Title: Her Choice

Rating: T; Family/Drama; Minor TxG

Summary: Gabriella had been raising her 4 younger siblings her whole life. With her mother on the road to self-destruction, an absent father, and the college opportunity slowly slipping away, what will she do?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to HSM. I only own the four younger siblings. Based of off a story in Reader's Digest. I don't own the 66 diner, or Borders either.

Author's Note: As I said in the disclaimer, this story is based off of an article I read. I was on the way home from school, trying to tune of the voice of my grandmother and I dug around in the backseat of the car and found the magazine while she went in Wendy's to get food. I flipped through the pages and not so much as cracked a smile at all of the corny jokes when I saw this story. It touched my heart and brought me to tears. I decided to make a story off of it. I hope you enjoy Her Choice!

Imagine growing up with a drug-addicted alcoholic negligent mother, no father in sight, and four sibling who were on the precipice of being separated, threatening to tear your family apart. These were the cards of life dealt to Gabriella Marie Montez. She was 17 years old, a very smart, bright, beautiful girl. As if that really mattered in the real world. Gabriella lived with her mother, Isabel, and her four siblings: Leah, Chris, Nathaniel, and Manuel Montez, the second. Chris and Nathaniel who were the twins, were ten, Leah was seven, and the youngest Manuel was only 4. They lived in an apartment with only two rooms and a bathroom in Albuquerque. The apartment wasn't too shabby. At least it wasn't like their last one, with undone paint on the walls, most of it covering expletives left by previous owners, and signed on the faucets in the kitchen and bathrooms saying that their was no hot water. Gabriella and her siblings all shared a room and a small cramped twin sized bed, while her mother slept to herself in a queen sized bed. That bed, although, was rarely occupied. Isabel Montez would often stumble in their house at any time in the night, with her cackling laughter, bottle full of half-emptied booze, and on some occasions: a man on her arm. Gabriella was basically more of a mother to them than Isabel could ever be. She helped with their homework, their projects and essays. She'd bought and changed the numerous diapers, fed them in the wee hours of the morning when their mother was either too lazy or not even at home to tend to them. She lulled them to sleep when they cried, and nursed them when they were sick. Once, the children all came down with some ailment, turning out to be chicken pox. Gabriella made a late night trip to the 24 hour pharmacy and bought an endless supply of calamine lotion to rub them down with and oatmeal to bathe them in. Gabriella and her siblings often awoke to their mother passed out and sprawled along the couch, usually with a note on the counter from the man from the previous night, if they were nice. Some others left with no forewarning. It wasn't anything unfamiliar to Gabriella, as she never had seen a stable relationship before. Her father, Manuel, had walked out on them soon after the youngest was born, his excuse being that he couldn't handle the pressure of four kids and that he was only staying because he felt they needed a father. The weight was obviously too much on his shoulders, so he packed and left, never to be seen or heard from again. This eventually lead to Isabel's inevitable downfall. In the weeks following, the children watched their mother sit at their dining room table surrounded by numerous ashtrays, long white lines on clear surfaces, razors, and empty bottled of Heineken, Vodka, or whatever else she pleased. Gabriella tried so hard to shield her kin from the sight before them and it hurt her more and more with each passing day..

