?What?s going on?? he asked, angry and frustrated and frightened
all at the same time.
Helen didn?t have an answer for him.
?Will you at least tell me what I did wrong??
?I already told you, you didn?t do anything,? Helen said to her
lap.
?Then why are you treating me like this? Look at me,? he
pleaded, taking her hand. She stared at their linked hands like it
was the first time she had ever seen anything like it.
?What the hell is this?? she asked. She pulled her hand out of his
with disgust. ?You know what? I take it back. You did do
something to me. You led me on.?
Luke?s whole face crumpled. Helen had had no reason to hope
after what she had heard the night before, but for some reason
there was a tiny spark still glowing in her that maybe, somehow,
she had misunderstood. Or that he would change his mind. It went
out completely when Lucas nodded.
?I led you on,? he said, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his
fists so hard Helen thought for a moment he was going to rip the
steering wheel off. His voice was harsh, almost a snarl. ?You and I
can?t be together, so just get it out of your head and move on.?
Helen unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the car.
?Wait, please,? he started to say, almost as if he was in pain, but
Helen slammed her door shut and cut him off.
?Wait for what? For you to tell me that I?m a really nice girl but
you?d never touch me? Thanks, I got that part already. Now open
the back so I can get my bike,? she bit out. Her voice was foreign to
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her, so bitter and loaded with sarcasm that it sounded like
someone else?s.