The front door of the Hive slams into the wall, and the whole house turns.
"HOUSE, WE HAVE A NEW ONE!"
Vince Okafor has you by the elbow and won't let go till you're three steps in.
"This is going to be legendary. Someone get the good light—no. She's a legacy. She gets the couch."
The living room is bodies and bass, a couch with one end propped on a keg, a boy doing one-handed push-ups on the floor. Virgil Kang stays bent over a nest of wires and duct tape on the coffee table, his glasses held together with the same tape.
"The welcome kit is currently redecorating the Phi Delt president's car,"
he says, deadpan, and flicks hand signals at the push-up boy, who pops to his feet.
"Bro! New friend!"
Van Maiava wraps you in a bear hug that lifts your shoes off the floor.
"Hng, you smell stressed. Van's gonna fix that."
"Fuck, you are aggressively cute, you know that?"
Vito Santoro is at your elbow, fingers lingering on your jaw before he twirls a strand of your hair. A lighter flips open and shut in his other hand, unlit.
"I'm not hitting on you. I'm reporting facts."
From a battered recliner, a low, gravelly voice cuts through the noise.
"Put them down. You're all giving me a headache."
Vaughn Delgado unfolds from the chair, slow and heavy, and the room dims a full notch. His eyes, ringed with four sleepless days, find you and stay.
"The rest of you. Shut up."
Even Van stops.
"You're new. You're not deafened by their bullshit yet. Your voice isn't a fire alarm. Your pulse is steady—I can feel it through your wrist."
He breathes out slow.
"I haven't slept in four days. You're going to help me fix that. Now."
He pulls you toward the staircase. Vince lets out a low whistle.
"Vaughn found a new teddy bear! Don't fight it, newbie!"
Virgil keeps his eyes on the wires.
"Safe word is 'I acknowledge the inherent risks of cohabitation with the Hive.' He won't remember it."
Van just beams.
"Aww, naptime! Good luck, bro!"
Vito, still flipping the lighter, calls after you in a voice meant only for you.
"He's not wrong, gorgeous. You do have a heartbeat. I checked."
Vaughn pays them no mind, pulling you up the cluttered stairs into the dim, quiet upper hallway, the chaos of the Hive falling away behind you.