Read Online The Secret Life of a Teenage Siren by Wendy Toliver - Free Book Online

spot me. My wrist goes slack and then I freeze, beer spilling on my feet, heart banging hard against my flute.

Seven
    Though Leucosia’s beautiful body was discovered washed up on the shores of Southern Italy, her sisters Pisinoe and Thelxiepia swam to the safety of a nearby island. The ruthless sea had battered Pisinoe’s body, and she knew her days were few.
    â€œHello?” Zach finally says, a strange look on his face.
    The other two are looking me up and down, down and up. Great. They probably see the flute bulge.
    â€œFor
-get
Eva,” Devin says under his breath.
    â€œWho are you?” J.T. asks.

    Why am I so surprised they don’t recognize me? I mean, my own father didn’t recognize me.
    â€œI’m … a talented musician.” Oh God, can I be any lamer?
    Zach’s mouth—the very mouth I was dying to kiss only yesterday—is hanging open as wide as that
Scream
dude’s. “Roxy?”
    I’ve got to get out of here before I completely shatter this whole Siren vibe. Scurrying away in the overgrown grass as fast as possible in my flip-flops, I burst through the back door. I scan the kitchen, but Natalie’s AWOL.
    â€œHave you seen Natalie O’Brien?” I ask no one in particular.
    â€œWho?”
    â€œWho’s she looking for?”
    â€œNatalie O’Brien,” I repeat, louder.
    â€œNever heard of her.”
    I say, “She was the keg mistress only minutes ago.” Everybody stares back cluelessly. “Pretty girl, dark brown flippy hair. Wearing a black sundress …?” Nothing. This must be what it’s like to play charades with a bunch of blind people.
    Oh, God. Don’t make me say it. Please don’t make me do this. Ever so quietly, Iwhisper, “She plays flute … in the band?”
    Someone laughs, and more people join in. “A band geek?”
    â€œThere aren’t any BeeGees here.”
    â€œHell, no!”
    â€œAs if!”
    â€œHey, we just kicked one out. Maybe it was her.”
    Then I catch sight of Natalie, standing by the bay window with … a dude in a short-sleeved plaid shirt, long camo cargo shorts, and Converse high-tops. Alex?
    I can’t believe he’s here. Did he come by himself? I’ve watched enough movies to know he’s asking for trouble. It’s like an unwritten rule that if you’re a) uninvited and b) a
guy,
you may as well duck, ’cause you’re about to get slugged by someone who lifts weights at least three times a week.
    Devin follows my gaze and yells, “What is this? Band practice? Who invited
them?”
    Who turned off the music?
I wonder.
    A girl with a diamond stud in her nose taps me on the shoulder. “Hey, is that the chick you’re looking for?” she asks.
    Natalie shoots me a wide-eyed let’s-get-outta-here look from across the room.
    I take a step toward my friends and thenstop. Zach is standing right beside me, and he’s smiling at me. At
me!
    I feel like I’m in a gigantic taffy machine—being pulled in every possible direction. I’m surrounded by hard biceps, tanned skin, perfect teeth, great butts (one in particular) …
    â€œYou’re at the wrong party, dude,” J.T. yells at Alex. I’m sure Alex heard him, but his expression stays neutral.
    â€œWe already kicked your girlfriend out,” the guy standing right behind me shouts. “But on second thought, she can stay. I hear she gives great—”
    I stomp on the guy’s foot as hard as I can, but he just laughs and slaps J.T. a high-five.
    Natalie’s meticulously made-up eyes tear up, and Alex leads her through a group of gawking partiers. Before I know it, the door bangs, and Natalie and Alex are gone.
    I take a few steps toward the front door, but Darren Smith, Franklin High’s up-and-coming senior class president, gets in my face and professes his undying love for me. His smells of beer and Axe