Saturday morning, Liona was the first one up of her friends and siblings and got to work making a large breakfast. She knew her brothers at the very least ate a ton, they were active boys and burned through everything they ate since they were swimmers and good at their chosen sport. Her sisters, on the other hand, had phases where they ate a ton, and at others they were picky little brats. So far, they were eating a lot right now, so she counted on that when she decided what to make.
Checking the ingredients in the fridge, Liona decided that the best option to feed all the hungry people this morning was breakfast sandwiches. They were really easy to make and would be filling. Pulling out the bagels and English muffins, for variety, from the pantry, she got to work, splitting them and toasting them in their large toaster. She loved this thing since she could toast up to 8 slices of bread at a time, it made it convenient on mornings such as this to make sure everyone was getting their food close together. She knew her dad loved it too since he did most of the cooking for them.
After she was done preparing the sandwiches, she was just bringing in the serving tray to the dining room when the first of her siblings entered. Seeing the spread, Noah grinned at her and actually deemed to give her a hug.
"Thanks for breakfast, sis!"
Liona smiled. Sometimes her brothers weren't such little monsters.
"You're welcome. Is Nolan up too?"
"Nah, he was up late, gaming. He probably won't be up for a few more hours at the earliest." Noah said as he sat at the table and grabbed a breakfast bagel sandwich.
"Morning, sis!" The cheerful sounding voices of Ariel and Aurora sounded as Noah started to stuff his face.
"Morning you two. Help yourselves to breakfast while I go and see if Alli and Chloe are awake yet."
"Oh, they're already awake, we passed them on the stairs." Aurora explained, just as Chloe and Alli entered.
"Oh my gosh! That's what smells so amazing! Liona you're such a godsend with food!" Chloe proclaimed as she inhaled comically.
"That's right! Who's a better chef than Liona? Not a single person!" Allison agreed as she and Chloe sat at the table next to Aurora and Ariel.
Liona knew her friends were just praising her to make her feel good. She wasn't a spectacular chef; she was just barely above average and happened to like cooking. She wasn't good at things like her whole family, so this was the least she could do to help not feel like an abject failure.
"So gameplan today, what are we doing first?" Alli asked as she loaded her plate with two sandwiches.
"First, coffee, then off to the salon to get our hair and nails done, then it's off to the theater for a movie. Afterwards, it's time for lunch and then back here to unfortunately study." Liona sighed at that depressing thought.
"Sounds good to me! Finals start Monday! We need to make sure you pass so that your birthday isn't canceled!" Chloe agreed.
"You can do it, Liona!" Noah cheered her on.
"Thanks, Noah. I will try my best to not fail and disappoint Mom and Dad…" Liona grabbed a sandwich and stuffed her face after that.
The discussion around finals was depressing, but her brother and sisters had nothing to worry about and would pass with ease, no matter what subject. She would probably fail history and literature and who knows, she might as well expect a failing grade for math as well. Science wasn't nearly as bad, but the math part of it sucked so she would probably fail that too. Who was she kidding? She was going to fail every subject and the look of disappointment on her parents' faces was going to make that so much harder for her to face them when grades came in.
After breakfast, her sisters volunteered to do the dishes, which she was grateful for, since that allowed her and her friends to go up and get ready for their day. After everyone was ready, they all piled into her car and headed for their favorite coffee shop near their school. The baristas there always made their favorite drinks to perfection even though they weren't technically on the menu.
Pulling up to the window after putting in their orders, Liona was busy laughing at something Alli had said that had sent her and Chloe into a fit of giggles, so she didn't immediately see who the barista was that was opening the little window to hand her their drinks. But as she looked up after noticing the movement at the window, she genuinely smiled. It was Erik again. She wondered why he was here briefly before joking that it was a small world.
As she was handed the drinks, her hand barely grazed Eriks and a little spark of electricity raced up her hand and sent a shiver down her spine. She looked up at Erik who was blushing furiously and looking nervous. 'He must have felt it too! I know I didn't imagine it!' She thought with a smile at him. She really thought he was cute.
"So hey, I never did get an answer last night. When do you typically get off work? We would love to hang out with you again." She asked.
"Yo Erik! The line's backing up!" Liona heard from the open window before another face popped out next to Erik's. "Oh! I see!" The guy next to Erik laughed. "If you ladies will give him just a moment, he's due for a break in five. I'll send him out in just a few with a couple of treats for our best customers!" The next thing Liona heard before the window was closed, was "Lucky you, Erik! You got the attention of not just one, but three beautiful girls that wouldn't look twice at us other baristas!" As the other guy slung an affectionate arm over Erik's shoulder as his face turned red behind the window.
After that Liona pulled around to the side of the building where there was a parking lot and set the car into parking mode. There were a few tables outside the shop that customers could enjoy their coffee at. It was a sunny, if slightly chilly morning, so at Chloe's and Alli's insistence, they went out to wait for Erik.
"Liona, I swear you are so lucky to keep running into such a cute guy! Come on! Let's wait outside for him." Chloe, encouraged.
"Yeah, what if this is fate at work, Liona?!" Alli interjected as she opened the car door.
"No way! Fate is like so rare, you two! You can't expect me to believe that this fate! Besides, fated meetings don't happen until you're 18 at the earliest!" Liona protested a bit, but she was blushing and secretly wondering if this really was fate at play. She got out of the car with Alli and went over to sit at the table that Chloe was already heading towards.
"Well, that's not quite right! There are some cases where fated mates did meet and recognize each other before they were 18!" Chloe interjected as they sat down. "My parents, for one, are an example of that! My mom was only 14, younger than we are now, when she had her fateful moment with my dad! They've been happily together for years and still going strong, even if they did start dating at a young age!"
Alli added her two cents as well, "Liona, your dad knew that your mom was his fated mate long before he was even a teenager, did he not? He would tell us the story of when he was just a little kid and how he always loved your mom. How he felt that connection to her, but your mom was stubborn and didn't realize it until he really made her see him as a man. It's so romantic!" Alli pretended to swoon which elicited giggles from both her and Chloe.
As the girls giggled and chatted, sipping their coffee, Liona contemplated what her friends had said. They had indeed been right about her mom and dad as well as her Aunt Jeannette and Uncle Chad, but the boy that was cute that she kept running into wasn't an alpha, he was a beta. He didn't have even the barest hint of pheromones, that even the most severe of suppressants couldn't cover up. It wasn't fate, it was just static electricity.
Sure, if she got to know Erik, she might consider dating him, but what was the point if he wasn't an alpha? Eventually she would want to have someone special to spend her heats with rather than riding them out all alone as she had done up to now. Of course, she had suppressants she used to take the edge off them, but her mom had warned her of the dangers of relying on them too heavily as a sigma carrier. Even the tailored suppressants she got from her Aunt Noel, could become ineffective if overused.