Summary: "Whats that?" her mother asked, pointing to the bruise on Gabriella's wrist. "Nothing," Gabi answered quickly. "I bumped myself when I was getting something out of the closet." Gabriella moved her arm as she spoke so her mother would not stare at the bruise. There was no way she was going to tell her mother what Troy did.

! Read to find out what happens in Someone to Love Me!

Chapter 2:

Alone in the apartment, Gabriella sat in the recliner in front of the TV and turned it on with the remote control. She had to push hard to make the recliner go back into a comfortable position. The old chair did not work as well as it used to, and Mom said she did not make enough money at her waitressing job to buy a new one. Gabi had believed her until she noticed her mother frequently buying herself new outfits to wear for Mario. It seemed that once a week Mom came home carrying shopping bags from expensive department stores.

When Gabi asked her about it, Mom explained that Mario had been giving her money so she could buy nice clothes, but this only made Gabriella more upset. It was as if Mario was buying her mother away from her, and there was nothing Gabi could do to stop it. Gabriella began flipping through the channels when he heard the bell ring. Annoyed, she turned toward the door and called out, "Yeah? Who is it?" "Mrs. Daniels, honey," came a familiar voice. Eva Daniels lived at the other end of the hall. She was raising her fifteen-year-old grandson, Jason Cross.

Once, in the basement laundry room, Gabriella overheard Mrs. Daniels tell a neighbor that Jason's mother died in childbirth, and his father never was in the picture. Gabriella got up and opened the door. "Hi, Mrs. Daniels." "Child, I heard the TV goin', so I figured you were home. I was worried about you. Ain't you supposed to be in school?" Mrs. Daniels asked. "Uh… cramps," Gabi lied, rubbing her hand on her stomach. "Poor thing! I make tea that's real soothin' for that. I'll bring you some if you like," Mrs. Daniels offered.

"No thank you. I just took something. I'll feel better soon," Gabi said smiling. Eva Daniels stared at her for a moment. Gabriella braced herself for criticism about not being in school. But then the old women began to smile. "Child, you got the prettiest eyes I ever did see." She said. "Me?" Gabriella said, stunned. "You must be thinkin' of my Mom. She's got real pretty eyes with long lashes, but my eyes are-" "I never noticed before that you got the pretties chocolate brown eyes, Gabriella," Mrs. Daniels added. "Folks say the eyes are windows to the soul. They believe you can look someone right in the eye and tell what kind of person they are."

"Some buy in school says I have freak eyes," Gabi said. "Now he and his friends call me that whenever they see me." Mrs. Daniels grabbed hold of Gabriella's shoulders and looked into her face. "Child, your eyes are beautiful, and don't you forget that. Pay no mind to what a boy says 'bout you. My grandson Jason tells me that some of them kids at your school can be downright nasty-when they start talkin'. Let 'em call you names. But its you who's got the prettiest eyes around, not them. Remember that."

As she spoke, Mrs. Daniels gently placed her hand on Gabi's cheek. "Some people need to see their own beauty they can believe they got it," she said smiling. Mrs. Daniels waved goodbye and headed down the long hallway. Gabi hurried to the bathroom mirror and stared into it. She stood for a long time, moving her face in close for a better look. Her mother had a mirror that magnified everything, and Gabi looked into that too.

Her large chocolate eyes stared back into her. Did Mrs. Daniels mean what she said, or was she being nice? Gabriella wondered. Leaving the TV on, Gabi jumped in the shower and washed her hair. Then she gathered her dirty clothes, took them downstairs and put them in the washing machine. When the clothes were dry, she brought them back upstairs, folded them neatly and put them into her drawers. It was the first time she had done her laundry in weeks.

After putting the clothes away, Gabriella found a pair of white jeans and two ribbed tank tops, one blue and the other green and yellow. Maybe I'll go to school tomorrow wearing one of these tank tops, she thought. Probably not, but if she felt like it in the morning, she might go. Mom would write a note explaining that she had been sick. Mom never seemed to care what excuses Gabi used to skip school. Gabi practically dictated them; always remember to vary the made-up ailments.

She used headaches until a nosy teacher started pushing her to see a doctor. Then she added cramps and fevers to her list of illnesses. As Gabriella thought about returning to school, she again recalled what Mrs. Daniels said about her having "the prettiest eyes." She grabbed her mothers magnifying mirror and sat on the recliner looking into it. Gabi tried hard to see what Mrs. Daniels saw.

"Maybe my eyes are pretty," Gabi said into the mirror. On Paula Poole's show, two sisters who were married to the same man were screaming at each other. The show kept bleeping out the bad words flying between them, and when they started pulling each other's hair, the audience went wild. Everybody was laughing and cheering. But Gabi did not pay attention to the show. She kept staring in the mirror, trying out different expression to see how they changed the look of her eyes.

Maybe she wasn't that bad looking, she thought. With her hair clean and brushed, she didn't think she looked as ugly as Mario said. And she had clearer skin than most of the other kids at school. Suddenly the phone rang. Gabriella put the mirror down and answered it. "Hello," she said. "Yo-who's this?" a familiar deep throated voice replied. "Its me," Gabriella answered. "Oh, Ugly Mugly," Mario Whitaker said. "How come you home? You get suspended for messin' up at school again?"

"I never been suspended," Gabi corrected him sharply. "And stop calling me that." Mario laughed. He always chuckled when he upset Gabi. She could just imagine him on the other end of the line-smiling in satisfaction at how he managed to insult her. "C'mon, Ugly Mugly. Where's your momma?" he asked, still laughing. "I told you to stop calling me that," Gabriella demanded. She wished she could reach into the telephone and wrap the cord around his neck.

"Girl, you so ugly," Mario went on, in between bursts of cackling laughter, "when the doctor delivered you, he was wearin' a blindfold." Gabi slammed down the phone. In about a second it rang again. She turned up the TV volume to drown out the ringing. One of the sisters on the Paula Poole show had a nail file, and she looked as if she was about to attack the other one with it. Maybe it was all an act, but the hate in the girl's face seemed real. It was the same hatred Gabi felt for Mario.

Gabriella fantasized about being on the show with Mario Whitaker. She imagined herself grabbing the gold chains he hung around his neck and pulling them so tight his eyes bulged out. The phone kept ringing. "I ain't gonna answer you. You can't make me." Gabriella smiled because for once she had power. Mario Whitaker was fuming somewhere, and he could not do anything about it.

Ignoring the phone's periodic ringing; Gabi picked up the mirror again and repeated the words that Mrs. Daniels had said. "Pretty eyes…pretty chocolatey eyes." Maybe Mrs. Daniels was not the only one who thought she was special. Maybe someone else would feel that way about her too one day. Then the door bust opened.

I hoped all of you loved this chapter! Please review at least need 5-10 reviews! Luv ya much xo

~Zanessa4Life101