Gabrielle's Bully (Young Adult Romance) (17 page)

Heath and Mike were waiting for us in the hall. They weren’t laughing outright, but their smiles were devilish.

“Well, girls, all I can say is you’d better start popping those vitamins,” Mike said sadly. “You’ve got some catching up to do.”

“They must be taking drugs,” Heath added. “You know, like those plants you see on the science shows, that grow so big from doses of chemicals?”

“I’d like to dose them with a few chemicals,” Barb said darkly.

“Now, now, where’s your spirit of sportsmanship?” Mike said, grinning.

“I left it at home,” Barb answered.

“You were good, Gaby,” Heath said proudly.

“Except for what you told me,” Mike said mischievously.

My eyes flashed to Heath’s face. “What? What did you tell him?”

Heath threw Mike a dirty look. “Nothing, Gaby, nothing.”

“That’s not what you said to me,” Mike said airily.

“Come on,” I prodded Heath. “What did you say?”

Heath shrugged. “All right, all right. I think you’re releasing the ball too soon on your layup shots. That’s why you miss too many, why it bounces on the rim. Your rhythm is off.”

I thought about it, realized that he might be right. “Can you show me?”

“You mean now?”

“Why not? Miss Aynsley leaves the gym open until six and everybody else is gone. Let’s go back in.”

“I can’t wait to see this,” Mike said with relish, following after us.

We took off our coats and I got one of the balls from the storage room. Miss Aynsley was inside, and she told me she would be out to lock up in about an hour.

Barb and Mike sat on the bottom of the folded bleachers, watching. Mike offered a running commentary which did nothing to help us, but provided some comic relief.

Heath knew what he was talking about, and showed me just what I was doing wrong. It seemed strange to play with him. He was very graceful and light on his feet, weaving in and out behind me and to the side, instructing me as I dribbled in for the shots, telling me when to let the ball go. It wasn’t easy to erase the bad habits of long practice, but I got it slowly, and eventually was able to judge what to do without his help. When I did it correctly three times in a row, he picked me up and whirled me around, chuckling delightedly.

“Isn’t this a charming picture,” said a voice behind us. “Running a clinic, Lindsay? Can anybody join?”

It was Jeff, with Daphne in tow. Mike whirled to face him, trying to head off trouble.

“What are you doing here?” he asked Jeff. “I thought you went home.”

“Oh, I did,” Jeff said easily. “But Daph here had cheering practice, and I came back to pick her up. And what do I find to my surprise but my two favorite people, putting on a sideshow in the gym.”

“Jeff, give it a rest,” Mike said, shaking his head.

“Give what a rest?” Jeff answered, all innocence. He surveyed Heath, his eyes narrowed. “You’re pretty good playing with girls, Lindsay,” he said. “How about a little one-on-one with me, to see who really has what it takes.”

“Heath, no,” I said quickly, immediately seeing the dangerous possibilities of such an idea.

Jeff laughed. “Your girlfriend’s worried about you,” he said to Heath.

Heath hesitated, never taking his eyes from Jeff.

“What’s the matter, Heathland?” Jeff taunted. “Don’t want her to see what I’m going to do to you?”

Daphne was enjoying the scene, leaning against the wall, smiling slightly. I glanced at her and she grinned nastily. A perfect mate for Jeff, I thought. They deserved each other.

“All right,” Heath said. “Let’s go.”

I put my hand on his arm, but he shook his head and kept on walking. I briefly debated going for Miss Aynsley, but realized that nobody would thank me if I did. We’d probably all wind up in trouble. I subsided unhappily, walking over to Mike and Barb.

“Can’t you do something?” I asked Mike.

Mike watched the two other guys, his expression resigned. “This has been coming for a while,” he said. “You might as well let them have it out.”

Jeff and Heath were both wearing jeans and sneakers, so they merely walked onto the court and picked up the ball we had been using. They shot it out for who was to take the ball first, and Jeff won.

