Ari and Zac

Chapter 19: Sleeping With Sirens

Chapter 19: Sleeping With Sirens

Ari took a deep breath. She didn't want to come off overeager. She left Zac's message unanswered for a moment and responded to Lucy instead.

Ari: Wait. I just got another text.

Lucy: From Zac?

Ari: Yeah. What should I say?

Lucy: ??? Whatever you usually say?

A second text from Zac lit her screen. Ari bounced on the balls of her feet. He definitely liked her. Definitely. Right?

Zac: Hey, are you there?

Ari: Sorry. I was texting my sister.

Zac: So what's up? Are we furthering your musical education tonight?

Ari: I guess so.

Zac: Did you finish your homework?

Ari: You mean the playlist you sent me?

Zac: What did you think? Did you listen to it?

Ari bit her lip. She wished she had spent more than a few minutes flicking through the old video links that he sent her as she was walking home last night. Honestly, she found his whole obsession with the old music kind of baffling...

Ari: I tried.

Zac: And?

Ari: I just don't really get it...

Zac: Really? What about that first one?

Ari: Which one was that?

He answered her with a screenshot of some antique CD album cover. Ari recognized the name of a band from last night's playlist: Sleeping With Sirens. She'd listened to one of their songs, but it had barely made an impression. Certainly not any kind of response that she could articulate.

Ari: Um. What do you like about it, exactly?

Zac: *facepalm*

Ari: Sorry :/

Zac: Whatever. That's cool. This one?

He'd linked to a video this time. Ari recognized the link.

This one she remembered. She'd actually played that song for Lucy last night. She'd crept into her sister's bedroom after she got home from the pier, and the two of them had collapsed into giggles at the sound of the ear-splitting racket.

Ari: OK, that one I actively detested.

Zac: NOOOO. That's Pierce the Veil! The Sky Under the Sea!

Ari: Zac, it's horrible.

Zac: That's one of my favorite bands of all time!

Ari: I don't get it. I really don't.

Zac: Did you listen to the words?

Ari scrunched her face to one side. Maybe she should have tried harder. She honestly thought he was pulling her leg with that song. The idea that anyone could prefer that horrible noise to the soothing, spine-tingly feeling induced by SirenSong? It made no sense.

Ari: Were there words? It just sounded like a bunch of yelling.

Zac: It's supposed to be noisy.

Ari: Why?

Zac: Just listen to it again. That song makes me think of you.

Ari: That's not a compliment.