"You're a what?" Seth asked while pulling back from Scarlett, a confused look was plastered on his face.
Scarlett wiped away the tears quickly with the back of her hand and looked up at Seth with a broken look on her face that reminded him of a kicked puppy. "A s-siren. My mom… she said that we are Sirens and my supposed Siren powers are supposed to start developing when I turn 16" She rambled and shook her head, fresh tears stinging her eyes. "I don't want to be a Siren. I don't want any magical powers. I want to be normal." Seth frowned and put his arms around her shaking form, guiding her to her bed and helped her sit down, his arms never leaving her.
"Look, Scarlett, I understand why you're upset, believe me I do." Seth hesitated for a second, "But you can't run from what you are. Sure, it means that your life isn't going to be like everyone else's, but that's not a bad thing. Being normal is boring. Everyone needs a little abnormal in their lives."
"You don't understand!" She snapped and stood from the bed and began pacing. "I'd be fine with a little weird. But I thought weird was going to be just acting like a weirdo every once in a while. Not this! I don't want my world to be completely turned upside down; to have everything I thought I knew suddenly change in the span of a ten minute conversation with my mom! I thought I could handle the whole crazy-vampire-who-is-trying-to-turn-me-because-she-thinks-I'll-help-kill-my-neighbor thing, or even that my apparent soul mate can turn into a huge wolf who now has to watch me 24/7 incase said crazy vampire tries to pull a fast one. But for me to also be some supernatural thing, that's where I draw the line. No thanks, no thanks to any of it. Not the siren, not the soul mates, not the vampires," Scarlett froze and turned to look at Seth, her heart dropping at the hurt look on his face. "Seth, I didn't mean—I just—"
"I get it. You want everything in your life to be perfectly normal," He spat out the last word like it was a disease. Seth got up from the bed and made his way towards the window. "Call me when you're done complaining about your life like a winy 5-year-old" He said and jumped out of the window, landing on the tree branch and started climbing down.
Scarlett ran to the window, sticking her head out. "Seth! Please, come back." She called, tears falling down her face. "I'm sorry," She whispered as she sank down to her knees, her forehead resting against the windowsill. She squeezed her eyes shut and wrapped her arms around herself, feeling the cold snake around her body without Seth's warmth to keep it away. The last thing she felt before falling asleep at the window was the cold and emptiness that filled her without Seth to ward it off.
Scarlett woke up the next morning when she felt a hand shake her shoulder gently. She mumbled and rubbed her eyes, looking up at her mother's concerned face and realized she was still sitting by the window.
"Scarlett, dear, have you been here all night?" She asked and shook her head. "Do you know how dangerous that is? You could have fallen out, or someone could have gotten in since you left the window wide open." She placed a hand on Scarlett's forehead and sighed. "You're warm; you probably have a cold from staying near the window all night. I'll call you in sick today so you can rest." That's right, it's Monday. Scarlett thought as she slowly got up, feeling the room spin around her and made her way slowly to the bed.
She was snuggling into the blankets when something poked her side. She shifted and ran her hand against the bed, pulling the culprit from the blankets. She stared at the blue stone necklace and sighed. She desperately hoped that last night was a dream, and that she somehow fell asleep against the window by accident.
But it was real. She was a Siren. She blew up at Seth.
Seth. Scarlett buried her face into her pillow, fighting back tears when she remembered why she was at the window. She wanted him to come back; she waited for him to come back.
But he didn't.
She sat up slowly and tried to remember where her phone was. She needed to call Seth to apologize. She knew she could be handled the situation better, but the stress got to her and she ended up taking it out on Seth. The guilt crashed against her like waves on a beach. She sighed and slowly got out of her bed, wrapping a blanket around her. She shuffled her way to the desk, where her phone sat. She picked it up and unlocked her phone, feeling her heart quicken when she saw the notification for a missed call.
Maybe Seth called me when I was sleeping, she thought hopefully. She clicked the phone icon and frowned when she saw that the missed call was from an unknown number. I wonder who this is… Her thumb hovered over the number, tempted to call it back to figure out who had called her.
"Scarlett, what are you doing out of bed?" Scarlett jumped and turned to see her mother standing in the doorway with a bowl of what Scarlett assumed was soup. Scarlett sighed and wrapped the blanket tighter around herself, hiding her phone in the folds of the blanket knowing that her mom would take it away if she saw it. Scarlett sat down on her bed and rested against the headboard, her mother handed her the bowl of soup and smiled softly.
