The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (10 page)

Jessica nervously looked from Gabrielle to Rosalinda.

Sighing softly,
Zora
adjusted her glasses
.
“
I
t
’
s
okay
,
Gabrielle.”

Gabrielle looked over at
Zora
irritably
.
“No, it’s not okay
,
Zora
.
” She snapped her head back around, looking Rosalinda up
and
down with disgust
.
“It’s not okay for Princess Rosalinda to act like she
’
s
better than any of us.”

By
then,
Gabrielle and Rosalinda stood toe-to-toe, huffing
and
puffing like two angry bulls rearing to fight.

Swallowing hard, Jessica
s
tepped in between them, prying them apart.
“Look, we’re roommates and we’ll have to live with each other for a while. So, why don’t we try to get along? Please?” Jessica looked over at Rosalinda with pleading eyes
.
“Rosalinda, will you help us look for Oscar?”

Rosalinda looked over at Jessica then at Gabrielle
.
“Fine, I’ll help,” she replied grumpily. “Grande,
ahora
estoy
buscando
arenas,” she muttered as she lifted a pillow and blanket off the bed.

Jessica looked over at Rosalinda
.
“Rosalinda, what does that mean?”

Rosalinda smiled slightly
.
“I’m sorry, that’s a bad habit of mine. I tend to speak Spanish
,
especially when I’m angry. I said
,
‘G
reat, now I
’
m looking for spiders.”

Smiling shyly, Jessica turned
around and continued to carefully look under the bed for Oscar.

Gabrielle looked around the floor but there was no Oscar in sight. She huffed in frustration, marching toward the closet. From the corner of her eye, she spotted a dark shadow slowly moving across the floor.

“
Zora
, I think I found Oscar,” Gabrielle screamed excitedly. She slowly walked toward the closet, warily looking at Oscar
,
who was now
c
ircling around in the corner as if looking for a safe place to hide. Carefully she leaned down
and
pick
ed
him up. She giggled deliciously as Oscar slowly crawled across her palm, his feet softly tickling her
skin.

Rosalinda’s green eyes bulged frightfully as she watched Oscar crawling around quite comfortably in the center of Gabrielle’s hand. Letting out a high-pitched scream at the top of her lungs, she quickly jumped onto the bed.

Zora
quickly walked over to Gabrielle with a small glass tank cradled in her arms
.
“Oh
,
thank you
,
Gabi. Please, drop him in here.”

Grinning hugely
,
Gabrielle dropped him into the tank
.
“No problem
,
Zora
. That’s what friends are for. Okay, you can hop
off the bed now
,
Princess Rosalinda,” she yelled in a sing-song voice.

Rosalinda awkwardly stepped
off the bed and gave
Zora
an apologetic smile
.
“I apologize for my earlier behavior. However, I do want you to know that I still do not approve of having pets in the room. But I will not tell Ms.
Vineswell
about this as long as that thing stays in the tank.”

Softly cooing at Oscar,
Zora
distractedly looked
up at Rosalinda
.
“Okay, no problem. Really, this is the first time that Oscar has ever gotten out of his tank
.
I promise it won’t happen again.” Happily she walked over to the window, gently placing the tank down on the windowsill.

Sauntering over to her bed, Gabrielle pulled from her luggage a small battered metal box with colorful stickers plastered all over it. She quickly sat on the bed
,
crossing her legs happily as she opened the box.

Curiously, Jessica walked over to Gabrielle, sitting down on the edge of her bed. She pointed her finger
a
t the box
.
“So, what’s in there
,
Gabi?”

Gabrielle smiled mysteriously
.
“Why don’t you take a look?”

Jessica’s eyes popped open with glee as she peered into the box. The battered metal box was filled to the top with lollipops in all different flavors and sizes
.
“Gosh
,
Gabi, you sure do love lollipops.”

Pulling out a cherry
one,
Gabrielle popped it into her ponytail. She pulled
out another lollipop,
unwrapped
it
,
and popped it into her mouth
.
“Yum
,
I sure do,” she said as she rolled her eyes skyward with pleasure.

Licking her lips hungrily, Jessica looked longingly at the lollipops
in
the box.

Smiling knowingly, Gabrielle pulled
out a grape lollipop and waved it tauntingly in her face
.
“Come on
,
Jess, have one. I know you want
it.
”

Jessica snatch
ed
the lollipop from her fingers
.
“Okay, I’ll just have one.” She quickly
unwrapped
it and popped it into her mouth.
“Oh
, y
um
!
Grape…
.m
y
favorite
.
”
G
uiltily, Jessica looked over at
Gabrielle.
“I really shouldn’t be eating this but
I guess it’s okay if I can make up for it by eating less at dinnertime.”

Gabrielle looked over at Rosalinda and held up a lollipop
.
“Hey
,
Princess Rosalinda!
No hard feelings
,
right? Do you want one?”

Distractedly, Rosalinda looked over at Gabrielle as she busily unpacked. She crunched
up her nose with disgust
.
“No way
.
C
andy is too sticky and too messy.” She smiled reluctantly at Gabrielle
.
“And no
…
no hard feelings.”

Gabrielle looked over at
Zora
, waving a lollipop t
empting
ly
.
“
Zora
, how about you?
Do you want one?”

Distractedly,
Zora
looked up from cooing at Oscar and adjusted her glasses
.
“Do you know that a lollipop is somewhat similar to glass? Both are members of a group of solids called amorphous and—”

“
Zora
, please
…
no science lessons. Do you want one or not?” Gabrielle asked cheerfully.

Zora
smiled apologetically
.
“Sorry, I really have to stop that
;
it’s a bad habit of mine. Sure, throw one over.”

Carefully, Gabrielle threw the lollipop over. Trying to break the ice between her and Rosalinda, she gave her a friendly smile
.
“You have an awesome accent
,
Rosalinda. What country are you from?”

Rosalinda smiled proudly
.
“I was born in Spain but I have traveled all over the world with my father and
madrastra
…
sorry
,
my stepmother.” Her face suddenly pinched in contempt
.
“But last month my stepmother suddenly decided that it was time for me to settle down permanently. So, here I am at
Vineswell
Academy, formally starting my education in America.”

Gabrielle looked over at
Zora
.
“And where are you from
,
Zo
? I hope you don’t mind the nickname
.
”

Pausing from licking her lollipop,
Zora
smiled
.
“No, you can call me
Zo
. My father is an
a
rcheologist, so we travel to all different parts of the world
.
I don’t really have a permanent home but I was born in New York. What about you?”

Gabrielle smiled broadly because
,
of course, she loved talking about herself
.
“Me? I’m a New York girl, born and raised.”

Looking down nervously at her watch, Jessica’s eyes bulged with surprise
.
“Girls, we better get going or we’re going to be late.” She jumped
up from the bed and dusted off her skirt self-consciously
.
“The student tea party is about to start and I’m real hungry.”

Rosalinda looked over at her with puzzlement
.
“What is this student tea party you talk about?”

“Well, the student tea party is an old
Vineswell
Academy tradition. At the beginning of every school year, all of the students must attend. It’s like a party but without the balloons and music,” Jessica responded. “You get to learn about
Vineswell
Academy and meet all of the other students and the faculty
.
”
S
he licked her lips hungrily
.
“And the best part of it all is that there will be tea sandwiches, scones, tarts
,
and cookies. Oh
,
goodness, I just can’t wait.”