• Published 16th Oct 2014
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My Girlfriend is a Siren - pjabrony



Three new girls in school. Ask one on a date. But what happened in her last school and where is Canterlot High anyway?

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Fourth Date: Delivery Tacos

When Monday rolled around, I hoped to talk to Sonata more about these powers she thought she had. But ten minutes into lunch period she was a no-show, and so were her companions. For all Griffin High’s faults, I’ll say this for it: they’re cool about cell phone use if you don’t do it in class. So I pulled mine out and texted her, asking if everything was all right.

What I got back was, “Don’t be upset, but I ditched with Aria and Adagio today. Had some business to take care of. Will be in tomorrow. Miss you. Can’t thank you enough for last Friday.”

This wasn’t good. If this became a habit with her, she’d fall behind and have trouble advancing. I was going to have to get to tutoring her sooner rather than later. I indicated as such while still trying to be nice.

But when I walked into the lunch room the next day, she was already there and, by the evidence of an empty tray, had finished lunch.

“Hey, Chip,” she said, running up to me. “Listen, our lunch period got switched to sixth because a class we wanted was in seventh, so we’re going to be limited to five minutes each day. But, just bear with me because soon enough I’ll have everything sorted and I’ll make time for you.”

“OK, but we have to plan a study date then.”

“Yeah, about that….” And in full public view, with everyone walking in and out, she started her singing. “Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah. I know I’ve got a lot to learn, here inside the school. But grades aren’t what I’m looking for, so you just keep your cool.”

I looked around, but no one seemed to have noticed. Well, she wasn’t that loud, but anyone should have paid attention to something so melodious. “Thanks for the song.”

“Thank you, as always. Now, we have to get to the advanced history lecture.”

So that was the class that they’d transferred into. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense, that they could go from remedial to advanced, but if they managed to get in, then maybe Sonata didn’t need me to help her. Shame, though. I’d been hoping to set up a regular date at my house with an excuse to give my parents.

But if she’d sorted out her academic problems I was still worried about this new thing of singing and expecting me to do what she said. I didn’t mind doing nice things for someone I liked, and it could be a fun game between a couple, but she could also abuse it.

I thought about bringing it up the next day, but when I did she said, “Oh, right. I figured that I should use my siren powers on you to make you OK with me using my siren powers on you.”

I had to laugh at that. After sitting through another snatch of her music, I decided that I would just deal with it for now.

Things went on like this for two weeks. Every day she would come in, sing me a verse or two, and ask me to be a little patient. Then on Friday she said, “Can you pick me up after school? Tell your folks you’ll be out late?”

“Sure! A full-fledged date?”

“Kind of. Ooh, it’s going to be such an awesome surprise! But better to show you than tell you.”

She had my curiosity throughout my lunch, and I thought of sending her a text asking for more details, but she might answer it in class, and that was a problem. So I bided my time and, when the final pseudo-bell fake-rang, I sauntered out to my car and pulled it up to the side, this time out of the buses’ way.

It was the first time that I had noticed the change in Sonata, and it was only because I got to see her with the other two. She had more confidence, a brighter look in her eyes, and she was in the center instead of on the side of their walking wedge. Aria and Adagio only seethed the more for it, but as they drew closer I could hear Sonata say, “Trust me, everything is going to get better starting tonight. Just you wait.” Then I opened the door, and she flopped her butt into the passenger seat.

“OK, where to?”

“Just go. I’ll give you turn-by-turn.” She winked at me, and I decided that I liked this new confidence. It put our relationship on more of an even footing. I didn’t mind doing things like paying for food and driving everywhere; Sonata needed it. But if she wanted to arrange something, good for her.

She guided me to the highway and down a couple of exits away from the downtown area where the shelter was. The cross street after the exit was nominally a highway too, but really it was just one lane either way plus a left-turn lane in the middle for easier access to all the shops. The shops, with obvious exceptions like gas stations, were done up in an old-town style from the days of walking a boulevard. Taken for all, it was a nice neighborhood.

At the end of this road was a high-rise. I had been to this part of town a while back with my parents, and I remembered when they were putting this up. Luxury apartments, the sign had said, for improvement of the town. When she had me turn at the corner, I expected to swing around it for some other destination, but Sonata pointed me into the underground garage.

“We’re going here?” I asked.

“Yeah. One thing I’d like, when we have time, is for you to teach me how to drive. I’m going to need that.”

I was willing, of course, but right now I was wondering about why we were here and who we were visiting. We entered through the automatic doors where Sonata gave a wave to the security guard who acknowledged it and let us through. Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice said. The elevator was also high-tech security, with a proximity reader instead of a button. But as we approached it beeped and let us on.

The hall it led us out to was well-lit and carpeted with thick Oriental patterns, but I had no time to admire it as Sonata practically dragged me by the arm to the second door on the right side. This one opened with an old-fashioned key, and she pushed the door open with her arm extended and said, “Ta-da!”

