1269_UgliesFreeBook

250 Scott Westerfeld
wanted to run away because her friends were. If she stayed
in the city, she’d be left all alone.”
Tally thought of her friendless days after Peris’s operation.
“Yeah. I know that feeling.”
“But she never showed up that night. Which happens.
I was really surprised to see her in the ruins a few weeks
ago, suddenly convinced she wanted to leave the city forever.
And she was already talking about bringing a friend,
even though she hadn’t said a word to you yet.” He shook
his head. “I almost told her to just forget about it, to stay in
the city and become pretty.”
She took a deep breath. Everything would have been so
much easier if David had done exactly that. Tally would be
pretty right now, high up in a party tower with Peris and
Shay and a bunch of new friends at this very moment. But
the image in her mind didn’t give Tally the thrill it usually
did; it just fell flat, like a song she’d heard too many times.
David squeezed her hand. “I’m glad I didn’t.”
Something made Tally say, “Me too.” The words amazed
her, because somehow they felt true. She looked at David
closely, and the feeling was still there. She could see that his
forehead was too high, that a small scar cut a white stroke
through his eyebrow. And his smile was pretty crooked,
really. But it was as if something had changed inside Tally’s
head, something that had turned his face pretty to her. The
warmth of his body cut the autumn chill, and she moved
closer.