Becoming Me

A/N: I'm not going to disown Only You, but I've decided that I should write this while the idea is fresh in my mind. I hope you guys like it. :)

Introduction

I had been born and raised in a small town just about an hour south of Nashville, Tennessee, a true Southern Belle. I'd grown up on my family's farm, not far from downtown. Of course, for me, downtown consisted of a single grocery store, a gas station, and a run-down family-owned diner called Sal's. There were no department stores, no shopping malls, not even a hair salon, within miles of my town. I didn't go to a public school, I'd been homeschooled my entire life, so my only friend was my horse, Delilah. She was a good friend, of course. She always listened to what I had to say without interrupting me with some question about my ranting. She loved me, and I loved her. Since I'd grown up literally in the middle of nowhere, I didn't know much besides living in the country, driving down dirt roads and waking up at the crack of dawn to feed the animals on our farm. The worst case scenario for my town is that a stray cow might stand in your way while you were driving down the road, and you'd have to wait for it to cross before continuing on to wherever you were going. So you can imagine my surprise when my mother announced that she and I were moving to the middle of the desert, to one of the largest cities in all of New Mexico- Albuquerque. In Albuquerque, I would be attending my first- and last, since I was going to be a Senior- year at East High, a real high school that heralded nearly 5,000 students. I would be living in a real neighborhood, miles, and probably states, away from the nearest farm. I would live only five miles from downtown- streets upon endless streets of buildings; stores, hotels, restaurants, and who knows what else. If you named it, you'd probably find it. I would shop at malls rather than thrift stores. And all the while, I would be struggling to make friends who walk on two legs instead of four. Needless to say, I was scared to death.

Chapter One

"Gabriella Jade Montez, we're leaving now," I heard my mother call to me from the car. I sighed and wrapped my arms around Delilah's neck, my tears soaking into her beautiful spotted coat. I almost couldn't bear to leave her behind. But Daddy had promised to take care of her. And I'm sure I'm welcome to come visit her whenever I wanted to. I pulled away and took out a sugar cube from my pocket. Sugar cubes were Delilah's favorite treat. I held it out to her, and her soft, fuzzy lips slobbered on my hand as she gently took it into her mouth and chewed on it. I ran my fingers through her mane one last time, careful not to mess up one of the braids I had put in the night before because I hadn't been able to sleep. I'd wanted to spend as much time with her as possible before I moved to a state that was hundreds of miles away from her.

"Goodbye, girl," I murmured softly to her. I kissed her nose. "I'll be back to visit you as soon as I can." She let out a low neigh, and I giggled through my tears. "No one could ever replace you. I love you."

"Gabriella, come on! Let's go!" My mother honked the horn of her obnoxious new yellow convertible. When she'd first brought it home, I'd wanted nothing more than to dump a pile of dirt on it. It was too clean for the back roads of Tennessee. I couldn't stand it. But I refrained, and my willpower had kept me from taking it down a muddy dirt road in the middle of a rainstorm.

"Gotta go," I said. I kissed Delilah's nose one last time and ran out of the barn. As soon as I was in the car, I started to cry again. Here I was, a seventeen year old country girl, leaving all she'd ever known just to please her mother. I couldn't help but mourn the good old days and despise the lonely days that stretched ahead of me.

"Gabriella, honey, I'm sorry we have to just up and move like this, but with the separation and all, I just feel like it's the best thing for both of us. Besides, it's about time for my little girl to see the world," my mother said.

"The best thing for you, maybe," I muttered under my breath as I rolled my eyes. The best thing for me would have been for her to let me live with my father. "Which 'little girl' are you referring to?" I snapped, jabbing my thumb in the general direction of the backseat, where my new half-sister slept soundly in her infant seat. My parents had filed for divorce less than a month prior to her birth. My mother preferred to call the divorce a separation for my sake, but I could care less what she called it. To me, it was still the end of the only world I'd ever known. The divorce was the result of my mother spawning a child with some lowlife she'd met in Nashville one night. It had hurt me to see the pain in my father's eyes every morning as I'd cooked and served him breakfast while my mother had been away. She'd been scouting out places for us to live for the past three months, and just recently, she'd come back for me. I could only guess at how hard he had to try to hide the hurt when my mother was around. She'd betrayed him, and there was no trace of an apology or even shame on her face when she came back with the news that we were moving to Albuquerque, the city that just coincidentally was the hometown of the lowlife she'd met in Nashville, although she claimed the reason was because she'd gotten a job offer there. I knew this move had more to do with him than the job she'd supposedly been offered. It also had to do with the sleeping infant in the backseat of the convertible- the infant that was ultimately the reason that my entire life was falling apart at the seams.

