Belong

Gabriella Montez has been abandoned by her mother, and after going through many homes, she's finally settled on one, the absolute perfect family, put into a new world, one she's never experienced, full of love and she's stuck between moving on but hanging on, accepting love and giving love. Will her new parents, and the sweet boy next door, finally reach out, and show her that she belongs? Rated M for future chapters.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but original characters. And I give credit to Sarah Dessen on her book Lock and Key for inspiring me to write this story.

A/N: Sorry for the wait! This story is very stubborn, you know. It hates having chapters added.

Chapter Ten

Lies

"Mom was like someone you'd see out a TV show. She could love anyone to death, including me and dad. Her heart was pure, and she always thought that morals were something to live by. She was always perfect… but she was pretty close. But then… then one day, dad had to pick me up from school. I had gotten into one of those schoolyard fights, and my eye was pretty beaten up. When he was driving me home… we, uh… we got into a crash. Some jackass passed a red light and our car got totaled. I got hit pretty badly, but I survived."

"But… not your dad," I whispered, my tears collecting at the corner of my eyes. Carl nodded. "Yeah. His body flew through the window. He died on impact. While I was in the car, I couldn't help but feel so scared. I didn't even care about myself, I was calling him. And I was worried because he didn't answer."

Carl took a deep breath, pausing for a moment. "When I was discharged from the hospital a week later, mom totally shunned me out. She didn't even care about me. She consumed alcohol like she breathed air each day. Slowly, I saw her shut down, become isolated, and I knew I had lost my other parent. Then she had you, a few years later. I thought she'd get her act together." His jaw clenched. "She only got worse. Next thing I knew, I was getting shipped off to some orphanage and never saw her again. And I don't want to."

"Thank you, Carl," I said. He looked at me curiously. "For telling me. I can tell it's hard for you… but you still did. Thank you."

"Well I don't really think I had much of a choice," he said. "But it feels kinda good to get it out in the open, you know?"

"Yeah, it is." I sighed and rubbed my temple. "You're being honest with me, so I'm going to be with you, too." She paused. "I, um, I visited mom today."

Carl's eyes were wide. "What?"

"I know, it was stupid. And I regret it. But… it gave me some kind of closure, you know? To know for sure that she wasn't just scared or not ready to take care of me, but just a complete self-centered, alcoholic bitch."

Carl chuckled. "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Are you okay?"

"I guess I will be," I replied softly. "Wounds don't exactly heal over a day's time." I settled back against the couch and Carl and I sat in a nice, calm silence. But it shortly broke when Annie leaned into the room, holding two cartons of Chinese rice. "I come bearing food," she said. "Chinese."

"I knew I loved you for something," Carl said jokingly. Annie rolled her eyes, and walked farther into the room. She placed the food down, but before we could start digging in, Annie spoke. "So, before we ignore the obvious elephant in the room, let's get it out. How was your little talk?"

"I think we've got an understanding," Carl said, grinning over at me. Then, without missing a beat, he dived into the Chinese food as if it were his last meal. Annie and I laughed, and my heart swelled.

I had a family.

"You okay?' Troy asked as I dumped myself into his car. I nodded and pulled my bag into my lap. Hesitantly, I pulled out a small guitar pick. It had Kurt Cobain on it, and was handmade. I swallowed and lifted it up, showing it to Troy. "Carl said this was his father's. I'm not a huge Kurt Cobain fan, but he was a legend to me through my Goth stage. Still is, kind of."

"It's like you're made for me," Troy said, chuckling. "I don't like Nirvana much, either, and I don't have a CD. But Kurt was legend. I learned how to play Smells Like Teen Spirit when I was fifteen."

I sighed and smiled. "Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong time, you know?"

"We always feel that way, sometime or another."

We drove in silence the rest of the way. It was when we pulled up to the school, though, when I talked.

