"Shay-la!"

At the sound of my name, I whipped my head around as tingles travelled up my spine to my neck because the voice was something I'd been hoping to hear for weeks now.

"Tally-wa!" I scrambled over the rocks I've been hiding behind for the past few days, sliding over some in my haste to get to my best friend. I grabbed her backpack as David zoomed up behind her on his board.

"What happened to you? You took really long to get here, I was worried you didn't understand my note." I dusted the dirt off my shorts and shrugged her heavy backpack higher up on my shoulder.

Tally took a deep breath and I couldn't help but notice how flushed her face was and how Pretty it made her. She had always insisted that she looked Ugly through and through, but right now as the wind blew strands of hair across her face and the sunshine lit up her complexion with a glow, I couldn't see how an operation would improve her looks.

"It took me a while to get here. I got lost, and had some problems with a tribe," she said. "That's how I got these injuries here, and here..."

She rambled on about her story, Croy had made his way up the little hill and relieved the backpack from my shoulder. He took it upon himself to open it and go through the contents. As he wondered about something in her bag, I couldn't help but notice how David was looking at Tally. Squinting in the sunlight, he could've been looking at anything, but I knew from the soft expression in his face that he was looking at Tally, and thinking things I only hoped he would think of with me.

It was one of the reasons for me to not invite Tally to the Smoke. I had fallen in love with David ever since I met him the first time at the precipice of joining the Smoke. I'd always avoided bringing Tally along because no boy in their right mind, Ugly or Pretty, would've taken note of me when she was around. And it wasn't just looks either.

Tally had this vibe, this energy that guys could sense and love. Always bursting forth with fearless adrenaline, she was the spunky warrior guys always wished their girlfriends would be.

And then there was me. I always tried to follow her energy, if not outdo her in the things she did. Always tried to leap off the hoverboard from a higher distance, always tried to suggest new ideas for pranks in New Pretty Town. The Smoke operation had been one of the rare times I had gone on ahead without Tally, and she hadn't seemed to be able to follow. But now, here she was, at the Smoke.

And David, imperfectly perfect David, with his Ugly nose and his Ugly hair seemed so ideal for me. I liked guys who were a little rugged and rough around the edges. A little scruff and a lot of leather. He was also nice, stubborn and untainted by all the Ugly/Pretty perceptions that I had always thought was bogus. He caused a rift in my beliefs, he did. I wanted to join the Smoke because I too, didn't believe in changing our appearances and had always been fine with the way I looked. But then here I meet David, and suddenly, an operation to make me irresistably Pretty to him seemed so tempting.

Walking back to the campsite from our position on top of the hill was no easy task. Croy was ahead, I followed behind, while Tally and David struggled with their boards a little ways away. As far away as they were, the high rock faces amplified their voices into crystal clear echoes even if they didn't know it.

"I've probably never been so Ugly in my life," Tally laughed.

"I don't know what you mean. You look really...nice." Oh, awkward David. He's probably never gotten much practice at hitting on girls. It was this sweetness that made him so crushingly endearing to me.

"All these scratches are going to leave scars. If I went through the operation, they'd probably need to replace my whole skin." Even from here I could hear the smile in her voice.

There was a long silence. "I don't know. I kind of like scars." Silence. "It means you've got a lot of stories to tell, and I find that intriguing."

I pretended to tie my shoelaces and stole a glance back at them both. They had paused in their tracks with David caressing his thumbs over Tally's, carefully tracing what I assumed was one of her injuries. He had on a shy smile and I could feel the attraction from all the way down here.

Suddenly, all this menacing hate just bubbled within me. I almost immediately regretted persuading Tally to come to the Smoke. I wanted her to go back, to push her off the high hill we were now on and hopefully she would scratch her face even worse. But then again, David would probably find her all the more "interesting". Argh, it was so frustrating to watch them both, yet it shocked me that I could hate my best friend so much. It shocked me that I would actually want to inflict pain on her. I couldn't do it though. It wouldn't be right.

So I picked up a rock and threw it really hard at a bigger rock instead.