They were closely matched, and the pace was furious. Heath was faster, more agile, but Jeff knew every fancy maneuver to run him ragged. It wasn’t long before their shirts were soaked with perspiration, and they called a halt to take them off, wiping their faces as they discarded them on the sideline. They wore identical grim expressions as they went back to play. Nobody was kidding around here.

Mike and Barb were tense and silent next to me, watching the action without enjoyment. Only Daphne seemed to be having a good time, calling encouragement to Jeff and applauding when he made a basket.

I had never seen Heath without a shirt. His body was lean and hard, without the well defined muscles of Jeff’s, but attractive and manly all the same. Under other circumstances I would have appreciated the view more, but I was too worried about what was going to happen. I couldn’t see these two resolving their differences with this match and shaking hands afterward. Jeff didn’t operate that way and Heath had been pushed to the limit too. If he had ever wanted to be friends, he no longer did.

They were running down, moving more slowly, both panting and gasping as they ran. They had agreed that the first one to reach thirty points would be the winner, and they each had twenty-six. It was difficult to say who had the advantage at this point; they both looked exhausted.

Heath faked Jeff for a layup, and was the leader with twenty-eight points. I saw it register on Jeff’s face that one more basket would make Heath the winner, and knew that Jeff was going to pull something. He was as predictable as sunrise.

Jeff didn’t wait to see who would win. He was too uncertain about the outcome. The next time Heath got the ball Jeff knocked it out of his hands and leaped on Heath, throwing him to the floor.

Mike jumped up and Barb grabbed my hand. “Go get Miss Aynsley,” she said quickly. “They’re going to kill each other.”

“Go to the office,” I said to her. “See if anybody’s there.” I knew that Miss Aynsley wouldn’t be able to handle this alone.

Barbara fled in the direction of the main hall while I ran back to the storeroom which doubled as the gym office.

Miss Aynsley was not there. A can of diet soda was on her desk, indicating that she would return, but that wasn’t going to help me now. I charged back into the gym, afraid to look.

It wasn’t good. Heath had Jeff on the ground, pummeling his stomach. Jeff was obviously out of it, but Heath wasn’t letting up. The look on Heath’s face made me sick; he looked violent, cruel, like a different person from the one I knew.

Mike had finally decided to interfere, and he was trying, without success, to pull Heath off Jeff. Heath heaved backward and shoved Mike away, starting in on Jeff again. Jeff was feebly defending himself but definitely taking a beating.

Barbara returned with Mr. Jackman, the vice-principal, who sprang into action when he saw what was happening.

“Dalton, help me here,” he said to Mike, who got up from his hands and knees. The two of them succeeded in yanking Heath away from Jeff. Heath still struggled, in the grip of a frightening, overwhelming rage. Jeff cowered away from him, dumfounded at the tide of fury his persecution had unleashed at last.

“You come after me again, and I’ll put you in the hospital,” Heath snarled at Jeff. “You hear me, Lafferty? You hear me?”

Jeff stared back at him, his eyes wide, wiping his bleeding mouth with the back of his hand.

Heath lurched forward in a burst of energy and kicked Jeff on the ankle, which was the only place he could reach. “I said, do you hear me?”

Jeff dropped his eyes. “I hear you,” he mumbled.

Mr. Jackman and Mike pulled Heath back again, and Mr. Jackman said firmly, “That’s enough out of you, Lindsay. You’re new at this school and you may not be aware that we have a ‘zero tolerance’ policy regarding bullying here. I want to see both of you in my office tomorrow morning, Lafferty at ten, Lindsay at ten-thirty. And you’d both better be there if you know what’s good for you.” He said to Mike, jerking his head at Jeff, “Get him out of here.”

Mike released Heath and put his arm around Jeff’s shoulders, helping him to walk. Jeff winced and doubled over, then straightened up and limped away, leaning heavily on Mike.

Daphne came to life, picking up her coat and walking past me to follow them. She was as white as paper and her lips were trembling.

“I guess it’s not so amusing now, huh, Daph?” I couldn’t resist saying to her.