Gabriella walked up the stairs to their apartment at around 11:00 pm, coming home from her part time waitress job at the 66 Diner in town. This was her junior year in school, and she signed for summer school that would continue into her senior year, although she was already in school at the time. She had big dreams and planned on going to college and she needed a scholarship to do that. With her grades, it would have come easily with all the effort she was putting forth. She left school at 3:30 and worked at the diner until 11 then poured herself into endless homework, which wasn't much of a hassle considering her impeccable intelligence. She was truly exhausted, not just from work, but from life. She was tired of living , they'd been thrown around so much in their lives, they never stayed in one place too long. She'd lost count after 16 schools. She sighed deeply before pulling her keys from her waitress apron and put them in the lock, twisting them before opening the door and walking into the living room. The apartment wasn't as nearly as mess as she thought it would be. There was still half-eaten TV dinners on the coffee table, her siblings sleeping soundly on the couch with their downstairs neighbor, who happily obliged to look after them knowing their situation, in a lightly dimmed room with the only sources of light being the TV, and the dining room light. She sighed a sigh of relief and placed her keys onto the desk near the door and taking off her coat and apron. She woke up Ms. Gutierrez and let her know she could go home. She thanked her as she made her way back to her place downstairs. She stepped out onto the balcony, enjoying the cool night winds of the air brushing along her face. She closed her eyes, leaned her head back, and smiled softly. She inhaled and exhaled deeply before walking back inside. She went to the television, turned the volume down and took the TV dinners and put them in the refrigerator. She hoisted two children up onto her hips and placed them on her bed, and went back into the living room to do the same for the others. She decided she would take the couch tonight. She tucked them in and kissed each of their foreheads and whispered 'goodnight'. She went back into the living room, took off her shoes and went to the kitchen to put the dinner she took home from the diner, courtesy of May and Gee, the diner's managers who were like her parents; in the microwave. She also put her dessert, a half-eaten chocolate chip cookie sundae in the freezer. She waited on top of the kitchen counter when the microwave beeped, signaling her food was done. She smiled and took it out, and going to sit on her makeshift bed to enjoy her plate of fried catfish, coleslaw and french fries. She enjoyed watching her favorite late-night shows, including Forensic Files, Family Guy, and any other old time show on TV Land that she happened to catch. She became engrossed with television for about 45 minutes when she heard a coughing sound. She rushed to her room to find Leah coughing. She picked her up and patted her back just enough to not hurt her. She went to the kitchen and ransacked through the cabinets for some cough medicine and filled a cup with water.

"Here, Leigh," she said, kneeling down and handing the water to her. "Take this." She brought the spoon with cough remedy to her mouth, but Leah shook her head and closed her lips tightly, trying not to let another cough escape. "You have to or you'll keep coughing." Gabriella insisted, but she still refused. "You're killing me here, Ana, please." Gabriella pleaded. Seeing the concern in her sister's eyes, Leah .hesitantly opened her mouth and took the medicine into it. She scrunched up her face and swallowed the concoction before downing the water she had in her hand. She wiped her mouth and Gabriella smiled, brushing her hair from her sister's face.

"Good girl, now back to bed."

"No," Leah refused. "I wanna stay here with you." She said, hugging her sister's waist tightly.

"That's lovely, but you need to get some sleep."

"Please?" Leah looked up at her sister with pleading eyes that she couldn't refuse.

"Fine." Gabriella said, reluctantly giving in. Gabriella and her sisters walked to the couch where they laid down. Leah was situated in front of her sister on the couch, snuggled into her as they watched cartoons. About an hour later, she was slowly but surely falling asleep within minutes. Gabriella glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost 11 o'clock. She heard someone outside fumbling with the doorknob. It was her mother. She quickly scooped Leah into her arms and placed her back in her bed and closed the door, making sure they were safe. She didn't want her sister to see her mother in her condition, despite the fact that she had already seen it before. Her mother had an unkempt appearance. Her chest was falling from her shirt, one of her shoes missing, a sleeve and a bra strap down, and her hair resembled something like a sheepdog. Gabriella shook her head in disappointment. What happened to the strong woman I knew before all this, she thought to herself. Thanks a lot, Dad. Her mother stumbled into the room and Gabriella sat up from her position to watch her mother struggle with the simplest task of walking.

"G-Gabrilela," her mother slurred, giggling. "Th-th-this is...um...Chuck...Chase...Charles...no! This is Chet! Chet, honey, this is my--my sister, " Gabriella looked at her mother with a look of disbelief on her face. I guess the says 'drunk minds speak sober hearts' was true after all. She though. Isabel went to put her arm around Gabriella's shoulder.

"Mom!" She said, shaking out of her mother's drunken embrace.

