Zed smiled, reaching to squeeze her mom’s tan shoulder, which was exposed under a loose tank top. Her skin was smooth, recently lotioned. “Cities aren’t supposed to be pretty, mom. They’re just supposed to be livable.” Zed’s other hand snaked into her pocket, grasping the list of Safe Zone murals that she’d be visiting that night. The Graffiti Task Force would be busy tomorrow.

“Well, I’m out, Mom. Catch you later,” Zed said, stepping in and out of an obligatory hug like a mannequin that swiveled on a single axis. Her mother kissed her forehead and returned to the garage, her slippered feet dragging across the garage floor, the true volume of her footsteps.

Zed texted Apollo when she reached his house, hoping his parents didn’t come outside. She watched as lights flickered on and off throughout the house like it was some sort of oversized pinball machine. Apollo was looking for something. Zed tried to visualize him moving from room to room, but her memory of the house was too vague. She didn’t mind if it stayed that way.

Eventually, the light for the foyer came on, followed by the porch light, and then Apollo, who dashed to the car, his backpack in tow.

“Hey,” he said, swooping down to fit into the low car. “Sorry about that, lost my gloves.” Zed nodded, pecking his cheek then pressing the gas.

Kai and Sol were ready outside of Kai’s house, their exposed legs and arms shiny from obviously recent applications of Vaseline. Zed looked down at her paint-splattered skinny jeans and ratty black T-shirt and sighed internally. She was the only one who ever seemed to remember that they could get arrested for this. Maybe she shouldn’t have always insisted that the Graffiti Task Force was a joke. It was, but their power was real.

“Don’t worry, bitch. We’ve got real clothes,” Sol said, climbing in through the passenger’s seat and grinning widely. “We’d look pretty sus cruising around in sleeves and all black in mid-August, no offense.” Zed smiled back through the rearview mirror. Kai climbed in behind her, visibly excited. After Apollo let the seat back and plopped back in, his head grazing the roof of the car as always, she drove off and exited the neighborhood.

Kai blurted her obvious secret before they’d even hit Highway 85. “Theo’s coming!” she announced. Everyone shifted in their seats, eyes glued to the windows, suddenly interested in the town they constantly tried to escape. Kai continued, “He texted me today, apologizing for being all guilt-trippy and sappy, so I invited him along. He’s going to meet us on Ponce.”

“Cool beans,” Sol muttered sardonically. Apollo was face-deep in his phone, so Zed focused on the road.