The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (9 page)

The door abruptly swung open, knocking her backwards onto the floor.

As if on cue, Jessica hopped over her, bolting out of the room and down the stairs without a backward glance.

Gabrielle quickly scrambled to her feet and dusted
off her clothes. Her ears perked
up at the faint sound of footsteps behind her
;
startled
,
she spun around and looked toward the book
-
filled room.

“Oh
,
stop it
,
Gabi, there’s nothing there. You’re getting just as paranoid as Jess,” she said coolly
to herself
under her breath. Not taking any chances, she quickly turned on her heels and ran out of the passageway.

G
abrielle ran out of the building, leaving the front door open behind her. Looking around, she saw Jessica sitting on the steps breathing heavily.

“Are you okay
,
Jess?” she asked with a concerned look.

Jessica’s eyes filled with tears as she looked
up at her
friend.
“I guess so; I mean, it’s just that there was something so weird about that building and that room was just so creepy.”

Silently, Gabrielle sat down next to her.

Jessica looked down at her feet
.
“Oh
,
Gabi, I got so nervous
,
and weird things always happen when I get nervous. Please don’t ever ask me to go in there again.”

Gabrielle patted Jessica’s shoulder consolingly
.
“Oh
,
Jess, it wasn’t that bad.” She looked up at the building
.
“But I do wonder what that room was used for. It was so strange yet so familiar.”

Jessica quickly got
up, dusted
off her skirt
,
and walked down the stairs
.
“Well, I
reall
y don’t care what that room was used for and neither should you.” She walked across the lawn, not looking back.

Gabrielle sighed wistfully as she looked
up at the building then reluctantly jumped
up from the stairs. She looked over and did a double-take when she saw that Jessica was halfway across the lawn
.
“Jess, wait
up for me.”

They walked across the damp lawn in comfortable silence as the wind whistled loudly
,
whipping across their faces.

Jessica abruptly stopped in front of a large brick building with a gold sign attached to the door:

Tea Rose Dormitory

Jessica blew hot air into her cold hands as she rubbed them together for warmth
.
“Well, we’re here
,
Gabi
.
L
et’s go in
.
I
t
’
s way too cold to stand out here
.
” She walked
up the stairs, pushing open the heavy door
,
with Gabrielle following closely behind.

Gabrielle watched as a swarm of girls in all different shapes and colors ran around the large hallway excitedly.
Then
Gabrielle and Jessica pushed their way up the crowded stairway and jostled through the crowded hallway.

Jessica paused in front of a door with a metal “23” sign nailed to it and pushed it open. As they stepped into the room, they were greeted with the vision of a girl with long
,
black silky hair anxiously pacing back
and
forth with handfuls of clothes spilling over her arms.
 

In the middle of the room, there was another girl with sun-kissed skin, messy brown hair pulled into two long braids
,
and black wire-rimmed glasses
; she was
carefully crawling along the floor
,
looking around frantically and mumbling angrily.

The dark
-
haired girl impatiently dropped the stack of clothes onto the bed and stomped over to the closet. She slammed open the closet door, peering into it
.
“Horrible,
absolutamente
horrible.
I really must tell
F
ather about this dreadful room. Look at this closet; I just don’t know how I’m going to fit all of my clothes in here,” she muttered with a thick accent.

Gabrielle shook her head
in
amazement as she looked over at her two roommates. “Great
…
Just my luck, I get stuck with two
weirdos
as roommates,” she muttered under her breath. She rolled her eyes skyward as she walked over to the bed where her luggage was standing. Quickly hopping onto the bed, she crossed her legs comfortably as she watched Jessica walk timidly over to the dark
-
haired girl.

“Hi, my name is Jessica and that’s Gabi,” Jessica said as she pointed over to Gabrielle
,
who was sitting on the bed
,
glaring disgustedly at her.

“Yep
,
that’s me,” Gabrielle responded snidely.

“Excuse
my
manners; you must think I’m awfully rude. Hello, my name is Rosalinda Hernandez Diaz.”

Jessica smiled shyly
.
“What a beautiful name. If you don’t mind me asking
,
why do you have two last names?”

Rosalinda gave her an annoyed stare
.
“Well, my father’s name is Tomas Hernandez and my mother’s name is Rosalinda Diaz. The Spanish tradition is for parents to give their children both of their last names.”

Gesturing
a
t
the designer luggage that was thrown across the room messily,
Gabrielle asked,
“Is all this junk yours?”

Rosalinda walked over to Gabrielle, smiling smugly
.
“Yes, but Father
thought
it best to scale back a bit.”

Gabrielle rolled her eyes with exasperation
.
“
Anyhoo
,
I can see that rooming with you is going to be so much fun, fun, fun!”

Rosalinda looked at Gabrielle disapprovingly.

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow curiously, watching with fascination as the brown-haired girl with black wire-rimmed glasses frantically looked around the room.

“Hello
…
you
,
crawling across the floor like a lunatic. What’s your name?”

Startled, her face flushed as she looked over at Gabrielle, quickly adjusting her
glasses that slipped down to the tip of her narrow nose
.
“I’m sorry, my name is
Zora
Patterson. Look
,
honestly, I
’
m
not trying to be rude or anything
.
I’m just trying to find Oscar,” she replied breathlessly.

Hopping off the bed, Gabrielle walked over to her
.
“And who may I ask is Oscar?”

Zora
looked around the room anxiously
.
“Oscar is my pet
t
arantula that my father and I found on our trip to Peru last summer.” She blew at the stray strand of brown hair that fell across her freckled cheek.

With eyes widened with fear, letting out a high-pitched squeal, Rosalinda jumped onto the top of the bed
.
“Did you say
t
arantula? No one told me that pets were allowed.”

Zora
looked over at her impatiently
.
“Really, there’s nothing to worry about
;
he’s harmless,” she said calmly as she pushed up her glasses
, which had
slipped down to the tip of her nose again.

Rosalinda wagged a finger at
Zora
.
“There is no way I’m sharing my room with a filthy creature. I will simply report this immediately to Ms.
Vineswell
.”

Angrily, Gabrielle looked over at Rosalinda
.
“There is no way I’m going to stand
by while you snitch on our roommate.”

She quickly looked over at Jessica
.
“Jess, can you please help us look for Oscar? The sooner we find him, the quicker Princess Rosalinda will shut
up and relax.”

Rosalinda’s eyes flashed angrily
.
“Why in the world would you call me Princess Rosalinda? That is not my name.”

Gabrielle stomped over to her, propping her hands on her narrow hips
.
“I’ll tell you why—because all I’ve seen you do since I got in this room is prance around like some sort of self-appointed
p
rincess. And to make matters worse, you have the nerve to threaten to tell on
Zora
like she’s some sort of sniveling servant.”
Gabrielle smiled tauntingly
.
“Now, does that answer your question
,
Princess Rosalinda?”

Rosalinda looked at her furiously as she daintily stepped off the bed, primly smoothing
out her skirt
.
“How dare you talk to me like that
?
”

Gabrielle looked at her angrily, “No, how dare you treat us like you’re better than us?”