Reject: A Dark High School Romance (Academy of Misfits Book 2) Page 3

  “Ford,” he retorts, zeroing in on our clasped hands. “I’m a friend of Asia’s, and you are?”

  “Not someone you want to fuck with.”

  Ford glances between us both. Eastern grips my hand tighter, refusing to let go.

  “Ford, this is my best friend, Eastern. He’s one of the good ones, okay?”

  Ford narrows his gaze on me, and for the briefest of moments I find it hard to breathe. I really, really don’t need a pissing contest right now.

  “I’ll be the judge of that,” Ford remarks, pushing off the wall and taking a step towards us both.

  “Yo, Ford, what the fuck are you doing out here?”

  We all turn to watch Sonny step outside, Pink and Kate following him.

  Oh, fuck. This wasn’t how I wanted Eastern’s first introduction to my new friends to go down. Sonny stills when he sees Eastern, then gapes a little.

  “You’re the brick shithouse Asia drew,” he blurts out. Kate and Pink eye Eastern with interest.

  “No, Sonny. This is Eastern. My best friend,” I repeat, ignoring the fact that Eastern is glaring at me. I know we’re more than that now. But I can’t very well tell them he’s my… what? Boyfriend? That doesn’t sound right, not when I’ve kissed both Sonny and Ford. I wanted more time to figure this shit out. I’m not ready to explain myself, not now. Not like this.

  “Ignore dumb nuts here,” Pink says, smiling generously as she shoves Sonny aside. She holds out her hand for Eastern to shake. “We aren’t all Neanderthals carrying around clubs ready to knock out the nearest female and drag her back to his cave.”

  Eastern mutters something along the lines of ‘let him fucking try,’ which makes this whole situation even more awkward. I glare at Pink for bringing up my precarious situation, but she just shrugs her shoulders.

  “What both Sonny and Ford meant to say was; it’s nice to meet you.”

  Sonny grunts and Ford makes a weird growly noise. I ignore them both and grimace as Eastern takes her hand and shakes it. Thank God for a little oestrogen to temper the testosterone going crazy right now.

  “I’m Pink, and that’s Kate,” she explains, pointing to a rather bemused Kate.

  “I can introduce myself you know,” Kate snaps, crossing her arms and scowling. She’s doing that thing she does when she isn’t sure of someone. Her resting bitchface is on hyper alert. Eastern clocks it and scowls.

  “We’re friends of Asia’s,” Pink rambles on, trying to fill the tension with light-heartedness. “I didn’t know they let in visitors. Aren’t you the popular one?” She winks at me and I know exactly what she’s thinking, because I’m thinking it too. I have three boys interested in me, four if you count Camden, and I’m definitely not doing that.

  “He’s not visiting. He’s joining,” another voice says.

  For fuck sake, could this get any worse? Think of the devil and the devil will appear.

  “Camden,” Eastern says tightly.

  “Eastern,” he retorts just as tightly.

  “Prick,” Sonny mutters. That draws a scowl from Camden, a smirk from Eastern and a heart stutter from me. Ford just grits his jaw tighter.

  Jesus, now all I need is for Monk to suddenly turn up and this shitshow is going to turn into a shitstorm of the likes none of us have seen before. Eastern must sense my anxiety because he releases my hand and scrapes it through his hair.

  “Well as much as I’d like to stand here and play getting to know you all, I’m needed elsewhere.” He turns to me and pulls me into a hug. A hug that lasts a lot longer than it should given the circumstances. I daren’t look any of them in the eye, I’m not sure what reaction it’s going to trigger.

  “Speak soon, okay?” Eastern asks when he eventually pulls back. He brushes the lightest of kisses against my mouth, presses his forehead against mine then walks away.

  “Soon,” I agree before he disappears into the building, presumably to find Crown who I hope is hiding given Camden is right here.

  Sonny and Ford have apparently lost the ability to speak, but scowling? They seem to be doing a very good job of that. Camden just nods as though confirming some thought inside his head.

  “Catch you later, Asia,” he mutters, before turning on his heel and heading inside.

  I literally have no words. None.