Her name is Nevaeh Alessiah Reese, daughter of Maria Montez and David Reese. She's a three month old mixed race child, half-Hispanic like my mother and half-African American like her father. Her facial features, however, mirrored mine. There was no mistaking that she was my sister. And I couldn't help but to love her despite the fact that my family had split up because of her. After all, was it really her fault that my life was falling apart? It was no more her fault than it was mine. It was our mother's fault. There was no reason for me to hate the sleeping bundle of cuteness that I secretly loved more than life itself.

My mother interrupted my thoughts at that moment, choosing her words carefully as she spoke them. "I was talking about you, Gabriella," she said quietly. I glanced over at her, to find tears silently sliding down her cheeks. "You've always been my little girl, don't you remember?"

"No," I replied simply. "But who cares? You have a new little girl now. I'm sure she's way more eager to see the world than I am, and she's only a baby. I love Tennessee, Mom. I don't see why you're ripping me away from what I love. Besides, what could there possibly be to see in Albuquerque? Your boyfriend?"

I could almost hear her wince. My words had hurt her, they'd hurt her badly. But she'd hurt me, too, by dragging me away from my father. "Gabriella, please. I understand that you're hurting, but-"

"Do you, Mom? Do you really?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. "Because I don't think you do. Do you understand that Daddy's hurting, too? Or do you not care about him anymore, now that you've replaced him?"

"Gabriella Jade Montez-"

"What?" I snorted. "Did I hurt your feelings?"

At that moment, Nevaeh woke up and started crying. I sighed, giving up on arguing, and rested my head against the window. We'd only just reached the highway, eleven miles from our farm. Eleven down, one-thousand and thirty-five left to go. This was going to be a long fourteen hours.

It was early the following morning that I saw the first signs for New Mexico. The sun was just beginning to rise in the east. I figured it had to be about six-thirty or so. I had gotten restless in the night and had fallen asleep with my pillow against the window and my favorite blanket securely wrapped around me. I pushed my blanket aside and sat up, clutching my teddy bear to my chest. The scenery had changed drastically. Rather than trees surrounding the highway, I saw an almost empty array of reddish-colored rocks, surrounded by little to no vegetation. Where was the grass? I looked over at my mother, and to my surprise, she smiled at me. "It's pretty different, huh?" she asked gently.

I nodded sleepily. "Where are we?" I asked.

"We're about an hour northeast of New Mexico," she replied. "Are you hungry? There's a McDonald's at the next exit. We could grab something for breakfast, and use the restroom to freshen up, and get Nevaeh changed."

I nodded again. "Okay," I said, stifling a yawn. Before I knew it, we'd pulled into the driveway of the biggest McDonald's I'd ever seen. "Wow," I said. "Are they all this big down here?"

My mother laughed. "No, not all of them. This one has a playscape and an arcade room. Most don't anymore."

"I remember the playscapes," I chirped, my mood lightening from groggy to excitement. "I used to play in them when I went to visit my cousin Parker in Kentucky."

"You did," she acknowledged. "And you broke your arm once. Do you remember that?"

"No," I replied. "How old was I?"

"I'm guessing you were about three or four years old. You fell down the slide and landed on your wrist."

"Ouch." I giggled. "Did I cry?"

"Of course. Any little girl would cry if she broke her arm and embarrassed herself in front of her crush. Do you remember crushing on Parker's friend Brennan?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Wait...was he that kid that glued those buttons on my Disney World t-shirt?" I still had that shirt somewhere. It was probably packed in one of my memory boxes in the trunk. I hadn't had much to bring with me to Albuquerque since my mother had insisted on my starting anew and leaving most of my stuff with Daddy, so I'd put all of my things in the trunk of the convertible.

