Uglies. Part 40

"No, you're right about that."

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Tally thought of the letter she'd left with Maddy. Wouldshe even believe the truth in a few weeks' time?

How would the words of a fugitive, desperate, tragic ugly look through pretty eyes?

For that matter, what was David going to look like after she'd been surrounded by new pretty faces twenty-four hours a day? Would she really believe all that stuff about ugliness again, or would she remember how someone could be beautiful even without surgery? Tally tried to picture David's face, but it hurt to think of how long it would be before she saw him again.

She wondered how long it would take after the operation, before she would stop missing David. It might be a few days before the lesions completely took hold of her, Maddy had warned. But that didn't mean it was her own mind, changing itself.

Maybe if she decided to go on missing him, no matter what, Tally could keep her mind from changing.

Unlike most people, sheknew about the lesions. Maybe she could beat them.

A dark shape pa.s.sed overhead, a warden's hovercar, and Tally instinctively froze. The city uglies had said there were more patrols out these days. The regular authorities had finally noticed that things were changing.

The hovercar halted, then settled softly onto the earth next to them. A door slid open, and a blinding light popped on. "All right, you kids...oh, sorry, miss."

The light was on Shay's face. Then it flicked across to Tally.

"What are you two...?" The warden's voice stumbled. Didn't this beat everything? A pretty and an ugly taking a stroll together. The warden came closer, confusion all over his middle-pretty face.

Tally smiled. At least she was causing trouble to the end.

"I'm Tally Youngblood," she said. "Make me pretty."

Author Bio

Scott Westerfeld is the author of five adult novels, most recentlyThe Risen Empire andThe Killing of Worlds. His first young-adult book,Midnighters: The Secret Hour, is the first in a trilogy. Scott's newest novel,So Yesterday, is currently available in hardcover from Penguin Putnam. He was born in Texas and alternates summers between Sydney, Australia, and New York City. Visit his Web site at www.scottwesterfeld.com.

It happened fast. Just a moment earlier, Chloe had been sitting with Amy and Paul on the observation deck atop Coit Tower in San Francisco.What would happen if I dropped a penny from up here? she wondered. She climbed up on the railing and dug into her jeans pocket, hunting for spare change.

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That was when she fell.

As Chloe tumbled through the fog, all she could think was,My mother will be so upset when she finds out I skipped school.... Maybe all that stuff about your life flas.h.i.+ng before your eyes is just bull.

Or maybe Chloe already knew, down in the unconscious depths of her mind, that she still had eight lives to go.

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