Chapter Five
The next week at school was nothing short of torture. On Monday, Helen tried to stay away from the Delos family, but every effort she made to avoid contact seemed to lead her right to them. She went to school early to try to beat them there, only to see them pull up behind her in the black Hum-Scalade she had seen at the market. She rushed to lock up her bike and get her bags together, but her rush only put her in stride with Jason and Hector. Slowing down to let them get ahead of her put her next to Lucas, who was helping his little sister get her cello out of the back. Helen took a flustered step forward, then went back toward her bike to stand and wait there as long as it took for them to go inside and get out of her way.
Later that day, she got permission to eat lunch outside, only to find Cassandra was already out on the patio practicing the fingering without using her bow on her cello. When she saw Cassandra, Helen pulled up short. As she turned to go back inside, she smacked into Ariadne. The contact made Helen’s skin prickle so tight that her pores hurt, and although she tried to be gracious and smile apologetically, Ariadne’s hands balled into fists around her violin case. Helen stumbled to get away from her, both of them mumbling apologies.
“Cass and I got an outdoor pass to practice. We’ll be out here during lunch for the next few days,” Ariadne explained quickly, avoiding eye contact as she moved away from Helen.
“Thank you,” Helen managed to push out between her clenched teeth. She went back to the cafeteria to intercept Claire.
“Aren’t we going to eat outside?” Claire asked, still moving toward the exit. She spotted Ariadne and Cassandra out there and then turned back to Helen with an incredulous look on her face. “Seriously? It’s not like we have to sit at the same table as them.”
“I know. I just don’t want to be anywhere near them,” Helen said defensively as she fiddled with the clasp on her lunch box. Claire rolled her eyes.
“Hey,” Matt said, catching up to them. “I thought we were going out on the patio. There’re still plenty of tables...” His voice trailed off when he saw the Delos girls. Matt had just enough willpower to stifle a whistle at Ariadne’s glorious cleavage—pretty impressive since Ariadne was wearing a tank top and bending over at that particular moment. Helen knew she was ruining Matt’s eye candy and Claire’s sunshine, but she just couldn’t eat outside.
“You guys go out. It’s fine,” Helen said as she abruptly left them and headed toward the cafeteria.
“Lennie! What the hell?” Claire called after her in frustration. “Could you please get your head out of your ass?”
Claire’s voice carried right around the corner with Helen. The wordassseemed to echo in the air as she found herself facing Hector and Jason at their lockers. They were talking with Gretchen and Amy Heart, a senior girl on the cheerleading squad, both of whom were flirting their brains out. Gretchen and Amy looked at each other and then turned in unison to stare at Helen as though she was something they had just found in a hankie. The Furies started to whisper. Helen took a deep breath and tried to block them out.
“Hi, Helen,” Hector said with a bright voice and eerily blank eyes. His body leaned ever so slightly forward in her direction, as if he couldn’t stop himself from trying to reach out and grab her. Jason playfully smacked his brother on the chest with far more force than normal people like Amy and Gretchen could guess at.
“Rude?” Jason reminded Hector.
“Just saying hi to Helen. Hi, Helen. Helen Hamilton, hi. Get out to ’Sconset lately?” he jeered.
“No, she hasn’t,” Lucas said from behind her. Helen spun around and glared at him. “And I would know,” he said so quietly there was no way 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.