  “Well, that went well.” Pink grins, looking between us all. Then realising I’m about to have a coronary, she slides her arm through mine and steers me towards the annex. Kate catches up with us both and nudges me with her shoulder.

  “Bloody hell, Asia,” she says. “What are you going to do about that?”

  I look over my shoulder at Sonny and Ford who seem to be having a hard time moving, let alone chasing after me and demanding an explanation.

  “By that, I’m assuming you mean Sonny, Ford, Eastern and…”

  “And Camden?” she finishes for me with a scowl that I choose to ignore.

  “… I’ve no fucking idea.”

  “Oh man, you’re in deep shit now,” Pink retorts.

  Deep shit? You don’t know the half of it.

  3

  Present day

  “Fuck, that was close!” Eastern says as he flops down onto his seat. I chuck my bag in the overhead rack and sit down next to him.

  “I told you it was platform five. Why don’t you ever listen to me?”

  “Because I’m a plum…”

  “With a capital P,” I finish for him.

  “With a capital P indeed,” he retorts with a broad smile. “I’ve fucking missed this. Do you know that?”

  “What, me taking the piss out of you, and you just… taking it?” I bump him with my shoulder, winking.

  “Ha, ha. You know what I mean. You’re the only one who can make me smile, Asia. The only one who makes everything okay,” he admits.

  “Yeah, I know,” I reply gently, suddenly finding the big, fat, balding man occupying the seat two rows down very interesting. I know we’re overdue for a very important conversation but knowing that and going through with it are two very different things. This is the first time we’ve been alone together since all the shit went down at Oceanside. It’s the perfect time to get everything out in the open. I’d promised myself that I’d tell him everything today. Now that today is here, I’ve become a chicken-shit.

  “So, we get to hang out for the rest of the afternoon before heading to Oceanside, yeah?” Eastern asks, clocking me biting on my lip ring nervously. He raises an eyebrow.

  “Yep. We’ve got until 6pm before we need to show our faces,” I say, plastering on a smile and hoping I’m covering up my nerves well enough.

  “What are we gonna do with the few hours we’ve got?”

  “I thought maybe head to the beach?” I suggest. Truth be known, I’ve been both dreading and looking forward to this time alone together. It’d be good to kickback with my bestie and blow off a little steam on the beachfront, but I really need to tell him about Ford and Sonny, about what happened between us… though I’m not sure whether I can say anything about Camden just yet. That’s a complication I’m just not ready to face.

  “Sounds good. Not sure how I’m gonna face that fucker Camden now I know what he allowed Monk to do to you.”

  Okay, so I can’t bring up Camden yet. Not that I even know what to say about him and me, because there is no him and me. Just a weird kind of tension that I’m hoping Camden’s alleviated himself of over the Christmas break. God knows I’ve tried to.

  “It’s complicated,” I find myself saying.

  “You’re defending him?” Eastern snaps.

  “No, I’m not.” Yes, yes you are. The question is why? I search inside myself trying to find the answers and coming up even more confused. Am I defending the person he once was; Bling? Or am I defending the person he is now: Camden? Can I even separate the two?

  “Good. He doesn’t deserve your forgiveness, or your loyalty. You join his crew to get what Crown wants, what we need to secure our future, an
d that’s it.”

  “That’s it,” I agree, a little too quickly. For once, Eastern doesn’t seem to notice the tremor in my voice hiding the truths I’ve yet to tell him.

  “So, fill me in on the downlow with Oceanside and the rest of the inmates,” Eastern says as he removes his jacket and rests his feet on the seats opposite, effectively blocking anyone else from sitting with us.

  “Apart from the obvious, what fuckers do I need to kick the shit out off, and who are the ones that I can trust? Actually, let me rephrase that. Who are the ones you trust because we all know you’re a way better judge of character than I am.”

  He grasps my hand, not in the least bit afraid to do so now that we’ve stepped out of the friendzone and into the… what? Kiss zone? Almost-boyfriend zone? Maybe best-friends-that-kiss zone? Friends-with-benefits zone? Fuck, I don’t know.

