Read Online Uglies by Scott Westerfeld - Free Book Online Page B

were hidden in the changing rooms beside the sandy beach, where they’d left their interface rings
    and a spare set of clothes. If anyone asked, they’d say they were swimming the whole time. Swimming was a great trick. It hid your body-heat signature, involved changing clothes, and was a perfect excuse for not wearing your interface ring. The river washed away all crimes.
    A minute later they splashed out into the water, sinking the disguises. The bungee jacket would go back to the art school basement that night.
    “I’m serious, Tally,” Shay said once they were out in the water. “Your nose isn’t ugly. I like your eyes, too.”
    “My eyes? Now you’re totally crazy. They’re way too close together.”
    “Who says?”
    “Biology says.”
    Shay splashed a handful of water at her. “You don’t believe all that crap, do you—that there’s only one way to look, and everyone’s programmed to agree on it?”
    “It’s not about believing, Shay. You just know it. You’ve seen pretties. They look…wonderful.”
    “They all look the same.”
    “I used to think that too. But when Peris and I would go into town, we’d see a lot of them, and we realized that pretties do look different. They look like themselves. It’s just a lot more subtle, because they’re not all freaks.”
    “We’re not freaks, Tally. We’re normal. We may not be gorgeous, but at least we’re not hyped-up Barbie dolls.”
    “What kind of dolls?”
    She looked away. “It’s something David told me about.”
    “Oh, great. David again.” Tally pushed away and floated on her back, looking up at the sky and wishing this conversation would end. They’d been out to the ruins a few more times, and Shay always insisted on setting off a sparkler, but David had never showed. The whole thing gave Tally the creeps, waiting around in the dead city for some guy who didn’t seem to exist. It was great exploring out there, but Shay’s obsession with David had started to sour it for Tally.
    “He’s real. I’ve met him more than once.”
    “Okay, Shay, David’s real. But so is being ugly. You can’t change it just by wishing, or by telling yourself that you’re pretty. That’s why they invented the operation.”
    “But it’s a trick, Tally. You’ve only seen pretty faces your whole life. Your parents, your teachers, everyone over sixteen. But you weren’t born expecting that kind of beauty in everyone, all the time. You just got programmed into thinking anything else is ugly.”
    “It’s not programming, it’s just a natural reaction. And more important than that, it’s fair. In the old days it was all random—some people kind of pretty, most people ugly all their lives. Now everyone’s ugly…until they’re pretty. No losers.”
    Shay was silent for a while, then said, “There are losers, Tally.”
    Tally shivered. Everyone knew about uglies-for-life, the few people for whom the operation wouldn’t work. You didn’t see them around much. They were allowed in public, but most of them preferred to hide. Who wouldn’t? Uglies might look goofy, but at least they were young. Old uglies were really unbelievable.
    “Is that it? Are you worried about the operation not working? That’s silly, Shay. You’re no freak. In two weeks you’ll be as pretty as anyone else.”
    “I don’t want to be pretty.”
    Tally sighed. This again.
    “I’m sick of this city,” Shay continued. “I’m sick of the rules and boundaries. The last thing I want is to become some empty-headed new pretty, having one big party all day.”
    “Come on, Shay. They do all the same stuff we do: bungee jump, fly, play with fireworks. Only they don’t have to sneak around.”
    “They don’t have the imagination to sneak around.”

    “Look, Skinny, I’m with you,” Tally said sharply. “Doing tricks is great! Okay? Breaking the rules is fun!
    But eventually you’ve got to do something besides being a clever little ugly.”
    “Like being a vapid,