A/N: Wow, thanks guys for all the reviews! I really appreciate them. -love- Desireé

4GetYesterday- Fish, fish, got your wish. :)

Chapter Two, The Angel

People stared in school like she was a fish out of water, but averted their gazes whenever she caught them looking. Even Taylor, the one girl she had called her best friend, glanced away when they made eye contact. Gabriella hated Taylor for abandoning her. It wasn't her fault that stupid boy knocked her up. Was it? "No, it's not," she reassured herself firmly in the mirror. She glanced at her stomach—four months behind her, five months ahead. Suddenly, she had the urge to know if the baby was going to be a boy or a girl. And with that urge, another came—to give it a name.

"What?" Her mother, Theresa, sputtered and looked like she had been hit in the head with a brick when her daughter told her she wanted to name it. "Gabriella, you don't name a baby you aren't going to keep."

Silence. Gabriella stared at the ground, and Theresa gasped. "Don't tell me—you want to keep it?" she gasped, dropping her glass of cranberry juice onto the couch. A blood red stain formed on the middle cushion.

"Mom," the pregnant teenager began, her eyes burning with tears. "Please, just hear me out. I can't stand the thought of abandoning this child with other people. I'm the one who is carrying it around for an entire nine months. It should stay with me! And it's going to be born after graduation, so I won't have to worry about school." She still didn't believe she would get into a college.

Theresa clicked her tongue. "Oh, Gabriella" was all she said, patting her daughter's cheek and standing up to disappear down the hallway. Gabriella heard the bedroom door close and she finally released her tears, letting them saunter down her cheeks and fall into her lap. They stained her cargo pants—the only things that comfortably fit her now—and left three dark circles on the velvety green fabric. Drip, drip, drop.

The next day was Monday, and Gabriella hated Mondays. They reminded her she had four more days to go, and they never passed soon enough. By the third period, she felt a hand grasp her wrist and pull her into the quiet library, which was the ideal gab spot considering the new librarian, Ms. Mullins, didn't pay attention to any talking students. "Have you told?" His voice was icy and his breath was cold against her face, like he had chugged a bottle of Listerine.

"No, you dope," she snapped, backing up against a book shelf. "I didn't, so don't get your panties in a bunch." Chad narrowed his eyebrows and Gabriella shrugged.

"Well... Taylor just broke up with me," he told her, frowning as if it was all her fault. "She said I knew why."

"I didn't tell her, and I haven't told anyone else, so maybe she's just really smart. I would think you'd know that, but then again, maybe that's why she broke up with you. Your attention span is of a hamster's and any time the focus is on her, it's never admiration or complimentary," Gabriella said. Chad didn't say anything as he stared at a row of encyclopedias.

"What are we going to do, Gabriella?" His voice had softened, but she sensed no warmth. He didn't want to be asking this question.

Hands on her hips, she cocked her head at him. "I don't know what you're going to do, but I'm going to be trying to get through the next four months. Don't worry, Mr. Danforth, you won't have to hold up your end of the deal. It was your sperm, but I suppose I can play house wife and take care of the baby myself," she sighed and moved past him before he could utter another word.

The classroom's cold air felt good against her hot skin. It was January, but most people wore shorts and t-shirts, as opposed to her sweatshirts and cargos. Mr. Freedman smiled politely at her as she walked past, and her face flared with embarrassment. She could stand the rumors and the gossip of the students, but she hated the thought of what the teachers talked about in the privacy of their lounge. Ms. Darbus smirked slightly when Gabriella's stomach first began to expand, but said nothing more, only leaving a feeling of humiliation to rest inside the student.

History was one of Gabriella's favorite classes, but she couldn't seem to focus as Mr. Freedman went over the homework from the night before. Two seats away, there he sat, Troy Bolton, the golden boy. She still loved him, a little over a year they had first met at East High. Twelve months had gone by so quickly, but every day she didn't go without thinking about him. Once or twice he had appeared in her dreams, smiling that platinum smile that made her heart swoon. It made her wonder why she ever slept with Chad.

At the time, he hadn't been seeing Taylor. They had broken up for a moment, when she decided he thought basketball was more important than she was. Only days after their subtle parting, Gabriella had ended up sitting next to Chad at Serena Seeley's party, talking to him like they were old friends. Outside, he kissed her, and she kissed him back, all while she thought of Troy. Then, somehow, she ended up in his car. Disgusting. Her first time, in a car, with a guy she didn't like. Disgusting.

And as she slid her dress back on, the cool silk against her hot, sweaty skin, she remembered glancing at him. "This won't go unpunished," she said, and he nodded indolently, staring at the window as he started the car and began the drive home.

Mr. Freedman called her name. "Ms. Montez," he began. She didn't reply. "Ms. Montez!" Gabriella blinked and turned to look up at him. Someone snickered, and a chorus of giggles began. She thought she saw Troy give her a sympathetic glance out of the corner of her eye, but the history teacher interrupted her thoughts again after shushing the other students. "Care to join us, Ms. Montez?"

"Yes, sir," she murmured quietly. The man nodded and turned back to the white board, writing the rest of his lesson for the day. She stole glances from Troy once in a while, taking in his dark hair and bright blue eyes. Gabriella shocked herself by wishing for a moment that she was carrying his baby. She still loved him, but she couldn't actually—could she?

After class, she shuffled to her locker, her books resting on the expanding curve that had formed below her breasts. She really was pregnant.

"Hey," a voice said. She turned to see Kelsi, and forced a smile. Gabriella liked the occasional company, but she wasn't sure she could handle any delicate or broken conversations that tried to stay as comfortable as possible. "How are you?"

"Fine," Gabriella replied coolly, entering her locker's combination. The door swung forward and she dropped her books in, wincing at the loud bang they made against the metal. "Just fine." She paused, searching her purse for her car keys and the note her mother had written that morning. In neat cursive, Theresa explained Gabriella had a 'doctor's appointment and if she could be excused, that would be great.' The gingerly written letter felt odd in Gabriella's hand, but she supposed it was only because of its subject content.

"You going somewhere?" Kelsi asked.

"Yes," Gabriella replied, not bothering to elaborate. She closed her locker and made her way for the office, leaving the only friend she had behind. It wasn't as if Kelsi was by herself, too; she was just the only one nice enough to check up on the mother-to-be once in a while. That was over now.

Ms. Byrd, the office secretary, took the note and glanced over it carelessly. "You may go," she said, handing a permission pass to Gabriella for her windshield. The student took the slip of paper and walked outside, her bag around her shoulder as footsteps grew louder behind her.

The sound of Taylor's voice was odd, as Gabriella never spoke to her anymore. "Gabriella," the girl was breathless as she caught up with her. "Where are you going?"

Pink flushed in Gabriella's cheeks. "Oh, um, the doctor's…" she replied, feeling the goodness she rememebered in their friendship fade away.

"Oh," Taylor said. "Well, have fun. I guess." She made a face and walked away, as if nothing had happened. What a talent! Something as intense as a pregnancy could happen and Taylor could make it seem like she couldn't care less. Gabriella was no certain there was no friends left for her now. She was all alone.

As she walked outside, she watched the ground, seeing her shadow appear as her back met the sun. Her Mini Cooper was in the nearest corner, parked at the edge of the row. She began for it, but a voice interrupted. "Need a ride?" Like the angel in It's a Wonderful Life, Troy Bolton appeared before her, keys in his hand. She wished silently that the happiness in her face wasn't as evident as it always was, and then maybe she could claim for once that she wasn't completely in love with him.