“Wow!” Kate managed to say after a few moments of speechlessness. “He’s like... wow! I could go to jail for even thinking what I’m thinking.”
“Kate!” Helen exclaimed, throwing a balled-up napkin at her. “I thought you were a feminist!”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Aren’t you always preaching that there can be no equality if the sexes objectify each other?”
“Yeah, but damn!” Kate said, fanning herself with her hand. “When I was your age all of the guys were trying to prove how antiestablishment they were by out-uglying each other. I so got robbed!”
“Keep on going and I’ll tell my dad he’s got competition,” Helen teased, but the joke didn’t have the effect she thought it would. The laughter went right out of Kate’s eyes and the smile melted off her face.
“I don’t think it would make any difference to him,” she said, and then abruptly changed the subject. “But we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you and Lucas and the importance of condoms.”
After several rounds of denial, and a few breaks to help customers, Kate finally accepted the fact that Helen was still as pure as the driven snow.
“Is he gay?” Kate asked. “I mean, look at you, Len.”
“I haven’t asked, but I’m pretty sure he’s straight,” Helen replied, and then she sighed. “I honestly don’t know what’s going on.”
“No reason to rush, and don’t let anyone make you feel bad if you want to wait, either. It’s more fun if you take your time, anyway,” Kate said with a warm smile, changing the subject at the first sign of Helen’s discomfort.
Although Kate seemed convinced that eventually she and Lucas would go beyond virginal hand-holding, Helen suddenly wasn’t so sure. The one time she had tried to kiss Lucas he had told her to go to sleep. Despite what everyone was saying about them, the truth was that she and Lucas were no more than friends. Lucas could have anyone he wanted, and if Kate’s response was any indication, that included women long out of high school.
Knowing that didn’t do anything to help Helen’s confidence. She could tell that Lucas liked her—she’d caught him staring at her and she’d heard his heart pound when she lay down next to him—but for some reason Lucas didn’t seem to want to do anything about it. Was that the way dating always was in the beginning, or was she unintentionally doing something to push Lucas away? She’d never had a boyfriend, and she honestly didn’t know what “normal” was.
After work, she went home and forced herself to do all of her school assignments before bed. By the time she switched out the light it was well past two. Helen was beyond tired, but she still couldn’t fall asleep. She felt like she was missing something, or maybe misunderstanding something. Lucas obviously liked her company and felt protective of her, but neither of those things meant that he was attracted to her. Maybe she wasn’t his type. Maybe he even had a girlfriend back in Spain. Helen imagined a dark siren with long black curls, olive skin, and a sexy Spanish accent waiting for Lucas to come back to Europe.
She flopped over in bed and put a pillow over her head, vowing not to be the pathetic loser who chases after a boy she can never have. She needed more information about Lucas, but since he was new in school, and no one knew his previous history with girls, Helen was going to have to see what she could get out of Ariadne and hope she didn’t come off as too obvious.
Chapter Nine
Keep sticking your chin out like that and I’ll knock it off for you,” Hector yelled. He’d been doing a lot of yelling over the past hour and a half.
Helen obediently tucked in her chin and lifted her fists up to guard her face. She kept her center of gravity low and moved her feet in sweeping crescents in case there were obstacles on the ground that she would need to brush out of the way. She circled Hector, watching his hips in case he shot in to take her to the mat. She did everything he’d told her to. Then Hector smirked and punched her in the face. She fell on her butt for the tenth time and after a moment looked up at him through her ever-healing eyes.
“That was your left again, huh?” she asked mildly.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he said in a voice that reminded Helen of Mr. Hergeshimer. “You’re faster than me. Why don’t you get out of my way?”
Helen shrugged and stood up, adopting a defensive stance again. Hector immediately punched her in the gut, and she fell to her knees.
“That’s enough, Hector,” shouted Lucas in a tight voice. Helen held up a hand, gesturing to Lucas that it was okay as she stood up. Again.
She wanted Lucas to stay out of this. For some reason, Helen’s first real sparring session had turned personal for Hector, and she wanted him to go all the way to the end of whatever trip he was on so he could get it out of his system. The punishment hurt, but not nearly as badly as her cramps, so she could deal with it. As soon as she was back on her feet, Hector took them out from under her again with a leg sweep.
“Easy!” yelled Jason. “She’s never fought before, you dickhead!”
Helen looked up and saw Jason place a hand on Lucas’s shoulder, stopping him from jumping into the cage. “I’m fine, guys. Nothing to worry about,” she said as cheerfully as she could, getting up yet again. Hector did not appreciate her tone.
“Why won’t you take this seriously?” he shouted at Helen. She bent down to spit out the taste of the blood in her mouth, and Hector reeled back and punched her again in the head.
“Stop it!” screamed Cassandra from someplace beyond Helen’s vision. “She isn’t a natural fighter, okay? When are you going to get that through your thick skull?”
Helen felt terrible—she knew she must be a bloody mess to get someone who didn’t even like her that upset.
By the time Helen had struggled back up to her knees, Cassandra was no longer in the practice room where the Scions kept their punching bags and fight cage. Helen swallowed a mouthful of spit and blood and instantly regretted it when she choked on one of her own teeth.
“May I have some water, please?” she asked Ariadne, who was standing over her with a damp cloth.
