Page 47 of Mad Girl

I found Sienna shivering on my stoop, wearing bright red yoga pants and a white cropped hoodie underneath a chunky sweater coat. She charged past me into the house. “You little bitch,” she spat. “You sank your greedy claws into my boyfriend, didn’t you? You slept with him.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You’re lying.” She shoved me in the shoulder, hard.

I stumbled back, gaping at her. “Come at me again, bitch. I dare you.”

“What the hell’s going on?” you demanded, quickly descending the stairs. You stepped between us just as she lunged for me again. “Sienna, what’s wrong with you? Stay away from her.”

“Let her push me again,” I said, trying to shove past you. “I’ll scratch her eyeballs out.”

You secured my arm and jerked me back. “The hell you will, Elliot. Both of you, stop this.”

“Michael cheated on me,” Sienna told you.

“That doesn’t sound like him,” you said.

“Well, he did.” She jabbed a finger at me. “He cheated on me with her.”

You drew back. “With Elliot? That’s insane.”

“Oh, it was her,” Sienna said. “I know it was.”

“I haven’t seen Michael since Sunday at brunch,” I said.

“You’re such a little liar,” she spat.

“Elliot’s been with me all week,” you said. “Why do you think it’s her?”

“She left an earring behind—on his couch. A little gold diamond one shaped like a flower.”

“I literally have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said confidently, crossing my arms. But on the inside, my heart pounded with fear. Because I had lost an earring the day I’d gone to Michael’s, something I hadn’t noticed until later that night. The earring in question? A little gold diamond one. Shaped like a flower. One-half of a pair my grandfather had given me for Christmas. Of all the incriminating earrings I could’ve worn that day, thank God I’d chosen the flowers. “I’m not missing any earrings, either.”

“You’re lying.” She lunged for me, reaching for my sweater. “Let me see your shoulder.”

I lurched back. “My what?”

“Sienna,” you said, stepping between us. “It’s not hers, okay? Stop this.”

“It belongs to a pair of earrings that cost six grand, Casey—I looked them up. They’re expensive and childish. Like all the other earrings she wears.”

A dark chuckle burst out of me. “Oh, you stupid bitch. You think you’re so special, don’t you? But you’re just one girl—in a long string of girls—who got to temporarily call Michael Harris her boyfriend. You’re nothing.”

Sienna tried coming at me again, managing to grab the collar of my Harvard sweatshirt before you jerked her back and pried her hand free.

“Go upstairs,” you ordered me, but you were looking at her, your gaze furious. “Sienna and I need to have a little chat.”

I charged upstairs and frantically texted Michael, worried and angry that Sienna was accusing him of something he didn’t do.

Half an hour later, you leaned against my doorway with your arms crossed. “I’ve been thinking about something,” you said, “since Sienna left.”

The serious tone of your voice caused my heartbeat to spike. I straightened against my headboard, gripping my phone. “What’s that?”

“You weren’t actually here with me all week, were you? On Tuesday, you said you went to the library after school.”

“And I did.” A lie.

“Look, I hate even bringing this up. I don’t want to believe what Sienna says. But the earring, Elliot…” Your gaze held mine. “It’s messing with my head.”