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

When Gabby persuaded me to try out for the volleyball team with her, I felt a little guilt at giving up tennis, but she convinced me that I should have my own sport and not live in Paris’s shadow.

Mom didn’t have quite the same viewpoint, and it incited a period where we barely spoke to one another.

In her eyes, by not playing tennis, I was personally rejecting her.

Volleyball wasn’t a big sport at Covington Prep, but it was fun to play in a team and not have any pressure or expectations on us. Especially because we were mediocre. Our season had ended with only a marginally better win-loss record of 20-16.

I mindlessly scrolled through my phone. Gabby and I were tight, pinky promise tight, yet I wasn’t sure if I was more upset over knowing Scott liked Gabby and not me, or because Gabby only told me about it today. That basically constituted a lack of trust, not confiding in me, keeping a secret.

“Valenciaaaaaa!” My name echoed around the room as I opened my eyes and tried to get my bearings.

I’d been lying on the ice and Jade Sinclair had been standing over and looking at me with his distinctly green eyes, an insane shade of green, glowing, cat-like.

Or in my dream he did. In real life, I wasn’t sure—I hadn’t looked that closely.

Maybe my dream had conjured up green eyes because his name was Jade and jade was green.

“Valencia!” With my mother standing over me, I realized I was on my bed and not on snowy Oak Brook Hill.

Though I was still in my sweater and ski pants.

“You can’t dump your sled in the entranceway.

Take it to the garage and your boots to the laundry room,” she snapped.

“I’ve been calling for ages. Dinner’s ready. ”

“I’m not hungry,” I said, sitting up. “What’s the time? I must’ve fallen asleep.”

“I knew it wasn’t a good idea to go sledding,” Mom scoffed, always knowing best. Her eyes scrutinized me as she leaned closer. “Is that blood?”

“What? Where?” I said, automatically feeling my nose, which came away dry.

But Mom had already swept across to my bedside table and grabbed a bunch of tissues and attempted to wipe my upper lip.

Her touch was forceful, like she was scrubbing the kitchen floor and not my face. Not gentle like Jade’s touch.

“Ouch,” I said, as she rubbed it again.

“Did you have a fall?”

I shrugged, not wanting to tell her about the collision. “I just came off, must’ve knocked it.” I wasn’t in the mood to tell her about the Sinclairs. In fact, it was surprising that she hadn’t heard about it from Dani yet.

“How’s Gabby? And Jazmyn?”

“Good,” I mumbled, wriggling away from her.

“I can do it. I’m fine.” I stormed off to my bathroom and turned on the shower as she reminded me that I needed to get rid of my sled and boots.

I couldn’t understand why, instead of coming upstairs to tell me off, she could have saved her lungs and done it herself.

With the warm water running down my back, I realized I hadn’t checked my phone, now anxious to know if Gabby had texted me. Falling asleep had put me behind in getting everything ready for school tomorrow. I needed to check my school bag, my uniform, my ride...

I usually rode to school with Gabby and her mom, but would Gabby drive me tomorrow?

Or would she go with Scott now? Scott drove a hybrid too, being passionate about the environment.

That had been one of the things I liked about him—he wasn’t just talk, he believed in doing his part to save the planet.

I dressed in my warm cat pajamas and sheepskin slippers, comfy and cozy, just the way I liked to be in winter.

I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t—yet. I had to go downstairs and do my chores or Mom would be on my back again.

Probably ground me like that one time I’d tipped all of Paris’s tennis balls out of the ball basket.

Well, Paris had been teasing me about being a loser, so to me it was justified.

But he went crying to Mom, and not only did I miss out on Halle Salvadore’s sleepover because I was grounded for two weeks, but I had to pick up all the balls too.

“Oooh, it’s supposed to get colder tomorrow,” Mom was saying to Dad as I came back in from the laundry room, my ski jacket left to hang on the rack. She shivered and rubbed her hands together.

“You should’ve stayed in Florida,” I muttered, purposely clanging a cabinet door at the same time so neither Mom nor Dad would hear.

“What was that?” Dad asked, peering over Mom’s shoulder as she worked on her laptop.

“Nothing,” I said, opening the gourmet pizza boxes and selecting a slice from each. “I’m going to eat in my room.”

Mom frowned but I skipped off before I could be told off for something else.

Volley had settled on my bed, nestled in the spot between my two pillows.

I patted him and spoke to him in my cat voice but he was uninterested, licking his fur.

I sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed, leaving the pizza plate on my bedside table.

My appetite was non-existent, not because of the hot chocolate with the whipped cream and sprinkles, but because I was nervous about talking to Gabby.

Having to apologize had my stomach churning, because how did I explain the way I’d snapped at her? She had no idea she was dating my crush. I’d have to say I’d been over tired from the flight. That would be a legitimate excuse.

A throb teased at my temples and I rubbed the area in tiny circular motions. Maybe I’d hit my head harder than I’d thought.

My phone buzzed and I rested it against a pillow as Gabby came into view on the screen.

“Hey Vali, how are you feeling?”

“I’m okay,” I drawled in a pitiful voice, one that cried out for sympathy.

“We couldn’t really see what happened, just that you’d fallen off,” Gabby said, and not exactly disguising her disappointment in me, “Uh, we did try to tell you not to.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said, sucking up my pride and hoping to clear the air between us. “I’m sorry I shouted at you. Guess I was more tired than I realized. I fell asleep as soon as I got home. But I couldn’t help it that Ollie Sinclair crashed into me.”

“Ollie? Oh, I thought it was Jade,” she said.

“No, it was Ollie.”

“I would have given you a ride home,” Gabby said, “But Jade was pretty insistent.”

I shrugged, though she was right. Jade had been adamant, likely guilt over Ollie running into me.

“Well, you can give me a ride to school tomorrow,” I said with a laugh. “Your car looks so cool. Did you choose it?”

“No, it was a total surprise,” Gabby said. “I had no idea. They didn’t give it to me until the very last day of birthday week. And they put the key in a jewelery box, so when I first opened it, I thought it would be earrings or a necklace.”

Oh yeah, did I tell you Gabby’s parents were ultra awesome and the Pelzer family celebrated the whole week of your birthday, yep, meaning you got seven gifts or surprises. I’d been unable to convince Mom and Dad that we should adopt that policy too.

“That’s just crazy,” I said. “I’m crazy jealous.”

“Well, you’ll have yours by summer,” Gabby said. “It’s not too long to wait.”

“It’s months away,” I grumbled, “though it does mean you can be my personal driver.”

Gabby’s snort of laughter didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Actually, Vali...” She paused and took in a deep breath. “I have band practice tomorrow morning. I need to be at school at seven.”

This new revelation left me gaping, and even if I could have spoken, Gabby gabbled on, “Yeah, Scott asked me to join his band and we’re rehearsing tomorrow morning.”

“Scott has a band?” This seemed to be another thing I didn’t know.

“Yeah,” Gabby’s laughter rang out. “Scott and his friend have started a band and they want me to join.”

“Like a rock band?”

“No, not rock,” Gabby giggled, her shoulders bunching and her eyes crinkling. “It’s more like jazz. I’m playing the keyboards.”

“I didn’t know you liked jazz?”

“Yeah, it’s actually pretty cool,” Gabby said. “I’m learning to like it.”

I smiled back brightly, hoping I was hiding all my emotions of surprise and shock and confusion, but I didn’t need to be a genius to know that Gabby was in deep. Scott wasn’t merely a crush to her, they had stuff in common. A real connection that wasn’t based on looks and a casual hold of a hand.

“Heyyyyy,” I said, mustering up what little acting talent I had, “So you and Scott really like each other?”

Gabby gave a little squeal, nodding furiously. “Yep.” She exhaled through pursed lips. “Oh Valencia, I’ve been dying to tell you about Scott, but it didn’t seem right until I saw you in person. I knew you’d be happy for me.”

My cheeks puffed out, frozen, completely frozen as I nodded along with her. It hit me that I was now trapped in the worst role of all—supportive best friend, the third wheel.

“Hey, let’s go to The Kitch after school tomorrow,” she said. “And then you can come over for dinner? Okay?”

“Sounds good,” I said, and for the next twenty minutes I heard how Scott had given her a chef’s apron and hat for her birthday, held her hand on their walk at Victoria Lake, shared a cheeseburger at Meg’s Diner, and how nervous she’d been before their first kiss.

But Scott had been sweet and gentle. I smiled through it all, and afterward I took the pair of alligator socks and stuffed them in my bottom drawer—I would not be giving them to Scott after all.

And though I tried to convince myself that I was happy for Gabby achieving all her first milestones before me—first date, first kiss, first boyfriend—snuggled under the warm duvet and surrounded by pillows with Volley at my feet, I became a mess, eyes leaking and heart breaking.