by S. K Munt
‘Then you’re one of the many things that he has going for him then, aren’t you?’ Feeling as though every question she’d been too afraid to ask had been answered, Finn sighed and stood up, dusting off her hands on her pants. She still wasn’t sure if Reeve had been testing her or what, but she was confident that if he had been, she’d passed. ‘So… is that all you wanted to talk to me about?’
‘Wh-what?’ Reeve asked, unfurling himself.
‘You said you wanted to talk to me about something earlier…?’ she reminded him, pressing her face into Sorrenson’s flank so she could breathe her in. ‘Did you mean Shelly? Or was this all about interrogating me over Bailey, so you can run back and tell him how much I like him, and how many bases I’ve rounded?’
‘Huh? Oh. Actually no… I wanted to talk to you about something else. Something about the night of the Strike. But you know what?’ Reeve had picked up a rock, which he now weighted in his hand before tossing it out into the water. ‘It doesn’t matter.’
Finn raised her brows. ‘Well now I’m really intrigued!’
Reeve chuckled and began making his way back to the horse. ‘Sorry. Talking about that night bums me out sometimes, you know? And I don’t feel like being bummed out anymore today.’
‘I get that…’ Finn hedged, wondering what had bummed him out already. ‘But if you’re worried that I’m gonna like, negate your claims that you saved my life that night- don’t be. I’m fully aware that you pulled Shelly and I into that pipe in the nick of time, and I haven’t forgotten it. So if you need me to sign an affidavit or something declaring you to be a hero-’
‘No,’ Reeve laughed his husky laugh as he took her hand and hefted her back up so that she could push off the stirrup again. ‘Contrary to what Bailey said that night, I don’t try to paint myself as a hero, and I don’t think I would have been able to get you into that pipe, if you and Shelly had weighed a kilo more. Besides, I wouldn’t have thought to take cover in those pipes if you haven’t shoved me at them in the first place, so if I’m a hero, then so are you.’ He paused as he took his place in front of her on the horse. ‘Though I do suspect that we both saved Shelly’s ass...’
‘Oh for sure,’ Finn said, settling her legs around Reeve’s hips and noting that doing so felt more natural and less awkward now, which was a win. She was probably never going to feel completely at ease around him, but hey, if every other girl he ever encountered ended up head over heels for him, then that meant there was nothing special about the charge that she felt between them, didn’t it? Which made it worthless anyway. ‘For what it’s worth though Reeve…’ she squeezed him gently. ‘I’m really glad you were with me in the end there, and I’m sorry I haven’t had the chance to say that until now.’
‘You just uh, vanished…’ Reeve said that so softly that his words were almost immediately carried away by the wind. ‘One minute you were helping us put out the fire and the next you were gone. Then when I found out you’d gone home I freaked and had to be stopped from chasing you. I mean- you were so small.’
‘Sorry,’ Finn said, and she meant it, though she was slightly amused by the idea of Reeve worrying about her due to how small she’d been, seeing as how he’d been a twelve-year-old kid at the time! ‘I didn’t actually vanish though- I told Liz and Cal first, who were probably too freaked out by the fact that half of their house had just burned down to care much about what one of the stray kids on their property was doing.’ She sighed. ‘But I had to get home to check on my mum because I was the only person that would, you see? And because Liz and Cal’s cars weren’t working, I knew the only way I was going to be able to get out of there was by bike.’ She shrugged. ‘Besides, I wasn’t alone. Shelly wanted to get home too, so we agreed to double each other back, taking turns. And we didn’t bother saying goodbye to everyone, because we knew people would have tried to stop us, you know?’
Reeve sighed. ‘Yeah I know… but I was still kind of pissed. I mean, that was a momentous thing to go through together, so I’ve been holding a grudge against you for how quickly you like, scurried away after since.’
‘Then why did you seem so happy to see me last night?’
‘Because you looked so pretty I forgot…’ Reeve said, matter-of-factly, like he’d shifted gears and was back into his neutral one: mindless flirtation. ‘And because you remembered my stone heart.’
