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

door Madison had gone through. I didn’t know what we had just witnessed, but I was determined to find out.
     

CHAPTER 6
    THEO SLUNG HER bag over her shoulder and checked her My Little Pony watch. “Let’s go, lunch is almost over and there are breadsticks calling me.”
    She attempted to shamble off, arms outstretched Frankenstein-style, but I grabbed the back of her patchwork sweater.
    “Hold on. Let’s do some detective work,” I suggested.
    “How so?” she asked, quirking one eyebrow.
    “Let’s grill Madison about what caused that fight. Something serious must have set it off. Didn’t you hear them talking about Thornhill and Jenna?”
    “If you want to fraternize with the enemy, that’s up to you,” Theo said, pointing in the vague direction of the commons. “I’m going to get some grub.”
    “Suit yourself. I can’t believe you’re not more interested.”
    “Oh, I’m interested; I just hate that girl,” Theo clarified, her expression going hard. “When Lainey sprained my ankle, Madison thought it was the funniest thing she’d ever seen. I wouldn’t trust a word she said. That doesn’t mean you can’t tell me everything she says after school, though.” She grinned at me.
    As she disappeared towards lunch, I took a deep breath, wondering if I had the courage to talk to Madison alone. I told myself she was the least intimidating of the popular clique.
    After Ambrose’s body had been found during the school dance, Madison had come to my house. I didn’t really understand why at the time and still hadn’t grasped it completely. We’d had a brittle truce since then, staying out of each others’ way.
    In the bathroom, Madison was clawing through her huge pink purse that she’d set on top of the row of sinks. She glanced up and grimaced at her own reflection. Black rivers of mascara ran down her red cheeks. The barrette in the back of her golden hair was askew.
    She heard the door shut as I entered and turned around. When she saw me, she rolled her eyes and sniffled. “What do you want? I’m kind of really busy.”
    Tipping her purse upside down, she dumped the contents into one of the sinks. More than a few items clattered to the floor. She swore, but made no move to pick anything up. Instead, she leaned on the sink and rubbed her temples, resting her head against the smudged mirror glass.
    “I couldn’t help but see you and Lainey arguing. Are you okay?” I asked.
    She assessed me quickly with suspicious eyes. I stayed by the door, ready to dodge oncoming projectiles.
    “You saw what happened. What do you think?”
    “Not okay.”
    “She’s been getting so wrapped up in the Society.” She started scrubbing the mascara veins off of her cheeks with wet paper towels. “Now that Harlow is here, she spends every day with her and the Thornhill mommies, going to exclusive parties and meetings. She told me today that we should only hang out when we’re at school, to preserve her image. And I’m supposed to accept that? After everything I’ve done for her, how can she say I’m not loyal? I was the one who lied for her when her parents went ballistic about her sneaking around.”
    “Sneaking around?” My interest was piqued.
    “Yeah, just being stupid. Parties and getting wasted, whatever. It’s not like they don’t do the same thing, the hypocrites. Her dad is gone every night, doing who knows what.”
    Barbie Girl erupted unexpectedly from the floor. Madison scrambled through her scattered field of junk and plucked her phone from a Kleenex box.
    She slammed it against her ear and instantly forgot I existed. Gathering most of her stuff back into her purse, she swept out past me.
    “Can you believe it?” she asked the caller. “Who did you hear about it from?”
    Great. Just as we were scratching the surface. The door banged shut behind her.
    I looked down at the floor, shaking my head. I swallowed a shocked scream. Blood was smeared on the blue and white tiles. I blinked. The