Page 29 of The Rebel (Covington Prep: The Girls We Love #7)

VALENCIA

Upon awaking, I grabbed at my phone, keen to catch up on the overnight news from France. But I deflated seeing the messages from Mom and Dad that Paris and Phillippe had lost their doubles match. They would be flying to Germany that evening and Paris would try to qualify for the main singles draw.

I messaged Paris, but wasn’t surprised that he didn’t respond. I had to imagine that he was doing extra training, working hard so he’d do better in the next tournament.

I was devastated to see no messages in the group chat but I showered, dressed and packed a bag and hoped that by the time I fed Volley, the plans would be put in place.

But as time ticked by and no messages or texts appeared, I realized I was going to have to be brave and initiate contact.

It was silly that I was nervous to call my best friend, my stomach churning at the thought of rejection.

Yes, my gut instinct was that my friendship was teetering on the brink.

To my surprise, it was Scott who answered Gabby’s phone, in a less than friendly tone. “What is it Valencia?”

“I, I...haven’t heard from Gabby,” I stuttered. “I was wondering what’s happening with Chestnut Ridge?”

“Haven’t you heard? The road’s closed due to bad weather. We’re going to Snow Park instead.”

“No, I hadn’t.”

“We’re heading there now,” Scott said.

“What, already?”

“Yeah. No one had heard from you so we thought you weren’t coming.”

“But I was waiting for the group chat,” I said, my heart rate rising rapidly.

There was a muffled noise and Gabby’s voice came on, short and blunt. “You didn’t come to the lunch time meeting Valencia, so I’m sorry, but we assumed you weren’t interested in coming.” She didn’t sound sorry in the slightest.

“What! Of course I wanted to come, I just couldn’t make it,” I said.

“We waved to you, and you ignored us,” Gabby said, her tone verging on vicious.

I needed a second to process, to comprehend that she was angry at me for not showing. “But I had other stuff going on,” I said, “I had to talk to Paris, I found out he just lost his match and he was pretty cut up.”

Gabby clicked her tongue, apparently not interested in Paris’s plight. “Well, we’re already on our way. I guess you could see if Aaron or Jazmyn left yet.”

My chin wobbled as it occurred to me that my friend was not turning back for me, that I really was on the outer.

My chest heaved and my heart thundered. It was my worst nightmare—not being left behind—but Gabby’s dumping of me.

I could no longer pretend/hope/believe that our friendship could be saved.

In my mind, Scott had sabotaged it and Gabby was totally along for the ride.

My life was falling apart.

I ended the call without another word, tossing my phone onto the couch, Gabby’s betrayal heavy in my heart.

“Volley?” I rasped, “Volley?” He came trotting in, surveyed the situation and settled on my lap. But when I sniffed back a flood of tears, he spooked and jumped away. My mind whirled but I knew I only had one option. I grabbed at my phone again, dialing Jazmyn’s number.

“I’ve been left behind,” I said, keeping my tone neutral and non-accusatory in case she was in on the conspiracy against me too. “Is there any chance I can get a ride with you?”

There was a dreaded silence, and I envisioned a huge discussion but she came back loud and clear and sympathetic. “Sure. Yeah, we’re just filling up with gas. We can come back.”

“Oh great, thanks guys,” I said. I immediately ran down the driveway, not willing to risk losing my ride, even if it meant waiting outside in the cold.

“Was it a misunderstanding?” Jazmyn asked as I squeezed into the middle seat of the SUV between her and Reina. “I thought Gabby said she was going to bring you.”

“She said to me that you probably had better things to do,” Reina chimed in.

I shrugged and frowned, but held my tongue. I didn’t want to incriminate Gabby before having the chance to talk it out with her. Hopefully I’d get the chance to see her alone, without Scott.

Gabby, Scott, Kelsey and Jonathan were still in the parking lot when we arrived at Snow Park, indicating they hadn’t been in such a rush after all. My blood boiled but I was determined to keep my cool. This was going to a fun day for all of us and I wasn’t going to be the one to ruin it.

We rode the tubes down the slopes, and for a while it was like old times as I raced down with Jasmyn and Kelsey, the boys close behind.

Except that Gabby and Scott soon disappeared and didn’t show until we stopped for lunch in the cafeteria.

Gabby looked flushed in the cheeks, making me think they must’ve been out on the hiking trail.

While Jazmyn, Jonathan and I flocked to hold a table, I did a double take.

Across the room I could see Jade, his brown hair covered in an orange beanie, and my heart suddenly kicked into overdrive.