‘Ah,’ Finn said, blushing a little. There was more she could say, but something inside her told her not to. ‘Gotcha.’
‘Anyway, now that we’ve got that air cleared… I’d better get you back to Bailey, yeah? So he doesn’t worry that I’ve ridden off with yah?’ And though he laughed as he flicked the reins and took off without waiting for an answer, Finn sighed, thinking that though he might have been cute and fun- he wasn’t funny at all!
*
Finn wanted to spend some time alone with Paige after she returned to her place, but she was still asleep so after having lunch with Cal, Liz and Hadley, Bailey asked Finn if she’d like to go for a walk alone so he could show her what he’d gotten from his bag at Reeve’s place earlier.
Making small talk as they walked through the Hayes’ multitude of vegetable gardens and orchards was awkward at first, but the conversation had turned to Aaron Bragg and his mates over lunch, so Finn took the opportunity to quiz Bailey over whether he was tight with them or not, even admitting that if they were, it would probably end up being an issue.
‘No, we’re definitely not close,’ Bailey assured her, making a face. ‘Reeve has always kind of sucked up to him a bit, because he used to diss Reeve all the time so he’s like, eager to be accepted by the big boys now that he is one, you know?’ And Finn nodded because it sounded exactly like her relationship with Cara. ‘But as you’re probably well aware of by now: I’m not much for socialising, which means I don’t care if I have his gang’s approval or not.’
‘And because you don’t care, people like Aaron assume you’re cool, and suck up to you…’ Finn guessed, wagging her finger in his face. ‘Aha! Now it’s all making sense!’
‘What is?’
‘The fact that you have groupies, even though you haven’t even started a band yet.’
It was Bailey’s turn to throw back his head and laugh. ‘Well, your explanation sounds a lot better than mine does, so I’ll take it.’ He indicated to the base of a Tabebuia tree, and the carpet of pale pink blossoms that had fallen beneath it, like snow. ‘I don’t mind being thought of as cool because come on, I’m only human. But it’s honestly not the case, and anyone who knows me well knows that which takes the fun out of it.’
‘I get that,’ Finn said, feeling much more at ease with him now that he was finally opening up- and without Reeve there drawing focus the whole time. ‘It’s how I felt when you and Reeve started talking about what an amazing dancer I was last night. Like… I like it, because who doesn’t like compliments? But I know too many trained dancers to ever think of myself as being one, so the flattery just makes me uncomfortable.’
‘You’re actually wrong though,’ Bailey said, sitting down on the soft ground and pulling something out of his saddle bag. ‘It’d be different if no one that knows you thought of you as a dancer, but plenty of people do and were as wowed by you as we were last night so guess what? It must be true.’ Finn opened her mouth to protest as she sank to her knees beside him, but he held up a hand and then held up a disc-man with the other. ‘But we’re not here to talk about what you love- not just now anyhow. But about what I love- music.’
‘Yikes!’ Finn cried, kneeling beside him and taking the black case from his hands. ‘I can’t work out whether I’m impressed by the technology in your possession- or the antique!’
‘It’s a bit like that, isn’t it?’ Bailey asked, holding up the headphones attached to the Discman, so he could place them over her ears. ‘But it’s my favourite thing in the world now, and I don’t know what I’m going to do when I run out of batteries for it.’
�
��Ugh… that would be nerve-wracking,’ Finn held still as he adjusted the earphones on her head. ‘Do you have a lot of CD’s?’
‘Oh- just a few!’ Bailey reached into his bag and pulled out an actual wallet packed with CD’s, and Finn’s eyes widened again. ‘And I plan on making you listen to all of my favourite ones!’ Bailey ejected one disc from the compact disc player, and then inserted a new one. ‘First up, my favourite band: Cypress Hill.’ He pressed a few buttons and then the music started to pound in Finn’s head, startling her a little bit. But as the beat began to assemble itself into a familiar form, she smiled and nodded, saying probably too loudly:
‘I actually know this band- a guy my sister dated listened to it.’ She bobbed her head a little bit. ‘I like it, but it’s hardly a new revelation… so what else you got?’