She was standing it ratty old jeans, and stained T-shirt, and scuffed sneakers. Her hands were shaking as she held a cigarette to her lips, and her hair was like a bird's nest. "Oh, my God," I gasped. I barely heard Troy asking me what happened. "My mom's here. Uh, out front."

"Why?" Troy asked. Hell if I know. But I'm going to find out. I ignored Troy and slipped out of his truck, walking slowly towards the bitch that had made birth to me. "What are you doing here?" I snarled as I walked up to her. She smelled like a skunk's ass and her smile was tight as she looked down at me. "I'm here to see my daughter. Is that a crime?"

"It is if I'm not your daughter," I said. "Seriously, I got your point. Why are you here?"

"I told you already."

I took a deep breath. "Okay. Why are you here to see me?"

She exhaled and looked down at her toes, and she looked nervous. I crossed my arms. "You mentioned Carl yesterday," she finally said. "Did you two… meet?"

"He's my legal guardian now," I said quietly. "Which should be your job, not my older half-brother's job."

"When Carl was born, I wasn't ready to be a mom, okay? I was fourteen, living off of poor parents who didn't want me."

"What's your excuse with me? You weren't ready then, either?"

"Being responsible for another life scared me. What if―what if―" She sighed and dropped her shoulders. "You know what; it was a mistake coming here. I'm just going to go." She turned and hurried away. Like always, running away from her problems. I scoffed and turned around, walking back to Troy's car. "You okay?" he asked as I grabbed my bag. I nodded, and he slipped out the car, coming around to meet me.

"You shouldn't worry about this," he said.

"I'm not. She's just… it just bothers me, you know?" I scoffed, smiling. "What am I saying? Of course you don't know. You've got the perfect parents. The perfect life."

"No one has a perfect life," he said. "Come on. The bell's gonna ring soon."

We walked into the school, and immediately, Tori jumped in front of me. It was like she had sensed I was coming. "Gabriella!" she squealed. "You will not guess what happened yesterday. I have to show you, come on." She tugged my arm, and I realized she wanted to pull me out of the school. I resisted. "Tori, we have to get to class."

"Come on," she said, giving me a pointed stare. "Do you really want to go?"

"Well, I missed most days. So, yeah." I briefly looked at Troy, who had one of his eyebrows arched.

"It'll be fine. Come on." She was frowning.

"Just show me after class," I said, starting to get aggravated. It can't be that important, could it?

"Fine, whatever," she said, then turned and walked off. I looked over at Troy, who shrugged quizzically. "Taylor said she's bad new anyways," he said. I nodded, hesitant, and we walked off to class.

I hoped that today's lunch would be better than my first lunch here at East High. They were serving parfaits and deli sandwiches. I just stuck with a small parfait and an apple, and then let my gaze wander around the crowded lunch room. It seemed as cliché as anything.

The jocks, with their basketball uniforms and their red and white letterman jackets, were sitting at a few tables close together, with the cheerleaders, who, surprise, surprise, were in their short, not particularly modest cheer uniforms. In a secluded corner of the room, were the stoners and skateboarders, who were inconspicuously snorting lines. Then there were the nerds, who had their text books smashed against the tables, as they ate mouthfuls of food and kept their eyes on the words at the same time. A few of the guys were pretending little rolled up pieces of bread were guns. Lastly were the drama geeks and musicians. Their instruments were sprawled around everywhere, and some were even practicing some lines from a heavy script. I sighed irritably and walked around. A few people turn their heads to look at me, wide eyed and gaping.

What the fuck?

I noticed Toni in the back of the lunch room, lying down, with her plate of food balanced on her stomach. She seemed to be the only one without a clique. Besides me, of course.

With slow, deliberate steps, I walked to her. Her eyes were closed, but I knew she wasn't sleeping.

"Hey," I said curtly.

Toni popped an eye open. "Ohh, this is grand," she said sarcastically, and rolled her eyes. "So now you want to hang with me? Since your friends ain't around?"

"Come on, Toni," I said. "What did you expect me to do? I missed a lot of my classes, I already need to catch up and I started East High only a few days ago."

