by S. K Munt
This is unbelievable! Finn had thought, stunned that King Amory had permitted them to transform his pristine grand foyer into a nightclub. How are we going to go back to normal life after this?
Their king had never had a throne, but there was a dais in the foyer that he often addressed people from upon- usually from behind his podium- and that was where the band had set themselves up, so that even the people on the staircase that wound around it and the overlook and balconies above could feel like they were a part of the action, even if they weren’t on the dance floor below.
Does all of this equipment belong to the band? Finn wondered, watching light reflecting off the castle’s bare walls with awe, which were being powered by generators that had been dragged up to the windows in the garden. How? Burrawong Island is supposed to be full of poor fishermen- not thriving artists who can afford a traveling roadshow!
‘This is manic!’ Paige rejoiced as they inched their way through the crowd. ‘Too bad he can’t do this every weekend, because I’d come back all the time then.’
‘I wish!’ Finn said, moving towards the dancefloor on instinct without even making the conscious decision to do so. She couldn’t help it though- the band was playing Dire Straits ‘This is Australia’ so even the older generations were out on the floor, grooving along to the country’s unofficial national pop anthem. ‘On both counts!’
Paige had never been a dancer, but she was always up for anything and so there was no debate as to where they should go or what they should be doing- they just joined the throng on the dance floor and started bouncing around with the crowd. The band was terrific and the songs they’d selected were mostly old Australian favourites, like ACDC and INXS- which were all artists that Finn hadn’t much cared about before, seeing as how that music had belonged to her much older siblings’ generation. But again, this was the first time that any of them had been able to listen to a live band in years, so Finn would have danced until she’d disintegrated anyway, even to the recorder tune that Gemma had just left to play!
This is it! Finn thought after Jade, Whitney and then Gemma had caught up to them, only half-listening to Jade as she began raving about the king’s ‘hot’ younger brother Liam, who’d come in from the mine camp in the Hinterlands for the occasion. Finn hadn’t yet seen him herself, but apparently, he’d already amassed quite the entourage already. This is what being a teenager is supposed to feel like!
Everyone was clearly having a ball, especially after the band started playing slightly more modern numbers from bands like Silverchair and Metallica, and Finn couldn’t help but feel like she was in a weird fever dream of some sort. Not just because she was happy, but because she felt like she’d been taken out of her body and transported into a new one in another world; one free of judgement.
It’s because the two most powerful cliques in school aren’t here, Finn realised as she flung her head from side to side, feeling the lyrics to the song ‘Freak’ hard that day- and in the best way. And because they’re not here, standing in their tight little clumps and whispering about everyone, the rest of us are feeling freer to be ourselves!
That wouldn’t last long, because the fact that Gemma was done with her band’s performance meant that the Hive girls would be there soon enough too. But Finn hadn’t seen Georgia or her friends yet, which gave her cause to hope that they had mapped out a different itinerary, which might keep them from crossing paths all night.
Of course, there was still one very powerful clique on display that evening, and one needed only to glance up at the private alcove above that had been cordoned off for the nobility up on the overlook, to know that King Amory and his betrothed, as well as the Prince and Princess and all of the confirmed Enigmas had the best seats in the house- far removed from the action below. And though Miriam looked like she’d manifested a golden and perfectly regal gown for the occasion, playing her part to a tee as she waved to everyone below, the usually regal king looked funny beside her, because he’d undone his bowtie and was thrashing his head to the beat, reminding Finn of how young he was, even if he was twice his fiancé’s age!
‘Hey… Finn…’ Paige panted and tugged on her wrist before pointing to the clogged stairwell. ‘I’m gonna go up and check on Hadley and have a smoke. You wanna come with?’
‘Where is she?’ Finn asked, looking around surprised.
‘On the balcony with the rest of the family- duh.’ She smiled at Finn. ‘I know how you feel about smoking, but some of them are dying to catch up with you again, so if you come with, I promise to beat up anyone that exhales anywhere near your dress…?’
