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Peris

During the dayti anywhere else was pure torture The uglies in her own dor disease, and anyone else who recognized her sooner or later asked, "Why aren’t you pretty yet?"

It was strange She’d been an ugly for four years, but a few extra days had brought home to her exactly what the word reallyevery flaw, every deforrew even frizzier because she kept running her hands through it in frustration A trio of zits exploded across her forehead, as ifthe days since her sixteenth birthday Her watery, too-ser

Only at night could she escape froly face

She fooled the minders and climbed out as usual, but she didn’t feel much like any real tricks There was no one to visit, no one to play a prank on, and the idea of crossing the river was too painful to consider

She had gotten a new hoverboard, and tricked it up like Shay had taught her, so at least she could fly at night

But flying didn’t feel the saht, and no matter how fast she flew, Tally was trapped, and she knew it

The fourth night in ugly exile she took her board up into the greenbelt, staying at the edge of town She whipped it back and forth past the dark coluh them at top speed, so fast that her hands and face collected dozens of scratches fro by

After a few hours’ flying had worn away souish, Tally had a happy realization: This was the best she’d ever ridden; she was alood as Shay now Never once did the board du too close to a tree, and her shoes held on to its grippy surface like they were glued there She worked up a sweat even in the autu, her arh the dark forest If she rode this hard all night, Tally thought, ht away

She flew until exhaustion forced her home

When she crawled back into her roo there

"Peris!"

His features burst into a radiant sht But when he looked closer, his expression changed "What happened to your face, Squint?"

Tally blinked "Haven’t you heard? They didn’t do the - "

"Not that" Peris reached up and touched her cheek, which sertips "You look like you’ve been juggling cats all night"

"Oh, yeah" Tally ran her fingers through her hair, and ruh a drawer She pulled a medspray out, closed her eyes, and squirted herself in the face

"Ow!" she yelped in the few seconds before the anesthetic kicked in She sprayed her scratched hands as well "Just a little ht, don’t you think?"

Out the , the sun was just beginning to turn the towers of New Pretty Town pink Cat-vomit pink She looked at Peris, exhausted and confused "How long have you been here?"

He shifted uncoh"

"Sorry I didn’t know you were couish "Of course I caured out where you were, I carippy shoes as she collected herself She’d felt so abandoned since her birthday, it had never occurred to her that Peris would want to see her, especially not here in Uglyville

But here he orried, anxious, lovely

"It’s good to see you," she said, feeling tears come into her eyes They were red and puffy most of the time these days

He beaht of what she must look like was tooher face with her hands and sobbing Peris sat next to her and held her for a while as she cried, then wiped her nose and sat her up "Look at you, Tally Youngblood"

She shook her head "Please don’t"

"You’re an absolute h her hair She couldn’t meet his eyes, and stared at the floor

"So, do you always go hoverboarding in a blender?"

She shook her head, lightly touching the scratches on her face "Just tree branches At high speed"

"Oh, so getting yourself killed is your next brilliant trick I guess that would just about top your current one"

"My current what?"

Peris rolled his eyes "This whole trick where you haven’t turned pretty yet Very mysterious"

"Yeah Soet modest, Squint? All my friends are fascinated"

She turned her puffy eyes to her friend, trying to figure out if he was kidding

"I mean, I already told everyone about you after that fire alar to meet you now," he continued "There’s even a rumor that Special Circumstances is involved"

Tally blinked Peris was serious

"Well, that’s true," she said "They’re the reason I’ eyes widened even more "Really? That is so bubbly!"

She sat up and frowned "Dideveryone know about them but me?"

"Well, I had no idea what anyone was talking about Apparently, Specials are like gre weird happens Sous, and no one I know has actuallyseen a Special"

Tally sighed "Just uess"

"So they’re real?" Peris lowered his voice to a whisper "Do they really look different? You know,not pretty"