Page 18 of Reject (Academy of Misfits 2)

“No, I don’t trust Ford, but you know that already.”

“Because he beat you in a fight?”

Camden grits his teeth. “Because we have history that cannot be undone.”

“Want to elaborate?”

He presses his mouth into a thin line. I roll my eyes. What is it with this guy and his secrets? “And Sonny, what do you have against him?”

“Nothing in particular. Sonny is just a stupid kid who should know better than to believe in Ford. I don’t care that they’re long lost cousins three times removed or some shit. Blood doesn’t make you family.”

“You know about the fact Ford and Sonny are related?”

“I know everything, remember?”

You don’t know about the deal I made with Crown,I think. Guilt washes over me, just like the waves lapping over the pebbles behind us. The water seeps through the gaps, tiny droplets finding their way to the sand beneath. Just like the guilt that runs through my veins and seeps into my consciousness.

“But aren’t we all just stupid kids?” I say, brushing away the guilt I feel. “Isn’t that why we’re here because we’ve made bad choices, done stupid things?”

“I’m not stupid. Every choice I’ve made has been for a reason. Let me ask you this: has Sonny joined No Name crew because he believes that’s where you’ll end up? Or has he truly made the decision based on his own judgement of Ford?”

“He knows I won’t join any gang. He accepts that. Ford does too. Sonny did it because he knows Ford’s a good guy. He’s a good judge of character. Shame you seem incapable of being the same… Perhaps you’re the one who’s stupid.”

“I’mnot, and Ford’s still a prick even if your hormones say otherwise,” Camden growls, growing angrier by the second. Pretty sure he’s acting exactly like a stupid kid right now. A stupidjealouskid. His pride was hurt by Ford, his ego by me for turning him down. Today, he’s just notmanenough to admit it. If that doesn’t make him a kid, I don’t know what does.

“And by the way, this hate you have for Ford, it’s pathetic. He beat you in a fight, get over it, Camden.”

“You’ve no idea what you’re talking about,” he snaps, anger blazing in his topaz eyes.

“Pretty sure I do.”

I know I’m playing with fire, that this is probably a stupid idea to poke the beast, but for some reason seeing Camden’s tag high above us, so bright, so brilliant, just irritates me. Bling was someone I once looked up to, admired. He was like an urban fucking legend not so long ago. Now all I see when I look at Camden is wasted talent, opportunities missed, and an arsehole. It pisses me off.

“You really don’t know when to shut it, do you?” He gets up to his feet quickly, stumbling slightly on the pebbles as they move beneath his feet when he stands. “You think you know the score, but you don’t. I don’t know how else to spell it out for you. Ford is dangerous and Sonny’s afoolto join his crew.”

“You’re wrong.Monkis dangerous.Youare dangerous…” I almost, almost said the King is dangerous, but I bite down on that remark before I make a huge fucking mistake.

“No, I’m not!”

I laugh bitterly. “You’re an idiot if you believe otherwise. Like you told me before, you can’t be Bling anymore, you can only be Camden. You’re the leader of Hackney’s Hackers, the most feared gang in London. Your words, not mine.”

“This is who I am!” he suddenly shouts, striding over to me and gripping my arm. He points to his tag. “That’s me.Bling. A kid who dreamed of better things. A kid who thought his art meant something. A kid who had hope!I’m not this!” he says, crashing his fist against his chest. Pounding on it not once, not twice, but three times, hammering his point home.

For a moment we’re both too shocked to move. Then he lets go of my arm and steps away.

“Those diamonds surrounding my tag, everyone on the street thinks they represent wealth. That this unknown graffiti artistBlingeither craves money and riches or has it in abundance…”

“I know what they represent because you told me. They represent the girls in your crew.” I think of the pretty twins Jade and Opal back in Hackney. I think of Emerald and Diamond here at the Academy. I dislike all of them and not just because they’re first class bitches, but because they’re his.

“That might be why my girls have those nicknames now,” he says, and I wince, not liking the ownership of that statement. “But it’s only to remind me of who I once was. Those nicknames were given long after I gave up my tag. There’s a different meaning behind those diamonds.” He shakes his head, biting on his lip to stop himself from saying more.

“So, tell me what that is then. You can’t just open up and share a piece of yourself only to clam up again. You want me to understand you, but you refuse to tell me the truth. You want me to respect you, but you keep Monk in your crew. You want me to be a part of your gang, but you don’t give me a good enough reason to want to…” I bite my tongue on the last point knowing that Ineedto join his gang and that I’m not doing a very good job at ingratiating myself with him. I’m royally fucking this up. He’s offered me a chance to join twice now. I know he won’t be doing that again any time soon. His pride won’t let him. How I’m going to get him to ask one last time is beyond me.

Camden looks at me for a long time before finally flicking the half smoked joint into the gentle waves. They’re not crashing violently today, even though the air is cracking with untold truths, secrets, and enough tension to cause a storm.

“I’m going to show you something I hope I don’t later regret,” he says, nodding his head as though convincing himself that’s the right thing to do. “Come here.” Twisting on his feet he strides back over to the boulder he appeared behind from earlier.

I stay rooted to the spot, not willing to follow him anywhere. Not trusting that behind that boulder isn’t his gang ready and waiting to fucking jump me. He stops, glancing over his shoulder.

“There’s only me here. Do you honestly think I’d tell my crew about this place, about that?” he asks, pointing to his tag.

“They don’t know you’re Bling…”

“No, I haven’t told them.” He looks meaningfully at me, and I nod in understanding. It suddenly dawns on me then that Camden has already trusted me even when I can’t trust him. So far I haven’t betrayed that trust. I don’t want too, not about Bling. Yet here I am knowing full well that I need to get him to open up to me about the King to secure a future for Eastern and me. I need to join his gang, gather all the information I can, then betray him.

Earlier I accused Camden of being dangerous, but in reality I’m the one he should be afraid of because here I am holding his future in my hands. That knowledge makes my stomach curl into a basket of venomous snakes, every one of them having the capability of poisoning my heart, not to mention destroying Camden.

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