Page 72 of The Rebel
I stretched my head above Miss Creighton’s, shocked to see Valencia hunched over a desk, dozens of plastic shapes and paint and glitter and string on the table top.
“Miss Creighton,” Valencia said, but it was when her eyes met mine that she pushed back her chair and stood.
“You’re making the icicles?”
Valencia grimaced, like she was awaiting a telling-off. With blue and silver glitter clinging to her hands, she wiped them on the white apron she was wearing over her uniform.
Miss Creighton’s face softened as we both looked up at the dozens of strings of icicles hanging across the room.
“The Craft Club girls have been away at sophomore camp all week,” Miss Creighton fingered the delicate shards, sparkling in the dim light.
“Yeah. I thought I’d...help out.” Valencia picked up a ball of string. “I’m nearly done. I promise I’ll clean up.”
“This is an awful lot of work you’ve done,” Miss Creighton said, her eyelids fluttering. “But it is getting late.”
“I’ve just got two more to do,” Valencia said. “I’ll be real quick.”
“I have an appointment,” Miss Creighton said, checking her watch. “Can I trust you to lock the room when you leave? I do have to dash.”
“I’ll stay and help,” I piped up, realizing I’d been a mute bystander in all this, still digesting what Miss Creighton had alluded to—that Valencia had single handedly made all these icicles, hundreds of the things.
It explained why she’d barely been at home.
“Thank you, Jade. I appreciate that,” Miss Creighton said before disappearing.
Valencia had already sat down, picking up a brush.
“So, this is where you’ve been hiding all week?”
She flashed a smile, but her face straightened as she focused her attention to one icicle. “I haven’t been hiding.”
“You haven’t been around much.”
“You guys have had a lot going on,” she said, “And I didn’t want to...”
“To what?” I raised my eyebrows, flirting with her, but I couldn’t help it.
Valencia kept her composure. “To crowd you. You guys needed space as a family. I’m glad your grandparents are back in your life. And Dani looks more relaxed.”
“Yeah, she is. And I’m glad to have Gramma and Pops back. They’re coming back this weekend,” I said. “It’s Dad’s birthday on Sunday.”
“Aww, that’s sweet. That’s really sweet,” she said, fiddling with some spots of glitter. “You’ll all watch the game together? Or aren’t your team playing this week?”
“Yes, they are,” I said, totally impressed that she had remembered that. “And you’ll be up for it, right?”
Valencia just smiled, but I’d noticed she hadn’t returned my Man City t-shirt. I didn’t want to assume that it meant anything. Maybe she was slack with her laundry.
“Hey,” I said, unable to keep a silly grin from spreading across my face. Hope does that to you. “What about you? What’s happening? Did you make up with Gabby?”
Valencia shook her head.
“No? Why not?”
“Gabby and Scott have become this tight little unit. Kelsey’s calling them Gabbott, but Jazmyn reckons they should be called Scabby.” She gave a wry smile. “I do have other friends you know, so you don’t have to worry about me.”
I watched as she cut a length of string and proceeded to thread the icicles onto it. Suddenly my heart was palpitating likeI was hyped up on caffeinated energy drinks. “What if I do worry about you?”
Valencia shot me a sideways glance, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Why would you do that?”
