Back in the Ugly days

Once again, here I was, sitting on the window sill of my bedroom in the dorm to look at the lights and fireworks of New Pretty Town. My skin was ablaze with the various glows of the city and I could here the booming and crackling of the rockets. My heart was pounding so fast in my chest! Tomorrow would be my last day here. Tomorrow would be my last day as an ugly. Tomorrow, I would cross the river with nothing but a backpack filled with my most important stuff, I would be escorted towards the Hospital.... and I would have the Surge. My ugly features would be corrected. My big baby cheeks, my pimples, the imperfections of my skin, my somewhat bushy eyebrows and little eyes, all this would be taken away, corrected. Prettified. Then I would go to a mansion, which would be my new home, and apply for some cliques. Let's see, who would I want to join? The Crims? They were talked about every day. The Hot-Air? It must be so fun to drift around in balloons! What about the Naturals? Spending time outside was really fun...! Yes, but I longed for the famous parties of New Pretty Town, dancing through the rooms in my long ball gown.... Oh my god I just couldn't wait. I already started imagining me... What would I look like? I had already made loads of different faces in my room, experiencing them on my wall screen.
I wondered whether they would change my hair color... I rather liked my brown hair. Well, of course, they would cut it because of how split it was at the end and how easily the top greased, but perhaps they would give me something of the same color?

"Hey Circe."

I turned around. My name was Morgan but somehow everybody at the dorms liked to call me Circe, so I took up the name.

"Hello Charleen," I greeted back.

Charleen was one of my not-so-close friends here at the dorm, and she was a couple of months younger than me. Her Surge was scheduled in October.

"Anxious?"

"A bit," I acknowledged, my hair blowing lightly in the wind.

"You're so lucky," she sighed, her gaze drifting out to the lights of the city. "I just can't wait for mine."

"Yeah, I know right," I agreed, following her look before tilting my head to the side. "All these years you spent waiting for that day, and know what's odd? Now it's tomorrow, I'm starting to look at the dorm and realize I'm kinda gonna regret it here." I passed my legs back into the room, my feet on my desk. "Hoverboarding in the Rusty Ruins... Playing pranks, sneaking out, going into the forest for night walks...." I laughed. "You gotta admit it's pretty easy to fool the teachers and the wardens. They haven't caught us once!"

Charleen snickered with me. "Oh my god, and sometimes we were just so obvious!" I nodded then, shook my head in disbelief.

"Don't worry, we're meeting soon enough either way... hit me up when you cross the river," I winked.

"Will do." She came forward and sat on my desk. We both looked at the city. "You're gonna meet Cass sooner. He's crossing in early September." I nodded, still looking at the fireworks. Charleen continued. "Then Lesley, then me. Oh, and I forgot Sage!"

I laughed, though the name quickened my heartbeat. Sage was slightly younger than me by a week or so, he'd cross the river soon after I would. I hoped we'd meet then. With a few hundred thousands inhabitants at New Pretty Town, overlooking people -- especially if they had new faces -- was not difficult.

"I think Imma go to bed," I told Charleen. "The teachers told me I had to rest as much as I could beforehand. Not to mention my hunger."

Twenty-four hours before the operation, it was requested that no food or drink should be ingested. Holding through one day with only breakfast was kinda tough, but I had steeled myself, looking at New Pretty Town every time I could to bring back the happy anticipation that slowly took over my hunger and thirst.

"No problem," Charleen said with a sly smile. "I had just been wondering.... ifffff...you wanted to do a last hoverboard ride before your trip over the river. With us guys."

I looked at her. Her green eyes flashed up as she smirked.

"Tempted?"

I hesitated. Should I go? Hoverboarding was the best thing invented ever since pancakes with apricot jam.... Not to say I would probably not be able to hoverboard to the Rusty Ruins after my Surge.. I'd be too busy partying.
Besides, the chill of the interdiction was rising my adrenaline.

"Let's break the rules till the end," I smirked, and grabbed my crash bracelets.