"What?! He knows I'm kidding," her mother defended. "Anyway, this is Ga-Gab-Gabrielelfa." She mumbled, giggling more. Scratch that, Gabriella watched her mother struggle with the simple task of talking. She scrunched up her nose at the familiar smell of some alcohol on her mom's breath. She rolled her eyes, eying the man she introduced. The smell of Bacardi overpowered the smell of her mother's usual sweet smelling shea butter or fruity scented lotion. "You know people think we're sisters anyway honey."

"Well why did you tell me she was so cute? Hey, how you doing?" The scruffy man asked, extending his hand for Gabriella to shake. She stood up, brushing herself off and ignoring his gesture.

"I'm fine, thank you very much." Gabriella said as she sneered at the hairy, nasty man.

"Gabi, be nice." Her mother demanded, plopping onto the couch, laughing loudly. "Chet's a nice guy."

"Oh, like Greg, Mark and Mike?' She laughed incredulously. "And could you be any louder?! Your children are in the next room, sleeping!" Gabriella yelled quietly, avoiding contradicting herself.

"Get your fucking panties out of a bunch Gabriella, I'm just having fun." She yelled back, louder than before. Gabriella winced before sighing.

"Whatever, Mom. I'm going to bed," she muttered angrily as she took her plate from the table and set it in the refrigerator. "If you're such a nice guy, there's a pen and a post it-stuck to the counter for you," she said gesturing to the kitchen counter that indeed had a pink post-it with a pen next to it. "That there, is for your goodbye note for when you leave while she's sleeping. Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow." She said, before bidding them goodnight with a load of sarcasm in her voice. Gabriella's mother ignored her and muttered something about Gabriella always being jealous of her and she got up from her spot on the couch and led Chet to her bedroom with a seductive smirk on her face. Gabriella tilted her head to the ceiling when she heard her mother's door shut. She walked to the couch and sat down, holding her head in her hands and she sobbed quietly. She wiped her eyes and ran her hands through her hair, sniffling. Why was her mother so different that the woman she had once been? Maybe if her dad hadn't abandoned them, they'd still be a loving, normal, family. Not some dysfunctional jumbled mess of a clan. At school, the children kept to themselves, not wanting others to know their lives, but it showed in their demeanor. Sometimes the children went without meals due to their mom not signing them up for the lunch program. They'd sit, aloof and desolate from everyone as they looked at other kids laughing and eating peanut butter-jelly sandwiches and snacks,sipping on fruit juices while they envied them. Meals at home were different. Depending on the man that stumbled through their door when their mom came home, it was a different story each time. Once, Gabriella was thrown across the room because food wasn't on the table promptly enough, which resulted in stitches and a slap from her mother, earning her a bruise on her light cheek in the shape of fingers. She continued crying even more. She decided to finally lay down and let the tears flowing from her eyes take her to sleep.

She mumbled in her half-asleep state and tugged on the covers from where she lay on the floor, trying to warm herself up as a sudden burst of light came from outside. She laid her small kitten on her chest and played with its fur.

"Ow, Shadow! You bit my finger!" The door creaked as she opened her eyes, sitting up and rubbing them. She saw Chet, the man from last night, watching her, with a beer in his hand, quickly guzzling the rest of it.

"You know, you don't live here." Gabriella whispered loudly enough for him to hear. "You can't just go ransacking through our fridge anytime you want."

The man ignored her remarks as he cleared his throat. "You up?" He asked, obviously oblivious to the face that she spoke two sentences to him.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "I am now. What do you want?"

"Sorry about that. Can we talk somewhere? Just you..and me?" He asked, with pleading eyes.

I guess it could do no harm. Gabriella thought. She removed the feline from her and let it scurry away past him. He left her doorway and walked outside into the hazy, fog-filled morning, with a scowl across her face wanting to sleep in because it was a Saturday.

She walked out of her doors, seeing Chet on the steps near her door, lighting a cigarette. She went to sit down next to him, but stopped in her tracks.

"What is it?"

"Well come sit down, I'm not gonna bite." He said, taking a puff of his cancer stick.

"Where's my mom?"

