Pretties

Tally and the Crims plummet through the grand finale of the firework display, their bungee jackets activating in time for them to land safely. Tally runs through the group making sure that no one is hurt and eventually reaches Zane. Their trick had two goals: the first was to let the New Smokies know that the pills had worked, and the second was to try to clear their friends’ heads permanently. Wardens arrive and cameras broadcast the wreckage. Tally, suddenly nervous that someone will discover they planned the rink’s destruction, runs to Zane and embraces him.

The Crims get together and party, drinking and retelling the stories of their fall around a bonfire. Although the Crims all pretend to be vapid, Tally recognizes new intelligence and clear-headedness. Zane approaches Tally, and she reflects on the fact that engineers haven’t been able to detect what caused the collapse. They speak in code about sharing the pretty-minded cure. Zane’s worked instantly but gives him migraines; Tally’s is slower to work, and she still struggles in the morning to stay bubbly. Zane expresses his frustration about their interface cuffs and is then struck by a headache. Tally recommends a doctor, but Zane is afraid that the doctor will see that his lesions are gone and put them back. Tally escorts Zane back to his dorm, but he sends her back to the party to make sure that the other Crims don’t get too drunk and start talking about their part in the skate rink collapse.

Tally walks back to the party, worrying about Zane’s well-being. She knows that finding New Smoke is the only way to help Zane, but they haven’t been contacted yet and she feels trapped by her interface cuff. Before she reaches the party, a voice calls out to her in the darkness. Tally pretends to be pretty-minded, but a figure steps out into the walkway, revealing herself to be Dr. Cable of Special Circumstances (the woman who recruited Tally to betray the Smoke in Uglies).

Tally pretends not to know Dr. Cable while experiencing flashbacks from when she was still ugly. Dr. Cable confronts Tally about the ice arena accident. Tally acts as if she is still pretty-minded, claiming that it must have been the fireworks that caused the ice to break. Dr. Cable accuses Tally of having something to do with it but says she does not want to get Tally in trouble. Dr. Cable compliments Tally and her resistance to becoming pretty-minded. The woman then reveals that in addition to making people feel dull, the doctors at Special Circumstances can make them feel clearheaded and razor-sharp. Dr. Cable offers that feeling to Tally, inviting her to join the Specials. Tally asks Dr. Cable what she was like as an ugly and guesses that the woman was “tricky”—a term for uglies who pull pranks, sneak out of Uglyville, and otherwise misbehave. Dr. Cable confirms this, noting that Special Circumstances watches the tricky uglies to see who they can recruit later. She then reveals that the brain lesions are meant to prevent people from becoming too much like the Rusties, who destroyed the world. Being content and thoughtless prevents people from working too hard and taking too much. Tally has an outburst, yelling at Dr. Cable that she doesn’t want any of this. The woman tries to calm her and asks Tally to consider her offer, noting that she also has interest in Zane. Dr. Cable implies that Zane betrayed the Smokies before she leaves.

Tally returns to the bonfire, which has gotten larger in her absence. She realizes that as the Crims feel bubbly, they are doing the same thing that the Rusties did—burning wood and creating smoke, making her feel worse. Shay approaches Tally and tries to comfort her. Then Shay asks what really happened on top of Valentino Mansion. Tally claims that it was the climb that changed her, and Shay confesses that she climbed the tower at night hoping to become as bubbly as Tally and Zane. Shay insists that Tally tell her the truth: She remembers that Tally originally followed her to the Smoke to betray her, calling the Specials after becoming romantically involved with David, and tells Tally that she owes her the truth after all the things she has done.

Tally and Shay wrap Tally’s interface cuff in another scarf. Tally tells Shay that Croy provided her with a pill that she took the day she climbed the tower and urges Shay to remember helping write the letter she found there. Tally explains that Shay, newly rescued by the Smokies and now pretty, refused to take the pills, so Tally volunteered. When Tally says there were two pills, Shay becomes furious, yelling that Tally should have shared them with her and calling Tally selfish and a traitor. The rest of the party goes silent in shock. Shay whispers to Tally that she will always remember this betrayal and hate her for it before storming away.

As the party slowly picks up again, Tally realizes that Shay’s anger is unusual for a pretty. She wonders if Zane’s and her guilt at the way they betrayed the Smoke has helped them stay bubbly. Tally connects strong emotion to feeling bubbly and worries that Shay may cure herself in a more dangerous way.