Natural
By JeffreyStump Disclaimer: I do not own the Uglies series, world, characters, plotline, or any associations. I do not own Mr. Scott Westerfeld, either (unless you count in my dreams…) Author's Note: Wow, I haven't written FanFiction in years. It is good to be back. I'm actually also working on a Zelda novel. Yes, novel. Once it is finished, I would like to get permission from Nintendo to publish it. Fat chance. When that fails, I shall post it here. Onwards!Chapter One
"She's beautiful," the doctor said, staring at the little baby girl. "She's just as gorgeous as her brother," he added, looking over at her twin brother. In a normal situation, the prettier child would most definitely be terminated, but this was definitely a Special Circumstance. They needed a miracle in order to keep the Uglies under control.
---
Laura woke up and checked her
mirror. She combed through perfectly shaded, blonde hair. She bared
her white teeth. She touched her flawless skin. She smiled.
Still
pretty, she thought to herself.
She heard a soft knock on her
door, followed by an opening.
"Ready to greet the commoners,
sis?" her brother, Dirk, asked with a chuckle.
It was an
on-going joke between the two. Considering their dashing good looks,
they were both treated like the royalty they heard in school as
littlies. Everyone was waiting on their hand and foot. They felt as
if everyone wanted to just touch them—as if they ugly slugs could
grasp just a pinch of early prettiness from them.
"I was born
ready," she replied, getting up to go to the wall.
She didn't
even bother asking the wall for something specific; she would look
drop-dead gorgeous with anything.
She took out the design of a
seventeen year old Pretty who sent her a ping almost every
day.
Maybe, she thought, wearing her design will get
her off my back for a while.
Laura got dressed and followed
her brother down the hallway to the dining area. It was wonderful to
have a dorm all to themselves. It seemed like just yesterday when
the Middle Pretty—Laura couldn't recall his name—announced them
as the first natural-born Pretties in hundreds of years.
As if
everyone couldn't already tell, she remembered thinking at the
time.
It was obvious that they were pretty.
---
As they left the dorm, they were
flooded by the normal little Uglies. They plastered on their fake
smiles, and Laura remembered a couple names. She had to keep an
affectionate image.
"Pore, hey," she remarked to the boy to
her left side.
"Piggy!" her brother said, flashing a familiar
"we're cool" signal.
And it went on the entire walk to
school. It was two blocks, but it could never be enough for Laura.
It was impossible for these people to pay their respects with pesky
school getting in the way.
"Ugh," she murmured to her
brother, "this school-business is really getting anger-making,
don't you think?"
"Agreed," he replied. "Totally
bogus, sis."
While they were still flooded in the hallway, the
stupid teachers continued to get in the way—shooing them off to
classes. Of course, they still had to get their conversation
in.
"Hey, Dirk," the writing teacher said, flipping her hair.
Laura rolled her eyes. "That paper, you know, from last week,
will it be ready soon?"
Dirk paused for a moment. "Probably
not," he stated, flashing Laura a little wink.
The teacher
forced a laugh. Laura and Dirk joined in.
"You know, don't
worry about it," she said and patted him on the shoulder.
She
walked off, and Laura turned to her brother.
"See?" she said.
"They're always having us do things! We need to be at home,
planning our life as pretties!"
He looked at her with an
understanding. "Yeah," he responded, "it's like they don't
know our birthday is only four months away!"
"I know!"
Some
people are so fluster-making, Laura thought.
---
Classes continued the same as
normal.
"Laura, do you know the answer to number four?" the
math teacher asked.
Without even looking up, she said,
"Four."
The teacher, definitely trying to cover herself,
stated, "Correct, using advanced calculytical…"
And that's
about where she re-stopped paying attention.
A third piece of
paper was passed to her desk.
"Hey, Laura, it's Rhino. I was wondering, a couple friends and I are going to that bubble-making pond tonight. You want to come? You don't have to reply, just be there. "
Laura snorted at the misuse of
Pretty slang. They try so hard, she mentally remarked. She
was about to throw it away, but then she got to thinking. Well, I
do need another public appearance. Just a couple people, and a
reflective pond. Why not?
It was perfect. She had to keep
them thinking like they actually had a chance.