Скотт Вестерфельд: Uglies

But she didn't dare let her weight settle onto the other arm. The snap of a single twig would give her away.

She held herself still, until all her muscles were screaming. Maybe the warden was just a trick of the light.

Maybe this was all in her imagination.

Tally blinked, trying to make the figure disappear.

But it was still there, clearly outlined by the rippling lights of the river.

A twig popped under her knee-Tally's aching muscles had finally betrayed her. But the figure still didn't move. He or she must have heard….

The warden was being kind, waiting for her to give herself up. Letting her surrender. The teachers did that at school, sometimes. Made you realize that you couldn't escape, until you confessed everything.

Tally cleared her throat. A small, pathetic sound. "I'm sorry," she said.

The figure let out a sigh. "Oh, phew. Hey, that's okay. I must have scared you, too." The girl leaned forward, grimacing as if she was also sore from remaining still so long. Her face caught the light.

She was ugly too.

Her name was Shay. She had long dark hair in pigtails, and her eyes were too wide apart.

Her lips were full enough, but she was even skinnier than a new pretty. She'd come over to New Pretty Town on her own expedition, and had been hiding here by the river for an hour.

"I've never seen anything like this", she whispered. "There's wardens and hovercars everywhere!"

Tally cleared her throat. "I think it's my fault."

Shay looked dubious. "How'd you manage that?"

"Well, I was up in the middle of town, at a party."

"You crashed a party? That's crazy!" Shay said, then lowered her voice back to a whisper.

"Crazy, but awesome. How'd you get in?"

"I was wearing a mask."

"Wow. A pretty mask?"

"Uh, more like a pig mask. It's a long story."

Shay blinked. "A pig mask. Okay. So let me guess, someone blew your house down?"

"Huh? No. I was about to get caught, so I kind of…set off a fire alarm."

"Nice trick!"

Tally smiled. It was actually a pretty good story, now that she had someone to tell it to.

"And I was trapped up on the roof, so I grabbed a bungee jacket and jumped off. I hover-bounced halfway here."

"No way!"

"Well, part of the way here, anyhow."

"Pretty awesome." Shay smiled, then her face went serious. She bit at one of her fingernails, which was one of those bad habits that the operation cured. "So, Tally, were you at this party…to see someone?"

It was Tally's turn to be impressed. "How'd you figure that out?"

Shay sighed, looking down at her ragged nails. "I've got friends too, over here. I mean, they were friends. Sometimes I spy on them." She looked up. "I was always the youngest, you know? And now-" "You're all alone."

Shay nodded. "It's sounds like you did more than spy, though."

"Yeah. I kind of said hello."

"Wow, that's crazy. Your boyfriend or something?"

Tally shook her head. Peris had gone with other girls, and Tally had dealt with it and tried to do the same, but their friendship had always been the main thing in both their lives. Not anymore, apparently.

"If he'd been my boyfriend, I don't think I could have done it, you know? I wouldn't have wanted him to see my face. But because we're friends, I thought maybe…"

"Yeah. So how'd it go?"

Tally thought for a second, looking out at the rippling water. Peris had been so pretty, and grown-up looking, and he'd said they'd be friends again. Once Tally was pretty too…"Basically, it sucked," she said.

"Thought so."

"Except getting away. That part was very cool."

"Sounds like it." Tally heard the smile in Shay's voice. "Very tricky."

They were silent for a moment as a hovercar went over.

"But you know, we haven't totally gotten away yet," Shay said. "Next time you're going to pull a fire alarm, let me know ahead of time."

"Sorry about getting you trapped here."

Shay looked at her and frowned. "Not that. I just meant if I'm going to have to do the running-away part, I might as well get in on the fun."

Tally laughed softly. "Okay. Next time, I'll let you know."

"Please do." Shay scanned the river. "Looks a little clearer now. Where's your board?"

"My what?"

Shay pulled a hoverboard from under a bush. "You've got a board, right? What'd you do, swim over?"

"No, I…hey, wait. How'd you get a hoverboard to take you across the river?" Anything that flew had minders all over it.

Shay laughed. "That's the oldest trick in the book. I figured you'd know all about it."

Tally shrugged. "I don't board much."

"Well, this one'll take both of us."

"Wait, shhh."

Another hovercar had come into view, cruising down the river just above the height of the bridges.

Tally waited for a count of ten after it had passed before she spoke. "I don't think it's a good idea, flying back."

"So how did you get over?"

"Follow me." Tally rose from her crouch onto hands and knees, and crawled a bit ahead.

She looked back. "Can you carry that thing?"

"Sure. It doesn't weigh much." Shay snapped her fingers, and the hoverboard drifted upward. "Actually, it doesn't weigh anything, unless I tell it to."

"That's handy."

Shay started to crawl, the board bouncing along behind her like a littlie's balloon. Tally couldn't see any string, though. "So, where're we going?" Shay asked.

"I know a bridge."

"But it'll tattle."

"Not this one. It's an old friend."

Tally fell off. Again.

The spill didn't hurt so much, this time. The moment her feet slipped off the hoverboard, she'd relaxed, the way Shay kept telling her to. Spinning out wasn't much worse than having your dad swing you around by the wrists when you were little.

If your dad happened to be a superhuman freak and was trying to pull your arms out of their sockets.

But the momentum had to go somewhere, Shay had explained. And around in circles was better than into a tree. Here in Cleopatra Park there were plenty of those.

After a few rotations, Tally found herself being lowered to the grass by her wrists, dizzy but in one piece.

Shay cruised up, banking her hoverboard to an elegant stop as if she'd been born on one.

"That looked a little better."

"It didn't feel any better." Tally pulled off one crash bracelet and rubbed her wrist. It was turning red, and her fingers felt weak.

The bracelet was heavy and solid in her hand. Crash bracelets had to have metal inside, because they worked on magnets, the way the boards did. Whenever Tally's feet slipped, the bracelets got all hovery and caught her fall, like some friendly giant plucking her from danger and swinging her to a halt.

By her wrists. Again.

Tally pulled the other bracelet off and rubbed.

"Don't give up. You almost made it!"

Tally's board cruised back on its own, nuzzling at her ankles like an apologetic dog. She crossed her arms and rubbed her shoulders. "I almost got snapped in two, you mean."

"Never happens. I've spilled more times than a glass of milk on a roller coaster."

"On a what?"

"Never mind. Come on, one more try."

Tally sighed. It wasn't just her wrists. Her knees ached from banking hard, whipping through turns so quickly that her body seemed to weigh a ton. Shay called that "high gravity," which happened every time a fast-moving object changed direction.

"Hoverboarding looks so fun, like being a bird. But actually doing it is hard work."

Shay shrugged. "Being a bird's probably hard work too. Flapping your wings all day, you know?"

"Maybe. Does it get any better?"

"For birds? I don't know. On a board? Definitely."

"I hope so." Tally pulled her bracelets on and stepped onto the hoverboard. It bobbed a little as it adjusted to her weight, like the bounce of a diving board.