  My head is all over the place, whilst my heart is finding it hard to cope with just how hard it’s beating now, especially after that gift Eastern gave me today. Which, incidentally, is safe at Tracy’s house. There’s no way I’m making that mistake again.

  “Spit it out,” he says, rubbing his thumb gently over my knuckles. His touch is warm, sure, familiar and right. Just like Sonny’s kiss was, just like Ford’s too.

  I’m in so much trouble…

  “Let’s start with Pink and Kate,” I begin, knowing that I can’t broach the subject of Ford and Sonny until I’ve plucked up enough courage. I never considered myself a coward. I’ve always dealt with any issues I’ve had head on, but those were the kind of issues that fists can sort out. This kind of issue, the kind where I’m lusting after three… four. No, three guys! Is not so easy to resolve.

  “The girls I met at Oceanside? Yeah, that Pink seems like a chick I could get on with. Clothes are even crazier than yours. Until I met her, I thought you were the only one on the planet who liked to dress like a rainbow. You ain’t got nothing on her.” He grins, tugging on my newly dyed red hair with his free hand.

  “Pink is pretty cool. She’s funny, loyal, a little odd, and also gay,” I add, you know just in case he’s getting any funny ideas.

  Eastern arches an eyebrow at me, then shakes his head. “Totally not interested. I’m pretty happy with my own, slightly less colourful rainbow.”

  “Pretty happy?” I pout.

  He gently fingers my lip ring. “Very happy.”

  “That’s alright then,” I respond, internally cursing myself for being a hypocrite. Here’s me warning him off my gay friend, and I’m entertaining the idea of not one but three boy… friends.

  “I’m not sure about that Kate though, seemed a little stuck up to me,” he continues, oblivious to my inner turmoil.

  “She’s not what you think. She might act differently to what you’re used to, but I’m telling you she’s straight up one of the nicest people I’ve met. Clever too. She rinsed her previous school’s accounts by breaking into their computer system and had a good old splurge. Pretty sure she’s the kind of criminal that’ll end up working for the MI5 or something.”

  “She did that? Mind… blown,” he says making that brain exploding gesture with his hands.

  “I know, right? Trouble is, I think she’s had her fair share of shit at that posh school she went to before Oceanside. We’ve yet to have that conversation, but I’m betting that there’s more to her story than she’s letting on. Pretty sure she’s been to hell and back.”

  “I’m guessing you’re going to help her out somehow.”

  “Maybe? Though I’m not sure I can do much but teach her to fight.”

  “I never imagined you to be the type to help the waifs and strays of this world.” Eastern grins to let me know he’s only joking. “But somehow you’re doing just that.”

  “Hey, I’m not a complete fucking bitch. Besides, they had my back. I owe them.”

  “I get it. I’m grateful to them, but you don’t owe friends anything. That isn’t how it works, Asia. True friends give without expecting anything in return. Are they your true friends?”

  I consider his question. Can I say that they are? I’ve only known them a few months and aside from a few chats, it’s never really got that deep. I mean I don’t know much about their lives, and they know very little about mine. Still, they befriended me when they could’ve easily turned me away, and they looked out for me with all the Monk shit. So, yeah, I’d say we’re true friends, albeit new ones. “Yeah, they are,” I eventually say.

  “Well, that’s all I need to know. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine.”

  Knowing that makes my heart sing. Let’s just hope he takes news of Ford and Sonny the same way. Yeah… that might be pushing it a bit.

  “So, wanna spill about those jackarses I met too? What were their names Sunny and Fort?” he asks, knowing full well they’re names are Sonny and Ford. My cheeks heat, my heart stutters, and my palms turn clammy. I’m so not ready for this. Not just because they kissed me, and I kissed them back, but for everything I know to be true about them both.

  “Well, they’re…”

  “Oh, young man. Would you mind moving your feet so I can sit down? I’m feeling a bit wobbly on these tired old legs of mine,” an old lady says, cutting me off and effectively saving my bacon.

  “Sure,” Eastern grumbles giving me a ‘for fuck sake’ look. I can only grimace in response, trying to hide the relief I feel. He’s not normally an arse to the older generation, but he wants every second of the time we’ve got today to ourselves. This lady looks like she’d like a good natter.