"Scarlett, I know that last night must have been quite the shock, but I want you to know that you can ask me anything." She said and brushed Scarlett's red hair away from her face. "I'll let you rest, call if you need anything." She said and headed towards the door.
"Mom?" Scarlett called, making her mom stop and face her. "I love you."
Scarlett's mom grinned and walked back over to Scarlett and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. "I love you too, dear." She walked back out the door and closed it behind her.
Scarlett sighed and had a spoonful of the soup, feeling the warmth slide down her throat and into her stomach. She quickly finished before pulling out her phone from the bundle of blankets. She stared at the device in her hand before taking a deep breath and unlocked it, quickly finding Seth's number. Her thumb hovered over the Call button before pressing. She held the phone up to her ear and waited anxiously as the ringing continued before she heard Seth's voice.
"Hey, you've reached Seth Clearwater. Sorry I missed your call, but leave a message and I'll call you back when I can. Thanks, bye!"
Scarlett bit her lip and waited for the beep to sound. She wished he would have picked up, but he was probably at school. Or he was running around as a wolf. She shuddered slightly, still trying to get used to the fact that the guy she liked turned into a wolf to protect humans from vampires.
She perked up when the beep sounded and quickly cleared her throat. "Hey Seth, it's me Scarlett. Um, I was just calling because I wanted to apologize… I know that apologizing over the phone isn't the best way, but it's the only way I can now… Listen, I know that I shouldn't have snapped at you. I was just so stressed," She scoffed and shook her head. "But that's not a very good excuse." She paused for a moment. "I just wanted you to know that you were right, I was acting like a whiny five year old, and I wish I could take it back, but I know I can't…. I just want you to know that I'm sorry, and I want us to be able to forget about this or at least talk about it so you can forgive me, even though I don't deserve it." She sighed and closed her eyes. "Just…please call me back." She whispered before ending the call. She moved the bowl to her night stand and sank into her blankets, making a cocoon out of it.
She sniffled and buried her face into her pillow, letting her tears fall from her eyes. She faintly recalled her mom calling up to her, telling her that she was going to work and to make sure that she rests.
Scarlett didn't know how long she was in bed, crying, but when she finally stopped she felt like her eyes was heavy and her throat was dry. She didn't feel sick anymore, but what she did feel was worse than any illness. She got up from her bed and got a glass of water from the kitchen before snuggling back into bed.
Scarlett stared at her window, hoping that the one person she wanted to see would show up when she scoffed. How could she let herself shut down because of one guy? Yes, he isn't just a guy; but she can't let herself fall.
Life goes on with or without you, and she didn't want to get left behind for too long. She cried all night and all morning and almost all afternoon. That was enough for her, for now at least.
Feeling suddenly empowered, Scarlett stood up and walked towards her guitar. Her fingers brushed against the strings as she remembered the last time she played. It was for Seth and it lead to them kissing. She shook the thought from her head and picked up her guitar, making her way back to the bed.
A glimmer of light caught her eye and she saw the blue necklace on the floor. She tucked a piece of red hair behind her ear and picked up the necklace, looking at it before putting it on. She immediately felt a blanket of warmth overcome her. It wasn't like Seth's warmth, one that was a safety blanket. No, this one was like a jacket, preparing her for the bitter cold of the world.
She smiled to herself and sat on the bed, positioning the guitar properly on her lap before lightly picking the strings. She started to hum lightly, letting her fingers glide along the strings. She didn't like picks and she preferred to strum with her hands and fingers. It made her feel closer to her guitar.
She realized that she was humming Human by Christina Perri and laughed softly at the irony of the song she was humming and shook her head. She wasn't human, not exactly. But she sure felt like it.
'But I'm only human. And I bleed when I fall down
I'm only human. And I crash and I break down'
She did break down, and Seth took full force of it. But the weight of all the change in her life was too much to handle at once. But she can take it now, or at least be better at holding it.
'I can take so much. Till I had enough
Cause I'm only human. And I bleed when I fall down
I'm only human. And I crash and I break down'
She finished the song and closed her eyes, feeling the guitar vibrate from her strumming until it died out.
"That was a nice song," A voice said from her window. She gasped and her eyes snapped open and looked to the window, shocked to see who was there.
Hey guys! Just wanted to give a quick thank you to Tris-Eaton64 (I love your username btw), Madalena Carvalho, and LadySlytherin313 (personally, I'm a Ravenclaw) for favoriting and following this story!
I hope you guys like this chapter! I can't wait for you guys to read the next one!
So until next time: Stay wonderfully awesome my dear readers!