The apartment had a small kitchen off to the left and a dining area to the right, then a step down into a den or TV room. I couldn’t say why, but that two-level effect gave it an extra air of luxury. The edge of the step was marked by a deep chocolate leather sofa that faced a flatscreen TV on the right-hand wall. It was all open-plan except for a wall behind the kitchen. The walls had only been painted that bland apartment white, but it still looked good.

Along the back wall was more window than wall, and I remembered from seeing it outside that it was smoked or tinted for privacy. I tip-toed over to get a look down at the boulevard we’d come down to get here, then turned back to Sonata with a question mark on my face.

“Ah!” she said, bouncing over to the door in the one wall. “The bedroom! Only one, in this one. The one next door has two; that’s for Aria and Adagio. But you can stay here any time, and we’ll only need one bedroom.”

I was a little proud of myself that, in the midst of confusion about this whole situation, I did not get distracted by the fact that Sonata just proposed that we sleep together. I filed that fact in my mind for later analysis. Right now I had bigger issues.

“So, are you going to explain?”

“Of course. What happened, I—oh, dinner!”

I had to assert myself. “No, let’s talk about this now.”

“This’ll just take a second.” She pulled her phone from the purse she had left hung over a kitchen chair and tapped it a few times. “Hey, it’s Sonata. Yeah, great. Mmhm. For two. Sounds awesome! See you soon.” Then back to me. “Done.”

“So…you want to explain?”

“Sure! See, after you gave me back my powers, I realized that I could start improving my life and getting out of all the hardships we’ve been suffering.”

I couldn’t believe this. Having me get her a taco was one thing, but an apartment? “So you’re saying you sang to the landlord here and they gave you this place?”

“Oh, no! I got smart, for once! I went down to a bank and sang to make them give me some money. Then I rented this place the regular way. It actually was ready last week, but I had to get some furniture.”

“But that’s like stealing!” I got so distracted by the ethical question I’d forgotten about the fact that it was impossible.

“Not really. They gave it to me as a loan. Then I sang for their accountant and he wrote it off. So the bank has it all sorted out.”

“It’s still taking someone’s money!”

Her only response was, “Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah.” I was still trying to wrap my head around this. She had taken the bank’s money for this apartment. Then I wondered, whose exactly was it? If the bank lost money like that, where would it come out of? Probably some of it from taxes, since they would profit less, and, assuming it was a publically traded bank, some from the stockholders. In other words, it would be spread throughout the economy. The economy could probably afford to keep one teenager in a comfortable lifestyle without collapsing. It wasn’t like she bought a mansion.

“All right, maybe it’s not so bad, but I still don’t see how you can make someone give you something like that—“ I was interrupted by an electronic chirp that Sonata recognized. She ran to the door and pressed an intercom that I hadn’t noticed.

“Come on up,” she said. Opening the door, she waited for the elevator to ding, then fairly ran out. When she came back in she had a bag with a couple of large cardboard boxes. “I got burritos and fajitas along with tacos. Have whatever you like. If it’s not enough I’ll order more.”

“I didn’t know there was a Mexican place that delivered.”

“Oh, there isn’t. I sang to the owner and now he personally brings me my order when I call it in.”

The problem was no longer that Sonata had a delusion. The problem was that I was genuinely not sure any more that she wasn’t a magical siren. It still seemed crazy, and yet how else to explain her newfound wealth? Telling her I believed was one thing, but could it really be true?

“Hey, Sonata?”

“Yes?”

“Can you sing to me again?”

She was already opening the bags. “After dinner, OK?”

“No, I mean, can you make me do something again? Because I want to feel how it works.”

“I told you, you’ll rationalize it out.”

It was a paradox. I wanted confirmation, but she was specifically saying that I wouldn’t get it. Then I saw a way out of it. “Can you make me believe you?”

She scowled at me. “Let’s sit down and eat. I’ll explain a few things.”

I sat and worked on putting together a fajita. She finished a taco before she spoke again.

“Now, listen. I’m not a mind controller. I can’t make you think things or believe them. All I can do is make you want to do something or not want to do it. Now, that’s a wide power, but I can’t do just anything.”

“So you could make me want to believe.”

Sonata nodded. “But you might still not.” It didn’t seem to bother her as much as before.

“Let’s just enjoy eating dinner together,” I said, tired of all the drama.

“Exactly!”

We sat there eating Mexican, and I marveled at the contrast of images. On the one hand, we could be two ordinary high schoolers on a date, eating cheap food and looking at each other across the table. But given the setting and the way the food had been arranged, we also could have been a long-attached couple who had decided to spend a night in after a hard day at our respective jobs.