"Passed out, as usual right?" He retorted. "Come sit down, I said." Gabriella bit her lip nervously as she sat down, a few feet away from him if she needed to escape. "I just want to talk." He said, extending the pack of cigarettes with one sticking out for her to take.

Gabriella reluctantly sat down, keeping her distance away from him.

"I know you guys have had a hell of a time living with her. I can see that." He said, taking another puff. "She drinks too much, parties too much--"

"But you're not seeming to stop her, so quit it with the 'father-figure' act. If you really cared, you wouldn't have stayed the night and taken advantage of her like everyone else does." She snapped.

"But see me," he said ignoring her yet again. "I just wanna be your friend. Can we be friends, Gabi?"

"Don't call me that. Only my mom calls me 'Gabi'."

"Fine. I'm gonna be living her now, you know that, right?"

Gabriella scoffed. "Well good luck. The longest a guy's been here is two weeks, and I'd sure as hell love to see you try to break that record."

"You're a smart girl, Gabriella." He said with a laugh. "I see those little rugrats, that whole little bunch, depend on you." Gabriella scooted even farther away from him. "I'm sorry, did I frighten you?" He said, smirking evilly. "I didn't mean to. Hey, little girl, I know how hard it is for you. No one to help you, no one to hold you, love you. Touch you. That's why you need a friend, right?" He said, reaching his hand out to touch her cheek. Gabriella quickly scuffled and darted back into the open doors, running to the kitchen. He quickly followed behind. She bent down, looking into the freezer for her dessert when she heard footsteps. She continued look around for it, and found even more of it eaten with only a bit left. She felt him quickly come up behind her.

"If you're looking for that sundae, I used some of it on your mom, she was quite a delight." Shivers went up her spine when he said this, and not the good kind. "I can use some on you, if you're into that sort of thing." He whispered huskily, trailing his nimble fingers from the back of her thighs and reaching up to grab a handful of her behind. Before he got that close, Gabriella took an empty beer bottle and swung around, making it collide with the side of his face. She threw the remains on the ground as she looked at him in shock of what she did. It hit her when she saw the blood trailing down his jawline. He growled and wiped it away as she trembled in front of him. He took his right hand and gave her a backhand slap, making her collide with the open fridge door.

"Bitch." He whispered fiercely. She clutched her face and got up, seeing the blood on her fingers. She grabbed his wrists and forced him to the wall with a surge of power before he bounced back slamming her to the counter. His lips quickly attached themselves to her neck.

"Yeah, you like that don't you?" He asked, biting down harshly on her soft skin.

"No!" Gabriella whimpered, struggling to get out of his grasp. "Mom.." She whispered tearfully.

"Mommy can't help you now." He said, playing with the hem of her pink camisole. Soon she heard her bed room door open and saw her youngest brother, Manuel watching with worry in his eyes from the doorway.

"Manuel, mi hermano, por favor, please go back inside." She cried tearfully as she tried to get from his grasp. He walked back in, not knowing what was going on, and trusting his sister to take care of herself.

"Mmm, speak some more Spanish for me, baby." Gabriella let tears fall from her eyes when she heard footsteps coming into the kitchen.

"What the fuck is going on in here?!" Her mother said, tying her robe around her trying to fix her disheveled hair. He soon dropped her from the refrigerator letting her slide down to the floor as he backed up with his hands in the air, like he'd been caught by a cop.

"This isn't what it looks like baby, this slut was coming on to me."

"Slut?!" Gabriella cried incredulously, while standing up. "Are you fucking shitting me?! Mom, he--" Her sentence was cut short when her mother grasped both her arms and slammed her into the kitchen wall where they stood face to face panting heavily. "Mom..look at my face, look at my--"

"SHUT UP!" Her mother screamed, only a couple centimeters away from her face. "Gabriella Montez don't you dare fuck this up for me. This is you and your sisters and brothers chance for a father, or at least something like it."

"Mom, please, please! He could've broken my jaw, Mom, look at me!" She said, her shoulders heaving up and down as a result of her weeps and sobs.

"Shut up!" She screamed once more. "Baby...don't do this..Chet..he's..he's the one.."

