The Burnouts (17 page)

David glanced over at Lucy as they walked down the scarecrow hall. She looked like she’d been spit out of hell in her chopped-up, pale pink hair and her black tattered clothes. Her face had lost its delicate fullness, and her fingertips were as black as talons down to the first knuckles. Her body was lean and firm, like she’d been through boot camp. She walked hunched, eyes searching, every muscle tense, like she was expecting an attack at any time. It broke his heart to think of what she had faced in here alone. The girl he remembered, her feet had barely touched the ground. She used to cling to his arm and let him lead the way in situations like this. She’d been innocent then, and he’d remembered wanting to preserve that. He’d liked protecting her from the dark side of McKinley. How long had she waited for David to come back and make everything right before her innocence had eroded away and she’d become like everyone else in here? It made his eyes water. How much had she suffered, thinking that any minute David would step in and stop it, like he’d always managed to do for her in the past? He felt responsible for all of it.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to come back,” David said to Lucy. “I should have come sooner.”

They reached the end of the scarecrow army, and Lucy looked at him. Her mouth was open, as if she was struggling for the right answer.

“You’re here now,” she said.

He’d abandoned her, and she was still being polite to him, still treating him like a hero.

“I should’ve never gone fifty feet from the door outside,” David said. “But I ran. I figured if I could get help but … if I’d just stayed, I could’ve found a way to—”

“Don’t say that. It doesn’t matter now.”

“It does,” David said, emotion balling up in his throat. “I can’t make up for the shit you’ve had to go through alone. But I want you to know that I’m sorry I let you down.”

Lucy stared at him.

“I …,” David said, but he was afraid of what he might say. Somehow, simply being near Lucy had conjured up feelings he didn’t know he had. Since he’d found out that Lucy was pregnant, and that Will was the father, David had been trying to convince himself, more than ever, that Lucy didn’t mean anything to him. He was failing.

“What?” she asked. “What were you going to say?”

There couldn’t have been a worse time to complicate things with his emotions. Lucy’d had a miscarriage. Will still didn’t know. And David didn’t know what Will and Lucy had together. Maybe theirs was the truest love of all. He’d already intercepted Lucy once and stolen her from Will. Was he really about to do that to his own brother? Again? Why save Will’s life only to crush his spirit afterward?

“David, talk to me.”

David looked away, to the third-floor elevator doors. They’d
have to get the doors open somehow and climb down the shaft, but it was the safest way to circumvent the mob that was looking for them.

“If Will’s in the elevator,” David said, “we’ll head straight to the quad, and be out of here before you—”

The school’s PA system crackled to life. It was a sound that he had come to hate. It made him tense up like he’d seen cop lights in his rearview. He looked up at the cracked speaker by the ceiling, and heard his ex-girlfriend. Anger coursed through him at the sound of her lilting voice. His mind flashed to the memory of her crouching over him, chopping her hand down, and plunging her dagger into his eye.

“The greatest event in school history starts in an hour,” Hilary’s amplified voice said. “I wanted to let all my guests know that there’s been an addendum to the dress code. Gas masks are now permitted. I already know one boy who’ll be wearing one. An old friend of mine named Will. I hear his brother is here too, and I’m saving a spot on my dance card for him.”

David’s breath rocketed in his ears. He looked at Lucy.

“Daaaaaaaaavid …,” Hilary called. Her voice was breathy like she was drunk-dialing. “I miiiiiiiiiiiss you. Do you miss me? Do you remember when I held you after you found out your mom died? Remember how good it felt to be in my arms? Don’t you want that again? Don’t you want to be my king? Or would you rather see what your brother looks like without a gas mask?”

A chill rolled down his spine.

Hilary cleared her throat. “Sorry, that just slipped out. Anyway, what do you say, baby?” Her voice was innocent and girly. “Will you go to prom with me?”

Hilary giggled and the speaker went dead. David leaned against the elevator doors. His brain felt dim. His body was exhausted and starved for food.

“You can’t trust her. You know this is a trap,” Lucy said.

He took a deep breath and blew it out slow.

“I’m going.”

