Uglies- Shay/Tally; You Go First
Author: Bitterfig
Fandom: Uglies
Title: You Go First
Pairing: Shay/Tally
Summary: Shay and Tally: from ugly to pretty to special and beyond.
Word Count: 1225
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Contains self-injury and violence.
Author’s Note: Written for yuri_challenge for the prompt “go first”.
Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. Any illegal acts taking place within that fiction are NOT condoned by the author. Depictions of any questionable, illegal, or potentially illegal activity in said fiction does not mean that I condone, promote, support, participate in, or approve of said activity. I grasp the distinction between fiction and reality and trust that readers will do the same.
You Go First
We were in the park by the river, Tally and me.
Tally was perched unsteadily on her hoverboard, moving in slow circles. She was learning how to ride with amazing speed. All she needed was a little more time to get used to it.
A little more time to get used to everything, all the new ideas I’d been throwing at her since we’d hooked up.
If only we’d had a chance to meet sooner. Then I could have slowly introduced her to all these radical new ideas the way David introduced me. I wish she could have met David, or been able to know my friends, the ones who went ahead. If she had just had a couple of years to digest things like I did I knew Tally would have taken it all in, would have understood.
She was smart, smarter than me. Trickier. She had so much potential but she’d never been around people who questioned things. She still believed everything she’d learned in school about how to live and how to think. She’d been taught to hate herself as she was and she did. She wanted, more than anything else, to be pretty when she could have been so much more. All she needed was someone to show her the way. That’s what I was trying to do.
“Are you ready to go?” I asked her.
“You go first,” Tally answered, unsure of herself. “You know where we’re going.”
“Okay,” I said and glided ahead. Then turned, and beckoned for her to follow.
*****
In the Smoke I tried not to think about Tally but I couldn’t help it.
I thought about her having the operation and becoming pretty. How she’d look and act just like every other pretty instead of like her own extraordinary self. I missed her. I missed her squinty eyes and the way she ran her hands through her frizzy hair making it stick out all over the place. I imagined her made over with big, sparkling eyes and shiny straight hair. She wouldn’t be Tally anymore.
Then suddenly she was there, in the Smoke. Still Tally, still ugly, still herself.
“You’re here,” I said, after I’d showed her around. “You’re really here.”
She took my hand.
“I wanted to see you again,” she said.
“I wish you’d come with me.”
“You go first,” she said. “I follow.”
*****
“You go first,” Tally pleaded looking at me with her big, sparkling eyes. It was her first party in New Pretty Town and she was nervous. Lucky for her she had me, I knew the ropes. I took her by the hand and led her in. Everybody was there, drinking champagne out of tall glasses, dancing and laughing. Tally and I laughed too, not at anything in particular, just because we were young and pretty and laughing seemed right.
All the adventures we’d had and the pranks we’d pulled as uglies, living in the Smoke, all the trouble we’d gotten into, it was all just a memory now. A memory I couldn’t even really remember very well any more. Why had I done all those things? Why had I ever thought I wanted to be anything but pretty?
Tally and I danced together, spinning and swirling under the lights, finally together, finally both of us pretty. This was what we were meant to be.
“Zane’s watching you,” I said. Tally giggled. “You know what drives boys crazy?” I asked. She shook her head and I kissed her. Why not? I was a Crim. We were pretty but we were wild. Pretty wild.
Tally and I kissed right in the middle of the dance floor, people all around us cheering and whooping, Zane loudest of all.
The funny thing is none of them mattered.
*****
I cut myself.
There was a shock of pain, then a moment of ice cold clarity as I waited for the blood to well up flat and sticky were the skin was parted.
Bubbly.
This is what Tally means by bubbly.
When I cut, I feel like my old ugly self. I’m the Shay who ran away to live in the woods. The Shay who never wanted to be operated on and turned into someone else. The Shay I thought was gone but never mourned. She wasn’t gone at all, all this time she’s been lost in a pretty playground.
This is what Tally means when she says she wants to be bubbly.
This time Tally’s gone first but I have my knife, I will follow because pretty or not we belong together.