Toni moved her plate off of her stomach and sat up. "Alright, apology accepted. Sit down." I did, and Toni grinned.

"So, what's the deep on you and Troy?"

"Nothing," I said, picking at my parfait with a spoon. Toni snorted. "It's a secret? Fine. I'll tell you one of mine if you tell me one." I sigh, contemplating this agreement, before nodding. Toni smiled. "Alright… let's see… I stole a car before. When I was thirteen."

My mouth dropped. "You stole a car?"

"Yep. But I didn't get in trouble." She grinned proudly.

"Wow. Uh… well, me and Troy are… complicated. I dunno. He hasn't asked me to go out yet."

"Oh. That must suck. God, if I were you I'd be all up on him. You should ask him. Guys aren't the only ones that are able to do that."

"I know, but… we're just so different, you know? I feel like I'm too much of a burden for him."

"Trust me," Toni said. "You are not a burden on anyone. I enjoy your company. You're one of the few people that actually like me."

"What about your friends?"

"Don't have any. I told you I was a good liar, didn't I?"

Yeah. She did, I thought uneasily. A really good liar.

"Don't worry," Toni said. "I won't lie to you. I don't lie to my friends."

I laughed, albeit uneasily. "That's a little hard to believe, since you told me how good of a liar you are."

"Come on." She threw an arm around me. "We're friends, aren't we? This means we gotta trust each other."

"Oh, look at this," a voice said. Both Toni and I looked towards it. A guy stood there―what was his name again? Blake Anderson? Behind him was his small entourage, with the same horrible, conceited smirk that Blake had. Toni scowled beside me. "What the fuck do you want, Anderson?" she growled. Blake crossed his arms and shrugged. "What? I can't say hi to the lesbian duo?" My mouth dropped. Lesbian?

Where had that come from?

I was about to stand up and defend it when Toni shot me a look and stood up herself. "What mine and Gabriella's sexuality is is none of your business."

I'm pretty sure my mouth hit the ground in shock. What the fuck was she doing?

The guys laughed and Blake looked at me. "So. You guys want to have a threesome?"

This is where it ends. Toni looks ready to say something, but I get to it first. I stand and my hand is across Blake's face in a second. He's shocked, and so is everyone in the room. "If you ever say something to me like that again, I will make you eat your fucking balls," I spit out.

"Hey, hey, hey," he said, flustered. "You suggested it. The picture on the newspaper said you'd pay anyone who would like to have a threesome with you and Toni."

"What are you talking about?"

Blake pulled out something from his back pocket. It was a clipping from the newspaper/ Toni and I were on it, arms wrapped around each other in the bathroom. Under it, it says: Will Have Threesome for Forty Bucks an Hour.

I snatched it away and ripped it up. My head was dizzy with anger and I turned to Toni. "What the fuck is this?"

"It looks bad, I know," Toni said. "But it was supposed to be practical, alright? I was talking to this guy and I showed him the picture and he said we look like really comfortable lezzies. I tried to shoot it down, but then I was like, yeah, you know, we kinda do. He was the editor of the newspaper. He must've thought I was saying, yeah, we are lezzies. He must've made the rest up."

I wasn't sure if she was lying or not. But I was angry, nonetheless. I stormed out of the lunch room, yet again, and stumbled down the hall.

How can you possibly trust someone in a world of liars?

The hall was empty for the most part. I walked past doors and hallways, but stopped at one particular door. It was open, and a fresh breeze was contently hitting me.

I walked forward.

I walked up the large stairwell until the breeze grew stronger, and I found myself on the roof. There were flowers everywhere. Twisting over the railings and hanging loosely over the benches.

"Who are you?"

I turned around.

A girl, who was small and skinny, was hiding behind a few flower pots. Her hair was short, and a fiery red, that actually seemed to go well with her green eyes. She walked forward, raising an eyebrow. "Who are you?" she asked again, irritated.

