Gabrielle's Bully (Young Adult Romance) Read Free Page B

street running down the center, which was Marigold.
    I trudged down Marigold, hoping that Heathland wouldn’t be home, or that he wouldn’t throw me out if he was.
    The condos were all separate houses with a driveway, covered in cedar shakes, connected only by a shared garage.
    I turned onto Zinnia. Number 23 was the third on the right. It looked like all the others. I walked up to the small covered porch. The doorbell had Lindsay written above it in the name slot.
    As my history teacher told us Brigham Young said when he saw the Salt Lake Valley in Utah, this must be the place. I rang the bell.
    A butler answered the door. I almost fainted. I thought they only existed in the movies.
    “I’m Gaby Dexter,” I said. “I’m here to see Heathland Lindsay,” I added, feeling ridiculous.
    “Mr. Lindsay is in the study,” the man said. “Were you expected?”
    Mr. Lindsay. I hoped we weren’t talking about Heathland’s father.
    “Uh, no,” I stammered. “I’m a classmate of his at Oakland High School.” That should take care of any possible misunderstanding. “It’s about school,” I tacked on feebly, which was only half a lie.
    “I will ask if Mr. Lindsay will see you. Please wait here.”
    He left me in this tiled entry hall with an expensive looking grandfather clock and a big pottery urn as high as my waist, surely an antique. I backed away from it, standing on the other side of the room. As nervous as I was, I would probably demolish it and owe Heathland’s family my earnings for the next twenty years.
    I fidgeted, waiting for the butler to return. I’d have given a lot to see Heathland’s face when Jeeves brought him the bulletin about who had arrived to see him.
    The man came back, all British politeness. “Mr. Lindsay will see you now.”
    He led me through the house, which was not overly large but very fancy, done up like a decorator’s dream. It had ankle deep carpeting and heavy, dark furniture. The walls and draperies were beige, with lots of gold and silver ornaments sitting on tables. There was a curved glass china cabinet filled with tall crystal goblets, looking like the kind that Julius Caesar drank a toast out of before taking off to conquer the Gauls.
    I kept my eyes straight ahead, trying not to stare.
    The butler said, “Miss Dexter,” and left me hovering in the doorway of a den, or library, with paneled walls and a fireplace and lots of bookshelves. Heathland was standing uncomfortably in front of his chair, the book he’d been reading folded open on the floor. It was A Separate Peace .
    He was obviously baffled by the fact that I’d shown up at his house. I was pretty baffled myself.
    “Hi,” he said, watching me warily, as if I were about to turn handsprings or burst into song.
    I was so embarrassed I couldn’t talk. Why had I ever done this? I was sure that his opinion of me, after what I’d done that day, wasn’t good, but this little interview was not going to improve it. Before he would merely have thought that I was nasty, now he would be convinced that I was crazy, too.
    We looked at each other. Gabby Gaby had nothing to say.
    He waited, still with that anxious look on his face. Screwing my courage to the sticking point I blurted, “I came to apologize about the way I behaved this afternoon, when Jeff called to me. I’m usually not like that. He took me by surprise and I didn’t know what to do.”
    He just stared at me.
    I barged on. “Jeff Lafferty is always pushing everybody around. He’s certain he owns the school.” I dropped my eyes. “I think I hurt your feelings, and I’m sorry. I know how I’d feel if anybody did that to me.”
    I stole a glance at him. He was now smiling, just a little, a slight crinkling at the corners of his eyes and mouth. It was the first time I’d seen a crack in The Great Stone Face.
    “Well,” I said, ready to bolt, “that’s all I came to say.” I made for the hall.
    “Wait,” he called after me. I