The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (5 page)

Gabrielle’s eyes widened with shock. “Ms.
Vineswell
, I didn’t mean it—really,” she sputtered.

Ms.
Vineswell
raised a suspicious eyebrow as she looked over at her. “And exactly what are you sorry for?” she demanded sharply as she paused from wiping her blouse.
 

Gabrielle looked over at her silently.

“Well? Speak up, young lady,” Ms.
Vineswell
demanded.

Silently, they stared at each other suspiciously; the
staredown
was broken by a light knock on the door.

Ms.
Vineswell
quickly straightened her blouse. “Come in!” she barked impatiently.

A short, plump girl with very pale skin and long golden blonde hair slowly entered the office. She fiddled self-consciously with her cardigan as Gabrielle looked over at her curiously.

Ms.
Vineswell
impatiently rapped her knuckles on her desk. “Quickly, Jessica, don’t dilly-dally. I don’t have all day.”

Jessica’s bright blue eyes bulged nervously as she gawked at her. “I-I’m sorry, Ms.
Vineswell
,” she stuttered as she timidly gestured towards Gabrielle. “But I’m here to pick up the new student.”

Ms.
Vineswell
looked over at the large clock on the wall. “Hmm, I didn’t realize that it was getting so late,” she mumbled.

Impatiently
,
she looked over at Gabrielle
.
“Gabrielle Martin, this is Jessica Owens. Jessica has been assigned the task of showing you around the
a
cademy and answering any questions that you may have.”

With relief, Gabrielle quickly scrambled to her feet
,
bolting for the door.

“And Gabrielle—” Ms.
Vineswell
said sharply.

Gabrielle stopped cold in her tracks, looking back at her defiantly.

“Our little conversation is far from over; we will definitely finish it at a later time. Now
,
you are dismissed
.
”

Gabrielle darted out of her office.

Jessica followed Gabrielle out of the office and into the hallway, nervously shutting the door behind her.

Staring strangely at Jessica, Gabrielle quickly plucked
out a cherry lollipop from the top of her left ponytail. “Hey, you look very familiar
.
H
ave we met before?”

“No
,
no
,
I don’t think so,” Jessica stammered as her eyes shyly roamed to the lollipop stuck in the center of Gabrielle’s right ponytail.

Gabrielle frowned
.
“Are you sure?”

“I’m
…
pretty sure,” Jessica stammered nervously.

Gabrielle gave her a doubtful stare, “Hmmm
…i
f you say so.”
Then s
he gave her a friendly smile as she handed the lollipop over to Jessica.

Jessica’s blue eyes darted around the hallway as if expecting someone to jump out and grab her. “No
,
thank you,” she replied as she backed away from the lollipop as if it were a slithering
,
poisonous snake.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes with exasperation
.
“Hmmm, somehow I just knew that you were going to say that,” she replied teasingly. Smiling mischievously, she reached up and plucked the
lollipop
out of her right ponytail.

She waved the lollipop tauntingly in Jessica’s face
.
“I have another one right here
…
and don’t give me any of that baloney about being on some silly diet,” she said teasingly.

Jessica’s blue eyes popped open with surprise
.
“But how did you know that I’m on a diet?”

Gabrielle’s forehead crinkled with puzzlement
.
“Funny, I really don’t know
…
it just popped into my head.”

Jessica shuffled from side
to
side
.
“Well
,
umm
,
you see
…
my
s
tepmother has put me on another dreadful diet—for
the umpteenth time—and
frankly
s
he would absolutely kill me if she found out that I ruined it again by eating candy.”

Gabrielle smiled, leaning in close as if she w
ere
imparting some great secret. “Number one, your
s
tepmother is not here right now,” she whispered
.
“And number
two
,
a little candy won’t hurt you
,
will it?”

Jessica giggled softly
,
revealing her colorful braces. Self-consciously, she quickly slapped her pale hand over her mouth to hide them. “Thanks
,
Gabrielle, but I better not,” she mumbled.

Gabrielle shrugged her shoulders and shoved the lollipop snugly back into her right ponytail. “Okay, but you sure don’t know what you’re missing because this lollipop is awesome.”

She quickly
unwrapped
the other lollipop, popp
ing
it into her mouth
.
“Yum!
Cherry
…
my absolute favorite,” she said as she rolled her eyes skyward with pure delight.

Jessica bit her bottom lip nervously
.
“I hope you don’t think that I’m awfully impolite
…
but
why do you have lollipops stuck in your ponytails? I mean
,
I’ve never seen anyone do that before.”

Gabrielle smiled widely
.
“Well
,
of course you haven’t seen anyone do that before
.
I’m an original
…
never duplicated
,
you see!” she crowed boastfully.
“
I
t’s just my thing
.
I love candy, especially lollipops
.
I would eat a ton of them
,
but my Grandma Celeste only allows me to eat two a day, so I started sticking them in my ponytail
—
you know, easy access so when I need them, I could easily get to them,” she continued
.
“So, after a while, sticking them in my ponytails just became my thing
. S
ome days it
’
s apple lollipops
,
some days
it
’
s
grape
,
but my absolute favorite flavor by far is cherry.”

Smiling matter-of-factly, she quickly walked away and down the hallway, all the while humming happily.

Jessica’s forehead crinkled with surprise as she watched Gabrielle abruptly walk away.
She hurried to catch
up with her
.
“Gabrielle, wait up for me
. R
emember, I have to give you the tour of the
a
cademy,” she said breathlessly.

Gabrielle looked over her shoulders
,
smiling widely
.
“Whoa, relax
,
okay? You sound just like Ms.
Vineswell
. Girl, you
gotta
loosen up a bit if you’re going to hang with me,” she said jokingly.

Jessica looked around the hallway nervously
.
“Shush! Ms.
Vineswell
might hear you.”

“Shush? No one shushes me!” Gabrielle shouted with mock anger.

“I’m sorry
…
I didn’t mean—”

Gabrielle giggled loudly
.
“Goodness
,
Jess, I’m just playing with you. You’re r-e-a-l uptight. Thank goodness Gabi
-
Gab is here to help you have a little fun,” she smiled
.
“By the way, I hope you don’t mind me calling you Jess?”

Jessica smiled with obvious relief and shook her head no.

Gabrielle grinned widely
.
“Okay
,
good
. A
nd you can call me Gabi
;
all my friends do.”

Jessica bit her lip
.
“Really
,
I’m sorry for being so uptight
. I
t’s just that the other girls have already warned me that you better not make Ms.
Vineswell
angry,” she whispered, gulping nervously as her eyes darted around the hallway
.
“They said she could make your life around here pretty hard if you cross her.”

Gabrielle rolled her eyes with exasperation
.
“And you really believe all that hogwash?” Her hazel eyes narrowed with conviction
.
“Look
,
Jess, no one has that much power—especially over my life. I’m not worried about Ms.
Vineswell
or anyone else at
Vineswell
Academy
,
for that matter.”

Jessica looked at her with pure admiration
.
“Wow, I wish I could be as brave as you are,” she gushed in awe.

Gabrielle smiled hugely
.
“You can and you will. Just stick with me
,
Jess
.
”
S
he looked at her playfully
.
“Okay, so where to next?”