The air had turned bitter, the leaves on the trees in Cleopatra park had fallen long been missing. But there was no snow. There was in the past according to scientists before the Rusties almost destroyed the world. "Precipitation in the form of small white ice crystals formed directly from the water vapor of the air at a temperature of less than 32°F (0°C)" As the Webster Dictionary had said in the Rusty times. Now it was still too warm for the snow to come back, even though the world was starting to recover. Many scientists and meteorologists questioned if it would ever get warm enough.
Tally sighed, her teacher was going on about Rusty history and she had to take notes. It was almost Spring Break, only one class to go, and because their last class, Her History teacher Ms. Farah decided to talk about Rusty spring breaks. Every time around a holiday, Ms. Farah would take the last class to talk about Rusty traditions. She was going on about how some people would take ski and snowboarding trips. Groups of friends would all stay at a resort and spend days going down mountains covered with light fluffy snow. They would go back to warm ski Lodges and sit in front of great blazing warm fires with warm drinks talking about there day. The smell of warm cider and hot chocolate, the crackling of the fire, the rumble of laughter would all fill the warm room. The people would bond in a way that couldn't be torn apart.
While others, As Ms. Farah explained, Went to warmer places, such as the south. Some traveled all around the world. The friends and families that went to beach side resorts would spend days at the beach tanning, playing in the surf, surfing, sailing, swimming, and snorkeling. At night, some would go to clubs and bars, while others back to the beach to walk along the shore. Other people who went to towns and cities explored the foreign land. They would walk along the streets and experience a new culture. They would meet new people, try new foods and customs. Tally was lost in the world her teacher had created, imagining both situations. They seemed magical and enticing.
The blaring school bell sounded. Tally was brought back to the ugly world, the flurry of books bags and people signaled Tally that the lesson was over. She quickly got up and stuffed her tablet in her bag and hurried to catch up with her class. Her head was filled with thoughts of how she could recreate a Rusty Spring break. She rushed down the hall for her last class before the break. You could see all the other Uglies were excited also, everyone was joking and laughing. Even Tally couldn't resist smiling. She squeezed into the small space in front of her locker and passed her hand over the sensor. She put her tablet away and grabbed her music book and Clarinet. She closed the locker with a flick of her wrist and turned to go down to the gym.
The next moment, Tally found herself dazed, laying on the cool linoleum floor looking up into the eyes of one of her classmates Peris. She started to get up and Peris offered her a hand.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there" Peris apologized.
Tally let go of her hand and brushed the dirt off and bent to grab her gym bag.
"No, no it's my fault, I should of looked where I was going" Tally blushed.
"It was clearly my fault. My parents always say I need to watch where I'm going" Peris said as he bent down with her helping her with her scattered sheet music. Before she knew it, Peris had picked up her music and handed it to her. Tally started to thank him, but the bell rang, creating even more havoc in the already chaotic hallway. The kids around them started bumping into them while getting away from there lockers.
"Mind if I walk with you to your next class, I've noticed your kind of a loner" he said, his cheeks starting to turn a dark red, and he started to tense up "I..I… I mean, being a loner isn't a bad thing…well" his voice dropped.
"I know what you're trying to say, sure, I mean if you don't have anyone else" Tally grinned at him. With that Peris relaxed. They joined the large human traffic jam and headed toward the band room.