The good thing was that we managed to talk about ordinary things. No weird powers or strange origins. Sonata said that she had been listening to more music on the radio and over the Internet, and she didn’t talk about how it gave her any magic or anything. But then she pointed over at the TV. “I got us a karaoke machine for afterwards! I don’t know how soundproof this place is, but at least no one can see us. We’ll have the lyrics and it even comes with two microphones. It’ll be just like those places you were talking about.”

I was impressed. “That’s great! So again we can sing all night.”

“Maybe not all night.” And she half-closed her eyes at me with a knowing smile.

I breathed through my nose and adopted my most serious tone. “Look, Sonata. I’m attracted to you, and I know that, as a guy, I’m supposed to be ready to go at any time. But I’m not ready for that. Not until our relationship gets a little deeper and I understand you more. I mean, this is the first time I’m in your apartment. Let me get used to that idea first.”

“I could make you want it.”

Well, gee, that wasn’t creepy or anything. “No, please don’t. Even if your powers didn’t have limits, that’s something that I don’t want changed. It would be violating who I am. When the time comes, and I say I’m ready, you can do anything you like to make it good for both of us. But until then, just give me this as something to keep my own desires intact.”

She had laid out the table with full service, always a good idea in my opinion with tacos, since some of the inside invariably falls out. It also gave her a prop with which to poke at her food while thinking about what I said. “I guess that’s fair. You have to understand that this is all new to me. When I was a true siren, I didn’t go for money or love or anything like that, just the negative energy of others to feed of off.”

“If we work together, we can find reasonable limits for what you should do to other people, your friends, strangers, businesses, even enemies if that comes up. You could be the safest person out there.”

“Right.” She gulped down the last of her food and I finished mine. After tossing the dishes in the dishwasher, she practically cartwheeled onto the couch and said, “So, singing?”

“Not right after such a big meal. Let’s watch something first.”

We flipped around the dial and watched some of the shows on high-end cable, the kind of TV that you didn’t have to pay too much attention to. Even though I wasn’t ready to get completely intimate with Sonata, sitting together on the couch next to each other, holding hands or having her lean her head on my shoulder was nice, and the kind of growing closer in a relationship that I felt was the right pace.

When the show ended, I said that now would be a good time to use the karaoke machine, but she opened her phone to check the time and said, “Ooh, shuckies! Singing’s going to have to wait. It’s almost time for them to get here!”

“Who?”

“Well, now that I’ve got the apartments set up you don’t think I’m going to leave Adagio and Aria in the shelter, do you?”

That made sense. This whole night wasn’t just for me. This was Sonata’s chance to show off what she had done. And even questioning the ethics, it was done out of intent to help others as much as herself. “Want me to drive you over and we can pick them up?”

“Nuh-uh. I hired a car to get them.”

“Just how much money did you get?”

She pursed her lips and repeatedly crossed and uncrossed her legs. “I won’t go back to that bank when I need more. There are a lot of really big ones that can give me some next time!”

“All right, don’t worry about it. I just hope you didn’t go all out and get one of those stretch Continentals or something.”

“I don’t think so. But it was a big SUV. As much as I love your car, I don’t know that it’s right for Adagio.”

That burned me a little. “Is she too good for my Sonata?”

“No, it’s just that your low ceiling would mess up her hair.”

We shared a good laugh at that, but then her door-buzzer rang again. I could only picture how it would have appeared to Aria and Adagio. Having a uniformed driver show up and inform them that they were wanted, packing up their few meager possessions, walking out to the envying eyes of all those who would still be bedding down in poverty tonight, all to be ferried across town to the obsequious sounds of “Right this way, ma’am, yes, ma’am, anything you say, ma’am.” And then to be guided into this opulent building, into the elevator, up to our floor and...

Ding. Sonata and I both went out into the hall to see the two of them looking around and holding their arms as though they expected to be arrested. Sonata raced over to them and, in a move I’d never seen, managed to hug both of them together.

“I’m so glad you made it! Welcome home!”

Both of them were stunned, and Aria was the first to semi-recover with a “Huh?”

“Come on in! Come on in! Chip and I finished dinner a while ago but I could order more if you like. They’ll deliver again if I ask them.”

She dragged them by the arms into her apartment, down the step, and onto the couch. I took one of the chairs at the table to watch the reunion.

Now Adagio had her wits about her and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Sonata, before your brain overheats, will you explain what’s going on?”

“Of course. I mean, it’s a long story, but...” She balled her fists and bit her bottom lip in anticipation. “I can sing again! I’m a siren once more!”

“You’re crazy,” said Aria. “You know we lost all that. And what is he doing here?” She pointed a finger in my direction without bothering to look at me.

“Chip’s here because I invited him. But I was with him when it all started. We were having fun singing and then all of a sudden I went...” And she replayed the chorus of the song that she had first sung in my little room.

Again they were momentarily speechless, but then Adagio’s expression spread into a toothy grin. “You don’t say.” And then her eyes flashed toward me, hungry in their redness.