Species Unknown [Book 2: Pisces)

04. SINK OR SWIM

BY THE TIME Noah and I had left the compound to cross over to the beach, the sun was beginning to set. The sand was cold against my feet as I walked beside Noah, who kept talking about how excited he was for me to meet everyone.

Though I kept nodding my head, I only caught bits of pieces of what he said. All I could hear was the crashing of the waves against the sand and the rapid pounding of my heart against my chest.

I was beginning to wish I had never come. The closer we got to the water, the more I considered just turning and sprinting away.

Suddenly, I felt Noah nudge my arm. I looked over at him. His eyes sparkled and his lips parted into a grin, "We're here!" He announced excitedly, looking ahead of us.

I followed his gaze to see a group of maybe a dozen people standing around a foldout table. As we approached, I felt the heavy bass of music vibrate the sand beneath my feet. Noah stepped from beside me to rush ahead, grabbing the attention of a few people. They moved to meet him and I could tell they were greeting each other.

Noah turned back and gestured me over.

"Guys this is Lani, the new intern." Noah spoke, as I walked over to stand beside him. A group of two men and one woman stood looking at me.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Reid." One of the men said. He was slightly taller than Noah, but much thinner, and with long black hair pulled back into a half bun.

"And this is Chloe and Hunter." Reid said, gesturing to the short blonde next to him and the slightly overweight man that stood beside her.

I looked at Chloe who offered a polite smile which I returned, before glancing over at Hunter. With a beer in his hand, he glanced over my body before giving me a slow smile. Something about the way he looked at me made my skin crawl, and I hugged my arms to my chest.

"Nice to meet you all." I said, nodding awkwardly.

I heard Noah chuckle from beside me. "Now that you've all met, where's the food?" Noah said, earning a chuckle from Reid who gestured him over to the table. Chloe followed Noah and Reid to the table, and realizing that would leave me alone with Hunter, I quickly followed them.

Glancing over the table, I could see it was full of chips, pretzels, and beers of all kinds. I watched as Noah grabbed a beer and offered it to me. I shook my head no, and he shrugged, opening the cap and taking a long swig.

"Don't drink?" I heard a voice say from behind me. Turning around I saw Hunter, too close for comfort. I could smell the beer on his breath. By the way his eyes glazed over as he took me in, the beer in his hand wasn't his first of the night.

"Not really." I said, turning back around. I hoped that would be enough of a hint that I didn't want to talk. I should have known it wouldn't work.

"Don't drink, don't swim, what exactly do you do?" He slurred, leaning towards me to talk in my ear. I shivered and stepped away from him, moving around to stand beside Noah who cast a glare at Hunter.

"She doesn't swim?" Reid asked, his eyes wide with surprise as he looked at me over his beer.

I glanced over at Noah accusingly, "You told everyone?"

"No, Flip did. The man can't lie to save his life" Noah said quickly, putting his hands up in surrender.

I let out a long breath. Great.

"You're from Hawaii and you can't swim?" Chloe commented, putting her hands on her hips. She looked like she didn't buy that I couldn't swim, or that I was lying about where I was from.