a/n: Ugh, musical rehearsal was actually really painful today. We working on a crazy dance and I have bruises on my knees, elbows, knuckles, and one on my collar bone. :( But it was one of the most amazing dances EVER! Anyways just so you know the Montezs are going to be really poor and the Boltons are going to be really rich or else the story wouldn't work. Please review, I want five reviews for this chapter, that's not too hard is it?
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Chapter 1
There is a city called Albuquerque where the sun warms the red earth, mountains grace the skyline, and the wild west seems near. In part of this city the wealthy laugh as they float through an easy life; on the outskirts of the city, the poorest of poor constantly labor, struggling to survive. Each group was unable to comprehend leading the life of the other and so they lived side by side but never truly looked at the others; the poor turned their eyes away in shame, the rich simply looked through them.
One day storm clouds burst open over the city the cleansing rain cooling the hot asphalt and refreshing the people. The wealthy enjoyed it from enclosed patios, private gazebos, and the safety of their homes. The poor placed pots under the holes in their roofs to catch the moisture, sighed heavily as they toiled, and continued their work moving steadily to the rhythm of droplets exploding on the hard earth. Gradually the storm subsided and the sun beamed down on the earth again, its warmth already consuming the cool the rain had brought. A young couple decided that they would take advantage of the day and go for a walk. They left their tiny house and slowly began walking down the road, stopping often to smell a delicate flower or gaze at the majestic mountains.
"Ah, Joseph, just listen to the sound of the birds. They are just as glad as we that the weather is so nice today. Their singing is so beautiful." The woman paused as another sound broke through the air. "That isn't a bird." She turned her head as she listened to the sound. "It sounds like a child crying. But why would there be one out here? There's nothing out here for miles but fields, farmhouses, and factories; certainly no one would bring their child out here. The Cisternas' didn't have their baby yet have they?" S he asked about one of the families that was working in the fields for the same farmer that currently employed them.
Her husband shook his head, "No, Maria isn't due for another month or so."
"That's what I thought." She stepped off the road and began walking through the rows of plants. The sounds of terrified sobs grew steadily louder as she neared the center of the field, her husband close behind. The two stopped as they found the source of the sound; a small sobbed, rocking back and forth, as she clutched a ragged, cloth doll. "Why are you here?"
"Who are you?" The man asked as he crouched next to the young girl. In response she stared at hi, startled into silence before her big, brown eyes were flooded with tears that slowly tracked down her grimy face. "Are you alright?" She shook her head causing her tangled, chestnut hair to fly around her face s she held the doll closer to her chest.
"Shhh, it's going to be just fine." The woman sat next to the girl. "I'm Estella Montez and this is my husband Joseph. Where are you mom and papi?"
The girl's sobs faded into hiccups as she wrapped her small hand around the woman's fingers. "Joseph, I don't think she can talk. Maybe that's why she is here; her parents didn't want a little girl who couldn't talk so they left her here. We've prayed everyday since we got married that we could have a child, but we haven't been able to. But now, we could take her home and raise her as if she was our own."
"Estella, we have no room in our house and barely have enough to eat as it is. We can't take a child in as well. What if her parent's are actually around here somewhere, they'll miss their daughter."
"Joseph, don't be silly." The woman stood, dark eyes blazing. "There is no one else out here. We will find someway to take care of her. I had always thought I had married a good, kind man, but he won't even help someone so small there is no way they could possibly take care of themselves."
"I am just trying to be sensible." He looked at the girl who was now standing, refusing to relinquish her hold on the woman's hand. "What am I to do? I'm a good man; I can't send such a small creature off to die."
A smile graced Estella's face as she kissed her husband on the cheek, she easily scooped the child up. "See I told your everything thing is going to be alright. You're going to come home with us, and we're going to be your mama and papi."
The girl tangled her finger's into the dark curls of the woman who held her as smiled in already consumed with adoration for the woman who held her. "Mama!" She squealed and craned her head to look at the man. "Papi!"
"Oh, so you do talk after all?" The man laughed, the wrinkles in his weather beaten face crinkled as his amusement flowed from him.