"Gabriella Montez," I answered. "Uh, sorry, I didn't know that―"

Suddenly, she doubled over in laughter. My sentence died on the back of my throat as I stared at her, confused. "What?"

"I'm sorry," she gasped, clutching her side. "Oh, my God. Wow. You're… the one who… who…" She could barely even finish her sentence. "Who fell that day in the lunch room?"

And now I was irritated. "Wow. Look at how mature you are."

"Sorry, sorry… that was just so funny. And it was even funnier how you said, "Fuck you" to Clark Lawrence. I mean, no one messes with the hockey players, but you put him in his spot."

"Alright, well, I think I'm going to go now." I turned to walk away, but she grabbed my arm.

"Hey, wait. You came up here for some reason. Did you get humiliated in the lunch room again?"

"I'm apparently a lesbian now," I deadpanned. She shrugged. "So are my mom's. Nothing humiliating about that."

"It is when your supposed friend is the one who said it."

"Who would that be?"

"Toni Martinez."

The girl frowned. "Oh. Antonia. Yeah, she's a real bitch, you know? And, well, my sister, but I don't really like to call her that."

I looked at her dubiously. "Sister?"

"Yeah. After my mom divorced my dad, she found out that she was pregnant with twins. Me and Toni." I was even more surprised. They looked nothing alike, aside from the eyes. "We're fraternal," she said, as if she read my mind. She held out a small, manicured hand. "I'm Darcie."

I gave her hand a small, firm shake. "Why don't you call her your sister anymore?"

"She's manipulative." Darcie laughed cynically. "She stole my boyfriend a while back, too. And then when I called her a bitch, she made my life a living hell. Told everyone lies about me. Got everyone against me."

My throat went dry. "What kind of lies?"

"Horrible ones. Like, I once seduced my uncle and paid him four hundred bucks to sleep with me. Or, I try to… I try to do stuff to her at night." Darcie sighed and looked down. "Do you know how disgusting that is? And she hit them hard to, so no one can really find out if it's true or not. Toni is a good liar. She can make anyone on her side. And that's why you can't get on her bad side."

"Wow," I said, feeling weird. "Taylor was right."

"Nothing's ever a lie when you're talking about Toni," Darcie said softly. The bell then rung and Darcie sighed. "I'll see you later, Gabriella." Then she walked down the steps. I heard the door close with a soft thud.

Sitting down on the bench, I thought long and hard.

I didn't come back down to the end of the day.

"Troy?"

Troy's grandma called from the kitchen and he dropped his bag off by door. I waited patiently as he went to attend her needs, and looked around. There were various family photos. However, there was one in particular that caught my eye. There was Troy, a little younger than he is now, holding a little girl that couldn't have been more than six or seven. Her eyes were wide and bright, and she clung onto Troy with all her might, a strong smile pulling at her lips. I walked towards it and picked it up. After a brief glance over my shoulder, I gently pulled the picture from its frame and turned it around.

Connie Elizabeth Bolton 2004 to 2010

With a little gasp, I quickly slipped the picture back in its rightful place.

Troy had a little sister?

"Gabriella?"

I turned quickly at the sound of Troy's voice. He frowned. "You okay?'

"Yeah, sure, I'm just… how's your grandma?"

"Fine. Just a little confused, but that's nothing new."

"Oh." I nodded and moved away from the picture.

"You sure?" Troy walked over to her. "I mean, it's understandable with your mom and all."

"Have you ever heard anything about Toni?" I asked hesitantly. Troy shook his head. "I'm not into that gossip stuff." He paused. "Why?"

"I don't know. A lot of people who know her get hurt."

"Hurt how?"

"Emotionally, I guess. I dunno."

"Maybe you shouldn't hang out with her, then."

"Maybe not," I agree silently.

We sit down together and curl up. Troy turns the TV on and soon, I find myself dozing off.

So, that's the chapter. I'm not really feeling it. It took forever and a day to write, though. How are you feeling about Toni? Is she lying, or is Darcie?

Review?

Thanks!-Brittany