*****
“Go first,” Tally said. “Show me what a special can do.”
I glided ahead on my hoverboard, beckoned for her to follow me. I led her on a wild ride around the city, faster and harder than flying we could have done as uglies or pretties. She’d notice, like I had my first time out, that her body wasn’t at all tired, even after hours of heavy riding. She’d notice how well she could see in the dark, how sharp her hearing had become. That was what it was like to be a special.
“What else,” she wanted to know after we’d pulled to a stop. “What else can I do?”
“Let me show you,” I said. I took her hand in mine and I crushed it. Her bones crunched under my enhanced strength. She yelped, scrunching her face up in pain, then her eyes got wide and glowy. I knew the pain was already fading, that her crunchy bones were healing themselves good as new.
“Wow,” she said, shaking her hand. “More.”
“You asked for it.”
I smacked her across the face as hard as I could. Blood sprayed out of her nose. She laughed. I punched her in the stomach, in the chin, I hit her as hard as I could again and again.
“This is for David,” I screamed at her. “This is for the Smoke. This is for every time you followed my lead then ruined everything for me. I never wanted to be pretty. You made it so I had to be then you messed that up for me. “
Tally laughed again. A cut I’d opened above her eye was already healed even though the blood was still wet. She wasn’t even unsteady on her feet. She hit me back, laid into me as hard as I’d laid into her. It didn’t matter though; my body repaired the damage as fast as she inflicted it. We were both laughing, like pretties at a party. It was just like dancing, except with fists.
We rolled around on the ground in savage delight. We were equally matched in strength and cruelty but I had more experience with both and finally I managed to pin her.
I kissed her, and she kissed me back, our embrace every bit as violent as our fight.
Everything I’d screamed at her echoed around us. It was all true, all wrongs she’d done me, but none of it really mattered to me anymore. All I cared about was the brutal joy of the two of us being special together.
*****
“Goodbye,” she said and I knew we’d reached the end of you-go-first-and-I-will-follow.
We’d been pretty, we’d been special. Now we were at ourselves again, and it was time to say goodbye.
Fandom: Uglies
Title: You Go First
Pairing: Shay/Tally
Summary: Shay and Tally: from ugly to pretty to special and beyond.
Word Count: 1225
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Contains self-injury and violence.
Author’s Note: Written for yuri_challenge for the prompt “go first”.
Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. Any illegal acts taking place within that fiction are NOT condoned by the author. Depictions of any questionable, illegal, or potentially illegal activity in said fiction does not mean that I condone, promote, support, participate in, or approve of said activity. I grasp the distinction between fiction and reality and trust that readers will do the same.
You Go First
We were in the park by the river, Tally and me.
Tally was perched unsteadily on her hoverboard, moving in slow circles. She was learning how to ride with amazing speed. All she needed was a little more time to get used to it.
A little more time to get used to everything, all the new ideas I’d been throwing at her since we’d hooked up.
If only we’d had a chance to meet sooner. Then I could have slowly introduced her to all these radical new ideas the way David introduced me. I wish she could have met David, or been able to know my friends, the ones who went ahead. If she had just had a couple of years to digest things like I did I knew Tally would have taken it all in, would have understood.
She was smart, smarter than me. Trickier. She had so much potential but she’d never been around people who questioned things. She still believed everything she’d learned in school about how to live and how to think. She’d been taught to hate herself as she was and she did. She wanted, more than anything else, to be pretty when she could have been so much more. All she needed was someone to show her the way. That’s what I was trying to do.
“Are you ready to go?” I asked her.
“You go first,” Tally answered, unsure of herself. “You know where we’re going.”
“Okay,” I said and glided ahead. Then turned, and beckoned for her to follow.
*****
In the Smoke I tried not to think about Tally but I couldn’t help it.
I thought about her having the operation and becoming pretty. How she’d look and act just like every other pretty instead of like her own extraordinary self. I missed her. I missed her squinty eyes and the way she ran her hands through her frizzy hair making it stick out all over the place. I imagined her made over with big, sparkling eyes and shiny straight hair. She wouldn’t be Tally anymore.
