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Shay looked dubious "How’d you e 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 aweso a mask"

"Wow A prettystory"

Shay blinked "A pig uess, someone blew your house down?"

"Huh? No I was about to get caught, so I kind ofset off a fire alarm"

"Nice trick!"

Tally sood story, now that she had sorabbed a bungee jacket and jumped off I hover-bounced halfway here"

"No way!"

"Well, part of the way here, anyhow"

"Pretty awesome" Shay sernails, which was one of those bad habits that the operation cured "So, Tally, were you at this partyto see someone?"

It was Tally’s turn to be iure that out?"

Shay sighed, looking down at her ragged nails "I’ve got friends too, over here I mean, theywere friends Soest, you know? And now - "

"You’re all alone"

Shay nodded "It’s sounds like you did h"

"Yeah I kind of said hello"

"Wow, that’s crazy Your boyfriend or soone with other girls, and Tally had dealt with it and tried to do the sa in both their lives Not anymore, apparently

"If he’d been my boyfriend, I don’t think I could have done it, you knoouldn’t have wanted hiht o?"

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 knoe haven’t totally gotten away yet," Shay said "Next ti to pull a fire alaretting you trapped here"

Shay looked at her and frowned "Not that I just -away part, I hed 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 froht? What’d you do, swiet a hoverboard to take you across the river?" Anything that flew had hed "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 coht 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 howdid 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 ers, and the hoverboard drifted upward "Actually, it doesn’t weighanything, 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"