Sirens (Theo Raeken) [1]

Chimera

I smile to myself before turning around and heading for my room.

"How was it?" Lydia Martin asks from my couch through the dim light.

I jump back. I squeeze my eyes shut and exhale when I realise who it is. "Okay, firstly, what the hell? How did you get into my house?"

She comes over to me. "Your mom let me in, of course," she says. "Did you guys do anything?"

She links her arm through mine as we walk back outside. "No," I tell her. "But he was really sweet. He took me to an expensive restaurant and opened all the doors for me."

"That's cute," she says, talking in her hushed serious-girl-business voice. "I heard you talking to him outside. Get in there, girl. That's really going to make Theo jealous."

"Jesus Christ, Lydia, I'm not dating him to make Theo jealous. He's a sweet guy."

She sighs. "Just come on, we need to get to Kira's house."

I hop into the front seat, realising I still have his jacket on. "Shit," I mutter. "I forgot to give his jacket back."

Lydia sniffs the air. "That's what it was. I thought I smelled Burberry cologne somewhere." She starts the car up. "That's really cute. I'm glad you've found a guy who isn't so motivated by his own aspirations and that actually cares for you."

I nod absentmindedly. I pull out my phone to text Brett.

Just realised I forgot to give your jacket back sorry I'll give it to you tomorrow

I ask Lydia if the message is alright. "Add an x! Add a freaking x!" she yells at me. So I add an "x" on the end.

We arrive at Kira's house. Everybody is already there, lounging on the couches waiting for us.

Theo turns around. "It's a book club, Arden. You didn't need to dress up." I look down. I guess I do look a little overdressed. I didn't have time to change since Lydia had whisked me out of the house as fast as I had come in.

"She was on a date," Lydia snaps. "You're lucky she's not at home having sex instead of being here."

He looks almost scared of an angry Lydia, and I don't blame him. "Who was it?" Kira asks.

I wait for Lydia to answer. "Go on," Lydia mutters. "We're all waiting."

I look up from my hands clasped in front of me. "Brett," I say. I can feel my cheeks turning a deep red.

"Her boyfriend," Lydia adds, looking right at Theo. Theo shakes his head and turns around, but makes it so subtle that no one notices except for me.

"Did you have fun?" he asks, but there is an underlying malicious tone in his voice.

I drop onto the couch next to him. "Yes," I say. "He was really sweet."

"Great," he says, distracting himself with something on his phone. "I'm happy for you."

My own phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out and check the message from Brett.

I can't wait to see you xx

I can't hold in my gushing. I pass my phone to Lydia and Kira who are sitting across from me. "Look how cute he is," I say.

She reads the message. "He likes you a lot," she decides. Another message comes through and Lydia looks at the phone and then back up at me, an eyebrow raised. "I don't think we were meant to see this," she says hesitantly.

Kira is blushing, her cheeks filling with crimson. "What?" I ask, grinning.

Kira speaks now, an eyebrow raised and her expression worried. "It's sort of, um, a bit private," she says timidly.