“David, you can’t. She’ll kill you.”

“She has Will.”

“Then I’m going with you.”

“Actually, I already asked someone.”

She swatted him in the arm, with a half-cocked smile. “Shut up.”

“Okay, you can go with me.”

“But we can’t walk right in.”

“No,” David said. “We’re gonna need some help getting in there.”

“From who?”

“Let’s hope I still have some friends in this place.”

LUCY FELT BAD FOR LEONARD. AS HE LED
them through the auditorium, up onto the stage, into the wings, and to the dressing rooms, he never looked at David once. Leonard held one guilty hand over his swirled green sherbet hair. As Lucy remembered it, Leonard had been the first to bail on the Loners for another gang. When David was dead, that had seemed like a smart move. Now it apparently filled him with shame.

Leonard knocked on a door marked with a golden star.

“Come in,” a voice said from the other side.

Leonard turned the handle and pushed the door open.

“Thanks, Leonard,” David said, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Leonard whimpered as if he’d been scalded and ran away.

David stepped into the dressing room. A long counter, with chairs tucked underneath, ran the length of one wall. It was
swallowed up into a labyrinth of rolling racks, overstuffed with hanging costumes. Running above the counter was a row of individual mirrors, each framed by dead, gray bulbs. Each, but one.

Blazing lightbulbs outlined the square, central mirror where Zachary sat with his back to them, lit up like an explosion. He wore a suit jacket and pants that had been painted blaze orange and had orange feathers spraying out from the shoulders. The jacket didn’t have a tail. It had a train like a bridal gown, covered in feathers transitioning from orange to red. He leaned toward the mirror with his eyes wide, putting the finishing touches on his makeup. Lucy watched his reflection as he stretched his face to apply his eyeliner.

“Back from the dead. Hell of a way to make an entrance. I always said you had a flair for the dramatic, didn’t I, Davey?”

“It was all for your benefit.”

Lucy’s opinion of Zachary hadn’t changed. She didn’t like him and she definitely didn’t trust him. It went all the way back to when he’d held a knife to David’s throat and had tried to trade him to Sam. Somehow, David had forgotten about that. Or he’d forgiven it. Lucy wasn’t good that way.

“If you’re back in here,” Zachary said, still focused on his own face, “it must be shit outside.”

“You’re not so far off,” David said.

Zachary gave a little, self-satisfied grunt.

“Zachary, I need your help.”

Zachary glanced through the mirror at them for the first time and sighed. He put down his eye pencil and began to powder a puff. “It’s been a long day, David,” he said, then raised an eyebrow. “Honestly, it’s been a long couple of years.”

“Tell me about it,” David said.

Zachary scoffed. “Oh, please. Don’t act like you know. You’re only a legend because you burned bright and fast and disappeared. Try staying on top of a gang for as long as I have. I make it look so good that nobody even notices. That’s what takes real talent.”

Zachary patted down his face with the puff, sending little poofs of powder into the air like smoke signals.

“I believe it,” David said.

“Mmm-hmm,” Zachary said, unfazed. “So, what do you want?”

“We need to get into prom,” Lucy said. “Varsity’s going to be looking out for David. And I’ve got the Saints gunning for me.”

“We need to get my brother,” David said, “and get out of the school before we run out of air.”

A smile curled Zachary’s black-painted lips for the first time, and he turned away from the mirror to face them. He studied David, then Lucy, up and down, taking his time.

“I thought you two were lovebirds.”

Lucy looked up to David. His mouth was open as if he were about to say something, but no words were coming.

“If you want to say something, Zachary, just spit it out already,” Lucy said. “We don’t have time for—”

“Whoa, whoa,” Zachary said. “Easy does it, sister. I’m just trying to get the lay of the land. That’s all. So, tell me if I’m wrong. Batman just reappeared in your life, and you can leave now,
but
you’re going to give all that up, probably get him killed, just so you can make things weird again with Robin?”

Lucy felt nauseous.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Does Batman know about Robin?”

