The Hive: A Young Adult Dystopian Romance (The Enigma Trilogy Book 1)

by S. K Munt

  ‘Okay guys calm down… we’re freaking her out.’ Fingers reached out and brushed Finn’s hair to the side, and when she looked up and saw that Reeve had leaned down to catch her eyes so that he could stun her with another intimate grin, she sucked in a breath, wondering why the gods of good looks had made her look as blah as they had, and yet had graced this boy with a face so remarkable that it was incomparable to any other. ‘You don’t have to decide right now we’ll take you back to your mum’s and you can think about it on the way, cool?’

  Finn looked up at him and nodded, managing a timid smile, not knowing if she was agreeing to whatever he’d just said because it sounded like a good plan, or because she was pretty sure she would have agreed to anything he’d said.

  ‘Hey…’ Aaron Bragg rested his hand on Reeve’s shoulder then as his eyes narrowed Finn’s way. ‘What’s going on here?’

  ‘Oh, just doing some match-making…’ Reeve nudged Bailey (who was still smiling at Finn) and then inclined his head, barely acknowledging Ag’s arrival at all. ‘Ready to go man?’

  ‘That depends…’ Bailey looked so nervous and hopeful that Finn felt her heart skip a beat. ‘Are you ready?’

  Finn wasn’t quite sure what she was ready for, but she knew she couldn’t take another moment standing there while everybody stared at her expectantly- especially Aaron- so she nodded and took Bailey’s hand murmuring: ‘I guess so…’ while silently praying that she was right.

  *

  Principal Van Der Merwe had been Paige’s headmaster for years too, so it was easy to convince him that Finn’s mother would be okay with her accepting a lift home from them on their boat especially after Reeve had indicated that the Hayes’ family boat had been the big, expensive yacht that they’d seen earlier that afternoon.

  Finn was as floored by that as their principal was, and even more wowed to see how big it was up close. But it turned out that it was a family boat in the sense that it belonged to every branch of the Hayes/Burnett and Pilkes families equally- that they’d all chipped in together to purchase it just before the Strike with the intention of starting up a fishing charter service with it in order to pay off the loan they’d taken out in order to procure it.

  As luck would have it though, they’d only had to make a few joint repayments on it before the financial institutions had collapsed, leaving the extended family with an expensive asset in their possession that had only put them out of pocket by a few grand. That had been a fantastic stroke of luck, Reeve explained, in the sense that they had it to use now, obligation free. But it was also a very costly asset to run and maintain, so they barely ever got to use it.

  ‘It’s also a dangerous rig to safeguard…’ Reeve explained, sitting on the bench seats on one side of Finn and casually draping his arm behind her shoulders on the railing, surrounding her with his scent again as Bailey sat down on her other side, turning his body so their knees pressed together. Being in such close proximity to two boys at the same time made Finn hold her breath at first, so she wouldn’t accidentally press back against either of them, but the guys seemed so at ease with the arrangement that she forced herself to exhale, wondering how girls like Jade and Bonnie made interacting with boys look so natural. ‘Especially when pirates happen by. Jordy and I end up hiding in the bushes on the cliffs with our dad’s .22’s then, just waiting for a ship to sail too close to our harbour!’

  Finn smile at the wispy blonde that Reeve had introduced to her as Telle as she sat on Reeve’s other side. Hot green spikes of jealousy pricked Finn’s heart, but she made herself ask: ‘Who’s Jordy?’

  ‘One of my other cousins…on the Pilkes’ side...’ Reeve gestured towards the stern, where five or six much older and much rowdier guys were messing around, pretending like they were gonna throw one another overboard. ‘After me, he’s the best shot.’

  Finn couldn’t believe that they were casually having a conversation about shooting pirates, but she desperately wanted to go on having conversations like that, so she turned to Bailey and asked eagerly: ‘Do you shoot pirates too?’

  ‘Nah,’ Bailey made a face. ‘I can shoot, but I prefer not to.’

  ‘He’s a lover, not a fighter,’ Paige joked, coming to sit on Bailey’s other side and slapping his shoulder encouragingly. ‘Like you with books, Finn- only Bailey’s thing is music.’

