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Shay

The siren faded behind her It seeaping faces below becoround hurtled toward her, a space opening in the panicking crohere she was going to hit For a fewdream, silent and wonderful

Then reality jerked at her shoulders and thighs, the webbing of the jacket cutting viciously into her She was taller than pretty standard, she knew; the jacket probably wasn’t expecting this ht

Tally so h to spot a discarded bottle cap in the grass Then she found herself shooting upward again, co the circle, so that the sky wheeled above her, then over and doard again,in front

Perfect She had pushed off hard enough that she was bouncing down the hill away fro her toward the darkness and safety of the gardens

Tally spun head over heels twice rass She pulled rando sound and dropped to the ground

Her dizziness took a moment to clear as she tried to sort up froly?" soe of the crowd

The black shapes of two firefighting hovercars zoo her ears

"Great idea, Peris," she muttered "A false alarht her now

She’d never evenheard of anyone doing anything this bad

Tally ran toward the garden

The darkness below the as co

Down here, halfway to the river, Tally could barely tell there was a full-scale fire alert in the middle of town But she could see that a search was underway More hovercars were in the air than usual, and the river seeht Maybe that was just a coincidence

But probably not

Tally h the trees It was later than she and Peris had ever stayed over in New Pretty Town The pleasure gardens were more crowded, especially the dark parts And now that the excite to realize how stupid the whole idea had been

Of course Peris didn’t have the scar anymore The two of them had only used a penknife when they’d cut theer knives in the operation They rubbed you raw, and you grew all new skin, perfect and clear The old marks of accidents and bad food and childhood illnesses all washed away A clean start

But Tally had ruined Peris’s starting over - showing up like so hily in his mouth, not to mention covered with e into

At least Peris hadn’t seeain, once she was pretty But the way he’d looked at her facelies froly face when you’re surrounded by such beautiful people all the tiht, and Peris would always see her like this - squinty eyes and frizzy hair - even after she had the operation?

A hovercar passed overhead, and Tally ducked She was probably going to get caught tonight, and never be turned pretty at all

She deserved it for being so stupid

Tally reet caught; she had to becoht flashed in the corner of her vision Tally crouched and peered through the hangingleaves

A safety warden was in the park She was a ht, the handsome features of the second operation were obvious: broad shoulders and a firh cheekbones The woman carried the salyville

Tally sed New pretties had their oardens There was only one reason why a middle pretty would be here in New Pretty Town: The wardens were looking for so hiht at a couple on a bench, illu them for the split second it took to confirm that they were pretty The couple juized Tally could hear her low, sure voice, and saw the new pretties relax Everything had to be okay if she said it was

Tally felt herself wanting to give up, to throw herself on the wise mercy of the warden If she just explained, the warden would understand and fix everything Middle pretties always knehat to do

But she had promised Peris

Tally pulled back into the darkness, trying to ignore the horrible feeling that she was a spy, a sneak, for not surrendering to the woh the brush as fast as she could

Close to the river, Tally heard a noise in front of her A dark forhts before her

Not a couple, a lone figure in the dark

It had to be a warden, waiting for her in the brush

Tally hardly dared breathe She had frozen in ht all poised on one knee and one muddy hand The warden hadn’t seen her yet If Tally waited long enough, maybe the warden would move on

She waited, e They ardens were the only dark way in and out of New Pretty Town

Tally’s ar frozen for so long But she didn’t dare let her weight settle onto the other arive her away

She held herself still, until all herMaybe the warden was just a trick of the light

Maybe this was all in her iure disappear

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

A twig popped under her knee - Tally’s aching urestill didn’t move He or shekind, 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’h "Oh, phew Hey, that’s okay Ias if she was also sore froht

She was ugly too

Her natails, 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"