OPERATION

It was raining, as usual.

Minerva was shivering in her skirt and thin dorm jacket, but she hoped she wouldn't be kept waiting for long. Her stomach was twisting into uncomfortable knots, and Max sitting next to her wasn't even helping at all. They were on a bench under an awning at the front of their dorm, waiting for the hospital hovercar to come pick Minerva up for her operation. For once, neither of them were saying much to each other.

That morning on the beach, when the wardens had found them, turned out not to be as bad as Minerva had thought it could be. The stern middle pretties had interrogated them all the whole ride home, but Min had been right: they were seniors now, and nobody could really stop them.

"I'm surprised you're not more excited, Min," Max said just then. Min only shrugged indifferently.

Yesterday, Minerva had spent an hour in front of the mirror, studying and scrutinizing every single aspect of her face and body, from the top down, knowing that it would be the last time she would ever be able to do so.

She liked her dark hair, only wished it were straighter so it wouldn't be so messy all the time. At least she would get that much when she turned pretty. And the dark freckles against her pale skin looked absolutely awful, so she wouldn't miss them. Same with her hideous eyebrows. Her small, watery blue-gray eyes had stared harshly back at her in the mirror, looking like two hard chips of ice. Her face was very angular, and she had a huge chin. There really was nothing wrong with her nose. Her teeth would soon be straight and white, but at that moment, she couldn't see them because her thin lips were set in a grim line. Because she had always done sports, there was zero fat that needed to be sucked away. She was thin and lean, with hard muscles and sharply defined bones. And after the operation, people would stop making fun of her for being so flat-chested.

Despite all these imperfections, though, Minerva realized that she liked her face and didn't consider herself to be ugly. She looked fierce and tough on game days, and that was all that mattered. Also, Min was very interesting-looking. All of the old Rusty "races" had since been interbred, so they didn't really exist anymore. For this reason, her pale skin and freckles stood out. And nobody had blue eyes anymore. She was probably just the result of generations of inbreeding, but she still felt special.

So Minerva was a little less than thrilled about getting the operation. The lifestyle of a new pretty didn't excite her that much either. She liked being an ugly, and parties were always torture. She was a rather introverted person and felt awkward at big social gatherings, all loud noises and crowds of bodies. And she hated dancing with a passion.

What else was there to do, though? There were no other options, nowhere to run to. So Minerva didn't resist when the car came. She allowed the driver to flash her eye, hugged Max goodbye, and stepped in.

At the hospital, Min sat in the waiting room, her big duffel bag balanced on her knees. Her jerseys were the only things in it, kept for sentimental reasons. They were the only clothes that she wanted to keep because one thing was for certain: she would never wear anything plaid again.

After what seemed like an eternity, a female orderly called her name. Minerva got up and followed her down some long white corridors filled with the sterile hospital smell, until they reached a small room with nothing in it except for something that looked like a cross between a couch and a bed, all covered in paper.

The orderly gave one of those radiant middle-pretty smiles and said, "Okay now, sweetie. I need you to take everything off, even that hair tie, and put on that robe." She pointed to a folded square of blue paper on the bed-couch. "You can just leave all your clothes on the floor, or put them in your bag if you want them saved. I'll be right with you." And the door slid closed behind her.

Min undressed and put on the robe, thankful for the orderly's courtesy, but it all seemed pretty pointless to her. The robe was itchy, and they would all be staring at her naked body soon enough anyway. The back of the robe was completely open, fastened with just a tie at her neck, and sitting down on the paper-covered surface wasn't too comfortable. Minerva suddenly realized that she wasn't nervous at all, while most people probably would have been. She knew the details of the operation by heart and placed the utmost trust in the doctors.

Finally, the orderly came back, followed by a small, hovering tray loaded with glistening hypodermic needles. She came over to Minerva and cleaned off the inside of her left elbow with a cotton ball. "Okay now, sweetie," she said, "This'll be over in a second. You'll just have pretty dreams the whole time, and when you wake up, you'll be beautiful." The orderly smiled again and asked her to lay back on the couch. Minerva obliged her. Then the orderly picked up one of the needles. Min realized that she forgot to ask one very important question. "Excuse me, but do you think I could stay in the hospital a couple weeks after I get my operation?"

The orderly looked shocked. "But don't you want to live in New Pretty Town right away?"

"Well, I'm nervous about the swelling..." Suddenly, comprehension showed on the woman's face and she laughed.

"Oh, I know the new skin hurts," she said. "Most kids just want to see their other friends and new mansion right away, but if you feel better being in the hospital with some painkillers, it doesn't matter. The end of the year isn't a very busy time for birthdays anyway, for some reason, so we'll have room."

The orderly was right. Today, her birthday, was December twenty-fifth, not a busy time of the year at all. She didn't know any other December birthdays. Most people were born in spring or fall, it seemed.

But Minerva scoffed inwardly at the orderly. She thought she was scared of a little pain? Please. Minerva was an athlete. The real reason for her wanting to stay in the hospital was because she did not want anybody to see her new face until the swelling was gone completely. She couldn't bear it if that was everyone's first image of her.

And most importantly, she couldn't bear seeing herself as ugly. The first time she got a good look at her new face, she wanted it to be completely healed. That way, her first impression of it would be an accurate one.

Minerva took a deep breath as the needle slid into her veins.

Then she closed her eyes for the last time as an ugly.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who reviewed! I'm afraid I forgot something though:

In keeping with the format of the other books, I divided my story into three parts. So go back to Chapter 1 and imagine that this was at the beginning of it:

Part I: Growing Up

"So pugnacious, you uglies. Well, you'll be growing up soon."

-Dr. Cable

Please tell me if you want a part II! FYI, that's where it gets good :)