Page 24 (1/2)

The Model

The Smoke really was smoky

Open fires dotted the valley, surrounded by s drifted up to Tally, s and outdoor parties In addition to the ser creeping down into the valley froher up A few solar panels gli what sun was reflected from the mist Garden plots were planted in randos, twenty or so one-story structuresplanks of wood There ood everywhere: in fences; as cooking spits; laid down in ays overstacks by the fires Tally wondered where they had found so es of the settleasped "Trees," she whispered in horror "You cut down trees"

Shay squeezed her hand "Only in this valley It seems weird at first, but it’s the way the pre-Rusties lived too, you know? And we’re plantinginto the orchids"

"Okay," Tally said doubtfully She saw a tea on a pair of hoverboards "There’s a grid?"

Shay nodded happily "Just in places We pulled up a bunch of metal from a railroad, like the track you cah the Smoke, and eventually we’ll do the whole valley I’ve been working on that project We bury a piece of junk every few paces Like everything here, it’s tougher than you’d think You wouldn’tbelieve how hs"

David and the others were already headed down, gliding single file between ts of rocks painted a glowing orange "That’s the hoverpath?" Tally asked

"Yeah Coot to meet the Boss"

The Boss wasn’t really in charge here, Shay explained He just acted like it, especially to newbies But he was in cos in the settlement’s central square

The familiar smell of dusty books overwhelmed Tally at the library door, and as she looked around, she realized that books were prettyair-screen, not even private workscreens Just mismatched desks and chairs and rows and rows of bookshelves

Shay led her to the center of it all, where a round kiosk was inhabited by a s on an old-fashioned handphone As they drew closer, Tally felt her heart starting to pound She’d been dreading what she was about to see

The Boss was anold ugly Tally had spotted a few froed to turn her eyes away But here was the wrinkled, veined, discolored, shuffling, horrific truth, right before her eyes His lared at the voice and waving one claw at theled and pulled her toward the shelves "He’ll get to us eventually There’s so I want to show you first"

"That poor man"

"The Boss? Pretty wild, huh? He’s, like,forty ! Wait until you talk to hie of his sagging features from her mind These people were insane to tolerate that, towant it "But his face," Tally said

"That’s nothing Check these out" Shay sat her down at a table, turned to a shelf, and pulled out a handful of volumes in protective covers She plonked them in front of Tally

"Books on paper? What about theazines,’" Shay said She opened one and pointed Its strangely glossy pages were covered with pictures Of people

Uglies

Tally’s eyes widened as Shay turned the pages, pointing and giggling She’d never seen so many wildly different faces before Mouths and eyes and noses of every ie And thebodiesSorotesquely fat, or weirdly over-muscled, or uncoly proportions But instead of being asha and posing, as if all the pictures had been taken at soe party "Who are these freaks?"

"They aren’t freaks," Shay said "The weird thing is, these are fa hideous?"

"No They’re sports stars, actors, artists The ly ones are politicians, and someone told me the fatties are mostly coe," Tally said "So this is what people looked like before the first pretty? How could anyone stand to open their eyes?"

"Yeah It’s scary at first But the weird thing is, if you keep looking at theet used to it"

Shay turned to a full-page picture of a wo underwear, like a lacy swimsuit

"What the," Tally said

"Yeah"

The wo out fros so thin that Tally wondered how they didn’t snap under her weight Her elbows and pelvic bones looked sharp as needles

But there she was, s her body, as if she’d just had the operation and didn’t realize they’d sucked out way toopretty than any of the rest She had the big eyes, sht, the skull practically visible beneath her flesh "What on earth is she?"

"A model"

"Which is what?"

"Kind of like a professional pretty I guess when everyone else is ugly, being pretty is sort of, like, your job"