1269_UgliesFreeBook

424 Scott Westerfeld
“We should be a hit, then.”
“Duh. When we tell everyone about your kidnapping
me right out of Special Circumstances headquarters? And
how I talked you into escaping from that band of freaks?
But we’re going to have to tone it down, Squint. No one’s
ever going to believe the truth!”
“No, you’re right about that.”
Tally thought of the letter she’d left with Maddy. Would
she even believe the truth in a few weeks’ time? How would
the words of a fugitive, desperate, tragic ugly look through
pretty eyes?
For that matter, what was David going to look like after
she’d been surrounded by new pretty faces twenty-four
hours a day? Would she really believe all that stuff about
ugliness again, or would she remember how someone could
be beautiful even without surgery? Tally tried to picture
David’s face, but it hurt to think of how long it would be
before she saw him again.
She wondered how long it would take after the operation,
before she would stop missing David. It might be a
few days before the lesions completely took hold of her,
Maddy had warned. But that didn’t mean it was her own
mind, changing itself.
Maybe if she decided to go on missing him, no matter
what, Tally could keep her mind from changing. Unlike
most people, she knew about the lesions. Maybe she could
beat them.