Chapter 1: Letting Go

~3 Months Ago~

She held the small pink blanket in her hands, fingering the soft material in her weak nimble fingers trying to feel what was supposed to be there. Tears ran down the seventeen years old's face in remorse and pain. A stinging clenched her heart as she ran her fingers over the light blue 'G' that her grandmother had sewn into the baby blanket many months ago. The 'G' stood for Gabriela. Gabriela Lee. It was a beautiful name that Grace had helped her pick out when she first decided to keep her. A beautiful name that would never be used.

~Present, September 1st, 2010~

"Sweetie, wake up! Your gonna be late for your first day of school!"

Adrian Lee sighed as she lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. She had woke up around five o clock this morning after the memories she desperately tried to push out of her mind resurfaced in her dreams. Of course, she hadn't been able to fall back to sleep and got dressed prior, not putting on any make up or doing her hair like she usually would on her first day of school. She merely wore faded jeans, a pair of new gym shoes her mother had bought her and a plain brown jacket that covered a plain white tank top. Not anything special, just how she liked it now. She hadn't realized she had been lying there that long, alone with her thoughts.

Shaking herself out of her reverie, she pulled herself from her already made bed and grabbed her usual pink back pack and went downstairs where her parents sat chatting over breakfast. They were a beautiful married couple, still like they were newly weds even after being married for over a year. Adrian couldn't help but give a small smile at the two, staring at each other lovingly over the chocolate chip pancakes.

Adrian cleared her throat and got the couples attention. "Morning."

Ruben and Cindy Enriquez broke their loving gazes to smile at their daughter as she joined them at the table. "Morning sweetie." Cindy greeted happily, putting a plate of food in front of her daughter. "I made your favorite, Chocolate chip pancakes and eggs sunny side up."

Adrian gave her mother a small thankful smile, missing her mothers cooking after all their time apart. "Thanks."

"You excited for your first day as a senior?" Ruben asked her.

Adrian shrugged. "I guess so."

"You guess so?" Ruben mused. "When I was your age, senior year meant raising hell and letting loose before moving onto reality." he joked.

Adrian smiled, a fake smile that her parents didn't seem to notice. "Been raising hell since freshman year, nothings changed that much..."

Adrian jumped at the sound of a car horn outside and quickly jumped up and gathered her stuff, kissing both of her parents on the cheek. "I gotta go, Grace is driving me to school."

Cindy gave her daughter a quick kiss on the cheek as she rushed out of the door. "Have a nice day at-" SLAM! "school..."

Ruben sighed and looked down at Adrian's untouched breakfast with remorse. "She's not eating again..."

Cindy sat back in her seat and fought back the tears that pricked her eyes, a sad sigh escaping her lips. "Do you think it was a good idea for her to go to school?" she asked her husband. "Maybe she should have waited longer."

"It was her decision." Ruben reminded his wife. "And Dr. Fields said she could cope better if she were surrounded by people and in a familiar environment."

"But what if she has another incident at school?" Cindy suddenly suggested in a panicked voice. "We won't be there to help her!"

"She'll have Grace there." Ruben said. "And she can handle herself, she's almost eighteen. All we can do is hope and pray that everything works out fine. We can't always be there for her."

Cindy sighed and watched Grace drive off with Adrian in the car. She knew her husband was right. Adrian had to do this on her own. "I know." she said. "Ever since Gabby...I can't help but worry."

Ruben nodded gravely. "I do to."

"Why'd it have to happen to her?" Cindy whispered to no once in particular, her gaze zoning out of the window.

Ruben sighed and silently asked the same question.

~With Adrian~

"We're seniors!" Grace exclaimed loudly as she pulled into the parking lot of their high school, her shouts getting stares from some of her fellow school mates.

Adrian chuckled at her best friend and stared at the blonde through her sun glasses. "Really Grace?"

Grace beamed at the girl. "Hey, I can be as loud as I want! We're seniors and its exactly nine months until we're finally free!"

"And exactly a year until you go straight back to the thing your celebrating on escaping, Dr. Bowman." Adrian joked as they got out of the car and headed toward the building.

Grace shrugged, the bubbly girls smile still in place. "No complaints here!"

Adrian was about to retort to the girl when she came face to face with the double doors that were the entrance to the hallways she had become suddenly fearful of. She felt her entire body clench up with the familiar feeling she had been getting since three months ago. Nausea hit her body like a ton of bricks and she struggled to hold it in and took deep breaths to calm herself and not get dizzy.

Grace stopped next to her best friend and looked at her with worry and she stood there with her eyes closed, trying to get control of her breathing. She immediately drew a bottle of cold water from Adrian's purse and unscrewed the cap.

"Here, drink up." Grace instructed her friend.

Adrian opened her eyes and wordlessly took the bottle, a grateful smile on her face before she took a long sip from the cool liquid. She took in a deep breath and leaned up against her friend, still staring at the double doors. Grace took her hand and smiled at her reassuringly.

"You sure you wanna do this?" Grace asked her.

Adrian nodded in response and stood up straight, tucking the closed bottle back into her purse. "Yeah I'm sure." she shrugged. "Now or never."

