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Turning Pretty

Is it not good to make society full

of beautiful people?

- Yang Yuan, quoted inThe New York Times

Chapter 1

New Pretty Town

The early summer sky was the color of cat voht, you’d have to feed your cat only salht The scudding clouds did look a bit fishy, rippled into scales by a high-altitude wind As the light faded, deep blue gaps of night peered through like an upside-down ocean, bottomless and cold

Any other sum had been beautiful since Peris turned pretty Losing your best friend sucks, even if it’s only for threefor darkness

She could see New Pretty Town through her openThe party toere already lit up, and snakes of burning torches ardens A few hot-air balloons pulled at their tethers against the darkening pink sky, their passengers shooting safety fireworks at other balloons and passing parasailers Laughter and music skipped across the water like rocks throith just the right spin, their edges just as sharp against Tally’s nerves

Around the outskirts of the city, cut off fro was in darkness Everyone ugly was in bed by now

Tally took off her interface ring and said, "Good night"

"Sweet dreams, Tally," said the room

She chewed up a toothbrush pill, punched her pillows, and shoved an old portable heater - one that produced about as- under the covers

Then she crawled out the

Outside, with the night finally turning coal black above her head, Tally instantly felt better Maybe this was a stupid plan, but anything was better than another night awake in bed feeling sorry for herself On the fae, it was easy to ihter, ready for a night of spying on the new pretties Together She and Peris had figured out how to trick the house minder back when they were twelve, when the three-es seemed like it would never matter

"Best friends for life," Tally ht palh the trees, and she could hear the wavelets of a passing river ski in the reeds Surass was high, it was never cold, and you didn’t have to stay awake through school the next day

Of course, Peris could sleep as late as he wanted now Just one of the advantages of being pretty

The old bridge stretched e iron frao that it held up its oeight, without any support from hoverstruts A million years froe would probably remain like a fossilized bone

Unlike the other bridges into New Pretty Town, the old bridge couldn’t talk - or report trespassers, e had always see as some ancient tree

Her eyes were fully adjusted to the darkness now, and it took only seconds to find the fishing line tied to its usual rock She yanked it, and heard the splash of the rope tue supports She kept pulling until the invisible fishing line turned into wet, knotted cord

The other end was still tied to the iron frae Tally pulled the rope taut and lashed it to the usual tree

She had to duck into the grass onceon its deck didn’t spot the rope stretched froe to shore They never did New pretties were always having too s out of place