the floor. She could see that the kids with lockers near hers were taking their sweet time getting their stuff together. She really wished they would leave, but no one at Nantucket High would pass up an opportunity for a front row seat at another possible brawl.
    “Some of us think it would be a good idea if we tried to smooth things over,” he said quickly, as if he wanted to get it done with as fast as possible. Helen thought for a moment.
    “Some of you? You mean there hasn’t been any unanimous decision made yet? About me, I mean,” Helen said pointedly.
    “No, sorry,” he said, understanding her meaning immediately. “But we think—well, at least a few of us think that we should at least try to be nicer to each other.”
    “I don’t see how we’re going to be able to do that, do you?” Helen replied, not meaning to sound unfriendly but unable to stop herself. She heard one of the girls loitering nearby tisk at her.
    “We just want to be friends with you. Or if not friends, then at least not enemies. Think it over,” he said, and then left.
    It took Helen three tries to get her lock undone with everyone standing around staring at her. Using all her energy to not attack Jason as he walked away, she had none left over for patience. She wanted to scream at everyone for judging her, but that would never be possible. What would she say? I’m not usually a bitch—I’m just super-grouchy because I’m being stalked by three blood-crying ghosts who won’t let me sleep at night?
    At lunch, she