Grace nodded and walked into the high school with her best friend. As was expected, all eyes went to Adrian, which annoyed Grace beyond belief as the chattering immediately started. Adrian ignored it, facing forward as they made their way towards the office to get their schedules. At this moment, Grace confirmed in her mind that her best friend was probably the strongest person she knew.

"You know what," Grace said linking her arm with her best friend and walking down the hallway with a smile on her face. "This year is gonna be amazing!"

Adrian rolled her eyes playfully. "You said that like ten times today." she confirmed to her friend as the stood in line for their schedules.

Grace shrugged. "That's because its true."

~With Ricky~

Ricky Underwood was mad. No not mad. Positively enraged! It had been over a year and she suddenly decided to resurface after vanishing off of the face of the planet. He didn't even hear that she was back from her, he heard it from the entire school. Adrian Lee was back for senior year after leaving in the middle of their junior year without telling anyone. Only two people who possibly knew where she went were her parents, Ben, and Grace, and they refused to tell a sole. But she back now. Fuck his life.

"So you heard?" Amy asked the brooding teen as she met him at his locker, looking to Adrian as she chatted with Grace.

Ricky nodded, not looking at her. "Its all around school, hard not to hear."

"Does anybody know where she went?" Amy questioned, her eyes falling on Ricky. "Or why she even came back?"

"No one knows except for Ben and Grace." he told her. "But they wont talk."

Amy nodded and turned to continue looking at the Latina. "She looks...good."

It was true, Ricky had thought. Adrian had cut her hair about four inches, so it only fell a little below her shoulders and was still curly. She wore no make up, yet was still very beautiful even without it. Her clothes were less form fitting and covered more of her body, which was very out of character for her. She had changed...

"I'm sure Lauren and Madison know something." Amy said finally with a sigh as she turned to the boy. "Are you coming to babysit John tonight?"

"I said I was." Ricky sighed. "New boyfriend right?"

Amy nodded. "Yep, 7:30 remember."

Ricky nodded and didn't bother to look up as she walked away, his eyes still focused on the girl he thought he would never see again.

~With Adrian, 2 Bells Later~

By the time she got to study hall, she was very tired. On top of all the looks and stares, people kept coming up to her asking her questions on her whereabouts and to confirm clearly untrue rumors. It was beyond annoying and frustrating as well. That little gossip mongrel Madison even had the nerve to ask her if she was actually sent to a boarding school for her, and she quotes, "slut status". It took all of her might not to punch her out. Why couldn't things just go back to normal?

She felt her day grow worst as she approached her locker and found none other than Ben Boykavich standing there, waiting for her no doubt. He had changed just like she had. He had grown his hair out and was a little bit taller and broader than she remember. Still the same klutzy and slightly nerdy Ben. Still one of her best guy friends.

He smiled when she got to him, a welcoming smile she hadn't received from everyone else, which she was glad to receive. "Hey Adrian." he greeted enveloping her into a small hug.

Adrian smiled a bit in receiving the hug and sighed. "Hey Ben." she said as they stepped apart from each other. "How ya been?"

"Same." Ben sighed. "The same meaning awkward and still a bit on the nerdy side." he joked.

Adrian chuckled as she got her books out for her next class. "That's good I guess."

He nodded and suddenly his expression turned serious, which she was scared would happen. "How have you been since...?"

Adrian bit her lip and stared into her almost empty locker, tears pricking her eyes that she refused to let loose. She turned and looked at the teenage boy, not trying to mask any pain she felt. "A little better." she answered. "I still remember her... I still think about her."

Ben nodded. "I understand."

"And I'm glad that you do." she whispered to him before looking at him with teary eyes. "I'm glad that you're still my friend even after..."

"I'd never stop being your friend Adrian." Ben reassured her sternly. "Always know that."

Adrian nodded and smiled at him, but her smile quickly diminished at the sight of the boy approaching them over his shoulder. She immediately slammed her locker shut and mumbled a quick goodbye before darting off to her next class, leaving Ben there clueless.

"Where did she run off to?" Ben turned and came face to face with Ricky as the teen watched the Latina run off. He looked angry, actually beyond angry.

Ricky was still the same Ricky. Way more muscular than last year from working long hours at the Butcher Shop, and his hair was just a bit shorter, since he was raising a two year and didn't really want to deal with his hair. He was even more intimidating than he was last year, much to the anxiety of Ben's nerves.

Ben gulped a bit. "Just now? Oh she just went to class, I think. You know, can't be late for class on the first day! Speaking of which, I gotta go."

Ricky grabbed his friends forearm before the boy could go anywhere and glared at him. Ben sighed and stepped back, shrugging as he did. "Alright, what do you wanna know?"

Ricky's glare deepened. "So you do know something?" he accused.

"I only know what Adrian wants me to know." Ben told him. "And if she wanted you to know anything she would have told you."

Ricky scoffed at that. "She's been gone for over a year!" he yelled. "And what kind of friend are you? You won't even tell me anything!

Ben sighed and felt a bit of guilt pang his conscience. "Look I'm sorry... The only thing I can tell you is that she's been put through a lot of crap over the past year, so give her some time." He told him.

Ricky stared after Ben as he walked away, his words hanging after him. What had happened to her?

A/N Tell me what you think? 3 my readers and my reviewers!