1269_UgliesFreeBook

244 Scott Westerfeld
everyone in the Smoke could see what the necklace really
was: a symbol of her treachery.
Tally wondered if she could ever stay there now. Croy
suspected what she was, and it seemed like it would be only
a matter of time before everyone else knew. All day long a
terrible thought had kept crossing her mind: Maybe the
Smoke was where she really belonged, but she’d lost her
chance by going there as a spy.
And now Tally had come between David and Shay.
Without even trying, she’d shafted her best friend. Like
walking poison, she killed everything.
She thought of the orchids spreading across the plains
below, choking the life out of other plants, out of the soil
itself, selfish and unstoppable. Tally Youngblood was a
weed. And, unlike the orchids, she wasn’t even a pretty one.
Just as she finished eating, David sat down across from
her. “Hey.”
“Hi.” She managed to smile. Despite everything, it was
a relief to see him. Eating alone had reminded her of the
days after her birthday, trapped as an ugly when everyone
knew she should be pretty. Today was the first time she’d
felt like an ugly since coming to the Smoke.
David reached across and took her hand. “Tally, I’m
sorry.”
“You’re sorry?”
He turned her palm up to reveal her freshly blistered
fingers.