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

Chapter 14

Lance Taylor

I know who you are.

You don't really.

I shivered, pulling the blankets of my bed up around my ears.

Get out of my head. I hate you.

You hate me on principal.

Leave me alone. You don't know anything about me. I hate you.

You don't hate me. You just think you do. You think it's right to hate me. But you don't know my story, Lance.

"Leave me alone!" I growled.

"Huh?" Ryker sat up in his bed. I hadn't realized I'd even spoken aloud. My brain cleared of the blank fuzziness that came with the voice. The room came back into focus and I tried to steady my shaking hands.

"Nothing," I said roughly. "It was just a dream."

Ryker turned back on his side and promptly started snoring. I was wide awake.

I took slow breaths in and out before slipping out from under my bed covers and leaving my room.

"You couldn't sleep either?"

Lark sat on a bamboo stool, slumped over the countertop. Dark circles stood out sharply against her pale skin. She looked like more of a vampire than Viastan.

"No, I was just hungry," I said defensively. Lark rolled her eyes.

"Did you have a nightmare?" she asked. I pressed my lips into a thin line.

"No," I said truthfully.

"Was it about Bailey?" she continued. "Mine are about Bailey." I paused. I didn't want to hear about this.

"I don't dream about Bailey," I told her firmly. "Go to bed, Lark."

"I can't," she yawned, contradicting herself.

"Go to bed," I said again, putting a hand to her shoulder. She jumped and I guided her to the girl's hallway, sighing when she made it to her bed.

Finally some peace and quiet.

"Lance? What are you doing up?"

I silently cursed my luck. Why did she have to wake up?

"None of your concern," I snapped.

"Fine, I was just worried," Anvi scoffed.

"Why are you up?"

"I heard Lark open her door and I got worried. I usually get up and snack anyways," she explained.

"Well go back to sleep then," I ordered and Anvi just glared up at me.

"Why were you up?"

"I told you it had nothing to do with you," I reminded her.

"But it had to do with Lark?"

"No, she was just out there at the time," I growled. She was putting words in my mouth.

"Oh," Anvi's eyes widened. "Oh I see!"

"What?" I said warily.

"When were you going to tell us?"

"Tell you what?"

"That you two are dating!"

I coughed. "What?"

"You're not dating?"

"No!" I yelled before looking apprehensively at the closed bedroom doors. Hopefully I didn't wake anyone else up. "I don't have time to waste on that. Lark is the last person I would want to date!"

Anvi squinted at me hatefully. "I take that back, you're the last person I'd want to date."

"You're actually the worst person ever," Anvi groaned.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," I warned her.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Anvi snapped.

"Because you're insufferably stupid," I said without thinking.

Anvi gaped, obviously offended. "You can call me insufferable, because that's your opinion, but I am not stupid in the slightest."

"Yes you are," I insisted. "You don't give anything a care. It's all just knowledge to you. It's of no significance whether what you're learning about affects others or not. You take it all for granted."

Anvi looked at her feet and I felt the thrill of finally having caught her. She really was ungrateful. "You don't know me at all, you know," she muttered. "I would never take anything for granted, especially learning."

I scoffed. "Prove it."

"My ancestors are from India. My great grandmother was Hindu and she fell in love with a Muslim man. They ran away together, not even really caring about the family that came after them. If they hadn't left, I'd still be in India, probably fighting for scraps as a member of the Dalit. I wouldn't know anything. I wouldn't have education. I'd probably be dead or close too. But most of all, I wouldn't be here, learning about who I really am. So don't talk to me about taking things for granted. You're over here playing up the rich boy act, being all high and mighty and grumpy. You're a jerk to everyone you meet and scoff when anyone asks a question because you knew the answer, so everyone should. Because everything's about you, isn't it, Lance?"

I opened my mouth to yell at her when I heard a door open. "You two really don't know how to keep the relationship fights quiet, do you?" Jonah had joined us.

"What?" I snapped in exasperation. Jonah arched a brow.

"You two argue like a married couple."

Anvi and I eyed each other with distaste, but Jonah didn't continue the conversation. Instead, he strode past us to the front door of the cabin and started to leave. "Hey," Anvi interrupted. "Where are you going? We can't leave during the night!"

"See if I care," Jonah scoffed.

"Where are you going?"

"None of your business," he said, slamming the door shut in our faces. I furrowed my brow and looked over at Anvi.

"We should follow him," I said and she nodded.

Question of the Chapter: What's the weirdest thing you've done while a teacher was present?

My Answer: This isn't so much weird as it is funny. My friend and I pretend we're gay for each other even though we personally are both straight. So anyways, we both make jokes about this all the time but last year, when we were taking pictures for the yearbook, my friend says something about us two and my band teacher overhears and gives us the most confused expression ever. I go, "Oh no no no that's not what it sounds like-" and my teacher just goes, "Is there something I should know about you two?"

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter!

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