Page 17 of The Rebel (Covington Prep: The Girls We Love #7)

VALENCIA

I woke to two consecutive buzzes and blindly grabbed at my phone on the nightstand. It never seemed to recognize my early morning face of bleary eyes and bedhead, and my clumsy fingers needed two attempts at inputting the passcode.

Paris had sent two photos of them arriving at the airport and a single line of text: Made it.

I flopped back on my pillow, taking stock of where I was. The bed had been surprisingly comfortable, and though it had taken me a while to drop off—thinking about Mom and Dad and Paris and Gabby and Scott and Mrs. Fox—I had admittedly slept like a log.

I checked my messages, two long ones from Mom, one about the flight and another reminding me to check the fridge and to take the milk and juice and yogurt to the Sinclairs before it went off.

I wasn’t going to do that, as if the Sinclairs would want half cartons of milk and yogurt, but at least there was nothing about the discipline slip, which was a relief.

Maybe Dani hadn’t considered it an issue.

I showered, dressed and packed my school bag.

I’d go over to feed Volley and text Gabby to see if she could pick me up from my house.

Standing at the door, I breathed in deeply, summonsing up some courage.

It’s not that I hated being at the Sinclairs’ house, but I didn’t intend to enjoy my time here either.

I’d be cordial and polite but I wasn’t going to join in family activities.

I had to remember that I was here because Mom and Dad and Paris didn’t want me with them.

And for that, they needed to feel some sort of guilt.

I’d retreated to my bedroom after dinner, a little jealous to hear that Jade and Oliver were going out to a soccer game. Jade played with a school team and Oliver was watching. See, that’s what good siblings did, supported each other, and I could see there was a strong bond between them.

Dani was already in the kitchen, but I’d half expected that. I plastered a smile on my face and returned her greeting.

“Did you sleep well?” she asked, “Can I get you some breakfast?”

“Yeah, I did. I’m going to feed Volley, then my friend’s going to pick me up from home. I’ll be late after school.”

“Okay,” Dani said. “Do you want something to eat first? I’ve made pancakes.” She pushed forward a plate of stacked pancakes, accompanied by a small mound of berries and a dollop of yogurt. It looked like something from a cafe.

I shook my head, a little guilty that I was brushing her off, but I hadn’t asked to be here, or for her to make pancakes. “See you later.”

I hurried out the door and around the path, over the fence, unlocking the back door.

Within seconds, Volley came racing into the laundry room and I gave him a cuddle and hugged him close.

I hated the thought of Volley being alone all night and I wondered where he slept when I wasn’t home.

His favorite spot changed on a weekly basis.

Once Mom had bought a new pair of sneakers and left the box on a chair at the dining table and he sat on that for a week.

Another time, he sat on a pile of folded towels.

After filling his food bowl, I texted Gabby to see if she could pick me up. I poured myself a glass of juice and poured the half carton of milk down the sink.

Gabby’s text came back straight away: I’ll be ten minutes!

Smiling, I ran upstairs to do my makeup.

At least something was getting back to normal.

My hand was unsteady as I looked in the mirror, the line beneath my lower lashes shaky.

Not having time to wash it off for a total redo, I evened it out by thickening the line, making it less than ‘natural looking.’ Oh well, with luck I wouldn’t run into Mrs. Hayman today.

At the sound of a tooting horn, I ran downstairs, giving Volley a last pat before setting the house alarm. My heart sank to see Scott sitting in the passenger seat, but I couldn’t show any disappointment.

“Hey, Vali,” they said in unison as I was relegated to the back seat.

“Hey, guys.”

The whole conversation was about a song the jazz band was rehearsing, and only as we turned into the school parking lot did Gabby remind me that she had the community garden club after school.

“Oh yeah, that’s okay,” I said, telling them about my art room punishment.

“That’s not so bad,” Scott said as he took Gabby’s backpack for her.

“It’s bad enough,” I countered back.

“Considering you were disrespectful and disruptive, it’s pretty light,” he said.

“I was not disrespectful,” I retorted. “Fox was the one who was disrespectful!”

“Well, actually that’s not what I heard,” Scott said crisply, taking the high ground. “Luke and others said you were on your phone and you did answer Mrs. Fox back. You know, you can be rude at times.”

I rolled my eyes so hard, that I nearly lost all vision. “Are you serious?” I spat at him, wondering how I’d ever thought he was cute. “She was the one who was rude to me!”

