Hallie Hath No Fury . . . by Katie Finn

CHAPTER 1
    The Fourth of July
    I stared across the sand at Gemma Tucker as a firework exploded over her head, sending a shower of sparks across the sky. She was still blinking fast, clearly trying to deal with the bombshell I’d just dropped on her. Before I could turn to go, she started talking, all about how she’d just lied to try and show me she was a good person, that she’d been trying to make things right with me, blah blah blah. I crossed my arms, barely listening to what she was saying. She was doing what she always did. Ever since we were kids, Gemma wanted everything her way. She wanted to be able to do whatever she wanted and wreck whatever she wanted and then still have everyone love her. And life just didn’t work that way. I shook my head, not wanting to listen to anything else.
    â€œYou thought I was just going to forgive you?” I asked, and I could hear the disbelief dripping from my voice. “Did you really think it would be that easy?” I tried to scoff, but it was like all the anger I had, the anger I’d been holding on to for five years, was starting to rush out, and it was making my voice shake. “You ruined my life. You almost wrecked my family. Did you think I was going to let you get away with it?” I was speaking faster and faster now, not even planning my words carefully like I’d been doing all summer around her. It was like everything I wanted to say was threatening to spill out of me. “You think I didn’t see through you the minute you stepped off that train?”
    I was about to go on—I had years worth of things to say to Gemma—but I stopped myself, just in time. I made myself look away from her and take deep breaths. I’d come too far to lose it at the last minute.
    I turned back to Gemma, who looked as shaken by my outburst as I felt. “Go home, Gemma,” I said. I wanted nothing more than to have her out of my sight—out of my life—forever. “Go on home to Connecticut. This is over. I won.” I let the words hang between us—the words I’d been dreaming about saying to her, and seeing the expression on her face when I said them—for five years. I let myself have the moment, then I turned away and walked up toward the house.
    I didn’t hurry, and I didn’t look back once, even though I could feel Gemma’s eyes on me, probably still trying to figure out how I’d wrecked her perfect little life. Good , I thought fiercely as I crossed from the beach up to the deck. Good.
    I stepped inside the mudroom but didn’t turn the light on just yet. I knew Teddy was waiting inside, probably beginning to wonder where I was. I needed to join him, but for a second, I wanted to savor my victory.
    It didn’t feel quite how I’d imagined it, though. I kept replaying the moment in my mind, telling myself that it was enough. That I’d done what I needed to do.
    I looked out to the beach again and saw that Gemma hadn’t moved from where I’d left her looking out at the water. For some reason, the sight of her standing so still made me shiver, even though it was a hot, muggy night.
    I tried to tell myself that it was over. That it had all been worth it. But as I looked at Gemma, a new thought, uninvited, crept into my mind.
    Maybe this wasn’t over after all. Maybe I’d just made things much, much worse.…

CHAPTER 2
    Five Years Earlier
    My mom unlocked the door—five locks in all—to our Brooklyn walk-up and stepped inside. I followed behind, keeping my eyes on her as she set bags and suitcases down and went around the tiny apartment, silently turning on lights (it didn’t take long). I’d never seen my mother quite like this, and I was worried. Ever since we’d packed up our Hamptons beach cottage that morning, she’d said only a handful of words. And most of them had been driving-related, as she asked me for change for the toll and to