Free Pretties by Scott Westerfeld Page A

a really bubbly costume. Three hours to come up with something decent, and everyone else had a huge head start.
    Sometimes, it felt like being a real criminal had been much, much simpler.
    Shay had breakfast in tow: lobster omelettes, toast, hash browns, corn fritters, grapes, chocolate muffins, and Bloodies—more food than a whole packet of calorie purgers could erase. The overburdened tray shivered in the air, its lifters trembling like a littlie arriving at school, first day ever.
    “Urn, Shay? Are we going as blimps or something?”
    Shay giggled. “No, but you sounded bad. And you have to be bubbly tonight. All the Crims are coming to vote you in.”
    “Great, bubbly.” Tally sighed, relieving the tray of a Bloody Mary She frowned at the first sip. “Not salty enough.”
    “No problem,” Shay said, scraping off the caviar decorating an omelette and stirring it in.
    “Ew, fishy!”
    “Caviar is good with anything.” Shay took another spoonful and put it straight into her mouth, closing her eyes to chew the little fish eggs. She twisted her ring to start some music.
    Tally swallowed and drank more Bloody, which at least stopped the room from spinning. The chocolate muffins were starting to smell good. Then she’d move on to the hash browns. Then the omelette; she might even try the caviar. Breakfast was the meal when Tally most felt like she had to make up for the time she’d lost out in the wild. A good breakfast binge made her feel in control, as if a storm of city-made tastes could erase the months of stews and SpagBol.
    The music was new and made her heart beat faster. “Thanks, Shay-la. You are totally life-saving.”
    “No problem, Tally-wa.”
    “So where were you last night, anyway?”
    Shay just smiled, like she’d done something bad.
    “What? New boy?”
    Shay shook her head. Batted her eyes.
    “You didn’t surge again, did you?” Tally asked, and Shay giggled. “You did. You’re not supposed to more than once a week. Could you be any more missing?”
    “It’s okay, Tally-wa. Just local.”
    “Where?” Shay’s face didn’t look any different. Was the surgery hidden under her pajamas?
    “Look closer.” Shay’s long lashes fluttered again.
    Tally leaned forward, staring into the perfect copper eyes, wide and speckled with jewel dust, and her heart beat still faster. A month after coming to New Pretty Town, Tally was still awestruck by other pretties’ eyes. They were so huge and welcoming, bright with interest. Shay’s lush pupils seemed to murmur, I’m listening to you. You fascinate me. They narrowed down the world to only Tally, all alone in the radiance of Shay’s attention.
    It was even weirder with Shay, because Tally had known her back in ugly days, before the operation had made her this way.
    “Closer”
    Tally took a steadying breath, the room spinning again, but in a good way She gestured for the windows to transpare a little more, and in the sunlight she saw the new additions. “Ooh, pretty-making.”
    Bolder than all the other implanted glitter, twelve tiny rubies ringed each of Shay’s pupils, glowing softly red against emerald irises.
    “Bubbly, huh?”
    “Yeah. But hang on . . . are the bottom-left ones different?” Tally squinted harder. One jewel in each eye seemed to be flickering, a tiny white candle in the coppery depths.
    “It’s five o’clock!” Shay said. “Get it?”
    It took Tally a second to remember how to read the big clock tower in the center of town. “Urn, but that’s seven. Wouldn’t bottom-right be five o’clock?”
    Shay snorted. “They run counterclockwise, silly I mean, so boring otherwise.”
    A laugh bubbled up in Tally. “So wait. You have jewels in your eyes? And they tell time? And they go backward! Isn’t that maybe one thing too many, Shay?”
    Tally immediately regretted what she’d said. The expression that clouded Shay’s face was tragic, sucking away the radiance of a moment before. She looked about to cry, except