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

Worse, she was ugly. But she hoped Peris wouldnтАЩt see it that way. WouldnтАЩt seeher that way.

Tally had no idea what would happen if she got caught. This wasnтАЩt like being busted for тАЬforgettingтАЭ her
ring, skipping classes, or tricking the house into playing her music louder than allowed. Everyone did that
kind of stuff, and everyone got busted for it. But she and Peris had always been very careful about not
getting caught on these expeditions. Crossing the river was serious business.

It was too late to worry now, though. What could they do to her, anyway? In three months sheтАЩd be a
pretty herself.

Tally crept along the river until she reached a pleasure garden, and slipped into the darkness beneath a
row of weeping willows. Under their cover she made her way alongside a path lit by little guttering
flames.

A pretty couple wandered down the path. Tally froze, but they were clueless, too busy staring into each
otherтАЩs eyes to see her crouching in the darkness. Tally silently watched them pass, getting that warm
feeling she always got from looking at a pretty face. Even when she and Peris used to spy on them from
the shadows, giggling at all the stupid things the pretties said and did, they couldnтАЩt resist staring. There
was something magic in their large and perfect eyes, something that made you want to pay attention to
whatever they said, to protect them from any danger, to make them happy. They were soтАжpretty.

The two disappeared around the next bend, and Tally shook her head to clear the mushy thoughts away.
She wasnтАЩt here to gawk. She was an infiltrator, a sneak, an ugly. And she had a mission.

The garden stretched up into town, winding like a black river through the bright party towers and
houses. After a few more minutes of creeping, she startled a couple hidden among the trees (it was a
pleasure garden, after all), but in the darkness they couldnтАЩt see her face, and only teased her as she
mumbled an apology and slipped away. She hadnтАЩt seen too much of them, either, just a tangle of perfect
legs and arms.

Finally, the garden ended, a few blocks from where Peris lived.

Tally peered out from behind a curtain of hanging vines. This was farther than she and Peris had ever
been together, and as far as her planning had taken her. There was no way to hide herself in the busy,
well-lit streets. She put her fingers up to her face, felt the wide nose and thin lips, the too-high forehead
and tangled mass of frizzy hair. One step out of the underbrush and sheтАЩd be spotted. Her face seemed
to burn as the light touched it. What was she doing here? She should be back in the darkness of
Uglyville, awaiting her turn.

But she had to see Peris, had to talk to him. She wasnтАЩt quite sure why, exactly, except that she was
sick of imagining a thousand conversations with him every night before she fell asleep. TheyтАЩd spent every
day together since they were littlies, and nowтАжnothing. Maybe if they could just talk for a few minutes,
her brain would stop talking to imaginary Peris. Three minutes might be enough to hold her for three
months.

Tally looked up and down the street, checking for side yards to slink through, dark doorways to hide in.
She felt like a rock climber facing a sheer cliff, searching for cracks and handholds.

The traffic began to clear a little, and she waited, rubbing the scar on her right palm. Finally, Tally sighed