"Si!" The girl clapped her hands together and laughed as well as the three began walking the way they had come from. They walked through the dusty field, kicking at small pebbles in their way and laughing as the girl lost the shyness that had consumed her and began babbling in Spanish. Suddenly the lady stopped underneath a large oak tree it's lush leaves ruffling in the wind. "If you're going to be our daughter we might as well know your name. What is your name?" She looked questioningly at the girl in her arms who stared blankly back. "Don't you have a name?"
"No." The girl giggled as if the idea was the silliest one in the world. "Nina poco."
"Little girl? That won't do. We'll have to find you a real name." She tickled the freckled chin as she thought.
"What about Maria or Jaunita?" Joseph suggested as he pulled a piece of chewing gum from his pocket and divided into three even pieces and distributing it.
"No those are all to common. We need something else, something special and beautiful. What about Gabriella? I always thought that was a lovely name."
"I agree it is a wonderful name, but it is her name after all, we should make sure she approves."
"Gabriella, do you like that name?" She asked to the girl who nodded her head solemnly. With that decision the trio continued walking until they reached the small, blue house they would share.
Soon the family became so adjusted to each other that the thought of it only being the two was inconceivable. As she grew Gabrielle would follow her parents around asking them question after question. "Mama, what does Gabrielle mean?" She would ask as she sat on top of a table watching her mother clean the dished
"It means God is my strength, because he kept us strong as we waited for you."
"Papi, where did you find me?" She would question as she followed her father down long rows of vegetables.
"In a field much like this one."
"Why was I in a field?"
"Because God sent you to us."
"Why did God send me to you?"
"If we knew that we would be God, now run along and help your mother."
She kept this up as she grew, her inquisitive mind yearning to know everything she could about the world. With her constant questioning the only way she could satisfy her thirst for knowledge was to walk to a small, dingy library and read as many books as possible. By the time she got to high school she had read every book in the library and was at the top of the class in her small school. She had changed during this time from a small girl into a beautiful teen with such a kind heart people were often astounded at her thoughtfulness; desperate to help her parents she took a job at a small produce stand at the side of the dusty, winding road. Day after day she toiled, at work and at the nearest highschool, but she hoped one day she would be able to go to college instead of being trapped in the same routine forever.
"Mama, I'm home!" Gabriella called as she leaned her bike against a wooden post and chipped some of the peeling white paint off.
"How was work today?" Her mother called from the kitchen where she stood peeling potatoes for their dinner.
"Good." The teen practically danced into the kitchen as she smelled the air. "Something smells delicious, what are we having for dinner today?"
"Chicken and potatoes." Her mother turned to give her a hug and sighed in exasperation. "You are sunburned again. I spent good money on that sun block, why do you never use it?"
"Papi, is it out in the fields so much more often then I am. I thought he could use it."
"Forget your Papi, his skin is like leather he doesn't need any of it. There's some aloe in the garden, go get some and then set the table. We'll have dinner as soon as Papi, is home."
"Yes, Ma'am." The girl obediently did as her mother told and when she saw her father walking towards the house she ran out to meet him.
"There's my girl." The man twilled her around. "You look lovely like always. How was work today?" The screen door creaked as they opened it.
"Wonderful, I saw this-"
"Gabi, why don't don't you tell your father after we say grace so the food doesn't get cold."
Instantly the girl bowed her head and hurried through the blessing so she could tell her story. "Today I saw a boy I never had before and he had the most beautiful silver car I've ever seen. It was like a piece of the moon had fallen to Earth and he was riding it. Just imagine what it would be like to have something like that. It must be like flying when you're in a car as nice as that. Someday I am going to go to college and get a car like that. He must not have been from around here, he had shirt that was so white it hurt my eyes; it was like somehow no dust at all landed on him. Don't you want something like that Mama and Papi?"
Her father squeezed her hand. "I have everything I need right here: a loving wife, a beautiful daughter, food on the table, and a roof over my head. What more could a man want?"
"I agree with you father." The older woman said and the three continued on with their soft conversation as they sat around the wooden table with a soft breeze floating through the screen door.
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"My dad's gonna kill me if we don't clean the car." A blond boy said stepping back to examine the dirt that streaked the side of a silver car, carelessly spinning a pair of sunglasses in his fingers.
