The explanation was longer than that, but she didn’t think Sawyer needed to know all the details. The Cliffs Notes version would do.

“Oh,” he said. “Are you a siren?”

“Yeah, I am,” Gemma said, her voice heavy with regret.

“But you’re not like the others.”

“Because I’m not as pretty?”

“No, no, you’re all pretty.” He waved off that idea. “But when I’m around you, I can actually think. You feel different.”

“I feel different?” Gemma raised an eyebrow. “You’ve never touched me.”

“No, not the way you physically feel. The way you … are, I guess,” Sawyer said. “Your presence when you walk into a room. You feel real. The other girls, they feel like dreams I made up in the night. Or sometimes they feel like nightmares.

“And I don’t know why you said you’re not as pretty,” Sawyer said. “You’re just as pretty as they are, maybe prettier when you smile.”

Gemma smiled. “Thanks.”

“If me and Penn don’t work out, do you think that we could go on a date sometime?” Sawyer asked.

“Me and you?” Gemma laughed. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Why not?” Sawyer asked. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

She kept smiling, but it became pained. Gemma had been trying not to think about Alex that much, since it wouldn’t do her any good, and it still broke her heart a little every time she did.

“Yeah,” she said thickly. “I do have a boyfriend.”

“Then why isn’t he here?” Sawyer asked. “I don’t think I could stand to be away from you if I was your boyfriend.”

“He, um…” Gemma licked her lips and looked down at the beach below her. “He had to stay back home. It’s safer for him there.”

“Oh. You mean ’cause of Penn?”

“Yeah.” She nodded once. “Because of Penn.”

“Do you love him?” Sawyer asked.

“Yeah, I love him.” Gemma laughed again, this time to keep from crying. “I love him so much.”

“Does he love you?” Sawyer asked.

Gemma thought back to the last kiss she’d shared with Alex in the cabin before she’d left with the sirens. It had felt real and true, shooting through her like electricity. Penn insisted that Alex wouldn’t be capable of loving her now that she was a siren, but Gemma knew Alex, and he couldn’t fake the way he felt about her.

“Yeah,” Gemma said finally, with tears in her eyes. “I think he does.” She sniffled. “Sorry for getting so emotional.”

“It’s okay. I probably won’t remember this conversation anyway,” Sawyer said, displaying a surprising bit of self-awareness.

Gemma wiped at her eyes and looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“I can’t seem to remember much of anything anymore.” He shook his head. “Everything’s a blur of images.”

“I’m sorry,” she said sadly. “For all of this. I’m sorry that the sirens are doing this to you. You seem like a nice guy, and you deserve better than this.”

“I don’t know. I’m not sorry. It’s kind of fun.” He smiled, but the smile seemed sad. “Four beautiful girls in my house, and I’m in love with Penn. Some things are strange and my memory isn’t so great, but it’s still … fun.”

“I hope that’s true,” Gemma said.

Sawyer let out a long breath. “Me, too.”

ELEVEN

Runaway

“Where is she?” Nathalie shouted, her voice taking on a feverish pitch.

“She’s not here, Mom,” Harper said, and rubbed her forehead.

This was not at all how she imagined their weekly visit going. She’d actually considered not coming today, but her father was busy meeting with Bernie’s lawyer, Dean Stanton. Harper had even thought about hanging out with Daniel, but he was busy working on a job repairing someone’s fence.

So Harper had mistakenly thought seeing her mother at the group home would be better than spending the day alone at the house.

But things had been rough from the start. As soon as Nathalie ran out of the house to greet Harper and saw that Gemma wasn’t with her, she’d gotten agitated, demanding to know where her younger daughter was.

The really weird thing was that Gemma had skipped Saturday visits with Nathalie before. Gemma loved their mom and always wanted to see her, but with all her swim meets, sometimes skipping a visit couldn’t be helped. Sometimes she just wasn’t able to make it.

Usually, when Gemma had to go to a meet, Harper would still go see Nathalie. Brian would go watch Gemma swim, so it wasn’t like she wouldn’t have anyone cheering her on. But Brian would never visit Nathalie. He just couldn’t handle it.

When Harper visited her mom alone, she would explain where Gemma was, and Nathalie would be fine with it. Sometimes Nathalie didn’t even seem to notice.

But this time it was as if Nathalie knew something was wrong. She knew Gemma should be here, and she wasn’t. So she freaked out.

Harper and Becky, one of the staff who worked at Nathalie’s group home, managed to get her in the house before she totally lost it. But now it was only Nathalie and Harper in her bedroom, with Harper futilely attempting to contain the situation.

“No, no, no,” Nathalie repeated over and over, shaking her head rapidly.