Now it was Lucy whose voice was stuck in her throat. She was having one of those clenching moments, when you’re suddenly aware of everything at once, and how far things are from being okay. Lucy thought about Will for the first time, really thought about him. She knew he loved her, and she knew that kind of love didn’t magically vanish just because her heart wanted something else.

“I know what happened,” David said. “It doesn’t matter. I need to save my brother.”

Zachary clapped his hands and stood. He looked tickled.

“Well, this I’ve gotta see. This is the real show. Way more fun than a spoiled brat with a gun. Can you believe she gave me twenty-four hours to transform the commons? Everybody always wants top quality but they never want to wait for it. Naturally, I made miracles happen. She’s lucky I’m a professional.”

“You mean, she’s lucky she has a gun,” David said.

“That too.”

“So, we’re good? You’ll sneak us in?”

“Yes.”

Zachary spun on his heels and walked away from them, quickly vanishing behind the dense walls of costumes.

“Uh …,” Lucy said, trading looks with David. “We need to go. Now.”

“You’re not going anywhere with me, dressed like that,” Zachary called out.

Hot water scalded the back of Lucy’s neck but it felt good. The heat seeped into her muscles. She soaped up a lather and gently washed the cuts she’d gotten from her fall. Looking down her body at all the damage, she recognized something positive for the first time—she was lucky to be alive.

She closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth washing over her skin. When Zachary had gotten up close to Lucy, he’d called her “foul” and insisted that she use his private shower to clean herself up before he loaned her anything from the Geek’s huge supply of costumes. She didn’t refuse.

Lucy pressed her hands to her face. Everything was crazy. If she and David lived through this, she’d still have to tell Will about the baby. And about her feelings for David. Will was probably going to hate her forever.

Life refused to get any easier.

Lucy laughed. Then groaned from an ache in her side, and
laughed again. She was going to her first prom. A dance, in a gown, with music from two years ago. Ridiculousness. She decided right then, right there, with thin streams of blood still running down her ribs, and her head still throbbing from a gasoline hangover, that she was going to try and enjoy it. Even if it was a pathetic excuse for a prom, it might be the only one she ever got, and it could be her last chance to enjoy anything.

Lucy finished cleaning herself and took a big breath before turning off the water. She dried herself off with a towel that felt so fluffy she wondered if it had ever been used. She wrapped it around her body and pushed open the bathroom door. Steam unfurled and sank when it hit the cool of the dressing room.

“What’s the ETA on a shirt?” David said.

Lucy giggled and covered her mouth. David was standing in the middle of the room, bare chested with his gas mask on. His arms were outstretched with different outfits draped off them on hangers. Zachary parted a curtain of costumes and climbed through them, carrying a pink button-down shirt. He approached David and held the shirt up against his chest. With his free hand, he pressed the shirt to David’s skin. Lingering. He tilted his head and leaned back, biting his lip.

“Mmm,” Zachary said.

“What?” David said.

“Nope.”

Zachary spun away from David and disappeared again among the clothes.

“We don’t have all day!” David shouted after Zachary.

“Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you hit a tanning bed every day. Yours is not an easy skin tone to match, David!”

David looked to Lucy, who was still laughing.

“Do you know how many shirts he’s tried on me already?” David said.

“I think he’s enjoying himself,” Lucy said.

David shook his head and let out a little laugh. “I should’ve listened to you. We could’ve been there by now.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Would it be weird to be excited about this?”

“What are you saying, you want to slow dance?”

Lucy grinned.

“Maybe.”

David lifted his arms higher, inviting her to dance. All the outfits dangling from his arms swung, and a few fell off.

“Am I the date of your dreams?”

“Yep. I always had fantasies of making out with an astronaut stripper man. So, this is like the next best thing.”

David started to writhe his hips like an exotic dancer.

“Is this doing anything for you?”

Lucy nodded. “Definitely. Whoof, how did Hilary ever let you slip through her fingers?”

“Well …,” David said, giving a grand finale hip thrust, “she dumped me.”

Lucy cackled, then covered her mouth.

“Sorry.”

“I think I’m over it.”

“What was she like?” Lucy said. “I mean, if you liked her, and it sounds like she was there for you in a tough time, was she someone else then?”

David chewed on his lip.