A Siren's Call

Chapter 1

        "Come on, it'll be fun!" Sunshine begged, tugging on Alex's sleeve as he grabbed his things from his locker and stuffed them in his bag. "The whole gang's going to be there! We're all just getting together for a little fun."

        "As lovely as you make it sound, I'm going to have to pass," sighed Alex for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He slammed the locker door close. "My dad said he'd be coming home early today. You know how rare that is. Not only would he freak out if he found out I was hanging out late with you guys, but he'd also call Mom, and trust me when I say that that is one conversion I do not anticipate having." He was a tall guy with black hair in a Mohawk and black eyeliner around his eyes, silver rings lining his bottom lip. Despite his prince of the undead appearance, he had warm dark eyes and a bright smile on the rare occasions he used it. Outwardly, he seemed distant and cold, but to those who knew him well enough, he was actually a smart guy, and pretty funny, too, when he wanted to be.

        He and Sunshine, of course, were like opposites. Their friends often made jokes about their friendship being the equivalent of if a fairy and a vampire decided to become friends. Where he wore all dark from head to toe, she wore bright colors

        Sunshine was a dark-skinned girl with shoulder-length dark brown curls, blonde and pink highlights mixed in, her brown eyes staring out behind a pair of pink glasses. Half of the time, she wore sparkly makeup and nail polish, three small butterfly tattoos fluttering at the corner of her right eye. Today, she wore what most would describe as a costume—a bright pink jacket with black trimmings, an emerald green crop top, a mid-length pink tulle skirt, neon pink fishnet gloves, a pair of combat boots, and a pink fedora she'd bought in a thrift store. She went by her own weird style, hardly giving a damn about what anyone thought about it, which was part of the reason why the two had clicked so easily back in the third grade.

        "Yeah, yeah, but can't you at least just...swing by for a bit?" she asked. "At least convince your dad to come for a few minutes. You're the responsibly one in the group. You're supposed to be the one who makes sure nobody gets themselves killed, or at the very least, arrested."

        "I think you can survive without me for one night," Alex retorted dryly, grabbing his bag and slinging it over one shoulder.

        Sunshine bit her bottom lip.. "I'm honestly not sure about that," she said frankly, lacing her arm in Alex's so he wouldn't leave her behind with his long legs like he usually ended up doing.

        "Relax," he scoffed, arching an eyebrow in her direction. "You'll all be fine. And if you're that worried...I'll think about it. Maybe."

        Sunshine breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank you!" she exclaimed. "Because while it'll be fun, Rowan might tag along with Randi, and you know I can't stand that guy."

        "Lookie here, another reason has been found," Alex mumbled, though intentionally loud enough for her to hear. She gave him a pointed look, and he shot her one right back. "You're apparently hard of hearing. I said 'maybe', not yes."

        "But you also never said no," said Sunshine. "And I'll take what I can get."

        Alex rolled his eyes. By the time they'd reached the parking lot outside, he momentarily wondered if he'd packed an umbrella. There wasn't a cloud in the blue skies, the sun shining down on everything brightly, but something told him it wouldn't stay that way. He hated that feeling, always nudging him in the back of his mind no matter how hard he tried to silence it.

        "You'll probably have to cancel your plans tonight," he said, his gaze directed above him. Sunshine looked up, but didn't see anything worth her interest.