"Dude, its your car. Why should he care if its clean or not?" Asked his friend as he dribbled a basketball, dark curls bobbing.
Troy shrugged. "I don't know. I think he's embarrassed of what the neighbors would think if we had a dirty car in our driveway."
"You have a house that's separate from all of your neighbors plus a fence, who is gonna see a dirty car?"
"A maid, and she'll tell all sorts of rumors and due to this the entire fortune of the Bolton family would vanish. And it would be all my fault." He grabbed the ball from his friend and carelessly threw it into the basket across the driveway. "You wanna help me clean it?"
"If I can drive." Chad looked enviously at the Porsche which was haphazardly parked at the end of the cement driveway.
"Don't know about that. I wouldn't want you to do anything to it like you did to your jeep." The blue eyed boy smirked.
"I didn't do anything to my jeep, that guy was in my lane and you know it."
Troy nodded and tossed him the keys to the car, "Make sure no one is in your lane this time."
"Plus you were the reason I wasn't paying attention. Maybe I should make you sit in the back so you don't act like an idiot if that's possible."
"Ouch, that was like an arrow of hate right through my heart." The boy pretended to stagger backwards as if he had been struck in the chest.
"Only what you deserve." The other teen smiled at his best friend's antics as he slid into the driver's seat of the expensive car.
"Liar." The other boy sat in the passengers seat and immediately began fiddling with the radio, flipping from one station to another, occasionally pausing to listen to several seconds of a song before continuing on.
Chad looked at him in exasperation as he knocked the hand away from the radio, "That's what I mean. Will you just leave it one station."
"Fine." Troy sunk back in his seat and glared out of the window until he was unable to sit still any longer and slowly opened the glove compartment to riffle through the papers. "Here." He said suddenly causing his friend to jump. "I like washing my car there." He pointed at a empty lot, litter tangled into the dry bushes that rimmed the perimeter.
They parked the car at the edge of the lot near a faucet that protruded from a Terracotta wall; from the trunk came a plastic bucket, sponges, rags, and a bottle of purple car wash fluid. Soon the clear gleamed from its recent washing; Chad was putting the sponges back into the trunk of the car when he was suddenly drenched by cold water. He whirled around to face his friend who was smiling innocently at him the bucket held behind his back. "Chad, did you see that? It just rained on you."
"Really? I thought it was you who was getting rained on." He picked up of the sponges and held it over his friend's head as he squeezed the water out. Within a minute they were in the midst of a water fight, that soon deteriorated to wrestling on the muddy ground.
Eventually the darker boy declared himself the winner he stood and offered a hand to his friend who looked down at himself. "Good thing we never took those towels out of the car so we don't get mud all over the seats." He causally glanced down at the watch and his eyes widened. "Damn it. My parents are having that dinner party I told you about tonight and I was supposed to be home," he looked at the watch again. "Fifteen minutes ago." He jumped into the driver's seat, waited for his friend to buckle the seat belt, and pulled out of the parking lot slowing for a moment as he shifted gears and then he raced down the road towards his home.
A gate swung up for the car as he pulled onto a perfect driveway that cut through an immaculate lawn; the car was parked in its usual bay of the garage and the boys stepped out. "If we go through the back door, no one will see us and we can get cleaned up." Troy decided, leading his friend towards the door that opened into a huge garden softly lit by twinkling lights. He quietly slid the key into the lock and stepped through the door, from down the hall he could hear faint voices approaching them.
"This is kitchen, the garden is right through here." The teen's mother stopped at the sight of the two boys who stood dipping mud and water on the marble floor and then she continued as if she was still giving a tour of the house. "And this is my disappearing son Troy. Troy, this is Mr. and Mrs. Whiteshire."
Troy nodded to them. "Pleased to meet you. I would shake your hands, but..." He displayed his hands, palm up, to show the mud that covered them.
"Troy, Chad, you look like you had fun. Now would you boys go upstairs and get cleaned up. Dinner is going to be served in half an hour."
"Yes, ma'am." They replied in unison as they hurried up the steps to Troy's room.
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a/n: So there it is chapter one. Remember I want five reviews, now just hit that little box and I'll be seeing you soon.
