Uglies

"My mother used to in the old days," he said. "But now she's too old."

Tally swallowed. They always explained in school about how uglies who didn't have the operations eventually became infirm. "Oh, I'm so sorry. How old is she, anyway?"

He laughed. "She's plenty fit, but uglies have an easier time trusting someone like me, someone their own age."

"Oh, of course." Tally remembered her reaction to the Boss that first day. Only a couple of weeks later she was much more used to all the different kinds of faces that age created.

"Sometimes, a few uglies will make it on their own, following coded directions like you did. But it's always been three or four in a group. No one's ever come all alone."

"You must think I'm an idiot."

"Not at all." He took her hand. "I think it was really brave."

She shrugged. "It wasn't that bad a trip, really."

"It's not the traveling that takes courage, Tally. I've done much longer trips on my own.

It's leaving home." He traced a line on her sore hand with a finger. "I can't imagine having to walk away from the Smoke, away from everything I've ever known, realizing I'd probably never come back."

Tally swallowed. It hadn't been easy. Of course, she hadn't really had a choice.

"But you left your city, the only place you'd ever lived, all alone," David continued. "You hadn't even met a Smokey, someone to convince you firsthand that it was a real place.

You did it all on trust, because your friend asked you. I guess that's why I feel I can trust you."

Tally looked out at the weeds, feeling worse with every word David said. If he only knew the real reason she was there.

"When Shay first told me you were coming, I was really angry at her."

"Because I might have given the Smoke away?"

"Partly. And partly because it's really dangerous for a city-bred sixteen-year-old to cross hundreds of miles alone. But mostly I thought it was a wasted risk, because you probably wouldn't even make it out of your dorm window."

He looked up at her, squeezing her hand softly. "I was amazed when I saw you ru

Tally smiled. "I was a pretty sorry sight that day."

"You were so scratched up, your hair and clothes all singed from that fire, but you had the biggest smile on your face." David's face seemed to glow in the soft moonlight.

Tally closed her eyes and shook her head. Great. She was going to get an award for bravery when she should really be kicked out of the Smoke for treachery.

"You don't look quite so happy now, though," he said softly.

"Not everyone thinks it's great that I came here."

He laughed. "Yeah, Croy told me about his big revelation."

"He did?" She opened her eyes.

"Don't listen to him. From the moment you got here, he was suspicious about your coming alone. He thought you must have had help along the way. City help. But I told him he was crazy."

"Thanks."

He shrugged. "When you and Shay saw each other, you were so happy. I could tell that you'd really missed her."

"Yeah. I was worried about her."

"Of course you were. And you were brave enough to come looking yourself, even if it meant walking away from everything you'd ever known, alone. You didn't really come because you wanted to live in the Smoke, did you?"

"Um…what do you mean?"

"You came to see if Shay was all right."

Tally looked into David's eyes. Even if he was completely wrong about her, it felt good to bask in his words. Up until now, the whole day had been tainted by suspicion and doubt, but David's face shone with admiration for what she had done. A feeling spread through her, a warmth that pushed away the cold wind cutting across the ridge.

Then Tally trembled inside, realizing what the feeling was. It was that same warmth she'd felt talking to Peris after his operation, or when teachers looked at her with approval. It was not a feeling she'd ever gotten from an ugly before.

Without large, perfectly shaped eyes, their faces couldn't make you feel that way. But the moonlight and the setting, or maybe just the words he was saying, had somehow turned David into a pretty. Just for a moment.

But the magic was all based on lies. She didn't deserve the look in David's eyes.

She turned to face the ocean of weeds again. "I bet Shay wishes she'd never told me about the Smoke."

"Maybe right now. Maybe for a while," David said. "But not forever."

"But you and she…"

"She and I." He sighed. "Shay changes her mind pretty quickly, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"The first time she wanted to come to the Smoke was back in spring. When Croy and the others came."

"She told me. She chickened out, right?"

David nodded. "I always figured she would. She just wanted to run away because her friends were. If she stayed in the city, she'd be left all alone."

Tally thought of her friendless days after Peris's operation. "Yeah. I know that feeling."

"But she never showed up that night. Which happens. I was really surprised to see her in the ruins a few weeks ago, suddenly convinced she wanted to leave the city forever. And she was already talking about bringing a friend, even though she hadn't said a word to you yet." He shook his head. "I almost told her to just forget about it, to stay in the city and become pretty."

She took a deep breath. Everything would have been so much easier if David had done exactly that.

Tally would be pretty right now, high up in a party tower with Peris and Shay and a bunch of new friends at this very moment. But the image in her mind didn't give Tally the thrill it usually did; it just fell flat, like a song she'd heard too many times.

David squeezed her hand. "I'm glad I didn't."

Something made Tally say, "Me too." The words amazed her, because somehow they felt true. She looked at David closely, and the feeling was still there. She could see that his forehead was too high, that a small scar cut a white stroke through his eyebrow. And his smile was pretty crooked, really. But it was as if something had changed inside Tally's head, something that had turned his face pretty to her. The warmth of his body cut the autumn chill, and she moved closer.

"Shay's tried hard to make up for chickening out that first time, and for giving you directions when she promised me she wouldn't," he said. "Now she's decided the Smoke is the greatest place in the world.

And that I'm the best person in the world for bringing her here."

"She really likes you, David."

"And I really like her. But she's just not…"

"Not what?"

"Not serious. Not you."

Tally turned away, her head swimming. She knew she had to keep her promise now, or she never would. Her fingers went to the pendant. "David…"

"Yeah, I noticed that necklace. After your smile, it was the second thing I noticed about you."

"You know someone gave it to me."

"That's what I figured."

"And I…I told them about the Smoke."

He nodded. "I figured that, too."

"You're not mad at me?"

He shrugged. "You never promised me anything. I hadn't even met you."

"But you still…" David was gazing into her eyes, his face glowing again. Tally looked away, trying to drown her unca