1269_UgliesFreeBook

422 Scott Westerfeld
her voice. “You know, it’s my fault you’re not already pretty.
I messed up everything by running away. I owe you.”
“Oh, Shay.” Tally’s head began to spin. She closed her
eyes.
“Maddy always says I can go anytime. You don’t want
me to go back all alone, do you?”
Tally tried to imagine Shay hiking to the river alone.
“No, I guess not.” She looked at her friend’s face and saw a
spark in her eyes, something real ignited by the idea of
going on a trip with Tally.
“Please! We’ll have a blast in New Pretty Town.”
Tally spread her hands. “Okay. I guess I can’t stop you.”
They rode together on one hoverboard. Croy came along on
another, to take the boards back when they reached the
city’s edge.
He didn’t talk the whole way down. The other New
Smokies had all heard the fight outside, and finally knew
what Tally had done. It must have been worse for Croy. He
had suspected, and she’d lied to him face-to-face. He was
probably wishing he’d stopped Tally himself before she’d
had a chance to betray them all.
When they reached the greenbelt, though, he forced
himself to look at her. “What did they do to you, anyway?
To make you do something like that?”
“They said I couldn’t turn, until I’d found Shay.”
He looked away, staring at the lights of New Pretty