A/N: Oh my gosh, you guys are officially my favorite people in the world! So, fanfiction is becoming my new hangout, but that's ok…please continue to review, thank you endlessly for the favor ;), so here's my reward:

Chapter 25: Mami

Gabriella awoke in a start the next morning. She didn't understand it. Nothing. She had been spending the last few nights dreaming the same stupid, empty dream. She knew it was a dream, because she was in it, but no one else. She would be by herself, walking down a long hallway. The emptiness scared her, and even though she didn't shoot up every night, screaming as though experiencing a nightmare, she still wished that her nights would go dreamless, or maybe even – by some miracle – go back to seeing nothing but her and Troy.

She slowly made her way to the bathroom and let the steam engulf her body. It had been four days that she hadn't spoken to Taylor. Mostly because she had decided not to think about it. She didn't want to. She didn't understand the way Taylor was acting – they had been friends since preschool, talked to each other almost every day, but it never annoyed her. In fact, she'd look forward to talking about nothing with her best friends. And then the only thing she wanted was to spend time with her boyfriend and suddenly she gets attached? Maybe Taylor was jealous that she was spending all her time with Troy. Gabriella made herself stop, trying to let the hot water and steam cloud her thoughts. Gabriella walked into her bedroom, changed and made-up, to her mother's excited face.

"Gaby! Aren't you excited!?"

"About what, Mami?"

"It's your last day of classes before Christmas break! C'mon, normally your hoppin'!"

"Mami, don't use slang, please." Gabriella moped to her desk, stuffing her books into her schoolbag.

"What's wrong?" Gabriella winced. She hated her mother's radar.

"Nothing. Just stressed."

"Honey, it's Friday, you're last day of school and after having written all of your mid-year exams. What's really wrong?" Gabriella sighed.

"Mami, I'm going to be late for school."

"Too bad. I'm not letting you leave this house before you tell me what's going on? Is it about Troy? He didn't break up with you, did he? What did he say to you? If he said one thing that made you even think that you –"

"MAMI! No, it's…it's not." She huffed, exasperated, "He didn't break up with me. It's like, the exact opposite."

"OK…" Her mother encouraged her; Gabriella knew with disappointment that she was ready to be the amazing listener that she knew her mother was.

"I don't have time, Mami." Gabriella barely squeaked out.

"Don't care. Sit. Talk." Her mother ordered, rather than requested. Gabriella felt herself lose it. She sobbed, slumping into the familiar indent of her bed. Her mother stroked her hair, waiting for her daughter to respond.

"Mami." Gabriella sobbed into her mother's lap. "Am I spending too much time with Troy?" Gabriella finally breathed out, looking up at her mother's face from her lap.

"Bella, everybody has different preferences when it comes to relationships and how much time you spend with someone you really like. What's going on, honey?"

"Taylor. She…I don't know. She blew up at me. I think it's because I'm spending a lot of time with Troy. But she was calling me like three times everyday. It was so annoying, Mami. But now I…I kind of…wish I paid attention to her a bit more I guess. Maybe then she'd talk to me."

"Bella. Sounds like you're forgetting about the two kinds of love. There's love and there's friendship. I remember once when you and Taylor were seven. We went to Canada for a winter trip and you two girls made an igloo. Taylor said she was the head of the igloo, because she got the snow. You said you were in charge because you chose the perfect spot and you watered it down to ice it. You both built it though. Took you girls four good hours. That's a long time."

"Mami, I don't…"

"Let me finish. You both came in at the end of the day, laughing. I asked you what was going on, you had both just been squabbling, blah, blah, blah. You know what you said? It was stupid to throw away your hard work for something silly like the head of the igloo." Gabriella sighed. She normally loved cute, old stories about her and Taylor, but this one made the whole situation seem worse. And it was cheesy.

"I gotta go to school, Mami."

"OK, honey. Just keep in mind that it takes a lot of hard work to get to where you and Taylor are. You go talk to her, apologize for neglecting her."

"Neglecting her?"

"Uh huh. Even if you only spend once a week of heart to heart time with her, it's healthy for girls to get together and talk about things you can only talk about with girls. You need her more than you think you do, sweetie. Have a good day." She left Gabriella wiping her tears and running mascara, thinking about the message her mom had just whipped at her, hitting her like a brick in the face, sending guilt and regret from the wound.