Page 57 of The Rebel
I shrugged and frowned, but held my tongue. I didn’t want to incriminate Gabby before having the chance to talk it out with her. Hopefully I’d get the chance to see her alone, without Scott.
Gabby, Scott, Kelsey and Jonathan were still in the parking lot when we arrived at Snow Park, indicating they hadn’t been in such a rush after all. My blood boiled but I was determined to keep my cool. This was going to a fun day for all of us and I wasn’t going to be the one to ruin it.
We rode the tubes down the slopes, and for a while it was like old times as I raced down with Jasmyn and Kelsey, the boys close behind. Except that Gabby and Scott soon disappeared and didn’t show until we stopped for lunch in the cafeteria. Gabby looked flushed in the cheeks, making me think they must’ve been out on the hiking trail.
While Jazmyn, Jonathan and I flocked to hold a table, I did a double take. Across the room I could see Jade, his brown hair covered in an orange beanie, and my heart suddenly kicked into overdrive. Next to him was Oliver, also in an orange beanie. I’d forgotten how Jade had promised to take him snow tubing. Ismiled at how sweet the two brothers looked wearing matching hats. But in the next instance, a bunch of his friends were beside them—three of them girls. It seemed Jade was always surrounded by girls. Well, why wouldn’t he be, he was cute, he was kind, his smile was gorgeous and his eyes were as clear and crisp as the green of a Wimbledon grass court.
As I went to order my food, I caught Gabby at the condiment bar and whispered, “Hey, Gabby, can we talk for a second? Please?”
She looked behind—Scott was still at the counter waiting to pay—and her mouth twisted.
“I don’t know what’s happening between us,” I said in a plea of desperation. “I want to fix it.”
I really expected Gabby would reciprocate my exact thoughts:Yes, yes, we need to work things out.But her response was unexpected.
“I don’t know what’s happeningwith you, Valencia,” she shot back at me, “you’re skipping classes and on detention. And you totally ignored us in the cafeteria yesterday.”
“I wasn’t ignoring you,” I defended. “I was just dealing with stuff with Paris, that’s all.”
“And...” Gabby drew in a deep breath like she was preparing herself for some big reveal, “...and you’ve been acting strange since I told you about Scott and me. Like you ditched dinner at my house.” She paused dramatically again, gulping in more air. “Are you jealous of me and Scott?”
“She’s jealous that you’d rather hang out with me than her,” Scott thrust himself into the conversation, planting an exaggerated, sloppy kiss on Gabby’s cheek which made me cringe.
“What are you talking about?” I retorted, my blood roaring in my ears at the outrageous insinuation. “I’m not jealous of you!”
Scott snorted like I was a spoiled brat having a wild rant. “Gee, calm down, Valencia. You’re such a hot-head. Just because your brother’s some hot-shot tennis player, you think you’re above us and the world bows down to you.”
I had no idea what he was implying, and couldn’t form a logical thought. But, dang it, I’d stand up for myself. Unfortunately my best response was a lame, “I do not!”
I searched Gabby’s face for a flicker of disgust, for a denial of Scott’s accusation, to refute his outrageous claim...but her silence was deafening.
My mind whirled with all the little gifts I’d brought back for my friends from all my trips. And yes, in recent times there had been a few. I mean, New York City—of course I was going to treat my friends with souvenirs from the Big Apple. But also, Toronto, Atlanta, Boise and of course, Florida. But I’d never done it to gloat or to show I was more privileged than anyone else. I liked giving my friends mementos, and picking out cute souvenirs gave me a break from the monotonous tennis watching.
Scott snickered and brought his hand up to his mouth, whispering something to Gabby. My chest heaved as her lips curled into a smile. And in that moment our friendship flashed before my eyes. So many things I’d done on Gabby’s recommendations—joined the volleyball team, volunteered at the blind center, but was I the blind one?
“Is that the best you can come up with?” Scott continued to goad me, like he reveled in riling me up.
“Leave her alone,” Gabby said, elbowing Scott in the side, and I rejoiced—Gabby was finally coming to my rescue—but it was premature. She produced a wide, fake smile and added, “It probably is tough when your brother loses, right, Vali? Especially when he’s supposed to be therising star of tennis.”
“Yeah, his first match too, is that right?” Scott chuckled with a snake-like sneer.
The sarcasm from both of them sent my heart plummeting like I was on a drop tower amusement ride, and my chin did that stupid wobbly thing, but I couldn’t cry. Not here in the cafeteria of Snow Park surrounded by so many people.
I swear I coaxed every fiber of my being into co-operation, I bit down on my lower lip and momentarily closed my eyes so I didn’t have to see the smugness on Gabby and Scott’s faces. But my self-control was non-existent and maybe Coach Gardiner was right about my fiery temperament all those years ago, because I wasn’t going to take the ridicule from my so-called friends. Especially slamming my brother. No, just no.
“What’d you say?” I spat back, like I was a mafia boss about to wreak havoc.
Gabby flinched slightly, gripping at Scott’s arm as I lengthened my spine. Her smile was laced with fear as she looked over to our friends at the table, her expression indicating that I was off my rocker.
“I asked you what you said,” I said through gritted teeth, taking a step closer still. I imposed every cell of my five nine height, eye to eye with Scott and staring down at my shorter friend, hoping they couldn’t detect my shaking legs.
“Gee, relax Vali!” Scott blew out an exasperated breath. “Gabby just asked if Paris lost his match? You told us he did, didn’t you? He lost in his first round?”
Only at this precise moment did I realize how much my big brother meant to me, howprotectiveI was of him, how I wouldn’t stand for their gloating over his loss. Their snide remarks were unwarranted and unforgivable.
I might have been volatile but I wasn’t a violent person. Okay, maybe I’d thrown a few punches at Paris in the act of self-defense when we were younger, but it was pure instinct when I reached out toward Gabby. I wasn’t going to hit her—though don’t quote me on that—but I guessed I’d never know, becauseout of nowhere a tall figure in a black jacket and an orange beanie intervened.
“Hey, Valencia!” Yes, Jade stepped in, restraining me by throwing his arm around my shoulder as if I was his girlfriend. He squeezed my arm so tightly it tingled from a lack of blood supply. “Everything all right here?”
