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“Well, my name’s Kate. If I wanted to be calledLittle Miss SunshineI’d change my name by fucking deed poll.” She huffs. But when we all end up laughing, a tiny smirk pulls up her lips and the ice that seems to have re-formed over the Christmas break, cracks a little.
“Okay, so now we’ve got that settled. What are you going to do about them?” Pink asks, pointing in the direction of Camden and his crew. We all turn to look. Camden is watching us closely, his gaze narrowing on Eastern and me. On the table adjacent to his, Monk is looking more and more smug. Sitting beside him are Bram and Red. Red glares at me and Bram just draws his lips up in a sinister smile. Arseholes, the pair of them.
My gaze flicks around the room until it lands on Sonny and Ford, and the remainder of No Name crew. Ford looks like he’s swallowed broken glass, tension rippling off him, and Sonny is giving me a ‘shit’s about to go down’ look.
“What do you mean, what am I going to do about them?” I ask, my own throat suddenly very dry. I glance at Eastern who has stopped eating and is now giving me the stink eye. He thinks I’ve told them about our plan. I haven’t. He’s also clocked Monk. Perhaps telling him about the arsehole was a huge fucking mistake. I see retribution glimmering in his eyes.
“Don’t, Eastern,” I warn, knowing he’s two seconds away from launching at Monk and getting his arse sent back to prison. “I dealt with him. It’s done.”
“Have you seen the look on his face. That prick doesn’t think it’s done.”
“Eastern!” I warn.
“Fuck, Asia. Iknow, you’re badass. I know you served him his arse on a platter, but that doesn’t mean to say I can’t kick the shit out of him if he keeps looking at you like that. The little prick. He hurt you. He’s lucky I don’t fucking kill him.”
“It’s not Monk you need to concern yourself with right now. Camden won the fight, Asia…” Pink mutters, realising too late that Eastern has zero clue what she’s talking about. I groan.
“What fucking fight and more to the fucking point what are you insinuating, Pink?” Eastern bites out, the sound of his fork clattering on his plate reverberating around the room. The dining hall descends into a hush, all eyes on us. I can feel Camden’s stare, and when I look up Ford and Sonny are watching us too.
Great. Just fucking great.
“You don’t know? I thought everyone knew,” Kate exclaims, her pretty eyes widening. She glares at Pink. “Way to go big mouth.”
“Asia, want to fill me in and tell me what the fuck they’re talking about?” Eastern doesn’t take his eyes off me. I can feel his dark orbs tracing over my face as I stare at my now cold scrambled eggs on toast. It’s time for the truth. I flick my gaze up to meet his.
“Come take a walk with me?” I ask.
He nods his head, his jaw tense.
Every single pair of eyes in the room are on us both as we leave. This time not one food missile is thrown at us. Good. Motherfuckers are learning.
We pass Mr Burnside’s office as we head outside. As always his door is wide open. He looks up from his desk and gives us both a warm smile.
“Morning, getting some air?” he asks.
“Something like that,” I respond.
“Just make sure you’re not late for your first lesson, okay?”
“Sure.”
“And, Eastern…”
“Yes?” Eastern pauses, giving Mr Burnside his favourite death stare.
“Don’t forgot that your first period is with me. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better.” He smiles again completely ignoring Eastern’s not so quiet grumble about ‘fucking therapy bullshit’. I must give it to Mr Burnside; he’s got thicker skin than a rhino’s backside. Most of us would rather poke our own eyes out than talk about our pasts. He’s probably got one of the hardest jobs here. Still, I’m beginning to believe he’s one of the good ones, so I make a promise of my own.
“I’ll make sure he attends, Mr Burnside,” I say, before dragging Eastern down the corridor and out the back door before he can say anything else that he might regret later.
“If that guy thinks he’s gonna save the world by getting us to talk about our shit, he’s fucking deluded.”
“Not save the world, just us,” I mutter, remembering what he told me about his own shitty past. The guy’s been through hell and come out the other side. If anyone is qualified to help kids with fucked-up pasts it’s him. I’ve not told a soul about what he revealed to me, and I won’t.
“What was that?”
“Nothing important. Come on, we haven’t got long.”
Eastern falls into step beside me as we walk to the formal gardens behind the main building. Frost lingers on the grass and crunches underfoot as we head towards a bench tucked beneath a row of conifer trees. I’m glad I’m wearing my thick orange hoody and my favourite black jeans paired with my combat boots because it’s bloody freezing.
