"Scott Westerfeld - Uglies" - читать интересную книгу автора (Westerfeld Scott)

TallyтАЩs breath caught, her mouth went dry. тАЬPeris?тАЭ she whispered.

He looked at her closely. тАЬDo IтАжтАЭ

She started to reach out, but remembered to press back flat against the wall. Her muscles were
screaming from standing on tiptoe. тАЬItтАЩs me, Peris.тАЭ

тАЬHere, piggy, piggy!тАЭ

He turned toward the voice down the hall, raised his eyebrows, then looked back at her. тАЬClose door.
Hold,тАЭ he said quickly.

The door slid shut, and Tally stumbled forward. She pulled off her mask to see him better. It was Peris:
his voice, his brown eyes, the way his forehead crinkled when he was confused.

But he was sopretty now.

At school, they explained how it affected you. It didnтАЩt matter if you knew about evolution or notтАФit
worked anyway. On everyone.

There was a certain kind of beauty, a prettiness that everyone could see. Big eyes and full lips like a
kidтАЩs; smooth, clear skin; symmetrical features; and a thousand other little clues. Somewhere in the backs
of their minds, people were always looking for these markers. No one could help seeing them, no matter
how they were brought up. A million years of evolution had made it part of the human brain.

The big eyes and lips said: IтАЩm young and vulnerable, I canтАЩt hurt you, and you want to protect me. And
the rest said: IтАЩm healthy, I wonтАЩt make you sick. And no matter how you felt about a pretty, there was a
part of you that thought:If we had kids, theyтАЩd be healthy too. I wantthis pretty personтАж.

It was biology, they said at school. Like your heart beating, you couldnтАЩt help believing all these things,
not when you saw a face like this. A pretty face.

A face like PerisтАЩs.

тАЬItтАЩs me,тАЭ Tally said.
Peris took a step back, his eyebrows rising. He looked down at her clothes.

Tally realized she was wearing her baggy black expedition outfit, muddy from crawling up ropes and
through gardens, from falling among the vines. PerisтАЩs suit was deep black velvet, his shirt, vest, and tie all
glowing white.

She pulled away. тАЬOh, sorry. I wonтАЩt get you muddy.тАЭ

тАЬWhat are youdoing here, Tally?тАЭ

тАЬI justтАФ,тАЭ she sputtered. Now that she was facing him, she didnтАЩt know what to say. All the imagined
conversations had melted away into his big, sweet eyes. тАЬI had to know if we were stillтАжтАЭ

Tally held out her right hand, the scarred palm facing up, sweaty dirt tracing the lines on it.