Finn chuckled. She didn’t want to leave the dance floor, but she hadn’t seen Paige’s parents, Cal and Liz or Hadley in over a year, so she bobbed her head and turned to Jade, asking if she wanted to come along. Jade, however, was grinding against a guy Finn had never seen before (evidently, she’d forgotten all about the dashing young prince already) and didn’t seem to hear or see Finn, so Finn waved her hand, told the other two girls she’d be back and then began to follow Paige up the stairs, shaking her head and wondering if she was ever gonna feel the need to dance with a guy like that, or if she would forever be frozen in the body of an eleven-year-old girl.
Unfortunately for them, however, negotiating a path up that over-crowded staircase proved to be more trouble than it was worth, so they ended up jammed half-way up. ‘This really is manic…’ Finn said, testing out the word and deciding that she liked the way it tasted, especially now that suave had started sounding a bit stale.
‘Borderline pandemonium!’ Paige panted from the step above her, fanning herself again. ‘Good view from here though!’ She motioned across the open space between where they were, to the balcony that had been designated for smokers out on the front façade of the castle. ‘Any chance you can see my sister from there?’
Finn looked, but the balcony was too crowded, and yes far too smoky, for her to be able to make out a single face from where she stood, being blinded by flashes of pulsating light and choking on the scent of smoke and generator fuel. Cigarettes were incredibly hard to come across those days, but some people could still afford them, and Amory had made it legal for people over the age of eighteen to smoke marijuana in Laidlaw too, which basically guaranteed that every public event still had a designated- and overcrowded- smoking area.
Ugh, what’s the bet that Ag’s out there, bumming smokes and weed off his new stoner-turned-miner friends? Finn thought, frowning a little at the idea of getting close enough to Aaron Bragg to ruin her mood. Oh well, hopefully if he is, he’ll be too stoned to notice me if he is!
‘Sorry, but no,’ she eventually said to Paige, straightening up when she noticed a slight gap forming in the crowded stairway, just above Paige’s head. ‘But if we just….’
But the encouraging words Finn had been about to say died on her lips when she saw two people step into view above Paige’s dark hair; one was the strange boy in the three-piece suit with the intense stare that she’d seen in the hall earlier and the second, with her hands clasped around his arm and sporting Finn’s ivory dress and a Cheshire smile- was Georgia Janks, which made Finn feel less like she’d stepped onto a staircase, and more like she’d stepped directly onto a warpath instead.
‘Oh Finn... you did make it! And I heard you’d opted to stay at home and sulk because you couldn’t afford a dress!’ Grinning, Georgia pressed her palm possessively against the chest of the boy, holding up traffic for the sake of staging a scene as she cooed: ‘Have you met Liam yet? Our wonderful king’s younger brother...?’
No, Finn had never met Liam before and it was pretty common knowledge that few people in Laidlaw had ever met him or his father Sean before either, because the two of them had been living almost three hundred kilometres inland prior to the Strike and had stayed there since, which probably meant that this was Liam’s first visit to Laidlaw ever. Not that Finn really cared about any of that right then, while Georgia was smiling at her so obnoxiously t
hat Finn half expected to see yellow canary feathers peek out of her teeth!
She knows I haven’t met him- she just wants to brag that SHE met another member of the royal family first! Finn’s fingernails dug into the marble handrail. And she must really, REALLY want me to see her in that dress while she’s at it! To prove that anything anyone wants, is hers for the taking! Well DUH!
‘Your name is Finn?’ Liam asked before Finn could turn away in disgust, cocking his head to the side. His eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and though Finn would have liked to believe that was because Georgia had already bored him to tears, she knew that it was more likely that he’d been smoking something up on the balcony. ‘I figured it would have been tulip,’ he smirked, ‘or maybe daffodil? You know? Cos you’re all yellow…?’
Finn raised an eyebrow, trying to work out if he’d meant that as an insult, or if he was just rambling the way stoned people did. But before she could respond, Paige boomed: ‘Well look who it is!’ So loudly that even Finn flinched. ‘The former pride of the Pen!’