Next to him was Oliver, also in an orange beanie.

I’d forgotten how Jade had promised to take him snow tubing.

I smiled at how sweet the two brothers looked wearing matching hats.

But in the next instance, a bunch of his friends were beside them—three of them girls.

It seemed Jade was always surrounded by girls.

Well, why wouldn’t he be, he was cute, he was kind, his smile was gorgeous and his eyes were as clear and crisp as the green of a Wimbledon grass court.

As I went to order my food, I caught Gabby at the condiment bar and whispered, “Hey, Gabby, can we talk for a second? Please?”

She looked behind—Scott was still at the counter waiting to pay—and her mouth twisted.

“I don’t know what’s happening between us,” I said in a plea of desperation. “I want to fix it.”

I really expected Gabby would reciprocate my exact thoughts: Yes, yes, we need to work things out. But her response was unexpected.

“I don’t know what’s happening with you , Valencia,” she shot back at me, “you’re skipping classes and on detention. And you totally ignored us in the cafeteria yesterday.”

“I wasn’t ignoring you,” I defended. “I was just dealing with stuff with Paris, that’s all.”

“And...” Gabby drew in a deep breath like she was preparing herself for some big reveal, “...and you’ve been acting strange since I told you about Scott and me. Like you ditched dinner at my house.” She paused dramatically again, gulping in more air. “Are you jealous of me and Scott?”

“She’s jealous that you’d rather hang out with me than her,” Scott thrust himself into the conversation, planting an exaggerated, sloppy kiss on Gabby’s cheek which made me cringe.

“What are you talking about?” I retorted, my blood roaring in my ears at the outrageous insinuation. “I’m not jealous of you!”

Scott snorted like I was a spoiled brat having a wild rant. “Gee, calm down, Valencia. You’re such a hot-head. Just because your brother’s some hot-shot tennis player, you think you’re above us and the world bows down to you.”

I had no idea what he was implying, and couldn’t form a logical thought. But, dang it, I’d stand up for myself. Unfortunately my best response was a lame, “I do not!”

I searched Gabby’s face for a flicker of disgust, for a denial of Scott’s accusation, to refute his outrageous claim...but her silence was deafening.

My mind whirled with all the little gifts I’d brought back for my friends from all my trips.

And yes, in recent times there had been a few.

I mean, New York City—of course I was going to treat my friends with souvenirs from the Big Apple.

But also, Toronto, Atlanta, Boise and of course, Florida.

But I’d never done it to gloat or to show I was more privileged than anyone else.

I liked giving my friends mementos, and picking out cute souvenirs gave me a break from the monotonous tennis watching.

Scott snickered and brought his hand up to his mouth, whispering something to Gabby.

My chest heaved as her lips curled into a smile.

And in that moment our friendship flashed before my eyes.

So many things I’d done on Gabby’s recommendations—joined the volleyball team, volunteered at the blind center, but was I the blind one?

“Is that the best you can come up with?” Scott continued to goad me, like he reveled in riling me up.

“Leave her alone,” Gabby said, elbowing Scott in the side, and I rejoiced—Gabby was finally coming to my rescue—but it was premature.

She produced a wide, fake smile and added, “It probably is tough when your brother loses, right, Vali? Especially when he’s supposed to be the rising star of tennis. ”

“Yeah, his first match too, is that right?” Scott chuckled with a snake-like sneer.

The sarcasm from both of them sent my heart plummeting like I was on a drop tower amusement ride, and my chin did that stupid wobbly thing, but I couldn’t cry. Not here in the cafeteria of Snow Park surrounded by so many people.

I swear I coaxed every fiber of my being into co-operation, I bit down on my lower lip and momentarily closed my eyes so I didn’t have to see the smugness on Gabby and Scott’s faces.

But my self-control was non-existent and maybe Coach Gardiner was right about my fiery temperament all those years ago, because I wasn’t going to take the ridicule from my so-called friends.

Especially slamming my brother. No, just no.

“What’d you say?” I spat back, like I was a mafia boss about to wreak havoc.

Gabby flinched slightly, gripping at Scott’s arm as I lengthened my spine. Her smile was laced with fear as she looked over to our friends at the table, her expression indicating that I was off my rocker.

“I asked you what you said,” I said through gritted teeth, taking a step closer still. I imposed every cell of my five nine height, eye to eye with Scott and staring down at my shorter friend, hoping they couldn’t detect my shaking legs.

“Gee, relax Vali!” Scott blew out an exasperated breath. “Gabby just asked if Paris lost his match? You told us he did, didn’t you? He lost in his first round?”