  “Thank you,” she responds, easing into the seat opposite mine. “You two make a mighty fine couple, anyone ever tell you that? When I was your age I met my husband, Bertie…”

  And that’s how, for the rest of the train ride, we’re forced to listen to Mabel ramble on about her late husband Bertie, her latest great-grandchild and how she’s spent the last two weeks knitting her a cardigan with little bees on it. She even gets it out to show me. It’s pretty cute. I’ve always liked bees. Right now, I like Mabel even more.

  An hour later, we find ourselves on the seafront at Hastings right by the funfair. It’s a Sunday so despite it only being just after 1pm, it’s already full of thrill-seekers, harassed parents and obnoxious teenagers. It’s a pretty overcast day, so the lights on the rides have been switched on, illuminating the place and making it look magical. It’s kind of depressing seeing as we can’t go inside. Lack of money is a real arsehole. I can smell popcorn, candyfloss and sizzling burgers, all of it making my stomach growl and my heart yearn to step through the wrought iron gates and join in on the fun.

  “Asia….” Eastern is staring at me with a devious look on his face. I know that look. It means trouble.

  “What?” I ask him, adjusting my backpack into a more comfortable position on my shoulder. There’s not much in it. Apart from a few new clothes, a swimsuit my foster parent Libby brought for me for Christmas and a sweet little teddy bear from my brothers, it doesn’t weigh much. I’m literally carrying all my worldly goods on my back like some tortoise whose home is his shell.

  “You know you want to…” he says, wiggling his eyebrows.

  “You know I want to what? Stop giving me that look, you heard what Tracy said. No trouble.”

  “This isn’t trouble, this is fun! Besides, I have money.” He shoves his hand into his pockets and pulls out a wad of notes. There must at least one hundred quid in his hand.

  “Woah, where did that come from?” I eye him and the money suspiciously. I’m not sure how I feel about him using his drug running money to pay for anything, even if I really, really want to go into the funfair.

  His face drops when he sees my reaction. “It’s not like that. Mum had a little extra for the first time in forever and she wanted me to have some. I didn’t want to take it, but she insisted. She felt good giving it to me, even when I felt sick pocketing it. This was a stupid idea. I’ll give it back to her next time I see her.”

 
Eastern shoves the money back into his pocket and turns to look longingly at the funfair behind us. The rollercoaster zooms by in a flash of colour and noise, and I realise that he too has never been on one either.

  “Hey,” I say, gently touching his arm. “If you want to spend your money stuffing your face with junk food and then puking it up, who am I to stop you? Besides, I could use the entertainment.”

  “You really want to?”

  “I really want to,” I admit, looking past Eastern and at a group of kids with their parents. All of them are smiling, all of them are having fun. I’ve spent my entire life watching, being on the outside looking in. For once, I want to be the one everyone is envious of and not the one everyone warns their children about.

  Eastern beams and pulls me in for a hug. “Girl, you’re gonna wish you said no! Rollercoaster first, baby!”

  “Baby?!” I mutter, feeling equal amounts pleased and disgusted by his choice of endearment. I never thought I was a feminist… Pretty sure I’m a non-conformist, actually. But baby?

  “What?” he turns to me, totally missing my disgust. “You don’t wanna go on the rollercoaster?”

  “Hell, yes I do, darling,” I retort with a smirk.

  If he heard my sarcasm, he doesn’t respond. Instead, he drags me to the entrance happily handing over the ten-pound fee to get in and another thirty quid buying up tickets for each of the rides. His smile as we’re locked into the seats of the rollercoaster is something I’ll never forget for as long as I live. He may have made a mistake joining Camden’s crew. He may have done something stupid, irresponsible, but Eastern has always been there for me. One mistake isn’t enough to break our bond. I refuse to let it.

  When he leans over and presses a haphazard kiss against my smiling mouth, my heart soars.

  This, this right here is what happiness is.

  Twenty-four hours later, that happiness is well and truly fucked up.

  4

  Three weeks earlier