Calum approached his house with his two newly acquired friends. He glanced behind him before opening the front door. “I’m home!” Calum yelled when he opened the door. Howard poked his head out of the kitchen and wrapped the boy in a hug.

“Oh my god, you scared me to death, Cal! Do you know how long you’ve been gone?!” Calum shook his head, making Howard sigh. “Five hours. Five. Hours. Jack’s been looking for you since one o’clock. Where were you?”

“At the beach,” Calum answered. “Honestly, I don’t know why you didn’t check there first.” He looked behind him. “Um, Dad, can I have some friends over for the night?”

“Friends?” Calum’s dad looked behind him to see Aka and Cora smiling shyly at Howard. “When did you meet them?”

“Um, at college,” Calum said. “A couple weeks ago. They need a place to stay for the night, so I was wondering if they could stay over.”

“A couple weeks ago?” Howard looked at Aka and Cora. “Why didn’t you just stay at the dorms?” Before Calum, Cora, and Aka could share worrying glances, Howard shrugged and waved the question away. “Well, since Calum trusts you enough to invite you, I guess it’s okay. What’re your names?” He put out his hand. Aka looked at the hand in confusion. Even though the two sirens knew English and knew the basics of human culture, they still didn’t know something as simple as shaking a hand.

“Um,” Calum pushed Howard’s hand away. “That’s Aka and Cora.” He pointed to the two sirens in order. “Is Jack home yet?” Calum asked his father, trying to keep Howard from interrogating the sirens.

Howard checked his phone before shaking his head. “I have no idea where he is.” He said, “I’ll call him now.” Howard walked away from the two to call his eldest son. Calum looked at his new friends.

“Come on, I’ll get some more chairs for the table. Go ahead and relax in the living room.” Calum said, waving towards the small seating area around a small, wall-mounted flatscreen.

Aka and Cora sat on the couch as Calum went to the storage closet to get two more chairs. Aka looked at Cora nervously. She showed him a smile. “I doubt Calum’s father cares who you are, Aka. Relax.” Cora placed a hand on his shoulder, letting a bit of her magic flow through Aka.

Jack burst through the front door as Calum placed the last chair under the table. As soon as Jack saw Calum, he attacked the younger in a bone-crushing hug. Aka and Cora watched the twins with curious eyes, they had never seen siblings before, their pod only allowed one child per family. It wasn’t for so much as population control, but more for being less detectable by hunters and merpeople. Jack pulled back after a couple of minutes to look at his twin at arm’s length. “Where were you, Cal? I was worried shit-less! Dad and I-”

“I know,” Calum said, giving his brother a smile. “I’m fine. It was just something stupid.”

At this moment, Jack noticed the two strangers sitting in his living room. He moved Calum behind him when he saw Aka and Cora. “Who are you?! Why are you in our house?!”

Calum, nervous for his two new friends, ran out from behind Jack. “Calm down, Jack!” Calum waved his hands in front of Jack. “They’re friends from college. They’re having dinner with us and are staying with us for a couple of days.”

Jack blows out steam to calm himself. “Sorry about that. I’m just really protective of Cal. I don’t think I’ve seen you at college before. So what are you two studying at college?” Jack sits on the coffee table in front of them.

Aka and Cora looked at each other in fear. They weren’t quite sure what college was and were scared that they would say something that would be illogical as an answer. Calum came to their rescue. “They’re studying marine biology.”

“Nice,” Jack said, smiling at them. “So what’s both of your names?”

“I’m Aka.” The male siren introduces. “And that’s Cora. And you are?” Aka was a bit nervous to talk to the older brother of his soulmate, but he realized he would have to eventually.

Before Jack could say anything, their front door opened very abruptly, making the four young adults turn towards the door. Evan was standing there proudly as if he had saved the day. “I have come to join the Delasti family for dinner, bitches!” He announced. Calum giggled but tried to stifle it due to his soulmate being on the couch. However, Aka saw it and he felt horrible that he kept Calum from his crush. Cora, knowing her best friend was beating himself up in his head, rubbed Aka’s back soothingly. “Who’s these people?” Evan asked. There was something in Evan’s eyes that Aka recognized. Something was different about this boy.

“They’re staying with us for a couple of days. They’re Cal’s friends.” Jack answered, getting up to greet his lifetime best friend. “That’s Aka and that’s Cora.” Jack introduced.

“Jacky, you didn’t tell me that Cal had made some friends! Our little boy is growing up so fast.” Evan wiped a fake tear as he pulled Jack against him.

Jack, deciding to go along with it, faked a sob. “Now he’s making friends, next thing we know, he’s going off to college.” Calum rolls his eyes.

“Alright, knock it off, drama geeks.” Calum punched his brother lightly. He walked over to Aka and Cora and plopped down next to them. “They’re both studying theater for their major so they might just break out into some improv once and awhile.”

Howard, who neither Calum, Aka, nor Cora had realized made his way back to the kitchen, poked his head out of the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready! Come get some food!”

“Is the food good?” Calum asked jokingly.

“Yes, Cal. In fact, it’s amazing. I made the only thing I knew how to make. Now, come get it!” Howard yelled back, filling a plate with food. Calum and Jack laughed at their father.

Calum, Aka, and Cora stood up. The three headed to the kitchen and grabbed their servings, immediately digging in.

~~~~~~~~

“So, what about fae? What are they like?” Hours later, Aka, Cora, and Calum were sitting in his bedroom, getting to know each other better. Calum was asking Cora about the supernatural creatures that he didn’t know lived in the same world as he did.

Cora sighed, leaning back on her hands. “They basically hate humans. It’s surprising, but it’s true. Last time I checked they can hide their wings to the naked eye. Unless you know what you’re looking for, you won’t be able to see their wings. But they’re beautiful. If they’re cut off a faery’s body, they turn gray and crumble in your hands. A faery’s wings are like a human’s fingerprints. It’s how you can tell who each faery is. They’re like our tails. The wings are their most prized thing on their bodies. And fae are pretty vain.” Cora lifted a hand and pointed to her ear. It was the first time Calum had really looked at them. He gasped once he saw what was different. “Yep, a lot of supernatural creatures have pointed ears like these. It’s how you can distinguish a human and a supernatural creature.”

Cora shrugged, letting her vibrant red hair fall in her face. “Fae usually have sharp teeth and light-colored hair. Fae have baby blue markings on their face and body. Unless they practice dark magic. Then they have black hair, black nails, black eyes, and black or purple markings on their face and body depending on how much they’ve used dark magic. Nowadays, most fae practice dark magic. No matter their gender, every faery has pretty long hair. They usually live in forests in clans.” Aka, who was sitting at the foot of the bed unlike Cora and Calum, watched Calum, who was hanging on to every word that Cora said, with a ghost of a smile on his face.

Calum smiled, looking at the time before asking another question. “And the merpeople? You said that they’re evil as well.”

Cora scowled. “Our sworn enemy.” She spat. “Our pod and a merpeople pod have been strenuously fighting for territory. They are much more dangerous than sirens. They have poisonous nails and their tails can probably break every bone in your body. The only thing is that they can’t do is turn their tails into human legs like we can. Stay away from them. They’re dangerous.”

“But,” Calum began, feeling sleep beginning to overtake him. “How will I know what’s a siren and what’s a merperson?”

Cora smiled. “Their eyes. They have black markings around their eyes.” Cora looked at Calum and chuckled. “You look like you’re about to pass out. We’ll take our leave. I hope to know more about humans tomorrow night though.”

Calum laughed, nodding. Aka and Cora left his bedroom, Cora going into the guest room and Aka down to the couch in the living room.