The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (6 page)

Jessica cleared her throat
.
“Well, let me show you to your room. By the way, I’m actually one of your roommates but the other two girls have not arrived yet.”

Gabrielle smacked her lips around the lollipop loudly
,
which echoed throughout the hallway
.
“Okay, so lead on
,
Miss Tour Director
.
”

They giggled softly as they walked down the hallway. A glass cabinet filled with trophies and photos caught Gabrielle’s attention
,
causing her to slow down to take a look. Her eyes widened with fascination as she pressed her face against the glass, straining to see all that was inside.

Jessica shifted from side
to
side as she waited for Gabrielle to finish. Nervously, her head snapped around, her gaze shifting down the hallway to where the soft sounds of giggling and whispering could be heard from around the corner.

Her blue eyes darted uneasily towards Gabrielle then back to the hallway. Jessica tugged nervously on Gabrielle’s cardigan sleeve.

Gabrielle looked
up
,
puzzled.

Jessica’s eyes darted towards the three giggling girls
who were
rapidly approaching.

Curious, Gabrielle also looked at the approaching girls.
Okay, this should be good
, she thought to herself.

A girl with long dark hair looked at Jessica with disgust, her eyes quickly dismissing her. She then looked over at Gabrielle curiously, rudely pointing a long
,
pale finger at her
.
“So, who’s the new
Vineswell
g
irl?”

Jessica shifted consciously as she tried to yank her snug cardigan away from her chubby body.

Gabrielle boldly stepped forward, rudely waving her hand in front of the girl’s face. “Uh
,
h
ello
,
I’m standing right here,” she said with obvious annoyance
.
“So, if you want to know my name, why don’t you just ask me?”

Jessica’s voice squeaked with false enthusiasm
.
“Hi
,
Ashley!”

Ashley continued to ignore Jessica, smiling smugly at Gabrielle
.
“So, what’s your name?”

Gabrielle gave her a bored stare as she licked her lollipop loudly
.
“My name is Gabrielle,” she said matter-of-factly then pointed over to Jessica
.
“And this is my friend Jessica.”

Tossing her hair over her shoulders, Ashley smiled stiffly
.
“I’m Ashley and this is Rebecca and Tricia,” she replied conceitedly as she pointed over at the two girls hovering self-importantly by her side. “Well
,
welcome to
Vineswell
Academy
,
Gabrielle.”

Gabrielle looked at her with disinterest
.
“Hmm, I didn’t know that
Vineswell
Academy had a welcome committee
.
G
o figure,” she replied rudely.

Ashley leaned in close to Gabrielle, whispering loudly, “Since, on first impression
,
you seem like a real cool girl,” she started smugly, “
l
et me give you a couple of tips on how to survive at
Vineswell
.”

Ashley looked spitefully over at Jessica
.
“The number
-
one rule is be very careful of who you hang with.”

Jessica’s bright smile quickly vanished and her face turned beet red with embarrassment.

“And since I have a knack for recognizing potential
,
I’m going to do something that I normally wouldn’t do,” Ashley
continued.
“I’m inviting you to sit at our table for the student
t
ea party today.”

Blinking rapidly, Gabrielle’s hazel eyes popped open with fake happiness
.
“Really?
Wow—I’m confused
. A
m I supposed to be grateful for your rude invitation?”

Ashley flipped her long dark hair over her shoulders
.
“Well, of course you are!”

S
he smiled
smugly as she looked over at Rebecca and Tricia, who were hovering around her like adoring groupies, both smiling and bobbing their heads in agreement
.
“After all
,
we’re going to be the most popular
Vineswell
g
irls in the entire school and we definitely won’t extend invitations to everyone,” she said as she looked over at Jessica
nastily
. “
B
esides, in case you haven’t figured it out,
o
ne wrong social move—say
,
like hanging with the wrong person
—c
an make your life around here a living nightmare
…
and I definitely don’t think you want that.”

Gabrielle’s eyes glistened with pure anger
.
“Excuse me? Is that a threat?”

Ashley’s green eyes flashed angrily
in return.
“Well, of course not
.
I
t’s just some friendly advice from one
Vineswell
g
irl to another.”

“Well
,
thank you for the
‘
friendly
’
advice but I’m not interested in your invitation,” Gabrielle responded with a voice so cold it was as if icicles hung from every word. She quickly pulled the bright red lollipop from her mouth, waving it around angrily in Ashley’s face
to
accent each word that she spewed. “So, now here’s my
‘
friendly
’
advice—you know
,
from one
Vineswell
g
irl to another
.
Get a grip
,
girl! You’re not all that.”

Ashley’s pale face flushed red
.
“How dare you talk to me like that? Do you know who I am?” she sputtered angrily.

Gabrielle laughed
.
“Nope—and
,
frankly
,
I don’t give a hoot
.
”

“Well, I see—if
that’s how you want it,” Ashley said angrily. “From now on, you better watch your back
,
Gabrielle.”

Gabrielle
placed
her hands on her narrow hips
.
“
J
ust so we’re clear this time
,
was that some more of your
‘
friendly
’
advice or was that a threat?”

Ashley smiled coldly
.
“
T
hat was definitely a threat. Can you handle that?”

Gabrielle’s eyes flashed furiously at the challenge
.
“Let’s get one thing straight
…
I can handle anything you can dish
out
, Ashley.
So, I only have two words for you
: b
ring it.”

She promptly popped the lollipop back into her mouth and licked it loudly. “Well, let’s K.I.M
,
Jess,” she said as she turned slowly on her heels and walked down the hall
,
humming happily.

Jessica’s mouth dropped open with shock as she watched Gabrielle disappear down the hallway. She nervously hurried to catch
up with her.

Rebecca looked over at Ashley
.
“Who does she think she is
,
talking to you like that?”

Tricia nodded anxiously in agreement.

Ashley’s face flushed angrily as she watched Gabrielle and Jessica walk down the hallway and out of sight.
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about Gabrielle. She’ll quickly learn what happens to any
Vineswell
girl
who dares to
cross me.”

J
essica’s blue eyes bulged anxiously as she watched Gabrielle humming off-key
and
saunter
ing
casually down the hallway.

“I can’t believe you talked to Ashley like that,” Jessica blurted
out as she huffed
and
puffed, practically out-of-breath
as she caught up to her
.

Gabrielle stopped mid-hum, looking over at her nonchalantly
.
“Well, believe it.”

Speechless, Jessica stared at her.

“Jess, girls like Ashley just don’t impress me,” Gabrielle said coolly.

Jessica wrung her chubby pale hands fretfully
.
“B
…
but I don’t think you understand. That was Ashley Simmons,
t
he
Ashley Simmons!”

Gabrielle breathed
out with exasperation.

“I mean her sister is only the most popular girl at
Vineswell
Academy
,
which automatically makes Ashley the most popular freshman by default,” Jessica s
aid.