1269_UgliesFreeBook

UGLIES 257
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Az and Maddy apparently had been expecting them. In the
front room of the house, four antique cups were set out on
little saucers. Soon a kettle began to whistle softly on an
electric heater, and Az poured the boiling water into an
antique pot, releasing a floral scent into the room.
Tally looked around her. The house was unlike any
other in the Smoke. It was like a standard crumbly home,
filled with impractical objects. A marble statuette stood in
one corner, and rich rugs had been hung on the walls, lending
their colors to the light in the room, softening the edges
of everything. Maddy and Az must have brought a lot of
things from the city when they ran away. And, unlike uglies,
who had only their dorm uniforms and other disposable
possessions, the two had actually spent half a lifetime collecting
things before escaping the city.
Tally remembered growing up surrounded by Sol’s
woodwork, abstract shapes fashioned from fallen branches
she would collect from parks as a littlie. Maybe David’s
childhood hadn’t been completely different from her own.
“This all looks so familiar,” she said.
“David hasn’t told you?” Maddy said. “Az and I come
from the same city as you. If we’d stayed, we might have
been the ones to turn you pretty.”
“Oh, I guess so,” Tally murmured. If they’d stayed in
the city, there would have been no Smoke, and Shay never
would have run away.