‘Okay okay how about… this one?’ Bailey held up a disc, but was already switching it out with Cypress Hill before she had the chance to read the label. ‘The Notorious BIG.’
‘Ah… I know this one too…’ Finn said, closing her eyes and listening to it for a moment. This time, Bailey let her get halfway through the song before he asked: ‘Well…?’
Finn shrugged. ‘Sorry it’s okay… but I was never really into him. I liked the song that that puffy guy wrote for him though…hey! Got any Eminem?’
‘Ugh, you’re so mainstream…’ Bailey grumbled, but he smiled as he ejected the compact disc, and exchanged it for another. ‘We can listen to Eminem later. But, if you’re gonna make the girlfriend grade, you’re going to have to admit to loving this first, because it’s very possibly a dealbreaker if you don’t.’
‘Well… this is escalating quickly…’ Finn teased, but her heart stuttered a little, making her realise that she actually wasn’t ready for this guy to lose interest in her yet. But Bailey just smiled and pressed play, and again, Finn’s head was filled with the sound of music. Only this time, the opening bars were soft and melodic, full of voices that whispered and hummed more than they spat and clacked.
‘Wow…’ she said, settling back against the tree. ‘That’s different… soft even.’ Then, when she heard the lead vocalist launch into a spiel so fluid and swiftly paced that she struggled to understand a word he said, her eyes widened. ‘Damn, they’re fast! Who is this?’
‘Bone thugs,’ Bailey said softly and with reverence. ‘And that is my favourite song. Or at least it has been since the Strike.’
‘Mmm… I can see why.’ Finn closed her eyes, listening as the hypnotic voices chorused the simple chorus: ‘See you at the Crossroads… where you won’t be lonely…’ ‘I love it…’ she said softly, nodding her head a little as it occurred to her that there was exactly where she was at in her life right then- a crossroads. ‘Sort of sounds like a prayer. I mean, not that I’m religious or anything but-’ she opened her eyes, meaning to ask him if he knew all the lyrics, but when she did, saw that he’d wriggled so that he was sitting right by her, and that he was leaning in, meaning that by the time her lips had parted, his hand was already cupping her jaw. ‘Oh!’ She swallowed. ‘Are you going to kiss me?’
Bailey bit his lip. ‘Is that okay?’
Finn recoiled further into the tree, feeling like the jackhammer that was her heart now was nailing her right to it. ‘Honestly? I… I don’t know Bailey. You’re a nice guy but.. but I’m nervous.’
‘Yeah so am I…’ Bailey leaned in closer. ‘But you know what?’
Finn swallowed hard. ‘What?’
‘I’m so sick of being seen as nice, Finn. I want to be seen as more than that- especially by you. So… guess what?’
‘What?’ she whispered, breath hitching.
His response was to kiss her, and when she realised that his lips were as soft and gentle as the rest of him was, her response was to kiss him back.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
‘Well…?’ Jade demanded the following Tuesday afternoon after school, grabbing Finn’s wrist and shaking it, like she could wring all the details out of her that way. ‘Then what happened?!’
Finn bit her lip, glancing around at the eager faces that had been hanging onto her every word all day. She’d usually be a lot more reserved when it came to sharing such private anecdotes, but she was a storyteller, and she hadn’t had such an attentive audience since she’d convinced half the fourth grade at Peninsula Primary that the storm drain in the rear corner of the school had been haunted, so she felt it was only fair to give the people what they wanted, especially seeing as how they’d been following her since recess, begging for more! So, Finn smiled impishly before returning to the task at hand; un-padlocking her bike as she concluded: ‘So... we kissed for a bit.’
‘Was he a good kisser?’ Cara demanded. ‘He looked like a good kisser- always has.’
‘Well, I don’t think I’ve kissed enough guys to be able to grade them…’ Finn hedged, as she began to scoop up fistfuls of the metallic-smelling chain so she could pour it into her backpack. ‘But I think he was good, especially once he’d realised I wasn’t going to run away and like, relaxed a bit.’
‘You always need that time to like, settle into a rhythm…’ Cara said sagely. ‘How was the second kiss though?’
