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“I know that! God, you sound just like Jason,” Claire responded, her entire being melting a bit as she said his name. She pulled into her parking spot in the school lot, shut off her car, and turned to Helen with a sigh. “I am so in love.”
“Apparently!” Helen grinned. She knew she wasn’t Jason’s favorite person anymore, but regardless of how he’d been treating Helen, she could see that Claire needed her support in this. “Jason really is a great guy, Gig. I’m so happy for you two.”
“But he’s not Japanese,” she said, her face falling. “How am I supposed to bring him home to my parents?”
“Maybe they won’t mind so much,” Helen said with a shrug. “Hey, they got used to me, right?”
Claire gave her a dubious look, held out her hand palm down, and tipped it left and right as if to say “fifty-fifty.”
“Really?” Helen exclaimed. She couldn’t believe it. “We’ve been friends our entire freaking lives and your parents still don’t like me?”
“My mom loves you! But, Lennie, you have to understand, you’re really tall and you smile a lot. That’s kind of not cool with Grandma.”
“I can’t believe it,?
?? Helen muttered crankily as she got out of the car and headed across the parking lot. “I’ve spent more time with that old bat . . .”
“She’s traditional!” Claire said in defense.
“She’s racist!” Helen countered, and Claire backed off because she knew Helen was sort of right. “Jason is perfect for you, Gig. Don’t you dare let the fact that he isn’t Japanese ruin this! That guy was willing to die for you.”
“I know,” Claire said, her voice getting hoarse with emotion. She stopped dead, even though everyone else was rushing into school to avoid being late. Helen stopped with her, moved by Claire’s rare show of vulnerability. “I was so scared down there, Len. So lost and thirsty, you know? And then . . . there he was. I still can’t believe he actually came to get me in that horrible place.”
Helen waited for Claire to calm down. The rawness of the emotions surrounding Claire’s near-death experience reminded Helen of how awful the Underworld actually was. Orion had changed the Underworld so drastically for her that she didn’t consider it punishment to be down there anymore. As long as she was with him, she could almost enjoy it.
“But I don’t love him just because he saved me,” Claire continued, breaking Helen out of her thoughts about Orion. “Jason is one of the best people I’ve ever met. I would admire him regardless.”
“Then forget what your grandmother thinks,” Helen said with a firm nod.
“Ugh, I wish I could! But the old boot never shuts up,” Claire groaned as she tugged on the door and walked in with Helen, both of them laughing again. Helen had forgotten how great it felt to just goof off with Claire. She began her day in high spirits.
The rest of the morning, however, was like a slow dive into a state of exhaustion. Helen had to keep shaking herself awake, and several times her teachers reprimanded her for nearly dozing off. Somehow she managed to stumble through the morning and met back up with Claire at lunch.
Sitting at their usual table, Helen saw Matt on the other side of the cafeteria and signaled for him to join them. As he made his way over, Claire elbowed Helen and pointed out all the girls staring and whispering as Matt passed.
He had a cut on his lip and scrapes on his knuckles that were obviously from fighting. His shirt, which had been a bit too loose a month ago, looked a little tight now. Through the slightly strained material it was easy to see that his chest and shoulder muscles were positively shredded. He’d lost the baby fat in his face, making him look more chiseled and grown-up; he even walked different, like he was ready for anything.
“Oh my God,” Claire said with a look of disbelief on her face. “Lennie, is Matt a stud?”
Helen nearly snarfed her sandwich and had to hastily swallow her bite to answer. “Right? Matt’s, like, a total babe all of a sudden!”
Claire and Helen paused, looked at each other, and said, “EEEWWW!” at exactly the same time before bursting out laughing.
“What is it?” Matt asked when he got to the table, giving them both weird looks. He pointed to Helen’s sandwich and took a guess. “Cucumber and vegemite?”
“No, ding-dong, it’s not the sandwich,” Claire said, wiping her eyes and still winding down from the laugh. “It’s you! You’re officially a hottie now!”
“Oh, shut it,” he said as a blush instantly colored his face and neck. His eyes darted over to where Ariadne had stopped to chat with another classmate, and then quickly looked away.
“You should make a move,” Helen said in a low voice to Matt while Claire was busy waving Ariadne over.
“And get shot down?” he replied sadly, and shook his head. “Hell no.”
“You don’t know—” Helen began, but Matt cut her off firmly.
“Yeah, I do.”
When Ariadne joined them, Helen had no choice but to let it go, but she honestly couldn’t see what Matt’s problem was. She knew for a fact that Ariadne cared about him, and maybe all Matt needed to do was take a chance and just kiss her, like Jason had with Claire. Again Helen was reminded of Orion and the memory of how his lips felt.
