That’s why the girl looked familiar. Gemma had only met her briefly last week while helping Harper move into her dorm. Liv had been friendly, but Gemma had had too many other things on her mind to really register her.
Besides that, Liv’s appearance had changed. She hadn’t been unattractive exactly, but she had been rather plain. Now her face was brighter, her hair glossier, and there was a general sultriness to her that hadn’t been there before.
The changes were subtle, but they were unmistakable to Gemma. Liv still maintained some of her doe-eyed naïveté, and Gemma was a little surprised that she hadn’t recognized Liv sooner because of that.
“Why? Why would she drop out?” Gemma asked Penn, without acknowledging Liv yet. “How do you even know each other?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Penn asked, smiling wide. “She’s your new sister.”
Gemma sighed. “Yeah, I figured that.”
“Don’t look so disappointed,” Liv said cheerily. “I’m lots of fun, I promise.”
“She sure is,” Thea said, sarcasm dripping from her husky voice.
Penn cast an annoyed glare at Thea but turned back to Gemma with an overly optimistic smile. “Gemma. Must you always be a Debbie Downer? I mean, come on! This is a good thing. If we hadn’t turned Liv, we’d all be dead in two weeks. Liv just saved your life! You should be thanking her.”
That was true. And while Gemma hated to admit that she felt mildly relieved, she also felt tremendous guilt. Liv was now wrapped up in this horrible mess, too, and if Gemma had broken the damn curse already, nobody else would’ve had to get hurt.
“You never thanked me for saving your life,” Gemma said.
“That’s because you were a total bitch about the whole thing,” Penn reminded her. “Liv wanted this.”
“You did?” Gemma asked, speaking to Liv for the first time.
“You didn’t?” Liv sounded flabbergasted. “This is amazing, Gemma! This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me!”
Gemma held up her hand to silence Liv’s exuberance and glanced back at the house, but no lights had gone on, so they were probably safe.
“Oops, sorry,” Liv said. “I forgot about your dad.”
“See?” Penn pointed to Liv. “That’s the kind of response you should’ve had.”
“Sorry I wasn’t doing jumping jacks like Little Miss Sunshine over there.” Gemma motioned to Liv.
“Apology accepted,” Penn replied.
“So, why are you guys here so late?” Gemma asked.
“We were going to go for a swim, and I thought it would be a great time for you to meet Liv since she’s moving here now,” Penn explained. “Plus, you’re going to have to help show her the ropes.”
“The ropes?” Gemma shook her head. “I barely know them. How am I supposed to show her anything?”
“Penn just means that she wants help babysitting,” Thea said dryly.
“I don’t need a babysitter,” Liv interjected with what Gemma thought was a bitter undercurrent. “You guys already showed me everything this past weekend. I’m good. I’m ready.”
“She might be a tad overzealous, and she needs a little reining in sometimes,” Penn said.
“I do not!” Liv shouted indignantly, which Gemma thought to be a completely out-of-place response.
Almost anytime Penn had ever spoken to Gemma, she’d done so either with a condescending sweetness or a bitchy bossiness, but here with Liv, she was speaking reasonably, even kindly. It didn’t seem to warrant Liv’s petulance.
“Well, that all sounds great, but I’m going to pass on the midnight swim,” Gemma said.
“Really?” Penn asked. “Since when have you ever passed that up?”
“Since I’m trying this new honesty thing with my dad,” Gemma said. “I told him I wouldn’t sneak out or run off anymore, so I’m not going to.”
“That sounds lame.” Penn wrinkled her nose in disgust. “You’re lame.”
The outside light flicked on above her, meaning that her dad was awake, and Gemma swore under her breath. A few seconds later, he opened the front door with his new shotgun in hand. He didn’t point it at them, but he wanted to make sure they knew he had it.
No matter how many times Gemma had told him that his gun wouldn’t hurt the sirens, Brian insisted on getting it every chance he got.
He didn’t know how else to protect his daughter from them. He couldn’t have them arrested or tell their parents, he couldn’t fight them because they would tear him apart, he shouldn’t even talk to them because their song would hypnotize him.
So he got a shotgun and glared at them from the doorway.
“All right, well, it was nice chatting with you,” Gemma said as she edged back toward the door. “But that’s my cue to head back in.”
“Lucky,” Thea muttered.
“It was nice to meet you again, Gemma,” Liv said, and leaned forward, like she meant to shake Gemma’s hand.
“Yeah, have fun,” Gemma said, and hastily slid back in the house without touching Liv.
“What’s going on? Why were they here?” Brian demanded, and he stood so close to the front door, Gemma almost ran into him as she came back in. Then he gave her a strange look.
“What, Dad?” Gemma asked, staring nervously at his confused expression.