“It was a scholarship chick,” David piped up from his corner. He was standing up now, shoving the book in his back pocket. “Harper and I are up for the same scholarship, and I’m gonna be honest, I was trying my best to suck up. Pres—Harper here ran out to talk to her, too. Hence spilling the soup.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Now can we please stop being crazy and get back to prancing around a mansion in wedding dresses?”

Next to me, I felt Bee relax a little. It was a plausible story, and at that moment, I could’ve kissed David. Well, no, not really. I was in no way thinking about kissing David Stark.

That seemed to put an end to it, and I was about to tell the girls to start from the top again. But before I could, Mary Beth pressed her lips together. It was like I could actually feel her steeling herself for what she was going to say next. “You’re exactly like your sister, Harper.” The words came out fast, almost like she was afraid to say them. “You act like you’re perfect, but inside, you’re totally screwed up.”

I’d been punched and stabbed and slammed into a bathroom wall. None of that hurt nearly as bad as Mary Beth’s words. I felt them everywhere, rattling my teeth, pounding into my bones. I half expected to look down and find myself covered with bruises.

I felt an arm go around my shoulders. Bee’s fingers dug into the exposed skin of my upper arm. “Mary Beth,” she said, her voice shaking a little, “I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you, but that was so out of line.”

“Seriously,” Abigail and Amanda muttered together. They wore identical frowns, two pairs of brown eyes glaring.

“In fact,” Bee continued, pulling me closer, “I think you should leave now.”

“Happily,” Mary Beth said, kicking off her heels and pulling a pair of sneakers out from under the little sofa by the door.

“Are you okay?” Bee asked once she was gone, and I made myself smile, even though I could feel how shaky it was.

“Fine,” I told her. “Mary Beth has had a thing for Ryan for a million years, and she’s jealous. It’s . . . it’s no big deal.”

Bee wrapped me in a quick hug, her collarbone pressing against my chin. “It is a big deal. Everything she said was so freaking offensive. The stuff about your sister, and David . . .”

She trailed off. Over her shoulder, I could see David, his face concerned, lips thin. I hadn’t run out on Ryan to go “hook up” with David, but hadn’t there been . . . something? Wasn’t that nearly as bad as if I had kissed him?

“And you and Ryan are good, right?” Bee pulled back, a slight crease between her brows.