A/N: here's the second chapter:)

A five year-old Gabriella Montez sat in the waiting room of the hospital, completely and utterly confused as to why she was there. Glancing at the clock anxiously, she turned to the man in the chair beside her. "Do you know where my mommy is ?" The small child asked, before beginning to bite her already non-existent nails.

The stranger smiled slightly in amusement before shaking his head. Gabriella returned her attention to the clock.

All Gabriella knew was that her mother was here somewhere, but she wasn't allowed to find her. Her father had told this strange man to watch her while he went to Mrs. Montez.

Gabriella was extremely confused as to the morning's events. She had been sitting in her mother's lap, when suddenly Gabriella felt something wet creep through her mother's skirt. Jumping up in disgust, she accused her mother of peeing on her. And then the scariest thing possible for a five year-old happened; Her mother began screaming for an ambulance.

Gabriella began to cry as she thought about everything that had happened. Her mom, her role model, was in pain somewhere in this building. And Gabriella couldn't go to her, to make sure she was okay; and it painful to have to sit here and do nothing. Couldn't she help? Why was she deemed useless?

The young child jumped when beeping and yelling suddenly rang out from a nearby hallway. Wrapping her arms around her trembling body, Gabi held her knees to her chest and began to sob. Doctor's were swarming into the waiting room, rushing into the hallway; the source of the noise. Everything was a blur for the small child, and she wanted more than anything to just see her mom. To be held until her tears stopped. She wanted her dad, she wanted him to wipe away her tears, like always. To tell her it will all be okay.

But that just wasn't possible. She was completely alone, with only a stranger to keep her company.

The stranger seemed to take no note of Gabriella's tears. He just watched the doctors intently, as if willing them to talk to him. Finally, he stood and stopped one of the doctors. "What's going on?!"

"We have a code blue." Said the doctor shortly, before returning to the hallway. Gabriella watched the stranger as he stood in the middle of the room, a distant look on his face. He looked sad.

"What does code blue mean?" Asked Gabriella. The stranger looked at her, his brows furrowed.

"It means someone's heart has stopped beating." He replied, not wanting to elaborate. This however, seemed to satisfy the child. She nodded and climbed back onto the seat, obviously not understanding what that meant.

And that was the moment that a tear streaked Mr. Montez chose to walk into the room. He slowly walked over to his child, and bent down to her level. "Gabi? You know how your mommy and I said you were going to have a little sister?" Gabriella nodded, and Mr. Montez continued, his voice cracking. "Well, your little sister decided she wanted to go to the sky. She wanted to live in the stars." Gabriella's big brown eyes were swimming with tears.

"Didn't she like us? Why did she want to leave?" She asked. Mr. Montez blinked back his own tears at how innocent she sounded.

"She loves us very much. It just wasn't the right time for her to be here." Gabriella nodded, her lip quivering. She wasn't even sure why she was crying, all she knew was that her daddy, her rock, was crying. She had never seen him cry before, and it scared her.

The stranger put a hand on Mr. Montez's shoulder and watched him sympathetically. "Could you… Do you want to tell me what happened?" Mr. Montez returned to his full height and faced the stranger.

"Grace Lily Montez was a still born." He began, obviously pained to say this. "Apparently, something happened to Maria's reproductive system after Gabriella was born, and it caused the baby to be undeveloped." Mr. Montez bit his lip, attempting to be strong for his daughter, but failing miserable. The stranger patted his back sympathetically. "Owen… I can't stand this. One of my daughters is dead!" He choked out.

Gabriella slid out of her chair and wrapped her arms around her fathers legs. Smiling through his tears, Mr. Montez bent down to her level and hugged his child, burying his face in her hair.

"You still have me, daddy." Whispered Gabriella. Mr. Montez nodded.

"And I always will."

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In your eyes,

I'm self centered.

I care about nothing but myself.

I don't care about you.

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I leaned my head against the cool glass of the car window, my head pounding. I watched as the world zoomed by, and I almost felt happy. Happy that I could leave everything behind.

I was going to leave behind my reputation, my unfaithful boyfriend (don't ask), my bitchy backstabbing friends with unusually high-pitched voices. Maybe the whole moving thing wasn't going to be that bad.

My mom looked back at me, giving me a hateful glare for what must have been the 5th time in the last 10 minutes. I returned the stare coolly, attempting to not look intimidated, even though she scared the hell out of me.

You might be wondering what I did this time. Truth be told, it was my fault that we were moving. My dad hadn't wanted to deal with the gossip about their drink-and-drive daughter, and so instead of sticking by me, they decided to run away. Of course. We just continued to glare at each other for a few minutes before she finally looked away.

With a triumphant smirk, I returned my gaze to the window just in time to see the "Now Entering Albuquerque" sign. I had to admit, so far the place was pretty nice. There were rows and rows of nice houses and perfectly manicured lawns, complete with the perfect older couples who tended them. An assortment of nice cars occupied the driveways, and the ones that didn't have a car were occupied by three kids and a basketball hoop.

