headache.?
?Why are you the only person in school that isn?t interested in the
Delos family? Aren?t you even curious to
get a look??
?No! And I think it?s pathetic that this entire town is standing
around gawking at them like a bunch of hicks!? Helen shouted.
Claire stopped short and stared at her. It wasn?t like Helen to argue,
let alone start yelling, but she couldn?t seem to stop herself.
?I?m bored to death of the Delos family!? Helen continued, even
when she saw Claire?s surprise. ?I?m sick of this town?s fixation
with them, and I hope I never have to meet, see, or share breathing
space with any of them!?
Helen took off running, leaving Claire standing by herself on the
trail. She finished first, just like she?d promised, but she did it a
little too quickly; Coach Tar gave her a shocked look when she recorded
the run time. Helen blew by her and stormed into the locker
room. She grabbed her stuff and bolted out of school, not bothering
to change or say good-bye to any of her teammates.
On the way home, Helen started crying. She pedaled past the
neat rows of gray shingled-sided houses with their black or white
painted storm shutters and tried to calm down. The sky seemed to
sit particularly low on the scoured land, as if it was pressing down
on the gables of the old whalers and trying to finally flatten them
after a few centuries of stubborn defiance. Helen had no idea why
she?d gotten so angry, or why she?d abandoned her best friend like
that. She needed a little peace and quiet.
There was a car accident on Surfside; some gigantic SUV had
tried to turn onto a narrow, sandbanked side street and turned
over. The drivers were okay, but their beached whale of a car
blocked off traffic from end to end. Annoyed as she was, Helen