Uglies: The Rusties

A World From The Past

     Tally sat up with a groan. Her head hurt. She opened her eyes. The sun was so bright that she had to shut her eyes again. After a few moments, she opened her eyes again. She looked around. Where was she? This couldn't be Cleopatra Park. It didn't look anything like it. She stood up and took a better look around. She looked at the buildings. They seemed different. There were no hoverstruts keeping them up. They looked like they had metal frames. There were no hovercraft above her. There were ground cars. Just like in the Rusty days. She looked at the faces of the people who were walking by her. They were all ugly. Tally's stomach sank. She was in the Rusty Era. Somehow, the chest had taken her back in time. 

     She did her best not to panic, but her heart pounded and her head spun violently. Where was the chest? Did it take her here? Was she going to be stuck here forever, destined to live as a Rusty for the rest of her days? An ugly Rusty? The panic took over. Tally ran, and ran, and ran, knocking people out of her way in a blind panic. She ran until she slammed face first into a tree. She fell backwards, clutching her head. 

     "Ow," she groaned. 

     She heard a laugh behind her. A girl was standing there. A Rusty girl. She wasn't too ugly, but she wasn't a pretty, either. She was about average height, not skinny, but not fat, either. She had straight, bubblegum pink hair and piercing hazel eyes. Tally had never seen an ugly, or even a pretty, that looked quite like her. She was so... different. 

     Tally stood up and walked over to the girl standing by the tree. She stopped laughing, but her smile didn't fade. It was a confident smile, one that said that she wasn't afraid and didn't care if Tally was angry because she laughed at her. 

    "You've got a bruise on your forehead," the girl said. 

     Tally lifted a hand to her forehead and felt a tender, swollen lump. 

    "Ouch," she groaned. 

   "You must really be quite the klutz," the girl said. "Or were you just in some sort of hurry?"

    Tally didn't know what to say for a moment. Should she tell this stranger the truth? No, she wouldn't believe her. Tally would come off as crazy. 

    "Just a klutz, I guess," Tally said. 

    "Hey, you don't look like you're from around here," she said. "Who are you?"

     "My name's Tally. Tally Youngblood."

    "That's a weird name," the girl said with a shrug. "I'm Ryan, Ryan Hunter."

    "Your name is just as weird as mine, Ryan," Tally said. 

     Ryan merely shrugged, as if she'd gotten that comment too many times to count, and she didn't really care. 

    "So, what are you doing out here slamming into trees, Tally Youngblood?"

    Tally shrugged. "Just slamming into trees."

   "Fair enough."

   "You know, I'm really not from around here," Tally admitted. 

    "Need somewhere to crash for a night?" Ryan asked. 

    "Crash?" Tally asked in confusioin. 

    In 2305, "crash" meant to actually crash something. 

    "You know, stay the night," Ryan said. "You really aren't from around here."

     Tally just shrugged. 

      "Come with me, you can stay with me at my place until you figure out where you're going," Ryan said. "I don't mean to be rude, but you look confused and like you have no money, and the streets aren't a friendly place at night for wandering girls like you."

    Tally did take offense, but Ryan was offering to give her a place to stay. Like she had said, the streets weren't a friendly place at night. If this was really the Rusty era that she was in, then crime was a real thing. This wasn't Uglyville anymore. She decided to bite back some sort of retort. She didn't want to upset Ryan, lest she make her stay on the streets all night. 

     "C'mon, follow me," Ryan said. 

     Ryan led Tally away from the suburbs and into a rural area. They walked down a road that seemed like it went on forever until they reached a large wood and stone house. There were acres upon acres of land and she saw horses grazing in large pastures outside of a giant wooden barn. There were no horses in Tally's world. Not anymore. They were all extinct. The only pets left were cats and dogs, and not very many people had one. They mostly belonged to the middle pretties. 

     The two of them walked up to Ryan's front door and she opened it wide, stepping inside and waiting for Tally to follow. 

     "Mom," she called. "I'm home!"

    A blonde haired woman came around the corner. 

     "Hi, honey," she cooed, giving Ryan a bear hug. 

    Ryan pushed her away. "Mom, stop."

   "Who's your friend?" Ryan's mom asked. "I've never seen her around before."

    "This is Tally, Mom," Ryan said. "She's new around here and needs a place to stay."

    "You look a little young to be staying on your own, Miss Tally," Ryan's mom said. "You're more than welcome to stay for as long as you'd like. We have a spare bedroom."

     "Thanks, um..."

     "Just call me Rylee," her mom said. 

     "Thanks, Rylee," Tally said, truly grateful that Ryan was letting her stay with her and that no questions were being asked. 

   "Does Tally have any spare clothes or anything?" Rylee asked, turning to Ryan. 

   "No, Mom," Ryan said. 

   "Well, let her borrow some clothes and get her a toothbrush and something to comb her hair with."

   Ryan led Tally upstairs to her room.

"Since you need some clothes, you can take whatever you want of mine," Ryan said. "We look to be about the same size."

   "Thanks," Tally said. 

   "No problem."

   Tally went through the drawers, getting pajamas, some undergarments, and a handful of jeans and a mix between long sleeve flannel shirts and plain old t-shirts."

   "There's some toothpaste, a toothbrush, a comb, and some deoderant in the guest bathroom, and your room is right across from mine."

   "Thank you," Tally said. "For everything."

    Tally smelled awful. She went to the guest bathroom—"her" bathroom—and decided to take a shower. After a minute of trying to figure out the different dials, she got some hot water going and stepped in. The shower felt so good, especially on her body, still sore from hoverboarding. She stretched her shoulders and cracked her neck. She shaved, washed her hair, and washed her body before shutting off the water and stepping out. She dried herself off and put on a pair of Ryan's old pajamas. She climbed into the guest bed—"her" bed—and almost said goodnight to the room before remembering that it couldn't talk. Rusties didn't have talking rooms. She went to take her interface ring off but realized that she had left it in her dorm room, three hundred years into the future. She wondered if anyone knew she was gone. She wondered if Shay knew, and if she was still mad despite Tally disappearing to the past. She sighed. As mad as Shay was at her, Tally hoped that she wasn't mad. She rolled over and instantly fell asleep.