The Siren Song - Book 2 of the Legends of Henge Series

Chapter 2

Nesia Aldin

"Whatcha doin'?" Quinn called, grinning like a ninny. I scowled into my pillow.

"Attempting to sleep in," I croaked, throat dry from a night of breathing through my mouth. I never understood why I had to sleep like that. It was extremely annoying, especially since I woke up in my own drool.

"Well, mom wants to have breakfast," Quinn poked me in the back. "You know, before we go to dad's." I always preferred my dad's house to my mom's. He was a shifter, just like Quinn and I, but mom wasn't and I don't think she'd ever get used to the idea.

It wasn't that I didn't love my mom. She was just a bit strict.

I pulled myself out from under my covers and grabbed a t shirt and navy blue skirt. I think I had about ten pairs of the same outfit, but that was alright with me. I pulled on the shirt and then the skirt and clipped on the black suspenders.

Quinn was wearing the same thing with a maroon skirt. Even when we didn't mean to, we matched.

I brushed my waist length brown hair and clumped into a messy bun. I rubbed my face in an attempt to make myself look less sleep deprived. Stumbling down the hall and downstairs, I turned the corner to the kitchen and looked around.

Our kitchen was bustling with a few cooks, making our breakfast. Quinn pulled on my arm and we made the rest of our way to the dining room where our mother was waiting. She had my same waist length chestnut hair and the same face as Quinn and I.

She was small like us. We sat down in silence, watching the smile on her face warily. It almost always meant probing questions were coming. "So, I've heard a lot about school from Quinn, why don't you tell me how your year went, Nesia?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well, considering Quinn and I are on the same team, about the same as hers," I replied, evading the question deliberately.

"What about your teammates? Quinn tells me about this one boy... Cander, was it? What's he like? Quinn says that he seems to like you a lot," the woman continued interrogating. I shrugged noncommittally.

"I mean, he's my teammate," I answered. My mom raised an eyebrow, showing even more resemblance to me. "He's really nice," I offered. I wasn't much for talking. Not like Quinn.

"Is he your boyfriend?"

I leaned back forcefully. "Mom!" I snapped. "No! He's my friend."

"Okay," she held her hands up in a defensive position. "I was just wondering. It's not like you tell me much."

"Cander's a really good friend of ours," Quinn stuck up for me. I gave her a slight smile. "Just like Luna and Hero really."

My mom didn't look satisfied but thankfully she went on to the next topic. "How is Luna?" She'd met her the year before and she knew that I was especially close with her. She was always more interested in what I did at school. Maybe because Quinn told her without asking while I stayed shut up.

"Luna's good," I hedged. She was still an idiot and not talking about her feelings for Hero, but all in all, she was. One of our other teammates, Cara, had taken a liking to him last year and I'd been doing my best at keeping her away from him. A best friend's work is hard.

Unfortunately, Luna had seen Cara flirting with Hero on the day we'd gotten our quest and taken it the wrong way. It was all a bit dramatic, as most things were with Luna, but it blew over. Luna could be a bit over the top but she came through in the end.

"Luna's good? That's it? That's all I get?" my mom scoffed.

"I mean she's still one of my best friends, she's still secretly crushing on Hero, and she's still terrible at studying," I answered. That was probably one of the longest sentences I've ever strung together, I thought sarcastically.