"Or loud and out of key"

Glenda sat on the cool dry grass thinking to herself and smiling. Oh that poor, sweet, cute, innocent Alberta. As far as Glenda saw it, she was only teaching the girl a little lesson in the hardships of life. You couldn't trust everyone after all.



There was a slight movement from the front of the building which caught Glenda's attention.

Gabriel glanced around sharply with his hands balled into tight fists. Glenda sat still in amazement to see Gabriel looking so angry. Normally laid back Gabe, who had never been in a fight so far as Glenda knew, looked like he was ready for a fight now.



It was clear to Glenda that she probably did not want him to spot her waiting on the grass in the mood he appeared to be in. Glenda stood up slowly and slunk around to the back of the building.

Had Alberta told Gabriel anything? She couldn't have; Alberta had barely just run in before Gabriel appeared out front looking ready to beat someone. Most likely Gabriel had seen Alberta looking distraught and raced out here to the stupid girl's rescue.

Glenda intended to sneak to the other side of the building, the side she felt Gabe was least likely to walk down, so that she could peek around and see if he were still out front. She hoped that he'd come check behind the building starting from the side she had found Alberta sitting on so that she could sneak back inside.

Unfortunately, as she rounded the corner, she bumped right into Gabe who glared at her.


"What are you doing?"

Gabe stood before her with his hands in still balled up in fists. His shirt and jacket pressed against his skin as if it were suddenly a size too small. Glenda refused to let this new side of Gabriel frighten her.

"What about you?" Glenda crossed her arms tightly. "What're you doing skulking around back here?"

Gabe took a step closer to her like he was going to throttle her. Glenda stepped back to put some distance between them. "I'm not in the mood. Did you do something to Alberta?"

Glenda simply refused to allow herself to be afraid of any punk teenager. Especially Gabriel who didn't even know if his parents were Service NPCs. "I did not. Why would you assume I did something?"



Gabe was now looking like he would grab her by the lapel of her jacket and drag her inside to face Alberta. If it came to Alberta's word against Glenda's, it was no contest who would be believed.

A voice floated over Gabe's shoulder to Glenda's ears. Richard, Gabe's brother, strode out to stand next to Gabe. "Hey, man. C'mon before Ms. Kerr sees you out here. You know she lets a lot of stuff slide, but she won't let it go if you hit a girl. Even if it's Glenda."

Gabe glared at Glenda, but his fists unclenched. He walked along behind his brother and back into the building.

Glenda sat down in the damp grass behind the building. She had been saved by Richard-- a thought that poisoned her little game. It would have been better to have been hit by Gabe so she could have shown her bruise to Alberta. Then the girl would really know what kind of sim Gabriel Mellon was.