Georgia instinctively stepped back, like a bear cub realising that the other cub it had been clawing at was with its mother. And though she lifted her chin in defiance, there was no hiding the way her lip curled at being associated with the Pen, or the way her throat contracted as she swallowed, no doubt as she remembered that the girl she’d always teased for being chubby could hold her own now!
‘Hey Hayes…’ Georgia flicked her butt-length hair, trying to look and sound casual but failing. ‘Didn’t see you there- that’s a first.’
‘You know I’d take that as a crack about my weight…’ Paige said, ‘but seeing as how you’ve gained so much yourself-’
‘What?!’ Georgia stood taller, looking outraged. ‘I have not-’
‘No, you definitely have,’ Paige said matter-of-factly, ‘so add in the fact that you’ve tried to squeeze yourself into a dress that’s at least three sizes too small for-’
‘Knock it off!’ Georgia snapped, stepping away from Liam- no doubt so she could hiss something poisonous without giving away her good girl image. ‘I look great- everyone’s been saying so! And you’re probably just saying otherwise because Finn’s gone and cried on your shoulder about how badly she wanted this dress!’
‘Are you serious?’ Finn feigned surprise, stepping out from the rail so that her rival could get an eyeful of the dress that she’d worn. The music had stopped, probably because the band was moving aside for the DJ, but the din in the room was almost as loud as it had been before, so Finn wasn’t worried about being overheard as she demanded: ‘That’s the dress I wanted? Get outta here!’
‘You know it is!’ Georgia practically snarled, but when her eyes fell to Finn’s gown, there was no mistaking her shock. ‘You-’
‘No!’ Finn’s eyes widened as she shook her head, feigning innocence. ‘No way! It looks completely different on you than it did on me.’ Finn motioned to Georgia’s stomach, waving her fingertip from side to side. ‘That fabric was draped before, and now it just kind of looks like it’s pulling, you know?’ She cocked her head to the side and rested her hands on her own tiny waist, studying Georgia as though genuinely mystified, while Georgia spluttered in outrage. ‘It was longer too, I thought.’ She turned to Paige. ‘Kind of slinky- like a flapper dress almost?’
‘I can sort of see that…’ Paige said, stepping closer to Georgia, so she could assess her with a furrowed brow, while Georgia tensed and stepped back further pulling on the hem that had risen too high up her thighs, and sucking in her stomach. ‘Hmm, it’s a shame you couldn’t afford it, Monroe…’ She shook her head sadly and stepped back, finishing: ‘Might have actually looked good on you.’
‘I’m not so sure about that anymore...’ Finn waved her hand before leaning casually back against the railing, thinking that their little impromptu dressing-down couldn’t have gone better if they’d scripted it in advance! Yes, they were being vicious, and Finn knew she’d eventually feel guilty about it, but they were also being what Georgia prided herself on being- tactlessly honest.
Georgia still looked pretty, of course, because she was a pretty girl and she’d actually worn her hair out that night, finally playing up her strongest feature. But she had an old-fashioned sort of beauty and a thicker build, so by squeezing herself into the dress that she wasn’t thin or curvy enough to do justice, it looked like it was wearing her, rather than the other way around. Back in the day, Finn would have fixed Georgia up before they’d left for the party, piling up her hair all pretty to suit the dress, or advising her to wear something that gave her shape, but Georgia had thrown her out like trash, so Finn concluded: ‘The white’s too white for a blonde- I see that now. I would have needed to suntan for a week to avoid looking washed out in it.’
‘Well- bullet dodged then!’ Paige smiled sweetly at Georgia as Georgia looked from her pale freckled arm, to Finn’s bronzed one- reading between the lines. ‘Anyway Janks… how the hell have you been- bad hair days aside?’ She leaned back on the railing by Finn, as though she was totally oblivious to the way they’d just totalled Georgia’s confidence. ‘I barely hear about you anymore, seeing as how all anyone’s interested in talking about these days is the Enigmas.’ She winked. ‘Must be a relief, huh? To just be an average girl again?’
