Page 14 of Lost Paradise

I have no idea why I’m speaking on behalf of the group. I should be just saving my own ass, but I feel compelled to take charge.

“Yeah, what she said,” adds Astro, nodding in agreement, and I could just smack the guy. I can almost feel Zane suddenly tense up beside me.

The dean narrows his eyes, observing the subtle exchanges we make between each other. He probably senses the tension in the room and the unspoken knowledge that lingers among us.

“Actually,” Astro adds, and I swerve my head at him, making a face to shut down his brash mouth.

Zane is now gritting his teeth, ready to throw Astro under the bus.

“Miss. Winters was nowhere near the area where the drugs were found. If you look at the security report, you’ll find her and I were in the bathroom,” he coughs, “if you excuse the phrase with no disrespect to Miss. Winters, but we were getting off with each other the whole night. Both of us had no knowledge of any drugs until we were interrupted by security, who informed us about it.

“With regards to Byron, I locked him in the basement because he was being a twat, so he was missing from the party at the beginning of the evening.

“Jack wasn’t even at the house because he was at a midnight poetry reading and I know this because I had plans to meet him there with Zane. Except when Zane arrived to pick me up, the party had already started, and I saw Miss Winters, with her friends, enter the front door, and I grabbed her upstairs to…well, you already know the details.”

I’m a little taken aback by Astro’s unusual behavior. There is a specific characteristic about him, and he’s the kind of guy who holds no qualms about throwing others under the bus to save himself.

But he didn’t. In fact, Astro did the exact opposite of what I expected of him.

“Is that so?” the dean gazes at Astro intensely. “Astraios Doukas, the party was at your house. Are you saying you weren’t the one who organized this?”

“No, Sir, I didn’t. Six others also reside in my house. I got caught using my bathroom. We all happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite what you’d like to think, I was using the bathroom with a girl in the house where I am currently renting a bedroom. The fact that someone threw a party there had nothing to do with me.”

“If you weren’t at the party, why did you lock Mr. Harding in the basement?”

“Who is Mr. Harding?” Astro asks innocently, but he knows exactly who that is.

“I am,” Byron sneers at him.

“Oh, well, that’s pretty obvious,” Astro chimes. “Mr. Harding’s got a secret crush on my bird, Miss. Winters.”

What the actual fuck?

I hear Byron hiss and feel Zane stiffen. There are so many things I could say right now to this dipshit, grade-A thug, but now is not the time.

The dean’s gaze sweeps over us, but his eyes linger on Astro for a moment longer, a faint sneer curling on his lips.

“Mr. Doukas,” he says, his tone dripping with disdain. “We don’t tolerate the kind of behavior you might be accustomed to.”

The dean then turns abruptly to me. “Miss Winters, you should know better than anyone the consequences of associating with the wrong crowd.”

Astro’s jaw tightens, and a flicker of defiance flashes in his eyes before he quickly schools his expression into one of neutrality. I can only imagine the disdainful glances and whispered rumors he gets that follow him around because of who he is and his background.

Was he really in prison for almost two years, or was Emily bullshitting me?

Despite Astro’s abrasive, cocky, and annoying exterior, I can see the vulnerability hidden behind his stoic façade and can’t help but feel a pangof sympathy for him. I’ve faced my own battles against stereotypes and preconceived notions. Maybe not like him, but sometimes I would have preferred to sit alone under the shade of a tree rather than have to fight for the top tier of the social ladder because that is what is expected of me.

The dean continues to lecture Astro, his words laced with thinly veiled contempt. I wish I could reach out to him and offer him some semblance of comfort in the face of such harsh judgment. But I know that the stigma surrounding Astro's family name isn’t something that can be easily overcome. We come from different worlds, and there’s no way I can change the way the dean or anyone else sees him.

The dean fixes his stare on Astro for a moment longer before sweeping over the rest of us.

"Well, I find it hard to believe that none of you saw anything. But let me make this clear, I've been the dean of this institution for many years, and during orientation, I've never had to expel anyone within the first two weeks. However, that doesn't mean I won't hesitate to do so if necessary."

The gravity of his words hangs heavily in the air, and I feel Zane twitch once more. Jack, on my other side, seems to remain dead but still smells lovely, and Byron looks straight at the dean.

Or through him.

I’m not sure why Byron was at this party. He doesn’t seem to be the kind of guy who attends such social events.

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