Only at this precise moment did I realize how much my big brother meant to me, how protective I was of him, how I wouldn’t stand for their gloating over his loss. Their snide remarks were unwarranted and unforgivable.

I might have been volatile but I wasn’t a violent person.

Okay, maybe I’d thrown a few punches at Paris in the act of self-defense when we were younger, but it was pure instinct when I reached out toward Gabby.

I wasn’t going to hit her—though don’t quote me on that—but I guessed I’d never know, because out of nowhere a tall figure in a black jacket and an orange beanie intervened.

“Hey, Valencia!” Yes, Jade stepped in, restraining me by throwing his arm around my shoulder as if I was his girlfriend. He squeezed my arm so tightly it tingled from a lack of blood supply. “Everything all right here?”

My lower lip quivered but now it was from shock and while I thought the tingling was from poor circulation, it apparently wasn’t. Because from Jade’s take-charge, slightly intimidating vibe, my whole body was pulsing in a very pleasant way. In a very thrilling way.

Gabby seemed to have gone mute, but Scott’s mouth twitched as he started to speak. “Yeah, we—”

But Jade shut him down. “I don’t wanna hear it, Trumpet Boy.” Trumpet Boy? My heart raced wildly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to steal my friend away.” He pulled me closer and my head naturally tilted onto his shoulder. “C’mon, Valencia.”

And in a daze, I was whisked away from the group.

But a minute after rescuing me, Jade was jumping down my throat. “What was all that about?” he growled. My head whipped up off of his shoulder and I found his flashing green eyes gazing down at me. “I thought you were gonna kill your friend!”

The intensity of his eyes was spell-binding, the gem-like facets of color distracting me from basic comprehension.

“Valencia, I thought you were about to start a fight!” Jade clinched me by the upper arms, gently prodding me back to reality. And then it all came flooding back.

“They were saying stuff about Paris,” I said, my lungs barely coping. “Laughing because he lost his match.”

“That’s not cool,” Jade said. “But neither is starting a fight.”

“I wasn’t going to hit her,” I said, vigorously shaking my head in a bid to convince him, “she’s supposed to be my best friend.”

“Yeah, I know. But I can’t have my new roommate being arrested for grievous bodily harm.” Jade tugged me, his hand easily slipping into mine. Like this was the most normal thing in the world. “Or murder,” he said with a wink.

“I swear I wasn’t going to hurt her. But she made me so angry, they both did. I don’t understand why Gabby’s acting like this.”

“She just started dating Trumpet Boy, didn’t she?” Jade said, his hand still firmly entwined with mine.

I nodded, my chin quivering but this time in laughter. “Why do you call him Trumpet Boy?”

“Because he plays the trumpet, and he’s good at tooting his own horn.”

I frowned, wondering how Jade knew anything about Scott. “What do you mean? Scott used to be cool. Well, I thought he was.”

Jade scoffed in obvious disagreement. “Your Trumpet Boy was trying to convince Principal Portman that his new band should play at assembly next week. Apparently they haven’t played in public before or in front of anyone for that matter, but he thinks they deserve to be on stage.

Like we wanna be guinea pigs for his squawking. ”

I giggled, though I felt sick to my stomach knowing how I’d once crushed on Scott. “Gabby’s in that band, but they’ve only been together for about a week.”

“Exactly,” Jade said, rolling his eyes. “He thinks he’s some sort of musical maestro, but hey...” His voice softened, full of compassion, “...I’m sorry about your friendship.”

“So am I,” I said, the pain of Gabby’s disloyalty suddenly hitting me. “Lucky you were there.”

“Yeah, you’d probably be banned from Snow Park if I hadn’t stepped in,” Jade said.

“Yeah, thanks,” I muttered, embarrassed by my inability to control myself, “you seem to be making a habit of bailing me out.”

Jade shrugged, his smile carefree. “I’m not complaining.”

My heart raced and it felt like every sweat gland was secreting buckets, yet Jade didn’t release my hand. In fact, he gave it a firm, possessive tug, and said, “I’m not leaving you with them.”

“Yeah, but aren’t you here with Ollie and your friends? I don’t wanna—”

“Relax,” Jade said as he winked at me again, making me all fluttery and weak. “Not everything has to be a battle, Valencia.”

“Yeah, but I came with my friends.”

“Chill,” Jade said with a laugh, and he squeezed my hand and leaned closer, his whisper sending a flutter up my spine, three little words that felt like a rocket smashing through my chest, “I got you.”