"Yes, he was the one," she said, laughing. She'd parked the car and gotten out. Now she was opening the back door to get Nevaeh's seat out. I got out and stretched my legs.

"I thought I hated that kid," I replied, my brow furrowing.

"You hated him after he ruined your shirt, but before that, honey, all you did was talk about how cute you thought he was." She laughed again.

"Ew," I stated, laughing with her. "I can't believe I liked that kid."

"I can't believe it either."

We'd walked inside. I sat at a table with Nevaeh while my mother ordered our breakfast. I peered into her seat, and I smiled when I saw her big brown eyes staring up at me in awe. "Hey, baby," I said to her. "How are you this morning?" She continued to stare at me, and I laughed. "I'm glad you're okay," I added. "Momma's getting us something to eat, she'll be back soon," I coaxed her with my words as she started to whimper. As if on cue, my mother appeared with a tray of food. I quickly gulped down my orange juice and ate my sandwich. As I was finished eating my hashbrown, I said, "I'm going to go use the restroom to freshen up now." I reached for my purse and carried it with me to the restroom. The counter was a little damp from being washed, so I grabbed a paper towel and wiped it off before setting my purse down on it. I pulled out my hairbrush and brushed through my thick brown curls. It was starting to warm up outside, so I pulled it back into a ponytail. I splashed a little bit of water onto my face before putting on my makeup. I wanted to make sure I looked all right when we got to Albuquerque. I went back to find my mother, and soon we were back on the road, now only a few short hours away from our new home.

I'd started reading Twilight not long after we'd eaten breakfast, and I had read through chapter eight by the time we pulled up in the driveway of our new house. I glanced up from the page I was reading and instantly my jaw dropped. The house was huge, and beautiful. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I barely paid attention as I placed the marker inside my book and opened the door. The Victorian-style house was white with burgundy-colored shutters. The front lawn was speckled with an array of brightly colored flowers. A white wooden fence surrounded the lawn, and the driveway was shaded by the tall oak tree that grew next to the wrap-around porch. I gathered my things from the car, deciding to make a return trip for my boxes that were in the trunk. My mother let us in, and she showed the way to my bedroom.

I shoved the door open, unsure of what I would find behind it. It was like playing that game show...what was behind door number three? I stepped into the room, placing my things on the floor by the door. As I stood up, I took in the room. It, like the rest of the house, was beautiful. And it was three times the size of my old bedroom in Tennessee. It was plain, with a single king-sized bed in the middle of the room. The wall opposite the bed wasn't a wall at all, but a bunch of shelves surrounding a large vanity counter. I looked at myself in the mirror. I still looked like I had been riding in a car for fourteen hours straight, but there was something different in my eyes. Satisfaction and happiness had taken over the gloom and depression I'd felt yesterday.

I'd never expected to feel happy on my first day in my new house, but there was no doubt about it- I was happy. I wasn't ecstatic or anything, but at least I was content. I moved over to the bed and stretched out across it on my back so that I was staring up at the ceiling. I smiled and sighed contentedly. I rolled over quickly, resting my weight on my elbows. I looked out over the balcony, where I knew I would spend hours reading and doing homework. I couldn't wait to get started with my decorating. I jumped up and ran downstairs to find my mother. I wanted to go shopping right away, to make my room feel more...Gabriella-like. I stopped in the doorway and turned back to look at the room. Although I'd been in Albuquerque only a few minutes, it was already starting to feel like home.

What do you think so far? I'm hoping it was satisfactory. Again, as in my other stories, I'm sorry for any typos or grammar issues. Don't worry, Troy will make an appearance within the next few chapters. I wouldn't bother writing a story that didn't have him in it. That would be like having cereal without milk...dry and uninteresting, haha. ;)

BTW, since the voting is still open for the Teen Choice Awards, I wanted to be sure and ask a favor of my American readers: VOTE FOR SHADOW! For those who don't know who Shadow is, she's Vanessa Hudgen's poodle, and she's nominated for Celebrity Pet. It would be really awesome if she won. And how cute would it be if she got to come along as one of V's dates? (Zac being the other one, obviously.) ;D

As always, thank you for reading my new story! Please review, even if all you do is beg me to update soon. ;) Just don't be rude. If you don't care for it, you don't have to read it. :)