Luminosity (Gravity Series #3) (The Gravity Series) by Abigail Boyd Page A

again.
    I expected Lainey to whip around and eject one of her trademark snotty comebacks, but she was too engrossed in her current predicament. She looked like she’d only flattened one side of her pale blonde hair, the other a frizzy, unruly puff. Her cocoa eyes were dazed and full of stars. She’d obviously been caught off guard and hadn’t known how to react to it.
    “Why can’t you leave it alone?” she accused Madison. “I don’t know why you’re suddenly so worried.”
    “I don’t know why you suddenly quit caring,” Madison fired back.
    I’d never seen her stand up to Lainey in our entire school career, since Lainey was normally the boss. I’d also never seen the usually ditzy, dripping-in-hot-pink Madison look so serious.
    “Just let the past die already, instead of reliving it over and over,” Lainey said.
    A crowd of girls began to gather around us to watch the drama unfold. Chatter started up as the girls held their hands over their mouths like children. Theo and I exchanged a curious glance, not making a move.
    “You’ve changed so much,” Madison said. “You’re like a different person. Even on the outside, you’re colder.”
    “I haven’t changed at all,” Lainey said, but her body language betrayed her. She crossed her arms over her chest tightly and dodged Madison’s eyes. “You’re just jealous that I’m having so much success with Thornhill. I knew this day would come.”
    “I’m not jealous, at all. I have a right to ask questions,” Madison said, protuberant eyes searching her friend’s face. “If it’s not a big deal than why are you making it one?”
    Lainey didn’t respond. She had finally noticed the eager onlookers. Horrified, her head swept in a full arc, eyes widening more with each inch. A severe blush stained her cheeks all the way to her dainty ears.
    “Stop, Maddie,” she said under her breath, but Madison wouldn’t be deterred.
    “Ever since your family hooked up with Thornhill, we’ve been pulled apart. I get that Ambrose’s death was hard on you….”
    “You have no idea,” Lainey snapped, whipping back around.
    “But I do ,” Madison pleaded. “I’m your best friend, remember? I kept you in tissues for two weeks. But it doesn’t all add up. Until you can tell me why Jenna Reed’s necklace was found by your parents’ dock…..”
    “Enough!”
    “I’ve been keeping this inside for months, Lain. There’s—”
    “I said enough!” Lainey screamed like a banshee, rushing forward and clapping her hand over Madison’s shocked mouth.
    She accentuated the next syllables with little shakes to Madison’s head. “I don’t want you to speak to me again. I should have listened to my parents. They told me you’d never be loyal. Born from rats, stay a rat.”
    She released Madison and the girl staggered back, tripping and crashing onto her backside with her platform shoes in the air. She stared up at Lainey in astonishment as she towered above her.
    I’d been so caught up in watching Lainey and Madison that I hadn’t noticed Harlow Briggs up against the wall, observing the fight unfold. In a tailored, blue suit jacket and skinny jeans, she reminded me of a precipitous icicle, ready to drop. She grinned, ducking her head like she’d heard a dirty joke.
    Lainey glowered down at Madison, fists in hard knots, delivering the final verbal blow. “We’re not friends anymore. We never should have been.”
    Lainey left Madison on the floor with tears silently spilling onto her cheeks. She and Harlow strutted off. The mass of onlookers, seeming satisfied with their fill, broke into groups and wandered away to salvage lunch.
    In ten minutes, the whole school would know different versions of what happened.
    The broken girl scooped herself up, sobbed hard into the back of her hand and fled back into the ladies’ room.
    “That was ugly,” Theo declared. “Guess true love really doesn’t last forever.”
    “Guess not.” I agreed, staring at the