  ‘Oh?’ Finn was intrigued. ‘Do you play an instrument?’

  ‘Nah…’ Bailey said again. ‘I just like to listen.’

  ‘What genre?’ Finn asked, desperately hoping that they’d prove to have a few things in common.

  ‘Mostly rap,’ he shrugged. ‘But I’ll listen to anything I find.’

  ‘And how do you do that? Listen to it… I mean?’

  ‘I’ll show you tomorrow,’ Bailey said, trying a wink of his own. ‘That’s if your mum says yes.’

  Well, Finn’s mother did say yes, and was so thrilled that Finn had found a way to reconnect with Paige after so many years of missing her that she practically packed a bag for her as she demanded Finn tell her everything about the gala before she had to go.

  ‘I wouldn’t even know where to start!’ Finn protested, as she reluctantly changed out of her dress and hugged it to her chest, needing to hang onto to the magical source for her evening’s happiness those few minutes more. ‘To summarise it would be to cheapen it, you know?’ She sighed and reluctantly handed her mother the dress, then reached into her top drawer to pull out the best casual outfit she had; a grey velour tracksuit that was worn, but fit her well. ‘But that dress was all anyone could talk about, mum! I wouldn’t be surprised if you wake up tomorrow with a line of girls outside ready to place orders for one of their own!’

  Finn’s mother pretended to be exhausted at the very idea of that, but her eyes were shining as she tossed Finn her toothbrush and then shooed her out the door, crying out for her to keep her necklace hidden and her eyes open.

  And your eyes off of Reeve! Finn added silently as she raced back to the boat. And on Bailey where they belong!

  Finn had expected to see Bailey’s face fall as she rushed back to board the boat dressed as herself, but he grinned and took her bag off her before leading her up to the flybridge. The seating arrangements had changed since Finn had been gone, and though it kind of pained her to see that Reeve and his pretty date Telle had gone to sit in the darkness alone on the bow together with their legs dangling over the side, she had to admit that it was easier to breathe now that she wasn’t breathing him in. And also, it was thrilling to be sitting so high, because it was like they were sailing through the starry sky rather than through the water.

  Finn knew it would take almost an hour to get to the first of the Shard islands, where just one branch of the family and Reeve’s date lived, and she was intimidated by the idea of making getting-to-know you conversation with Bailey for the duration of the journey. No one had ever mistaken her for being the shy type before, and if she’d met Bailey under similar circumstances to how she’d originally met Reeve, he probably would have already worked out what a chatterbox she was by nature, and might have already run screaming in the other direction the way Aaron Bragg and his mates had.

  The larger problem was though, that she hadn’t met Bailey under similar or organic circumstances- he’d introduced himself only after declaring that he was smitten already, which impressed upon her the notion that the only place his opinion of her had to go from there was down, which was scary. Yes, he’d been wowed by her when she’d been an anonymous dancing girl in a dress in a ball with flattering lighting surrounded by a gaggle of people, and judging by the looks she’d gotten from him and a handful of other strange boys that night, he hadn’t been the only one fooled by that Cinderella charade. But she wasn’t Cinderella anymore- she was just Finn Monroe in a tracksuit now, and guys usually didn’t even look at her when she was in that state, so how was she going to prevent this guy from seeing what a mistake he’d made by demanding an audience with her for two days? />
  Luckily for Finn though, Paige, her younger sister Hadley and their parents joined them on the flybridge for the ride home, which kept the conversation circulating nicely, despite the wind’s vain attempts to whisk every word they said away. Hadley wasn’t much of a talker, which had always made her the odd one out at gatherings because her entire family could be collectively described with the word ‘boisterous,’ but it didn’t take Finn long to work out that Hadley wasn’t a complete enigma as far as her relations were concerned, because Bailey was evidently the quiet type too. He seemed more present than Hadley did, though, who had a tendency to stare off into space in a detached fashion.

