?I know, I?m such a big geek it?s gone viral,? Helen replied,
Claire?s teasing instantly forgiven, as usual. ?Aren?t you afraid
you?ll catch a fatal case of loser from me??
?Nope. I?m so awesome I?m immune. Anyway, geeks are the best.
You?re all so deliciously corruptible. And I love the way you blush
whenever I talk about underpants.?
Claire was forced to adjust her stance as a couple of picturetakers
barged in close to them. Working with the momentum of the
deck, Claire nudged the tourists out of the way with one of her
10/395
ninja balance moves. They stumbled aside, laughing about the
?choppy water,? clueless that Claire had even touched them. Helen
fiddled with the heart necklace she always wore and took the opportunity
to slouch down against the railing to better meet her
friend?s small stature.
Unfortunately for achingly shy Helen, she was an eye-grabbing
five feet nine inches ta
ll, and still growing. She?d prayed to Jesus,
the Buddha, Muhammad, and Vishnu to make it stop, but she still
felt the hot splinters in her limbs and the seizing muscles of another
growth spurt at night. She promised herself that at least if she
topped six feet she?d be tall enough to scale the safety railing and
throw herself off the top of the lighthouse in Siasconset.
Salespeople were always telling her how lucky she was, but not
even they could find her pants that fit. Helen had resigned herself
to the fact that in order to buy affordable jeans that were long
enough she had to go a few sizes too big, but if she didn?t want
them to fall off her hips, she had to put up with a mild breeze flapping
around her ankles. Helen was pretty sure that the ?wicked
jealous? salesgirls didn?t walk around with chilly ankles. Or with