The Accidental Siren by Jake Vander Ark Read Free Book Online Page A

she said. “The little girl!”
    “No way! That’s totally rad!”
    The bout of giggles unhitched another strand,
giving her face a golden frame. I sat on my hands to keep them
away.
    “They said I did a good job–”
    “I love that commercial!”
    “–but Aunty says I can’t do ‘em any
more.”
    “What a geezer.”
    The tips of Mara’s unkept hair were moist
from brushing against her lips. Another gust of wind twirled the
strands and they lashed her cheeks.
    “Hey,” I said, “you should act in my movie! I
need a girl for the lead!”
    Mara shook her head. “She won’t let me.”
    “Why the heck not? I wrote the screenplay and
everything!”
    “Do you go to school?”
    “Duh,” I muttered and forced my gaze from the
taunting hair to the sky. “Who doesn’t go to school?”
    “I was supposed to be in sixth grade this
year, but I didn’t go. Do you think I’ll still hafta take it, or
will I go right into seventh?”
    I looked back to Mara with wide eyes. “You
skipped the sixth grade? That. Is. Awesome! ”
    “I got in trouble last year. It wasn’t really
my fault, but Aunty wouldn’t let me go back.”
    Another strand. The new ribbon of hair
fell in a beautiful arc across her brown eyes. I was certain she
would see it–
    I leaned forward and freed my hands. I swept
my fingers across Mara’s brow and tucked the strands gently behind
her ear. “I– I just– You’re just– Holy cow, I’m so sorry . I
just had to–”
    “Thanks,” she said. She smiled.
    I realized I was holding my breath. I exhaled
loudly, then sucked in the cool air.
    Mara didn’t seem to notice my gasps. “I keep
telling you stuff about me,” she said. “Tell me somethin’ neat
about you.”
    “Well...” I cleared my throat. My life was
full of interesting tidbits that Mara might enjoy, but that stupid
camera came to mind first. I didn’t want to stutter like a moron,
so I went with it. “I like to make movies. I was gonna direct one
this summer but...” I paused. How much should I tell
her?
    “But?”
    “But I lost my camera.”
    “That stinks.”
    “I lied. I didn’t lose it...”
    “Oh?”
    I would discover later that Mara’s powers did
not include coaxing people to tell the truth... but the magical,
mystical, otherworldly attraction was already working its–
    Another gosh-darned strand of hair dismounted her perky ear with obnoxious timing and I blurted the
truth. “I traded my camera to Danny B. for a picture of a naked
girl because he’s a bully and he was gonna show his friends and I
felt sick even though I didn’t know the girl and my parents asked
about it so I lied!”
    Mara’s eyes were bigger than the moon. She
brushed the hair from her face, but it fell right back.
    “Now your aunt gave me a new camera but I
have to buy film for it and film is really expensive and you have
to send it in to get it developed and– God, Mara,” I crooned,
“ you’re so pretty .”
    I reached for that last strand of hair... but
when the tips of my finger brushed her cheek, she leaned forward
and I leaned forward and the tips of our noses touched.
    That trifling moment of nuzzled faces and
near-kisses unlocked within me a treasure chest of new
understanding. It finally happened. The mystery was solved! Butterflies, explosions, and white-hot elation spurred my very
first girl-inspired stiffy, and I squirmed in my seat to squash
it.
    If my body and mind had been developed enough
to be naturally excited by an accidental Eskimo kiss, the
feelings that followed might have been ordinary. But looking back,
I was at least a year away from the awkward stage of wet bed sheets
and curly tufts of hair. My arousal was premature. The thirstiness
in my gut was not the usual first-love infatuation... but something
unnatural, foreboding, and stronger than a life debt .
    Mara pulled away and smiled. “More crackers?”
she asked.
     
    * * *
     
    I don’t remember our conversation after the
moment our noses touched. I