  I wonder if she’s annoyed that I’m going home with them? Finn wondered then, studying Hadley’s profile intently as she recalled the last words Hadley had ever said to her about girls using Paige to get to their cousins. I hope it’s obvious that none of this was my idea, and that I’m not actively hunting for a boyfriend… but again, I’m only here because Paige invited me, and I wouldn’t have dreamed of saying yes if Bailey had invited me to his place instead… so if Hadley doesn’t see that then it’s because she doesn’t want to, which means there probably isn’t a single thing I could do or say to change her mind anyway, right?

  Bailey was definitely cute enough to be boyfriend-worthy and looked tall, broad and cuddly now that her brain had un-swelled enough to process him better. There was no way of telling what his physique was like, because like most of his cousins, he’d gone to the Gala in loose jeans, a V-neck shirt, a hoody and a baseball cap, which was how most of Paige’s cousins had dressed for the night- casually, but with more flair than Aaron’s crew had, like they’d gone out of their way to prove that they’d come from money before they’d been classed as Outskirters. He had a fair bit of baby fat on his face still, but it didn’t make him look overweight- just like he was on the cusp of a massive growth spurt, and his smile was perfect- wide, slow to burn and sexily sharp in the corners, so even when he wasn’t smiling, there was still a trace of one at the corners of his lips and in his dimples- which seemed to be the only feature that he had in common with Reeve. But where Reeve’s dimples were long and shallow, emphasising his cheekbones, Bailey’s were like perfect tucks in his smooth skin, giving his face more of a boyish quality.

  Yes… he’s definitely attractive… Finn thought, looking away when she realised they were approaching Whitecap Island, which she hadn’t seen up-close since long before the Strike back when it had been overrun with tourists. But am I attracted to him? That’s the question! Will he make my heart flip the way-

  ‘All right beautiful…’ Finn heard Reeve say then, and she tried not to watch as Reeve wrapped up his date in a gentle hug and then kissed the top of her head, before leading her down onto the gangplank. There were some lights twinkling on the dock and on the developed side of the island beyond it, but other than that, the populated island looked as still and silent in the darkness from the boat as the Pen had. ‘We’ll talk at school, yeah?’

  ‘Night Reeve…’ the girl said, and though she wistfully tilted her face to his then, two of Reeve’s loudest cousins (who Finn now knew were named Jordy and Cam Pilkes) went thundering between them, shattering the moment by racing one another to the dock. Finn knew she shouldn’t have felt relieved when instead of kissing his date goodnight, Reeve merely steadied her balance before closing the gate behind her, but she was so relieved that she turned away, feeling like she’d gone from being Cinderella to one of the wicked stepsisters.

  ‘You’re still nervous, aren’t you?’ Bailey asked softly then, brushing her crinkled hair out of her eyes. ‘I can see it and it’s okay to admit it, you know? I know we’re a lot to take, and I can’t even imagine how wild we must all seem to a girl from Laidlaw-’

  ‘It’s not that,’ Finn said softly, deciding to be as upfront with him as she could be. ‘I love how wild and crazy Paige’s family is always have. I just…’ she lowered her gaze. ‘This is all really new to me. The boat, the party, the… the going home with a guy’s family after knowing him for like, eight seconds…’

  Bailey chuckled. ‘Yeah, and I came on so strong too- I see that now and it’s weird you know? I’m really not that guy. In fact, I’ve never even had a girlfriend before.’

  Finn raised an eyebrow, smelling a rat. Sure, he was coming across as shy now, but she hadn’t actually seen him at Cara’s birthday party on the night of the Strike because he’d been quite literally hidden behind a wall of would-be female suitors, so she didn’t see how he’d made it that far without having a girlfriend, unless the issue was that he was a player who had a fear of commitment.

  ‘Really?’ she asked, making a sceptical face. ‘Ever?’

  ‘Never.’ Bailey shuffled a little closer, lowering his voice so he wouldn’t be overheard by his aunt and uncle and cousins, who were blessedly, too busy calling out loud farewells to the kids down on the dock to be paying much attention to the intimate conversation that they were now having. ‘I mean, I asked you for your bloody phone number… doesn’t that prove how bad at this I am? I might as well have asked if I could fax you!’

