They had told her that nobody could love her, that was part of their curse. Maybe Alex didn’t love her yet, but he could. If she had enough time with him, Gemma was almost certain that Alex would fall in love with her.

If the sirens were wrong about that, then maybe they were wrong about other things. Like maybe she didn’t have to leave her family or her life. Even as much as Harper and her dad had yelled at her the night before, it broke her heart to even think of leaving them. She knew how much they loved her.

Last night, when she’d kissed Alex, she’d been about to give up. But she couldn’t. Maybe it didn’t mean anything that Alex liked her, but she had to try. He’d told her she was the most determined person he’d ever known, and he was right. She would try everything before she’d go off with the sirens.

Gemma knocked on Alex’s back door, but when he didn’t answer, she had to take more drastic measures.

His mother had a trellis covered in flowering vines that grew up the side of the house. It probably wasn’t strong enough to support her weight, but Gemma climbed up anyway.

One of the boards snapped under her feet, but she regained her footing quickly. A vine gave her a small cut on her finger, but other than that the climb up went surprisingly well. By the time she’d pulled herself up on the roof outside Alex’s second-story window, the cut had already healed.

Gemma peered in through his window, and it was just as she’d expected. Alex was sitting in front of his laptop at his desk with his headphones on, bopping along to some song. Based on the state of his hair sticking up all over and his attire of only boxers, she guessed that Alex hadn’t been up that long.

For a few minutes she was content to just watch him: the geeky and totally offbeat way he moved, and how every now and again he would spout a few lyrics from what sounded like an old Run-DMC song.

The silliness of his behavior was juxtaposed with how surprisingly sexy he looked shirtless. When he moved, she could see the muscles in his back and his arms beneath his tanned skin.

“Alex.” She rapped her knuckles on the glass, and the noise scared Alex so much, he leaped out of his chair.

“Gemma!” he gasped and tore off his headphones. “What are you doing on my roof?”

“You weren’t answering the door. Can I come in?”

“Uh…” He scratched his eyebrow, staring at her for a moment as if he didn’t understand what was happening. “Yeah. Sure.”

He came over and opened the window for her, but that wasn’t exactly the response she was hoping for. Maybe she’d made a mistake by coming here uninvited.

“Sorry,” Gemma said as she climbed into his room. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“No, you didn’t.” He shook his head, then rushed around to straighten up his room.

“You don’t need to do that because I’m here.”

Alex ignored her and continued to pick up the dirty socks and tech magazines that littered his room. It actually wasn’t that messy. He was a relatively neat guy. Other than the stack of Xbox games and empty Mountain Dew cans, it was a fairly clean room.

“You know what, Gemma, I’m sorry. I can’t do this.” Alex abruptly stopped what he was doing, holding an armful of dirty clothes. He rubbed his eye and shook his head. “What are you doing here? What’s going on with you?”

“I wanted to see you,” she said simply.

“No, I don’t mean just right now, but…” He set down his clothes in a pile by the door and turned back to face her with his hands on his hips. “What was last night about? Harper said you just took off with those weird pretty girls, and then you come to my house soaking wet because you need to know if I like you.”

“I’m really sorry about that,” Gemma said, but he was on a roll.

“And the other night, when you disappeared, again with those weird pretty girls! Harper thought you were dead. You know you’re scaring the hell out of your sister, and that’s not like you.

“And then when I came over on Tuesday and…” He lowered his eyes, and his cheeks colored lightly. “And we made out. That was hot and all, but that was … not you at all. I don’t even know if that was me.”

“I know, I know.” Gemma sighed. She wanted to tell him everything, but how could she? How could anyone possibly believe what she had to say?

“What’s going on?” Alex asked, and the desperation in his voice pulled at her heart.

“Do you trust me?”

“Honestly?” He lifted his head and looked her in the eyes. “A few days ago, I would’ve said unequivocally yes. But after what’s been going on lately, I don’t know.”

“I’ve never lied to you.” Then she shook her head. “I mean, maybe I did when I was a little kid. But since we started seeing each other, I haven’t. And I won’t. And I know how crazy everything is, and I don’t know how to explain it to you.”

“You could at least try,” Alex suggested.

“I don’t think I can.”

“Is it me?” he asked. “Or, I mean, is it us?”

“No, no!” Gemma shook her head emphatically.

“Because that’s the only thing that’s really changed. You were normal until we started getting involved.”

“No.” She stepped closer to him, putting her hands on his chest to convince him. “No, it’s absolutely not you. You’re the only thing that’s keeping me sane.”