1269_UgliesFreeBook

280 Scott Westerfeld
formed something solid and certain in Tally’s shaken reality.
She held on tightly, amazed at how intense the kiss became.
A moment later, she pulled away to take a breath,
thinking for just a second how odd this was. Uglies did kiss
each other, and a lot more, but it always felt as if nothing
counted until you were a pretty.
But this counted.
She pulled David toward her again, her fingers digging
into the leather of his jacket. The cold, her aching muscles,
the awful thing she had just learned, all of it just made this
feeling stronger.
Then one of his hands touched the back of her neck,
traced the slender chain there, down to the cold, hard metal
of the pendant.
She stiffened, and their lips parted.
“What about this?” he said.
She enclosed the metal heart in her fist, her other arm
still wrapped around him. There was no way she could tell
David about Dr. Cable now. He would pull away, maybe
forever. The pendant was still between them.
Suddenly, Tally knew what to do. It was perfect. “Come
with me.”
“Where?”
“To the Smoke. I have to show you something.”
She pulled him up the slope, scrambling until they
reached the top of ridge.
“Are you okay?” he asked, panting. “I didn’t mean to—”