The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (12 page)

Ashley smiled with false sweetness
.
“Our parents have spent a great deal of money just so we can attend
Vineswell
Academy and follow in our mothers
’
and grandmothers
’
footsteps. And I think that it’s just so unfair that all of us have to suffer through their selfish gabbing.”

Ms. Duncan cleared her throat
.
“That’s just about enough
,
Ashley.”

Ms.
Vineswell
shot Ms. Duncan a disapproving gla
nc
e
.
“Well, thank you
,
Ashley
,
for your well
-
thought-out speech.” She looked around the room then smiled stiffly
.
“I am sure that your classmates appreciate your frankness. In fact, I find it so refreshing that you took the initiative to speak
up and take the leadership role
,
as
almost
all
Vineswell
Academy girls do.”

Angrily, Gabrielle jumped up but Jessica gently placed a hand on her arm to stop her.

“The next time you young ladies feel it necessary to chat, excuse yoursel
ves
from the room so that your fellow classmates do not have to suffer through your rude gabbing,” Ms.
Vineswell
con
cluded.

Ashley smirked viciously as she looked over at Gabrielle
.
“I think we all agree
—
” she said smugly as she looked around the room.

Some of the girls stared at her silently, others nodded in agreement, and others just giggled nervously.

“
—t
hat you should take your rude gabbing elsewhere,” Ashley continued.

A hushed silence filled the room.

Ms. Duncan’s face flushed with anger as she looked over at Ashley
.
“That will be just enough
,
Ashley. I’m sure that Gabrielle and her friends have gotten the point by now. Please have a seat.”

Ashley narrowed her eyes coldly
at
Gabrielle as she hesitantly sat down
.
“They’re the ridiculous gabby girls with a not
-
so
-
fabulous gift of gab,” she taunted.

The room erupted with loud giggling.

Tricia looked over at Gabrielle spitefully
.
“Gabby Girls!” she shouted.

The r
oom erupted again with nervous laughter.

Gabrielle looked around the room angrily and jumped
up defensively
.
“Listen
,
you!” she sputtered furiously.

Jessica quickly grabbed the sleeve of her sweater, her eyes pleading with her to
shutup
.
   

Gabrielle shot her a defiant stare.

“No, Gabi, please leave it alone. We’re already in enough trouble as it is,” she begged softly.

Gabrielle glared silently at Ashley as Rosalinda, Jessica
,
and
Zora
sat stiffly with humiliation written all over their face
s
.

Ms.
Vineswell
smirked coldly as she slowly sipped her tea.

Ashley smiled and mouthed softly over to Gabrielle, “Losers
.
”

Gabrielle returned the favor and softly mouthed back, “This is not over.”

Ashley’s smug smile quickly disappeared.

For all the questions that you may have, just pay attention to this first half. First go to Parker
—
that
’
s a start
—
and then read and solve the second half. It
’
s wide and tall from floor to ceiling and always filled with words and meaning. You
’
ll know that you have found a clue when all that binds ha
s
come unglued.

S
prawled across the bed, Gabrielle painted her short nails with bright
blue nail polish as she loudly hummed to the music blaring from her pink jewel-encrusted headphones.

Jessica and
Zora
sat by the window happily playing with Oscar, while Rosalinda sat at the end of her bed brushing her long
,
black silky hair.

“
Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty
,” Rosalinda softly muttered.

Gabrielle made a loud gagging sound as she looked over at Rosalinda with total disgust.
Annoyed, Rosalinda slammed her brush on the bed.

Gabrielle quickly took off her headphones and looked over at Rosalinda
.
“Girl, I’ve been watching you brush
almost
every strand of hair out of your head and I can say with no doubt that you’re definitely going to go bald by the time you
’
r
e
sixteen.”

Rosalinda looked over at her angrily
.
“For your information, my mother
,
who was a famous
a
ctress in Spain
,
brushed her hair
thirty
times every night before bed and she was
known
for
her
beautiful shiny hair
.
”
 

She looked pointedly at Gabrielle’s curly brown hair that was carefully pulled into two ponytails
.
“Besides, the way I see it,” she said nastily as she picked
up her brush and held it out for Gabrielle to take, “
i
t’s your hair that could definitely use a little brushing.”

Gabrielle rolled her eyes as she confidently fluffed
up her ponytails
.
“Whatever
.
T
hat’s nothing but straight-up jealously. Admit
it,
you’re
just
jealous of my style and grace
.
”

Jessica walked over to Rosalinda and sat
down beside her
.
“Wow! Did you say that your mother was a famous actress?” she gushed
.
“Has she been in any movies that we might have seen?”

Rosalinda looked over at her sadly
.
“Probably not
.
M
ost of her roles were in Spanish movies.”

“Does she still live in Spain?” Jessica asked excitedly.

Rosalinda’s voice cracked
.
“No, she passed away years ago
. H
ow I miss her so,” she said unhappily. She slowly stood
up and walked over to the closet
,
pulling
out a faded gold treasure box. She carefully walked back over to bed, sat down
,
and opened it.

“My father just gave me this box for my birthday
. I
t was passed down from my grandmother to my mother and now it’s finally mine.” Rosalinda beamed proudly as she dug through the box, carefully pulling out an old photo
,
and handed it over to Jessica
.
“This is my mother
.
I
sn’t she beautiful?”
 

Gabrielle walked over to the bed and plopped down next to Jessica.

Jessica smiled as she examined the photo of a beautiful woman with olive-colored skin
,
smiling proudly as she tightly hugged a giggling Rosalinda. “Gosh, she sure is beautiful
,
Rosalinda
,
” Jessica said softly. She carefully started to hand the photo back over to Rosalinda but Gabrielle quickly snatched it from her fingers.

She examined the photo then started to hand
i
t
back over to Jessica
,
but a glistening object in the photo quickly caught her eye. Gabrielle squealed excitedly as she pointed to the photo
.
“Rosalinda, what is this? What’s that around your mother’
s
neck?”

Rosalinda carefully grabbed the photo
.
“What are you so excited about?” she asked coolly as she quickly looked at the photo. “Ah
,
you mean this?” She dug under her cardigan and pulled
out a gold necklace with a pendant.

Gabrielle’s eyes popped open with surprise
.
“No way!
I can’t believe it.”

Rosalinda was visibly startled by her reaction
.
“What? Why are you so excited?”

Gabrielle quickly dug under her cardigan and pulled
out her necklace
.
“Look, we have the same pendant,” she exclaimed with excitement.

Rosalinda leaned over and looked at it indifferently
.
“Gabi, this is no big deal. A lot of people have the same necklace.”

“No! Not like this
,
they don’t. Quick
,
Jess, show Rosalinda your necklace,” Gabrielle demanded eagerly.