"The one? The one to what, Mom, what? Kill me? Kill you?"

"I said shut up!" She said, this time ending it with a slap to her other cheek. "Gabi, honey, I'm young..and I like this one a lot...please, let's just make this one work okay?"

Gabriella looked into her mother's pleading eyes as more tears ran down hers. She shook her head tearfully and yanked away from her mother's grasp. Gabriella's mom leaned her head up against the wall in defeat. "Gabriella wait!" She didn't answer her and she walked off back to her room going into the bathroom. She locked the door, sat on the toilet and cried some more. She wiped her tears and reached into one of the drawers to pull out a razor she kept for herself. She breathed trembling breaths as she felt the sharp, cool metal collide with her wrist, making a red line ooze out that would create a scar to match the others ones that were placed all over her body. Some spelled words, some were symbols. Either one, they eased the pain.


The weekend slowly passed by as another one approached. Coincidentally, Chet stayed. It was early Monday morning and Gabriella was preparing for school as her younger siblings sat at the table and enjoyed breakfast. Their mother was going to take them to school today, because surprisingly, she stayed sober through that past weekend. She finished her meal of toast and bacon (that she made, along with the kids' breakfast) and kissed them all goodbye and wished for them to have a nice day as she prayed a silent prayer for them all. She was going to take the bus to school. She left the apartment and rushed to the bus stop and waited. When it came by she boarded it as it made its way to East High.

Gabriella soon walked inside the school nervously because she felt everyone's eyes on her--well, her cheeks. There were two marks on both sides of her face that showed no sign of healing anytime soon, despite how much concealer she used or how much Neosporin she applied. She kept her head down as she tried to tune out the murmurs and whispers of her fellow classmates. She made her way quietly down the hallways to her Pre-Calculus class. She got to the doors and rushed to her seat as the bell rang. She zoned out for most of the period since she already knew the material being taught. She came back to reality when she found her teachers passing back last week's test. She heard the moans and groans and vows of suicide around her while she smiled at the A-plus marked in a felt-tipped red pen on her paper. She basked in the feeling when she heard a voice next to her, causing her to jump.

"Nice job," the young boy said. "Mind tutoring me sometime?" She locked eyes with the boy and immediately melted. He had the most wonderful blue eyes, a dazzling smile, and biceps out of this world. She blushed furiously and looked back down at her paper.

"Uh..no..I wouldn't mind at all." She said, not trying to sound too eager. The boy extended his large, calloused hand.

"I'm Troy." He said.

"Gabriella." She said smiling and shaking his hand. She felt a surge of electricity and excitement course through her veins.

"I know who you are. You work at the 66 Diner, don't you? I see you around sometimes. You see me?"

"No," Gabriella blushed again. "I'm so caught up in the rushes and orders, I don't really pay much attention."

"Well you should try relaxing sometimes, you look like you need a break."

Gabriella was intrigued at how much this guy was talking to her. Not that she was objecting, of course. Who wouldn't want to talk to this Adonis? She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by the rude sound of the bell signaling next period.

"I'll see you around Gabriella." Troy said, as he left his seat and made his way towards the door, winking at her from the doorway before exiting. Gabriella's heart and stomach fluttered wildly. She bit her lip, packed her bags and made her way to her next class, Human Development. She made her way through the hallway when she felt an arm pulling her back. It was one of her teachers, Mr. McCall.

"What happened to you?" He inquired.

"Ran into a door." She said quietly, trying to leave, but he pulled her back once more.

"Bull." He exclaimed. "Are you gonna tell me, or do I have to let you explain this one to the office?" Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"What difference does it make, I've been hit since birth." She said, snatching away.

"Where are you from?"

"All over."

"Where all over?"

"Everywhere! Hotels, motels, shelters, sidewalks, alleys, everywhere! Campgrounds, trailer parks, regular parks, playgrounds, we even lived in a car, so what?!"

"You ever tell anyone?" His expression softened.

"No. And I don't plan on it."

"I'm going to have to report this, you know."

"Why?" She asked, confused.

