by Bea Paige
When we part, I take his hand in mine, squeezing it gently. “Do you trust me, Eastern?”
“Yes,” he says simply.
“Then this is the plan. You’ll stay here at Oceanside. We’ll make sure Tracy and Braydon are safe and we’ll deal with this together, okay?”
“Okay,” he murmurs.
Half a minute later Crown, Mr Carmichael and Mr Burnside enter the room. Crown doesn’t waste any time. “What have you decided, prison or Oceanside?”
Squeezing his hand for moral support, we all wait. When Eastern fails to answer, flicking his gaze helplessly at me, I answer for him. “Oceanside. On one proviso.”
“And what’s that?” Crown asks, giving me an assessing look.
“You promise to move Tracy and Braydon into protective custody, you provide them with a home and enough money to live without Tracy having to worry how she’s going to care for Bray. Otherwise you can forget about Eastern giving you any juicy information.”
“Or, I can just throw Eastern into prison…” Crown retorts with a shrug that’s way too affected to be sincere.
I bark out a laugh. “Oh, come on. We all know if that was the case you would’ve done it already. Instead you bring Eastern here knowing full well what we mean to each other and hoping I would change his mind. I have, so agree to the deal or no fucking information.”
I catch the glimpse of a smile pulling up Mr Carmichael’s lips and respect fill his gaze. He nods, mouthing ‘good job’ to me.
“Fine. You’ve got a deal…”
“You’ll keep Braydon and Tracy safe?”
“Yes. We have a witness protection scheme. They’ll be safe, I can assure you both of that. But in return, I have one condition of my own that applies to you, Asia.”
“And what’s that?”
“We need more information on Camden, the leader of Hackney’s Hackers. Find out all you can about his involvement with the King. Get close to him, join his fucking crew if you have too, I really don’t care but get us information and I will ensure that not only will Braydon and Tracy be safe with new identities and a home rather than that flea infested flat they live in, but you two get a new start in life when you leave here. Camden managed to wangle his way out of a very long prison sentence to a short stay here and we have every reason to believe he’s very much in the King’s pocket. Camden’s the key to it all and you, Asia, are going to unlock his secrets.”
“What the fuck? Asia is not joining Camden’s crew. Over my fucking dead body,” Eastern snarls. He crushes my hand and I wince with the pain, but I don’t try to protest because… because… Because there are things I need to understand about Camden too, and despite everything that has happened these past few months he has hidden depths I need to explore. Secrets that I need to understand.
“Take the deal or everything is off the table,” Crown growls.
“It’s a deal,” I state before Eastern can say otherwise.
“Asia… please.”
“Nothing changes between us, nothing,” I say fiercely.
“Camden won’t let you go once he has you. I know that better than anyone.”
“Then you don’t know everything. He’s let you go, for me.”
Eastern’s forehead creases on a frown. “What do you mean?”
“Trust me, okay?”
For a long drawn out moment, Eastern just stares at me. His fingers loosen from around mine, but I refuse to let him go. This will work out. It has to.
“I trust you. I don’t trust him…”
“Then do as I say, please,” I beg.
And that’s how after a further hour of Eastern divulging everything he knows about the King’s outfit, he walks out of Mr Carmichael’s office as a fellow student of Oceanside Academy and the real storm, the one that changes my life forever, begins.
To be continued in Reject #2 Academy of Misfits…
Available for pre-order here now.
Author Note
Thank you for reading this story. I hope you fell in love with Asia just as much as I did whilst bringing her to life. She’s tough, determined, strong and doesn’t take any crap lying down. As for the boys, they’re only just beginning to show their true strengths and their fierce loyalty. Things may go a little awry in Reject, but by the final book it will get better, I promise. I don’t ever do a story without a HEA and these guys will get one. They sure deserve it.
If you read the Academy of Misfists Playlist page you’ll know that this story was inspired by the song “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish. I remember surfing You Tube and happening across the music video and immediately thinking ‘that’s Asia’. I watched it on replay a few times over before the muse insisted I jot down some ideas that had already been brewing from the inspiration I get in my day job. That night, I wrote a line: “I was the kid your parents warned you about…” and the story of graffiti writer, Asia, stemmed from there.
In truth, this story was already percolating a lot longer before this point. My own parents fostered young children when I was in my late teens and early twenties. Each and every one of their stories have stayed with me to this day. From drug addict parents, to abusive homes and abandonment. It was inconceivable to me that these beautiful, innocent children could have gone through so much heartache at such a young age. It opened my eyes to a world that isn’t always full of light and happiness, that there is darkness and pain. Having only ever been brought up in an environment where I was loved and cherished it devastated me to hear their stories, and whilst all of them are teenagers / young adults now (and thankfully in a much better place with homes and families that adore them) their stories and tough start in life never left me. I think that’s why most, if not all my stories have that thread of darkness and gritty realism. Like Camden said, not everyone gets to live a life behind white picket fences. We aren’t all blessed with happy home lives. A sad but undeniable truth.
This series, therefore, is dedicated to those kids who didn’t get the best start, and to the ones who are still fighting to survive. This series is for you. Keep strong and if you need to, reach out.
Much love, Bea xx
For anyone who may need help, here are a couple of incredible charities within the UK that will support and advise young people and children who may need it:
https://www.childline.org.uk/
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/our-services/childline/