Gabby eyed Scott with a restrained glower. He walked on ahead and she put her arm around my shoulder and spoke gently. “It’s okay, Vali. Let’s just hope this doesn’t stay on your record. It’s your first discipline slip, so hopefully it will fade away.”

I stared at her in disbelief, thinking that she was going to apologize for Scott’s verbal assault on me, defend me at the very least! I blew out a frustrated breath, my anger not dissipating one bit. “You agree with Scott, that I’m rude?”

“No, no,” Gabby placated in a soothing tone. “But you can get heated, Vali. You do sometimes get...”

Whatever she was about to say, I didn’t want to hear it. I shrugged out of her hold more forcefully than was necessary, causing Gabby to yelp and hold her jaw. Seemed my shoulder had bumped her mouth. Scott was back by her side in a flash.

“Are you okay? Sorry, I didn’t mean it,” I said.

“Just go, Valencia,” Scott said as Gabby continued to hold her hand over her mouth. There was no sign of blood, so I hadn’t knocked any teeth out.

“Gabby, are you okay?” I ignored him, stooping down to try to ascertain the extent of my friend’s injuries.

Gabby nodded, but didn’t speak, her face distorted in pain and tears welling. It was hard to tell if it was genuine or acting, because surely the accidental knock wasn’t that strong. I mean, no part of my shoulder felt sore.

“I’m sorry, it was an accident,” I reiterated to Gabby.

“Yeah, what’s your problem, Valencia?” Scott said. “It’s like you can’t control your temper.”

“What are you talking about?” I snapped back, still trying to gage what injury had reduced her to tears.

“The other night at the sledding hill, you lost it and lashed out.”

“I did not!” I said. “I just wanted to sled down the big hill. That’s not a crime, is it? It’s a free world!”

“Then answering back Mrs. Fox and getting a discipline slip,” Scott continued in a righteous manner.

“You weren’t even there,” I snarled.

“I think you’ve got serious problems,” Scott said in a calm, condescending way, much like how my mother spoke when she was telling me off. “No wonder your parents have abandoned you for a month.”

For a moment everything went still and silent, all the air knocked from my lungs. I don’t know what appalled me more—the fact that I’d once had a crush on Scott, or that Gabby had blabbed about how I’d felt abandoned by my parents.

Gabby had straightened, her chin showing the slightest—and I mean barely existent—tinge of rosiness where it was possible my shoulder may have accidentally collided with her. Or it may have been caused by her own hand pressing on it.

And I waited...for her defense of me. For her to say that I was not that unstable, volatile person Scott accused me of being.

That my parents hadn’t abandoned me because I was an awful daughter.

But Scott steered Gabby’s head against his chest and gently rubbed her damp cheeks and kissed that spot on her chin!

I now knew where her loyalties lay—and though we had years of history, it wasn’t with me.

I stormed down the path, pushing through the main doors with force, my heart beating so rapidly that I feared it was about to smash through my ribcage. I headed straight for the bathroom, needing time to compose myself, a minute to breathe and focus, because my head was spinning out of control.

Our friendship couldn’t just terminate in an instant.

Not from an accidental bump and a few cross words.

Gabby and I were besties and had been for years.

Scott might be jealous of that. He might have said all those things about me to make me look bad in front of Gabby, so he could spend more time with her.

And yet Gabby hadn’t defended me.

The bell rang, causing me to gather up my backpack. There was no time to fix this now, but at lunch, we’d reconcile. We’d both apologize and laugh and say it was a moment of madness and we’d be okay, back to normal.

But Gabby and Scott never turned up to the cafeteria and she never replied to the text I’d sent: Are we good?

Kelsey said Gabby had a drama meeting, but she’d never told me about it. The talk at the table was subdued, and I imagined a whole conspiracy about how I’d assaulted Gabby with my violent outburst. After eating a sandwich, I told everyone I had to do some library research.

“Are you coming to the cafe after school?” Jazmyn asked.

“No, I can’t. I have to report to Miss Creighton to help in the art room,” I said.

Jazmyn and Kelsey smiled sympathetically, but what upset me most was that Gabby seemed to be avoiding me. If we ever had a fight, it was a flash in the pan; we never stayed mad at each other.

As I pushed through the cafeteria door, I smashed right into a bunch of seniors.

“Hey, watch it,” one of the girls sneered.

I mumbled an apology, head down, walking away as fast as I could.

“Hey?” I heard Jade’s voice but didn’t stop, if anything, I increased my speed. He was the last person I wanted to speak to.