Both Finn and Paige looked expectantly at Georgia, as though waiting for an equally polite response, but of course Georgia’s pale face had turned bright red, and the rest of her features had hardened into a mask of hatred- especially at the word ‘average.’ Meanwhile, the king’s brother looked more confused than anything as he asked Paige:
‘You’re an Enigma?’ Paige nodded. ‘Cool. What can you do?’
‘Destroy things,’ Paige said nonchalantly, keeping her eyes locked on Georgia’s as she added: ‘Especially when we’re mad.’
‘You know what?’ Georgia stepped in closer, pointing at Paige’s chest. ‘Screw you-’ she turned and pointed to Finn, ‘both of you.’ She drew back and curled her lip at Paige. ‘I’m not afraid of you.’
Paige frowned, as though confused. ‘Who said you should be? I was just explaining to your date that I’m an Enmity-’
‘Oh, I’m not her date,’ Liam said, staggering forward a little. ‘My big bro just asked her to show me around and-’
‘Exactly!’ Georgia clasped Liam’s hand before tugging him away. ‘Now if you’ll excuse us, I think Liam and I are done with the cheap and nasty leg of the tour!’
‘Better go change out of the satin SOCK you’re wearing first then!’ Paige hollered after her, causing more than a few people to turn around and gape at her, and quite a few others to laugh. But there was no way of knowing if Georgia had heard her, because she had already disappeared from view, taking her prize with her. Liam was looking back though, and his expression was one of bewilderment.
‘Well...!’ Paige leaned back against the railing and grinned at Finn, who was smirking over the ungainly way Georgia had stomped off in her flat shoes. ‘That was fun. Got anyone else you need me to sort out before I go back to the island?’
‘Oh my god…’ Finn wrapped her arms around Paige so she could chuckle over her shoulder. ‘I knew I missed you- but I didn’t realise how much until just now, when you reminded me of how easy standing up to her can be when someone has my back for once!’
‘Oh, you can stand up to her just fine without me Finn,’ Paige said, gently straightening an errant lock of Finn’s hair. ‘You might think my strength makes you braver but at the end of the day, I’ve never had to throw a punch in my life- not to win an argument against her, and not even to make someone run away, and I don’t have half the vocabulary you have, which really is your superpower. So next time someone comes at you like that… get on your own side, okay? And just pretend like I’m standing there beside you, if that’s what it takes to loosen that sharp tongue of yours!’
Finn felt her eyes well with tears, and when she heard the speakers rumble to life and a disc jockey’
s voice come across the PA, introducing himself, she felt another thrill run through her because he was already playing one of her favourite old hip hop songs by Montell Jordan. ‘Seriously though- do you have to go back?’
‘Yeah, I do- my family needs me a lot more than Amory needs another Enmity.’ Paige linked her arm through Finn’s. ‘And speaking of family, some of my brood are dying to see you again so-’
‘There you are Finn! I’ve been looking for you for ages!’ a voice cried then, and Finn pivoted, eyes widening when she cast her gaze to the bottom of the now empty stairs and saw Mischa running up them to her with the Hive in tow. They were all wearing black cocktail dresses, which made them look a bit more like a coven than a hive from above, but as they drew closer, Finn could see how different all of their dresses were, and how perfectly suited to each girl they were. Yes, they were definitely all second-hand, but for the most part they’d opted for classic silhouettes that showed that they still knew a thing or two about style and about what suited them best, which was where Georgia had failed. Mischa must have whipped out her old make-up kit too, because every girl’s make up had been artfully applied, giving them smoky eyes highlighted with flecks of gold, which matched the golden accessories that they’d all strapped on and reminded Finn of how they’d all looked after the Strike, when they’d been streaked with that glittering golden dust and soot. Luckily for them though, none of them were covered in blood this time. ‘You too Paige!’ Mischa added, coming to a halt on the step beneath Finn. ‘We heard you guys have been dominating the dance floor all night!’
‘And did I seriously just hear you order Janks to change out of her satin sock?’ Mila demanded of Paige, looking scandalised.
‘Yup!’
‘Ha!’ Cara held up a hand so Paige could slap it five, but then scowled as she glanced in the direction that Georgia had gone. ‘Serves her right for trying to hog Liam’s attention all night!’