Then suddenly she was there, in the Smoke. Still Tally, still ugly, still herself.
“You’re here,” I said, after I’d showed her around. “You’re really here.”
She took my hand.
“I wanted to see you again,” she said.
“I wish you’d come with me.”
“You go first,” she said. “I follow.”
*****
“You go first,” Tally pleaded looking at me with her big, sparkling eyes. It was her first party in New Pretty Town and she was nervous. Lucky for her she had me, I knew the ropes. I took her by the hand and led her in. Everybody was there, drinking champagne out of tall glasses, dancing and laughing. Tally and I laughed too, not at anything in particular, just because we were young and pretty and laughing seemed right.
All the adventures we’d had and the pranks we’d pulled as uglies, living in the Smoke, all the trouble we’d gotten into, it was all just a memory now. A memory I couldn’t even really remember very well any more. Why had I done all those things? Why had I ever thought I wanted to be anything but pretty?
Tally and I danced together, spinning and swirling under the lights, finally together, finally both of us pretty. This was what we were meant to be.
“Zane’s watching you,” I said. Tally giggled. “You know what drives boys crazy?” I asked. She shook her head and I kissed her. Why not? I was a Crim. We were pretty but we were wild. Pretty wild.
Tally and I kissed right in the middle of the dance floor, people all around us cheering and whooping, Zane loudest of all.
The funny thing is none of them mattered.
*****
I cut myself.
There was a shock of pain, then a moment of ice cold clarity as I waited for the blood to well up flat and sticky were the skin was parted.
Bubbly.
This is what Tally means by bubbly.
When I cut, I feel like my old ugly self. I’m the Shay who ran away to live in the woods. The Shay who never wanted to be operated on and turned into someone else. The Shay I thought was gone but never mourned. She wasn’t gone at all, all this time she’s been lost in a pretty playground.
This is what Tally means when she says she wants to be bubbly.
This time Tally’s gone first but I have my knife, I will follow because pretty or not we belong together.
*****
“Go first,” Tally said. “Show me what a special can do.”
I glided ahead on my hoverboard, beckoned for her to follow me. I led her on a wild ride around the city, faster and harder than flying we could have done as uglies or pretties. She’d notice, like I had my first time out, that her body wasn’t at all tired, even after hours of heavy riding. She’d notice how well she could see in the dark, how sharp her hearing had become. That was what it was like to be a special.
“What else,” she wanted to know after we’d pulled to a stop. “What else can I do?”
“Let me show you,” I said. I took her hand in mine and I crushed it. Her bones crunched under my enhanced strength. She yelped, scrunching her face up in pain, then her eyes got wide and glowy. I knew the pain was already fading, that her crunchy bones were healing themselves good as new.
“Wow,” she said, shaking her hand. “More.”
“You asked for it.”
I smacked her across the face as hard as I could. Blood sprayed out of her nose. She laughed. I punched her in the stomach, in the chin, I hit her as hard as I could again and again.
“This is for David,” I screamed at her. “This is for the Smoke. This is for every time you followed my lead then ruined everything for me. I never wanted to be pretty. You made it so I had to be then you messed that up for me. “
Tally laughed again. A cut I’d opened above her eye was already healed even though the blood was still wet. She wasn’t even unsteady on her feet. She hit me back, laid into me as hard as I’d laid into her. It didn’t matter though; my body repaired the damage as fast as she inflicted it. We were both laughing, like pretties at a party. It was just like dancing, except with fists.
We rolled around on the ground in savage delight. We were equally matched in strength and cruelty but I had more experience with both and finally I managed to pin her.
I kissed her, and she kissed me back, our embrace every bit as violent as our fight.
Everything I’d screamed at her echoed around us. It was all true, all wrongs she’d done me, but none of it really mattered to me anymore. All I cared about was the brutal joy of the two of us being special together.
*****
“Goodbye,” she said and I knew we’d reached the end of you-go-first-and-I-will-follow.
We’d been pretty, we’d been special. Now we were at ourselves again, and it was time to say goodbye.