Starcrossed

laughing mockingly at Helen. It took Helen far too long to recover, and by the time she got herself oriented, everyone in the cafeteria was staring at her. She retreated to her usual table with Matt and Claire, sure she could feel a cramp coming on.
    “Would you please just stand up straight!” Claire barked at her. “There’s nothing more pathetic than watching you try to dissolve feetfirst into the frigging floor, and I swear if I catch you doing it one more time I’m going to lose it.”
    It was the last straw. Helen spun around on her heel and fled the cafeteria. She tried to eat her lunch in the restroom, sitting on a sink, but the venue was so unappetizing that she gave up on her sandwich after a few bites.
    She made it through her last three classes and practically ran to the girls’ locker room when the final bell rang, but Claire was already there waiting for her.
    “Sorry I yelled at you earlier,” she said bashfully. She looked so cute when she was apologizing that Helen couldn’t even pick up a grudge, let alone carry one.
    “Oh, forget it. I’ve been a flake, and I’d be angry, too, if I were you.” Helen threw an arm over Claire’s shoulder and led her outside after they changed.
    “One thing, and then I’m going to leave you alone about it until you come to me to talk,” Claire said as they walked past the football field. Helen didn’t have the patience for any more questions.
    “We’ve never even kissed, Gig,” she said, cutting Claire off.
    “Really?” Claire practically shouted. Helen nodded and bumped Claire playfully with her hip.
    “Really, really. I almost kissed him once, but he told me to lie down and go to sleep.”
    “No way !” Claire shouted. Helen grabbed her, clamping a hand over her mouth.
    “He’s right over there,” she said, gesturing toward him with her chin. “I told you I’d tell you if anything happened. I’m not trying to keep secrets from you.”
    Claire gave Helen a knowing smile.
    “You’ve always kept secrets. But it’s okay. When you’re ready to tell me you will,” she said patiently. Then she tackled Helen, trying to wrestle her to the ground. Helen went along with it, pretending to be overpowered by her pint-sized pal, both of them laughing hysterically. The fun only lasted a moment.
    “Get a room,” said a boy’s amused voice.
    “You wish,” Claire answered back. “Wait. How’d you get over here so fast?”
    Helen rolled over onto her back, blew her tangled hair out of her face, and saw Lucas and Jason standing over them.
    “We saw you go down so we ran over to check it out,” Lucas said, ignoring Claire’s question.
    “Thanks. She is pretty ferocious,” Helen replied, allowing Claire to flip her over one more time before Lucas helped her up.
    “Five feet and two inches of pure terror,” Claire boasted as she held out her hand, expecting Jason to help her. He folded his arms across his chest deliberately.
    “Is that how tall you are without those ridiculous shoes?” he said derisively. “I think I was born bigger than that.”
    “I bet you were. Five feet of fat head and two inches of ass,” Claire muttered, standing up.
    “Claire!” Helen blurted out, shocked. Lucas’s shoulders were shaking with laughter. Jason pretended to take the joke okay, but Helen suspected his feelings were hurt.
    Helen bit back her own laughter and gave Claire a little pinch as punishment. Claire yelped in protest, pointing out that monkey bites had been off-limits since they were ten, and was about to say something else to Jason when the Delos boys were called back to practice by their coach.
    Helen watched as Lucas jogged back to the football field. Running in the sun, he was about the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.
    “Crap. We’re late,” Claire said, and they picked up their pace to catch up with their teammates, having to run up to the trailhead where Coach Tar was waiting with her clipboard. She was already shouting out start times, so Helen and Claire just kept running, calling back to their coach as they crossed over the line. Coach scribbled their times down, shaking her head.
    “You owe me a full minute off your last run for being late, Hamilton!” she shouted after them.
    “Sure, Coach!” Helen shouted back before she lowered her voice to berate Claire privately. “Why’d you say that to him?” she asked, still feeling bad for Jason.
    “Because it felt fantastic!” Claire replied unapologetically.
    “I