She merely looked at me and then turned away. I had the feeling she wouldn’t be encouraging any more macho displays in the near future.

Mr. Jackman didn’t let go of Heath until Jeff and the others were out of sight. He looked over at me, standing beside Barbara, who hadn’t said a word since she came back with him.

“You’re the Dexter girl, aren’t you? What’s your first name?”

“Gabrielle.”

“Well, Gabrielle, can I trust you with this madman?”

I looked at Heath, who was staring at the floor.

“Yes, sir.”

“How did this start?” Mr. Jackman asked, looking from me to Barbara.

We exchanged glances, overwhelmed by the prospect of trying to explain the situation to an administrator. But I had wimped out the first time Jeff had picked on Heath. I wasn’t going to do that ever again. I could tell that Mr. Jackman was jumping to the wrong conclusion after seeing Heath hammering Jeff. I was going to make sure Jackman got the straight story. Fast.

“None of it was Heath’s fault,” I finally said to Mr. Jackman firmly. “Jeff has been tormenting Heath ever since he got to this school. He wouldn’t let up on Heath, not for a minute. Heath tried to ignore him but it was constant, unrelenting abuse. Today Heath finally had had enough. That’s what happened.”

Jackman stared at me. “The Lafferty kid was taking the beating, young lady. I saw it with my own eyes.”

“Jeff started it!” I cried. “He always does. Ask anybody in school, ask Mike Dalton and the other guys on the basketball team.”

“And you wouldn’t have a personal sake in defending your bully boyfriend here, would you, Gabrielle?” Mr. Jackman asked dryly, getting the drift and nodding disgustedly toward Heath, who still wouldn’t look at anybody.

“She’s telling you the truth, Mr. Jackman,” Barbara interjected quietly. “Jeff has been on Heath’s case every day, I don’t know how Heath took it as long as he did. Jeff just got what was coming to him, finally. He’s the bully, not Heath.”

Mr. Jackman closed his eyes. “I can see that this situation will require some interviews and a cooldown period to sort out.” He sighed, then opened his eyes.
 
“Right now I want you to leave and promise me you will do nothing further about this.” He looked at all three of us.

Barbara and I nodded solemnly. Heath glanced at him and then away, his expression bleak.
 

 
Mr. Jackman sighed again and ran his hand through his thinning brown hair. “All right. I want you to see that Heath goes straight home with you, Gabrielle, is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

He gripped Heath’s shoulders and made him look up. “If I catch you anywhere near Jeff Lafferty again today I will not hesitate to call the police, do you understand me?”

Heath nodded woodenly.

Mr. Jackman released him. “And you’d better hope that there is nothing seriously wrong with Jeff or you are going to be in a lot of trouble.”

He started to walk away, and then called over his shoulder, “I want you cleared out of here in five minutes.” He paused. “Why is the gym open at this hour anyway?”

Barbara found her voice again. “We had a game, sir,” she said. “Miss Aynsley is going to lock up at six.”

“And where is Miss Aynsley?” Mr. Jackman asked, raising his brows.

Barbara shrugged.

Mr. Jackman shook his head and strode off purposefully, doubtless to find Miss Aynsley and tell her she was fired.

Barbara watched him go and then said, “I’d better get Mike.” She lowered her voice. “I don’t think he should drive home, do you?” She inclined her head in Heath’s direction.

“No, I guess not.” It hurt me the way everyone seemed to be treating Heath as if he were a homicidal maniac.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” she said.

I was left alone with Heath, who still stood where Mr. Jackman had left him.

“Heath?” I said tentatively, not sure of the reception I was going to get.

He didn’t answer, but his mouth started working, and he began to make a queer, choking sound, folding his arms across his middle. I realized with horror that he was trying not to cry.

All fear of him left me, and I ran to him, wild to help and comfort him, to end his obvious misery. I threw my arms around him and pulled him close, trying to ease his pain.

For just a second he remained unyielding, and then he grabbed me convulsively, almost lifting me off my feet. He stood wrapped around me, shaking so hard that I thought he might fall.