1269_UgliesFreeBook

74 Scott Westerfeld
they stepped off. Tired as Tally was, carrying the board
didn’t seem so impossible this time. She had stopped thinking
of it as a toy, like a littlie’s balloon. The hoverboard had
become something more solid, something that obeyed its
own rules, and that could be dangerous, too.
Tally figured that Shay was right about one thing: Being
in the city all the time made everything fake, in a way. Like
the buildings and bridges held up by hoverstruts, or jumping
off a rooftop with a bungee jacket on, nothing was quite
real there. She was glad Shay had taken her out to the ruins.
If nothing else, the mess left by the Rusties proved that
things could go terribly wrong if you weren’t careful.
Close to the river the boards lightened up, and the two
of them jumped on gratefully.
Shay groaned as they got their footing. “I don’t know
about you, but I’m not taking another step tonight.”
“That’s for sure.”
Shay leaned forward and eased her board out onto the
river, wrapping her dorm jacket around her shoulders
against the spray of the rapids. Tally turned to take one last
look back. With the clouds gone, she could just see the
ruins from here.
She blinked. There seemed to be the barest flicker coming
from over where the roller coaster had been. Maybe it
was just a trick of the light, a reflection of moonlight from
some exposed piece of unrusted metal. “Shay?” she said
softly.