A/N: I am so so sorry for the big wait for another chapter. I had piles of homework and then I decided to wait to get my laptop (which I got today) for my birthday :) Anyway here's chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING

Chapter 3 – Pasta and Notebooks

Siren spent the rest of the morning in her white-washed room, arranging the few bits of furniture, but still not unpacking.

A shout of "dinner!" from downstairs had her tensed up, heart racing somewhere in her throat. Slowly relaxing as far as her heightened senses and tense shoulders would allow, she weighed the pros and cons of going down. On the plus side, it meant food and she was so hungry. On the other hand, it meant facing the others. She would rather starve than face 'that' lot as she had labelled them in her mind.

She threw herself down onto the bed and lost herself in her own head, though she never closed her eyes.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp knock at the door.

For a moment, she analysed this. It could not have been a child – after her performance earlier that morning a child would be nervous and timid. It was also not Tracy or Gina – their knocks would be delicate and sensitive much like their personalities. It had to be Mike.

"Come in," Siren sighed.

She looked up to see Mike – she was right, as always – entering the room.

"Why haven't you come down for lunch?" He stood in the doorway and watched her with reserved concern.

"Do you seriously think that after this mornings little... stunt, it is wise for me to be around people?"

"You need to eat and they just need to get used to you. No-one's going to say anything and anyway Gina and I will be there."

"They may not say anything in front of you two but they will still have questions. I'm not telling them anything." Noticing that after saying this, Mike would not quite meet her eyes, Siren immediately became suspicious. "What have you said?"

He raised his hands in surrender, "I had to say something after this morning! I just told them that you'd been on the run for the past year and you're still getting used to people. That's all, I swear."

Siren grudgingly nodded. At least that's all he'd said, she thought.

"So are you coming down? We need to get some meat on you." Smiling he nodded toward her skinny arms. Being a runaway didn't exactly involve much food.

"Well in that case.." Siren gave in. To be honest, she knew she would have to face them sooner or later and it would be better with adults around.

Ignoring Mike's overly-pleased grin, she walked past him and downstairs.

To battle.

:::

Silence reigned once again as Siren stepped into the kitchen. She sat next to Lily with Liam opposite. Did this boy have a death wish? She hastily dug into her plate of pasta salad trying to get the ordeal over as quickly as possible.

Clattering knives and forks showed that everyone else had begun eating but Siren could not see them due to the curtain of red hair framing the sides of her face. There was a gap at the front through which she could probably see Liam if she were to raise her eyes but there was no way she was about to test that theory.

A few awkward minutes past with no sound but scraping plates filling the air.

"So how did you end up in care Siren?" The question came from Gus.

Siren stopped eating and stared at the half-eaten food on her plate. She gripped her fork tightly, her knuckles turning white. Shouts of "Gus!" came from all sides of the table.

"What?! I needed to know for my notebook!" came his indignant reply.

"Your notebook?" Siren shouted, "You want to know all my secrets, my whole life story so you can write them in your crappy little notebook? You're so weird!" She was stood up now and screaming. "None of you little freaks need to know to know a thing about me, all right?" She threw one final glare around the room, her eyes resting on Liam's concerned face a second longer than the rest.

Turning on her heel, she stormed out the room and up the stairs, slamming the door to her bedroom.

Siren sank to the floor and closed her eyes. That was her last chance to not make living here some kind of hell and she had ruined it. It was not like she wanted to have friends, but having at least one ally would probably be beneficial.

A knock at the door startled her. A child, based on her earlier thinking.

"Who is it?"

"It's Carmen. Can I come in?"

Sighing heavily, she stood and opened the door. The young girl smiled at her and carefully stepped into the room, being sure to keep her distance. 'Good'

"What do you want?" Siren asked, wanting Carmen gone as quickly as possible.

"I just wanted to check that you are OK. You shouldn't let Gus and Liam get to you. Gus doesn't always understand what he's saying and Liam... well he hasn't been the same since Frank..." she trailed off, gesturing around the room.

"Who is this Frank guy? This was his room right?"

"Yes it was. Frank was Liam's best friend; he got fostered about two months ago. He might come back but it's looking doubtful."

Siren nodded, "So Liam is not always like this?"

"No. I mean he can sometimes be moody and you don't wanna mess with him, but he's not so bad. Why do you hate him so much?"

"I wouldn't say that I hate him. Hate is a very strong word. He just winds me up."

"OK," she nodded, "hey, if you want I can talk to him."

"Why would you do that?" Siren's brow creased in confusion. This girl seemed nice but she could just be a very good actress.

"Because we're friends" the girl said as if it was obvious. "Come here." She stepped forward, arms outstretched. Fear spread through Siren and she backed up against the wall. Her eyes went wide and her only thought was 'No, no, no'.

Carmen looked highly offended and confused.

"Just go." the red head breathed.

"I'll talk to Liam," Carmen replied as she left the room.

Siren gave her a shaky nod before collapsing to the floor.

A/N: Well there we go. There was a bit more about Siren's past in this chapter but why did she collapse? I would be happy to hear your ideas in a review* hint hint * see you soon :) x