Gabrielle's Bully (Young Adult Romance) Read Free

floor, smacking his face on the corner of a bleacher. Blood spurted from his nose.
    Barbara stood up. “Did you see that?” she cried. “Jeff tripped him!”
    “Sit down,” I said to Barbara. I didn’t want to get in the middle of this. Everyone watching had seen what Jeff had done, Barbara didn’t have to be the star witness. She has her faults, like everyone else, but when she thinks she’s right she’s ready to take on the Congress, the Cabinet, and the President. I knew I was a coward, but I didn’t want to wind up on the wrong side of Jeff Lafferty. His legendary charm vanished when he was crossed. He could be pretty mean.
    Heathland got to his knees, wiping at his nose with his fingers. Jeff stood by with his hands on his hips, smirking. All the other players had stopped, frozen, waiting to see what would happen. The onlookers were silent too.
    Heathland stood up and said, “If you want to fight, I’m ready. Come on.”
    This was all the invitation Jeff needed.
    Heathland stood his ground, ducking and dodging Jeff’s punches expertly. He waited for his opportunity, and the first time Jeff let down his guard he socked Jeff squarely on the jaw. Jeff went down as though felled by an ax.
    “I can’t believe what I’m seeing,” Barbara breathed, next to me. “He’s a boxer, too. He handled that like a pro.”
    The gym exploded in an excited babble, and Mr. Crawford chose that moment to return. When he saw Jeff, stunned, on the floor, and Heathland standing over him, dripping blood onto his clothes, Mr. Crawford closed his eyes and sighed.
    “All right, what happened?” he said, doubtless wondering how he was going to explain leaving this group unsupervised during an athletic activity. There was no shortage of volunteers to relate the story. Heathland remained impassive, making no attempt to defend himself, letting the others speak for him.
    “Let’s go,” I said to Barbara. “You can wait for Mike outside the locker room.”
    I practically had to drag her away. She hated to miss a dramatic moment.
    We hung around until Mike came out with Dave Fletcher, and Barbara went over to talk to him. I stayed behind, reading the bulletin board. I didn’t know Mike very well and hadn’t a clue what to say to him.
    I looked up to see Heathland walking out of the locker room, his gym bag in his hand. He paused in the hall, and I saw him tilt his head back, sniffling. His nose had begun to bleed again.
    I felt so sorry for him that I didn’t know what to do. He was at a new school where he didn’t know anyone, and had tried out for a team, maybe thinking it would help him to be accepted, to belong. Instead a bully had jumped on his case and forced him into a scene.
    I fished in my purse for my tissues, and, not stopping to think about it, walked over to him, extending the packet.
    “Here, these might help,” I said.
    He blinked at me in surprise, and then took the package, pulling out a few and holding them to his nose.
    “I’m Gaby Dexter, I’m in your trig class,” I said. “I saw what happened in there. I hope you didn’t get into trouble.”
    He studied me. His eyes were green, or gray green, sort of hazel, I guess, with long sandy lashes. Up close, he had a tiny mole at the corner of one eyebrow, and a faint scar on his chin. Why, he’s cute, I thought. He really is.
    “No,” he said. “The other kids told Crawford what had happened. Lafferty said it was an accident, and Crawford let us both off with a warning.”
    That had been an accident like the bombing of Pearl Harbor had been an accident.
    “Hey, Gaby,” Jeff’s voice rang out behind us. “Who’s your friend? Can’t you do better than that?”
    My gosh. Just what I needed. If I lined up with Heathland me Jeff would never forgive me. I would be the next target of his maliciousness.
    I turned away from Heathland, not looking at him.
    “I don’t know what you mean,” I said lightly. “I never saw him before in my life.”
    Jeff’s