‘And did he try anything else?’ Mila demanded, examining her glossy black hair for split ends she’d never find.
‘Yes and no.’ Finn clipped her bag, feeling her face burning hotly as she remembered how handsy Bailey had gotten after that first kiss. ‘Technically, there was no second kiss- not unless you count the fact that we kissed a few times right there under the tree. He wanted to, but I kind of felt like things were moving too fast, so I asked if we could focus on getting to know each other more first and he agreed.’
‘What?!’ Mischa squeaked.
‘You’re crazy!’ Jade’s pale blue eyes were wide. ‘What if he chases someone else because he thinks you’re frigid now?!’
Finn snorted as she stood. ‘Well, if not wanting to get too hot and heavy with a guy on a first date makes me frigid then gosh, I guess I am frigid, so best he knows that now.’
‘That was more than just a first date though!’ Jade protested. ‘That was a whole weekend. Plus, he’s hot and rich, so I think you should have at least let him-’
‘I think it’s great that you kept him wanting more,’ Cara interrupted, shooting Jade a Look. ‘I might look like I come on strong when it comes to guys, but I would have been careful about what kinds of signals I was sending out too- especially in that situation. Besides- we’re Potentials, which means that someday, we might potentially be able to have anyone we want, and the last kind of guy we ought to want, is one that only sees a potential conquest.’
‘I’ve never really thought about it that way…’ Finn mused, relieved that Cara had her back for once. ‘But you’re not wrong. I mean, you could be wrong, and we could all turn out to be duds of course…’ she snickered. ‘But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m not so desperate to score myself a boyfriend, that I’m willing do whatever they want whenever they want it, just to lock one in.’
‘You do not have to sleep with a guy to lock one in,’ Cara said, wriggling her eyebrows. ‘And Mimi’s living proof of that!’
All the girls gasped- even Finn. ‘Whoa!’ Jade cried. ‘Are you saying that Mimi’s a-’
‘Shush!’ Cara snapped, looking round, but then she looked back at Jade and nodded. ‘But yes. And she’s as proud of that as I am.’
Wow! Finn thought, reeling. Cara’s a virgin too? She knew she shouldn’t have been shocked, because Cara was the kind of girl that liked to tease several boys at once, and was sort of clumsy when it came to flirting and tended to swear at boys or punch them as often as she batted her eyelashes, but she was impressed that Miriam was because she’d been seeing an older man for what… three years by then? It was mind-blowing! As was the fact that Amory hadn’t proposed sooner to lock her in in the biblical sense!
‘But she lives in the castle with him!’ Gemma looked stunned, like L
ady Miriam had just been accused of doing something awful.
‘Yeah- in a separate room. And that’s where she’ll stay, until she’s his wife.’ Cara held up her palms to Bonnie and Mila, whose virginity ships had sailed long before. ‘Look, I don’t think it has to be saved for marriage, which is what Miriam believes, because our parents were always hard on us about that,’ her lashes lowered in respect for her deceased parents. ‘But though I’m personally of the opinion that true love is just something they make up to sell books and movie tickets, I also think there’s a lot to be said for at least waiting for the right guy to do it with for the first time- just to safeguard yourself against getting dumped after by a user, or something tragic like that. And because I’ve heard it’s a lot easier to do if you’re genuinely into the guy, then if you’re just doing it to make him happy.’
‘I can attest to that,’ Mila volunteered, raising one creamy hand. ‘It’s like filing nails if you’re not into it, but awesome if you are.’
‘Wow,’ Mischa said, blinking rapidly, while the other girls stared at Cara in consternation. ‘Just… wow.’
‘Well, I think it’s cool that Miriam’s a virgin, and I’m pretty sure that I’ll be staying one for years yet, but each to their own, you know?’ Afraid that things were getting a bit preachy, Finn shouldered her backpack and continued brightly: ‘Anyway! I think the rest of the weekend was great regardless, and if I get home after work today and find that he’s sent me a letter over with the French Connection like he promised he would, then I guess I’ll know if he did too.’
