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Her fingers came away sticky, and more dark blotches dripped into her palm as she stared at it du in time with her heartbeat The collision with Peris’s knee ers traced a line of blood that dripped around her brow and down one cheek, as hot as tears
Tally sat down on the grass, suddenly shaking all over
Fireworks lit the sky again, turning the blood on her hand bright red, each drop a littlethe explosion overhead There were hovercars in the sky now, lots of the she’d wanted to keep hold of
"Tally!"
Looking up, she saw Peris, chuckling as he climbed the hill
"Now that was not a bubbly move, Tally-wa I al at water and slipping under
She found herself giggling at his perfor bubbly now that Peris was here "What’s the matter? Can’t you swim?"
He laughed and sank to the grass beside her, fighting with the straps of the bungee jacket "I’m not dressed for it" He rubbed one shoulder "Alsoow on the clinginess"
Tally tried to reood idea, but the sight of her own blood had left her brain- was harsh and shiny "Sorry"
"Just warn me next time" Fireworks exploded overhead, and Peris squinted at her, his face beautifully puzzled "What’s with the blood?"
"Oh, yeah Your knee whacked into us?"
"Not very pretty-" He reached out and squeezed her ar a warden car There’s tons out tonight"
But one was already co a red tinge on the grass around the the unco slip away She realized nohy it had been such a bogus day She’d been trying way too hard, worrying about how the Crims would vote and what to wear, more serious than bubbly No wonder the party-crashers had driven her over the edge
She giggled Literally over the edge
But everything was okay now With the uglies and cruel pretties gone and Peris here to take care of her, a restful feeling settled over Tally Funny how that kick to the head had left her brain-lies like they mattered
The hovercar landed nearby, and tardens jumped out and headed over, one with a first-aid kit in hand Maybe while they were fixing her head, Tally thought, she could get soe like Shay’s Not exactly the sa
She looked up into the wardens’what to do
The look of concern on their faces ently led her to the car and sprayed new skin onto the wound, giving her a pill to stop the swelling When she asked about bruises, they laughed and said the operation took care of that No ave Tally a neural exa red pointer back and forth while they tracked her eyemouse The test seemed pretty retarded, but the wardens said it proved she didn’t have a concussion or brain dalass door at Lillian Russell Mansion and had to stay awake or die, and they all laughed
Then the wardens asked a few questions about the tricking uglies who’d coht and caused all the trouble "Did you know any of theet into it It was totally sha But it was , and you couldn’t blow the, and it would be bogus to tell a lie straight to their calm, authoritative faces
"Yeah I kind of remembered one of them Croy"
"He was fro stupid wearing the Smokey sweater with dirt and blood all over it It was all Valentino Mansion’s fault for switching the dress code: There was nothingin a costume after you’d left a party
"Do you knohat he wanted, Tally? Why he was here?"
She looked at Peris for help He was hanging on every word, his lu wide It ly tricks, that’s all Showing off in front of his friends, probably" Which sounded bogus Croy didn’t live in Uglyville, after all He was a Smokey froht have been city kids just tricking, but Croy had definitely had a plan
But the wardens only s her "Don’t worry, it won’t happen again
We’ll be keeping an eye on you to make sure it doesn’t"
She smiled back at them, and they took her ho froone back to the party
"Guess what?" he yelled Crowd sounds and one back to the bash, even with sprayed-on skin all over her forehead
She frowned and flopped onto her bed as the ot back, the Criht it was totally bubbly that real-life Specials were at the party, and our dive off the tower got six hundred milli-Helens from Zane! You are so Criet that scar erased until everyone’s seen it Best friends forever!"
As the e ended, Tally felt the bed spin a little She closed her eyes and let out a long, slow sigh of relief Finally, she was a full-fledged Cri she’d ever wanted had come to her at last
She was beautiful, and she lived in New Pretty Toith Peris and Shay and tons of new friends All the disasters and terrors of the last year - running away to the S back to the city through the wilds - somehow all of it had worked out
It was so wonderful, and Tally was so exhausted, that belief took a while to settle over her She replayed Peris’s e a few ti hands and threw it into the corner Tomorrow, she would make the hole in the wall recycle it
Tally lay back and stared at the ceiling for a while A ping fro to sleep tiile, as if the slightest interruption could imperil her pretty future The bed beneath her, Komachi Mansion, and even the city around her - all of it felt as tenuous as a soap bubble, shivering and e the weird ood night’s sleep - and hopefully no hangover toain, as perfect as it really was
Tally fell asleep a few minutes later, happy to be a Crius