Turning at Johnston St., I spotted a group of kids. Actually they were pretty hard to miss, seeing as one of them had a gigantic afro. I coolly surveyed them, trying to fit them into which category they would belong in when we got to school. One's head was buried in a textbook, her dark curly hair spilling over the pages; obviously belonging in the nerd category. Don't get me wrong, I love nerds. Behind all the makeup, miniskirts, alcohol, and drugs, there was a girl who just wanted to curl on my bed and do my homework.

There was another, a girl, wearing hot pink, who was having a heated argument with afro man. Much to my dismay, she was a blonde. Yech. Another dude, obviously the blonde's brother, was practically dancing down the street, pink hat and all.

Giggling softly, I looked at the last person in the group. To my surprise, the blonde, cerulean eyed boy was staring right back at me. He stopped in the middle of the street, causing his friends to run into him; All the while staring at me, his mouth slightly open. I smiled and gave an awkward little wave. Blushing, he grinned right back and winked, before returning his attention to his friends who were now yelling at him for stopping.

Still smiling, I looked to the front of the car to find my parents had stopped the car and were both glaring at me. I gave them a questioning look, causing them to roll their eyes and start the car back up.

I was actually happy there for a second. And now I feel like a dumbass. Thank you parents.

I stared back out at the street, the group of friends were gone. Sighing, I once again leaned against the cold glass, letting the coolness against my skin calm me down. Maybe this whole fresh start was exactly what I needed.

"We're here. Get out." Commanded my dad from the front seat, breaking me from my reverie. I rolled my eyes at him before scrambling out of the car and leaning on my crutches. I made my way, slowly, very slowly, up the concrete steps, but not before spying a balcony on the right side of the house. With every ounce of strength I had left, I dragged myself up the stairs and into the balcony room.

The room was a soft peach color, with white French doors leading onto the balcony. Not to mention the tree that was right outside my balcony. I knew that if Alicia was here, she would be saying something along the lines of "It's a perfect way to sneak out.". Not that I care.

I opened the balcony doors and stepped outside. Leaning against the railing, I closed my eyes and let the blow through my air. It was peaceful out there, with the leaves rustling in the wind, the sun shining lazily. And for the first time in a very long time, I forgot all my problems. I forgot about my parents, and the hell I was living in.

I was on top of the world.

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In your eyes,

I'm not the perfect child.

I'm the failure.

I'm the rebel.

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Nervously, I hitched my bag up on my shoulder, scanning the student population that surrounded me. The students didn't seem to care what I looked like, or whether I was hot or not; VERY different from my old school, where you were instantly shunned if you had even the smallest zit. For once, I was actually enjoying not being in the spotlight.

Pulling my schedule out, I looked over my classes. It seemed I had homeroom with someone named Ms. Darbus. Fantastic. Hitching my bag up one last time, I started to weave my way through sea of students. After being jostled and pushed, I finally found my self in the center of the hallway. Alone.

Every single student had left in the span of… 5 seconds. I was just wondering why, when the bell rang.

"Shit." I muttered, and ran as fast as I could down the hallway, considering I was on crutches. Next thing I knew, I was writhing in pain on the ground. "Fuck! My leg!" I cried out in pain. I could hear the guy apologizing profusely as he helped me up. I stood on my crutches with my eyes shut tightly, waiting out the pain. When it finally subsided I opened my eyes… To find the afro man from the street last week.

He stuck out his hand. "I'm Chad Danforth, the idiot who knocks people down when they are already in a cast." He told me with a sheepish grin. I smiled at him and shook his hand.

"Gabriella Montez, the klutz who runs into people and kills her already broken leg." I responded, grinning back at him. Suddenly, homeroom wasn't so important anymore. Without a thought, Chad took my books and carried them as we advanced down the hall.

"So, what's your homeroom?" He asked.

"Darbus. I can already tell I don't like her." Chad burst out laughing, and I hit his arm playfully. "Glad you find my life amusing, Mr. Danforth!" He instantly stopped laughing when I called him by his last name, and started to pout.

"Anything but the last name, Gabi. Anything but that!" I literally gasped when he called me Gabi. The last time I had been called Gabi was right before Grace died, and it had been my father who had said it. It sounded nice to hear someone call me that again.

Chad however, instantly start apologizing. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know you didn't want to be called that, I just thought maybe that's what your friends called you or someth--" I Pressed my hand to his mouth, laughing uncontrollably.

"Chad. It's totally fine. I just… I just haven't been called that in a while." He nodded, and we returned to talking about random things. He was telling me about his friends and how things worked at East High, while I told him about my ex-boyfriend and my old friends. The conversation was going fairly well until…

"What are your parents like?" I just blinked at him before returning my attention to the floor, wondering how my parents still managed to ruin my day without even being here.

"Their okay." I lied. "You know, their just regular parents." I looked up at him, hoping Chad had bought the lie. Sure enough, he did. Nodding, he lead me into a classroom. At our entrance, an older woman who must be Ms. Darbus, looked up and groaned.

"And to what do we owe this pleasure, Mr. Danforth?" She said sarcastically.

