Uglies by Scott Westerfeld Page A

thought I was crazy.”
    â€œYou are crazy!”
    â€œMaybe. But not that way. That’s why I wanted you to meet David. So you’d know that it’s all real.”
    â€œIt doesn’t seem real. I mean, what is this place you’re talking about?”
    â€œIt’s just called the Smoke. It’s not a city, and nobody’s in charge. And nobody’s pretty.”
    â€œSounds like a nightmare. And how do you get there, walk?”
    Shay laughed. “Are you kidding? Hoverboards, like always. There are long-distance boards that recharge on solar, and the route’s all worked out to follow rivers and stuff. David does it all the time, as far as the ruins. He’ll take us to the Smoke.”
    â€œBut how do people live out there, Shay? Like the Rusties? Burning trees for heat and burying their junk everywhere? It’swrong to live in nature, unless you want to live like an animal.”
    Shay shook her head and sighed. “That’s just school-talk, Tally. They’ve still got technology. And they’re not like the Rusties, burning trees and stuff. But they don’t put a wall up between themselves and nature.”
    â€œAnd everyone’s ugly.”
    â€œWhich means no one’s ugly.”
    Tally managed to laugh. “Which means no one’s pretty, you mean.”
    They sat in silence. Tally watched the fireworks, feeling a thousand times worse than she had before Shay had appeared at the window.
    Finally, Shay said the words Tally had been thinking. “I’m going to lose you, aren’t I?”
    â€œYou’re the one who’s running away.”
    Shay brought her fists down onto her knees. “It’s all my fault. I should’ve told you earlier. If you’d had more time to get used to the idea, maybe . . .”
    â€œShay, I never would have gotten used to the idea. I don’t want to be ugly all my life. I want those perfect eyes and lips, and for everyone to look at me and gasp. And for everyone who sees me to think Who’s that? and want to get to know me, and listen to what I say.”
    â€œI’d rather have something to say.”
    â€œLike what? ‘I shot a wolf today and ate it’?”
    Shay giggled. “People don’t eat wolves, Tally. Rabbits, I think, and deer.”
    â€œOh, gross. Thanks for the image, Shay.”
    â€œYeah, I think I’ll stick to vegetables and fish. But it’s not about camping out, Tally. It’s about becoming what I want to become. Not what some surgical committee thinks I should.”
    â€œYou’re still yourself on the inside, Shay. But when you’re pretty, people pay more attention.”
    â€œNot everyone thinks that way.”
    â€œAre you sure about that? That you can beat evolution by being smart or interesting? Because if you’re wrong . . . if you don’t come back by the time you’re twenty, the operation won’t work as well. You’ll look wrong, forever.”
    â€œI’m not coming back. Forever.”
    Tally’s voice caught, but she forced herself to say it: “And I’m not going.”
    â€¢Â Â â€¢Â Â â€¢
    They said good-bye under the dam.
    Shay’s long-range hoverboard was thicker, and glimmered with the facets of solar cells. She’d also stashed a heated jacket and hat under the bridge. Tally guessed that winters at the Smoke were cold and miserable.
    She couldn’t believe her friend was really going.
    â€œYou can always come back. If it sucks.”
    Shay shrugged. “None of my friends has.”
    The words gave Tally a creepy feeling. She could think of a lot of horrible reasons to explain why no one had come back. “Be careful, Shay.”
    â€œYou too. You’re not going to tell anyone about this, right?”
    â€œNever, Shay.”
    â€œYou swear? No matter what?”
    Tally raised her scarred palm. “I swear.”
    Shay