-----

The day soon ended, with many thoughts in Gabriella's head. She sat on the couch watching her siblings play when she heard her mom come in the doors with Chet. Despite the fact that the kids were driven to school by Isabel, it never occurred to her that they also had to be brought home. Her negligence and 3 days absence resulted in the kids riding the unsafe city buses back home.

"Hey everyone!" She said, kissing Gabriella on the top of her head. "Where's my babies? I brought donuts for everyone!"

Leah came in the kitchen. "I do! I'm starving!"

"Well come on and get one, I got everyone's favorite." She said opening the box. "We're gonna get fa-aat!" She said in a singsong voice.

"Mom, please, you're way skinny."

"Too skinny, you think?" She turned away from her. "Come on Gabi, take one, I've got your fave--"

"You've been gone for three days, Mom. We..have..nothing. All we have is cereal, no money, no milk, nothing."

"Oh come on Gabi, don't I deserve a life too?" She said. "You kids are always on my fucking tail about everything. 'There's no milk, no money, we only have cereal--' " Gabriella's mom mocked.

"Well excuse me for wanting to, oh, I don't know, stay alive?! Mom, you're a mom now, there's no time left, you've got kids! You can't go around partying all night like this is college! You've got responsibilities!" Gabriella screamed.

"Sure, whatever, responsibility, blah, blah, blah." Isabel plopped down on the couch as Gabriella snuggled with Shadow. She took a bit of a donut and relaxed when she heard sirens from outside. Her eyes popped open. She pulled back the curtains and saw a load of police cars. She placed them back and ran to the back of the apartment. Gabriella walked calmly from her seat on the couch and wandered and watched her mom in her frenzied state. She watched her flush the cigarettes down the toilet and dispose quickly of used drug needles.

"Kids, kids, come on get up and get out, there's cops!" She said, pulling her jacket back on.

"Mama, what's happening?" Manuel asked.

"Let's go!" She screamed as she saw Chet slipping on his shoes and heading to the window. "What are you doing? Stay, you've got to help me with these kids!"

"I'm not in any part of this." He said opening the window, taking one look back at Gabriella before jumping out. He looked at his surroundings and ran, but not for long before he was tackled and handcuffed by an onlooking officer. A man walked in the doors and took the young ones by the hand and led them out before another one came in and handcuffed Isabel.

"Where are you taking us?" Little Leah asked.

"Kids can't stay with parents with drugs." The man explained. The men tried to separate them into different cars when they head their mother's screams.

"Where are you going with my kids?! I didn't even know that man had drugs, he just showed up last night, I don't even know him!" Isabel screamed. "Gabi, please do something! Don't let them take me!"

Gabriella had no choice but to look on at her mother's painful cries as it ate away at her soul.

"Gabi, do something!" A different voice pleaded. Gabriella watched her mother being put into the back of the squad car and looked at Leah's red puffy eyes.

Gabriella cried as she didn't know which car to run to, each of which held one of her siblings. She ran to the car with Chris and Nathaniel inside as she pounded on the window and she saw his frightened, confused face. She continued to look around in despair, begging for someone to help. She saw her two twin brothers being put into a van and she ran over to them, being restrained by two police officers.

"Please, please don't hurt him, he's very fragile. Stop it!" Her brother Manuel screamed in agony from the rough police officers hands. "He's terrified of people he doesn't know, please don't do this!"

"You can't do this, you can't break us apart! You just can't!" She continued pounding more and more as she cried. The car slowly slipped from her fingertips as she fell to her knees and cried into the pavement. As the last cars sped away, she watched her family being torn apart to shreds right before her eyes. She watched her four younger siblings being taken against their will, bound for different foster homes. Her last words were only..

"I'm sorry..I'm so sorry."

Well that's the first chapter of my new story! I hope I didn't give away too much information or if there was too much drama. I didn't really like the ending part. Troy's been introduced as well as Gabi's family life. He will play a somewhat major part in the story, but not too much. This story will be Gabriella-centric. I hope everyone likes it! Please review, it was pretty lengthy for a first chapter.