"Oh, so that's why you don't like being called by your last name." I whispered teasingly in his ear. He shot me a playful glare before looking back at the waiting teacher.

"I was helping out Ms. Montez over here. She's new." He stated. Suddenly, the entire classroom was looking at me. Blushing, I smiled awkwardly and stared pointedly at the floor. An awkward silence settled over the classroom, broken by somebody woof-whistling. I looked up, offended, and the entire classroom proceeded to point at a guy in the back. He looked me over, his eyes lingering at my breasts.

"Keep your eyes in your head." I snapped. The students all burst out laughing while the guy glared at me coldly. I turned to Ms. Darbus, putting on my this-smile-is-reserved-for-adults-who-are-not-my-parents smile. "You must be Ms. Darbus."

She nodded and smiled, obviously amused by how I had handled myself. She gestured for me to take a seat, so I chose one behind a guy with blonde hair and cerulean eyes. Wait, doesn't that sound familiar?

An hour and twenty-five minutes later, I exited the classroom. The class had been fairly uneventful, other than the fact that every single person from the group on the street was in my homeroom. They all seemed nice enough.

I was wandering the halls when someone caught my arm. Turning around, I saw the entire group, plus a few other people, smiling at me. We stood there in silence for a few moments, before the blonde guy with the pink hat spoke.

"Hi! I'm Ryan." He said brightly. I couldn't help but smile at how cheerful he was. It was pretty contagious.

"I'm Gabriella--"

"Montez." Finished the textbook girl with a smile. "Beginning of class, remember?" I nodded and returned the smile. "So… Since your new and all, we were wondering if you'd like to sit with us?" I nodded again, this time with more enthusiasm.

The guy with the blue eyes stepped forward stuck out his hand, reminding me immensely of Chad. "Troy. Troy Bolton." I blushed under the same intense gaze I was met with last week, and looked down as I shook his hand. I was just beginning to realize how gorgeous he really was.

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In your eyes,

I will never compare.

I will never live up to you,

And your perfect childhood.

I will never be the perfect child.

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Lunch that day was one of the most fun times of my life. We were all laughing and joking with each other, they were all asking questions about Augusta and such. I ended up sitting next to cerulean boy, a.k.a. Troy, and the entire time the gang was telling me I had to get together with him. I swear to god, I'm going to be permanently red if I hang around these guys much longer. But I'm willing to risk it.

Also, I had learned everyone's names. Sharpay was the blonde who actually didn't act that blonde, (A/N: No offense guys, I'm blonde too!) Kelsi was the petite brunette, Taylor was the textbook girl, Jason was the guy who always fell asleep in class, and Zeke was the guy who had a secret passion for cooking and Sharpay. Let's not forget Chad and Ryan either…

Oh, and Troy. Troy Bolton. Troy is amazing, did I mention that? Well he is. His amazing smile that makes me go weak in the knees, his amazing eyes that I get lost in every time I see them, his amazing body that you can't help but appreciate, his flawless features that look amazing every time you see them.

The only downside was that he was the captain of the basketball team. Troy plus basketball captain equals MAJOR popularity. East high isn't that different from my school. And since he is practically a god in East High, there are hundreds of skinny, blonde, gorgeous girl for him to pick from. There was no chance he would pick someone as ugly or bitchy as me. I mean, come on, my parents don't even love me. Why would a guy like him ever even think about a girl like me?

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"You are the music in me…" I sang softly as I padded down the carpet of our hallway. Suddenly, a sound stopped me in my tracks. It was a gentle sobbing, coming from my parents room.

Cautiously, I stuck my head in their room. And there was something I thought I'd never see; my mother curled up in a ball, crying her eyes out. I stood there, in shock, and confused. I didn't know what to do. Qhy should I comfort her when she hasn't comforted me for the last 12 years? Why should I be there for her when she wasn't there for me?

Despite my inner battle, I spoke softly. "Mom? Are you okay?" She looked up, her eyes red from crying. She was so vulnerable; there was no mask to hide her emotions. It was just all out there, and it scared me. But that wasn't what concerned me. It was what she was holding.

A picture of Grace.

Silently, she set the picture of Grace back onto the night table, her back to me. "You don't know how I felt, when the doctors told me Grace was dead. I thought I would never get through it. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how lucky I was. I had you, didn't I? I had your father, didn't I? Sure, it was a rough patch, but we would get through it."

"But then… The doctor told me why Grace was born dead." She turned to me, her face a mask of coolness yet again. "It was you." She whispered harshly. "It was all your fucking fault. Because you know what they told me? She had been undeveloped because you took such a toll on my body. It's all your fucking fault that we don't have Grace, and we only have you." As she spat the last word, her eyes were swimming with hate.

And the part that hurt the most, the part that killed every hope I had, was that I recognized that hate was for me. My mother hated me. She hated me because I was born.

A/N: Aww. That was sad. But that chapter did not come out how I wanted it to AT ALL. oh well. so, do you think things are going to get better for Gabriella and her parents? or way worse?

btw, 10 reviews gets the next chapter:)