  Finn laughed. ‘True. But still, you seemed so confident before-’

  ‘Well, there’s a very good chance that I was a bit buzzed off all the weed that people were smoking around me up on the balcony all night…’ Bailey confessed, ducking his head. But then he winked back up at her, proving that he and Reeve had the sexy wink thing in common too. ‘But more than that… I suppose I was kind of just feeding off Reeve’s energy, you know? That’s what happens when your best friend is the loudest person on earth- you develop a habit of yelling to be heard over the top of them, even if you’re not loud by nature.’ He combed her wind-whipped hair out of her eyes again, moving closer as he did. ‘All I know is that I came in to see what was up when the DJ called the single girls to the floor, and Reeve was already there, watching you and your friends. I saw you and I just… I saw stars, I guess. I said to Reeve: ‘Man, I need to meet that girl in yellow- I think I’m in love. Got any ideas?’ Because he almost always does and then he goes: ‘Well I actually know her, so how about an introduction?’ And then he just yelled out so all I could do was try to hit the ground running!’

  Finn considered his explanation for a minute, before deciding that it made sense- and actually even kind of gave her butterflies. ‘You say Reeve always knows what to do… does that mean he’s the player that I suspected you might be?’

  Bailey shrugged. ‘He’s not a player, but I don’t think there’s a woman in his life he hasn’t met and charmed, from his dental hygienist in the second grade, to my grandmother… he just always knows what to say.’ He squeezed one eye shut, looking awkward as he admitted: ‘That’s another reason I jumped as fast as I did- for fear that he’d have you swooning before I could.’

  Finn looked down at their hands, trying not to let her face or body react to that remark, because she knew he’d read it right if she did, and understand how disappointed she was to learn that the way Reeve had talked to her- stunning her- was the way he talked to everybody. Yes, she’d suspected that, even the first time they’d met, but it was sobering to know that she was just another mark to him.

  Not to Bailey, you’re not… a voice inside her head whispered then. To him, you’re a girl that had the ability to stun HIM from across a crowded room! So, forget about the guy that made you want to come in the first place, and focus on the one that’s hoping you stay!

  ‘I’m not the swooning type…’ Finn eventually said, before she looked up at him and smiled. ‘But it makes me feel better, knowing you’re new to this too. Like there’s less pressure, you know?’

  ‘There’s no pressure, understood?’ Bailey reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear. ‘You’re having a sleepover at your friend Paige’s house, and I’m having a sleepover at my cousin Reeve’s house, which just happens to be near Paige’s. If we hit it off well… hopefully this will be one of many weekends that we spen
d hopping back and forth between one another’s worlds, hmm?’ He bit his lush lower lip. ‘Sound like something you can be onboard with?’

  Finn smiled shyly, then gestured around and said: ‘Aren’t I already about as on board as it gets?’

  Bailey grinned and pulled her over to his side so she could rest her head against his shoulder, and now that she knew that that was a bold move for him, she relaxed into the casual hold, smiling more when she realised that yes, he felt every bit as cuddly as he looked and after years of being avoided, it definitely felt like something that she could get used to!

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  There was a ten P.M. curfew on the mainland, so Finn had expected that they’d be rushed back to their respective houses the moment they docked on Tower-Hill Island, which was the island that both Paige and Reeve’s families’ -the true Hayes branches- called home. Apparently though, no such law existed out on the Shards, so instead of splitting up, Reeve and Bailey had followed them back to Paige’s house, declaring that the night was still young.

  The idea of having to be ‘on’ for the boys for that much longer without getting a bit of a respite first had Finn’s palms sweating again because she’d genuinely been looking forward to having some good ol’ fashioned slumber party time with Paige. But her nervousness turned to excitement when, after they arrived back at Paige’s place and had lit a few lanterns to illuminate the space, Cal Hayes had gone out the back to crank up a generator in order to bring a very small, box-shaped TV and a DVD player in the living room to life.

  ‘Get out!’ Finn exclaimed, tucking her bag into a corner and watching in shock as Paige and Hadley immediately got to work converting the sofa in the living room into a bed while the boys crouched down in front of a rack of DVD’s and began arguing over which one they should watch. ‘How do you even have this?’