Quarantine: The Loners by Lex Thomas Page A

the hall in front of him. A pack of Freaks crossed too, from the other direction, making it tough for David and Will to pass. David got a good whiff of the toilet bowl cleaner they used to dye their hair blue. He’d never understand how they could live with the chemical smell.
    The two groups slowed as they passed each other. They bared their teeth, cracked their necks, and walked far too close to be friendly. One Freak’s face was badly busted up. He shoved a Skater. Both gangs tensed for a fight. David watched the Skater. If he attacked, David knew both gangs would go at it. He recognized the kid, Jason he thought his name was.
    David remembered that Jason and the busted-up Freak were really tight before the quarantine; they always ate lunch together, just the two of them. Jason spit at the Freak and walked away. His gang followed him. David relaxed.
    He and Will approached the guard outside of the Geeks’
    trading post. The guard had his hair died in multicolored stripes.
    “Laundry for Zachary,” David said.
    The guard nodded them in. There were tables of drawings from art Geeks on offer, all too expensive unless you were a Varsity or a Pretty One. A girl with caramel skin sat on a stool and sang her own take on a ballad that was on top of the charts right before the quarantine. A bucket drummer and a kid with a three-string guitar accompanied her. David watched her rock her hips back and forth slower than pouring honey as she pushed out the high notes. All the Geeks dyed their hair black with charcoal as a foundation, then added touches of loud color by dying sections of their hair or weaving colored things through it. They dressed in bright colors as well, with carefully chosen items of individual flair.
    As a group, they were boisterous, bawdy, and generally hard to miss, which was probably the point. They wanted all eyes on them.
    But no one commanded as much attention as their leader, Zachary. He wore a cape. It was made out of two school flags sewn together and slathered with gold poster paint. That would have won the battle for attention right there, but he was the only boy in school to buy the wigs the Pretty Ones sold. Today his hair was long white braids, with ribbons of brightly colored paper woven through them.
    “David!” Zachary said and clutched David’s hand melodra-matically. “I knew you’d come.”
    “Got your laundry here.”
    “Why are you really here? Let’s talk about that.”
    “Laundry.”
    “You tease and you tease.” Zachary squinted at David and smiled. “That’s probably why our first kiss will be so electric.”
    “More likely, that would be a taser I’m hitting you with,” David said with a smile, and pulled a stack of Zachary’s clean clothes out of his rolling bag.
    Zachary chuckled, loving it. “You could be an actor, David.
    Think about it. I’ll write a scene for us. It could be in the next Geek show.”
    “I’m shy,” David said with a grin.
    Zachary held out six Geek show tickets, but drew them back when David reached for them.
    “Do you love me?”
    “Oh, Jesus,” Will said. He shook his head and walked over to a table where tattoo designs were displayed.
    “David, what’s with him?” Zachary said. “I know he’s your brother but . . . attitude adjustment, please!”
    “He’s jealous of your hair, which looks fantastic today, by the way,” David said.
    “Mmm. I’ll have more clothes for you tomorrow, pretty lips,” Zachary said.
    Zachary handed him the tickets with a wiggle of his eyebrows. David collected Will from the tattoo area and hurried to the hall.
    “Are you sure you’re not gay?” Will said. “I can’t believe you go along with that stuff. I wouldn’t have.”
    “You’re so homophobic.”
    “You can’t call me homophobic for not wanting to flirt with Zachary. But I can call you gay, because you want to have a bubble bath with him.’”
    “Gotta keep the customers happy.”
    “You mean horny.”
    David laughed. He held up