Siren's Song by Heather McCollum Page B

me all day.
    * * *
    Luke doesn’t say much to me the rest of the day, and I make it to drama without any more “options,” dark stares, or murderous body language. Derek plops down next to me on one side and Madison on the other.
    â€œSo, I hear Matt and Luke almost broke into a fist fight over you this morning,” Derek says.
    â€œActually, Luke was defending Carly.” Not that I want to give details, but I need to stop the gossip that this was about me.
    Madison shakes her head. “I was there. Even if Carly’s name came up, the whole thing was obviously about you, Jule. How’d you manage to bag the interest of the two hottest guys in school?”
    â€œHey, what am I?” Derek asks indignantly. He sits up straighter and flexes his modestly impressive biceps.
    â€œNumber three hot guy,” Madison fires back. “That’s not bad out of a student body of thirteen hundred.” Derek looks placated and props his feet up on the seat in front of him.
    â€œHave you all thought about what roles you’d like to audition for?” Ms. Bishop asks. Her eyes scan the seats, pausing briefly on me. A few students answer while I stay mute and as small as possible. “There’s a star in every one of you,” she continues. Derek snickers like he doesn’t believe that the rest of the class could possibly have star quality like him.
    â€œToday we will work on learning some of the songs,” she continues. “For some of you, this will be a repeat, I’m sure.”
    Oh yeah, I’ve been hearing the songs from Phantom of the Opera since I was a baby. Don’t sing . My promise to my mother grips my throat and I sigh. For the next hour I’ll just follow along silently. Ms. Bishop watches me with narrowed eyes. She knows I can sing every word.
    When the tone sounds, I leap up and out the doors. I don’t need her questions. I round the corner to my locker, holding my breath. I release it when I see Carly, only Carly, waiting there. She had a dentist appointment at lunch, so I haven’t seen her since this morning. My shoulders relax.
    Her gaze scans the hall with overly large eyes. “I swear, Jule, I’m nearly freaking out,” she says as I throw books into my bag.
    â€œWhat’s up?” I try to sound casual. Could anything more have happened I don’t know about?
    â€œKiara said that Matt and Luke were fighting over you this morning, and that Luke punched Matt into the lockers. And then Hunter saw the two of them arguing at Luke’s locker.” She thumps said locker. “Hunter couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Matt was talking a lot, and Luke was scowling like he was going to punch Matt again.”
    â€œLuke didn’t punch Matt; it was a shove.”
    â€œAcross the hall!” she hisses. I see the lines of hurt around Carly’s eyes. Shit , she still likes the Neanderthal.
    â€œCarly, I don’t like Matt. I don’t think he likes me, either. I’m just someone he hasn’t…” I am going to say “screwed”, but luckily my brain kicks in. “…someone he hasn’t gone out with yet. And he seems to be real close to Luke. He called him brother again. Maybe they have a rivalry going on. Matt’s never looked at me twice before, and I didn’t just become supermodel quality overnight. Which is what he usually goes for.” I indicate Carly’s adorable, shapely, yet slender build. “When I mentioned you, he seemed to… well, remember how gorgeous you are.”
    â€œReally?” Carly’s voice squeaks a bit.
    Crap –I don’t want to make Carly like the bastard again. I shake my head. “He’s no good, Carly, even if he comes onto you a second time. He’s a hit it and quit it kind of guy.”
    â€œI know.” She lets out a long sigh. A grin forms along the tight line of her mouth, as if the poison of jealousy