Whoops. Haha, I put the wrong chapter up. Or well, kinda, theres just a few small differences. But its still the same chapter. Sorry about that. Well here's chapter 8!

Gabriella stopped at the kitchen entrance and just stood there. Shocked on the inside, yet her face was emotionless.

What's going on? She thought to herself, as she hugged her arms around her body.

Mrs. Montez finally realized that Gabriella finished talking to Troy outside, and was now at the kitchen entrance.

"Hey sweetie. Did Troy leave?" She asked. Gabriella didn't respond, she just nodded silently.

"Oh, I was going to invite him to stay for dinner." Mrs. Montez said.

"He had to go home, it's a school night anyways." Gabriella said softly, still standing at the door.

"Well, anyways, look who's here Gabriella!" Her mom said happily as the man stood smiling at Gabriella.

"Who's here?" Gabriella asked, knowing that her mother was referring to the man in the kitchen. His smile died down a little, but was still smiling. He stood there, staring at Gabriella, tall, dark-haired, dressed in dress pants, dress shirt, and a tie.

"You don't remember?" Her mom's smile fell. "Gabby,--" She started, but then she was cut off.

"I think I'll take it from here Jen." The man said, turning to Mrs. Montez as she nodded. (A/n: Jen was the first name that came to mind. LOL)

"Gabby, I, err, um, do you mind if I call you Gabby or would you prefer Gabriella?"

"Gabby, is fine." She replied.

"Great." He smiled more. "Well, um, anyways, wow. It's so good to see you. My name is James Montez. I'm your father, Gabby." He said, unsure of how she was going to react.

Gabriella tightened her grip around her arms. My father? She gasped, thinking to her self.

"But..." Gabriella started, looking confused at her mother.

"I know." Mrs. Montez simply said, knowing what her daughter was thinking. "I told you that your father didn't know about you... but he did. See, honey, he's in the army, and when I was pregnant with you, he had to be in Europe the last few month of my pregnancy. I was too scared to fly out to Europe. After you were born, and I started going back to work, he asked me to go to Europe so we could all live there since the military needed him there. But I couldn't risk leaving my job. You two used to talk on the phone all the time when you were little, and he visited a few times when you were younger, but I guess you don't remember. Especially with us moving around a lot." Her mother explained. Gabriella just stood there, even more shocked. Looking at her mother, then back to James, and then to her mother again.

"So then what happened?" Gabriella managed to say, still confused.

"Well, you and your mother were on the move so much, I lost track of where you guys were. And I was stationed all over Europe, so you and your mother lost track of me too. But recently, they told me I was gonna be stationed back in the U.S., but I had a choice between several locations. I wanted to find you and your mother, so, I told the military I'd only go if they help me find you two. Since they needed me here so badly, they found your mom through the company, and here I am." He explained.

Gabriella nodded, showing she understood, then quickly turned, and went to grab her purse, and walked out the door to her car. Martin felt awkward, so he decided to go after her.

"Gabby wait!" He said running out the door.

"Martin, if you want to come, you can come. If not then I'm leaving."

"Wait! I'm coming!" He yelped.

"I had a feeling she'd react like this." Mrs. Montez sighed.

"Well, you can't blame her... she's been through a lot her whole life." James said.

"Yeah. We'll talk to her later." She said, James nodded in agreement.

"So how have things been all these years?" he asked, taking a seat.

"It's been rough, but we're finally settling. This is the first place Gabriella's been accepted." Mrs. Montez said, and they continued to talk, until Gabriella came home.

"Gabby, are you okay?" Martin asked, as Gabriella backed out from the driveway.

"I don't know..." She sighed.

"Where are we going?"

"I'm not sure... Do you wanna go to the park nearby?"

"Sure, whatever makes you happy." He said sympathetically.

"Mmkay, it's not as big as the one you go to with your class, but I just needed to get out of the house to think." She said.

"That's okay."

"Thanks Martin." She glanced at him, coming to a stop sign.

"You're welcome! It's what friends do right?"

"Yep. Best friends."

"We're best friends! WOW!"

"Hah, mhmm." She nodded her head. "You're always there for me." She said, pulling into the parking lot. They got out, and walked over to the playground. The playground wasn't that big since it was more of a sports park, with soccer fields, tennis courts, basketball courts for both kids and adults, and a dirt track around the rim of the park for runners. They sat on the swings for a while in silence, until Gabriella finally spoke.

"I remember... always talking to someone on the phone when I was younger." She said softly.

"I'm guessing that was him." Martin said.

"I guess. I don't really remember much though. But what I don't get is, why didn't he find a way to find us, until now? I mean, if he loves us so much, to only come back here if the Military stationed him near us, why wait until now?"

"Maybe he didn't know if you wanted to talk to him still."

"I guess he could've got the wrong impression since calls stopped. And there was that whole loosing track of contact and all..." Gabriella started to cave in. I don't know, it's just too much to handle in one day."

Martin just nodded. "Are you happy?" He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I never got to know my real dad... But now you get to know yours, so I was just wondering if you're happy that he's back.." He explained.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"Well, I guess I am. But I'm still mad that he didn't try sooner, but then again I still don't know his side of the story."

"Gabby? Martin? A familiar voice said from behind them in the dim lighted park.

"Troy?" Gabriella said, looking around, as Troy appeared.

"Hey you two, what are you guys doing here?"

"Hey Troy!" Martin said.

"Hey you. Just talking." Gabriella said, getting of the swing to hug Troy, who kissed her on the cheek before they let go.

"Oh."

"So, what are you doing here?" Gabriella asked.

"Just getting a night workout in since I don't have any homework left." He laughed, tossing around his basket ball in his hands.

"Typical." Gabriella said rolling her eyes. "So, how long have you been here?"

"Not that long. I just jogged over here not too long ago, and I heard some familiar voices on my way to the courts, so I thought I'd see who I heard."

"Hmm, lucky you it was us."

"Yep."

"Oh! Can we play some basketball with you like you said Troy!" Martin jumped up in the air.

"Hm, yeah sure. We can play on the smaller courts." He said. "Come on." He said pulling Gabriella's hand and followed Martin as he ran to the smaller court with the shorter baskets.

"So, did everything go good with your mom?" Troy asked as walked onto the court where Martin was waiting. Gabriella just shrugged in reply.

"Is that a no-shrug, I don't know- shurg, or a yes-shrug?" Troy chuckled, shooting the basketball into the basket.

"It went okay? I think." Gabriella said, watching Martin shoot the ball.

"What do you mean?" Troy asked passing the ball back to Martin.

"Well, that's why me and Martin are here. I kinda freaked at my mom's news, and I needed to get out of the house."

"Why? Is it really that bad? You're not moving or anything are you?" Troy stopped to face Gabriella. Martin just paid attention to playing, and let them talk.

"No." She nodded. "It's just.. my dad... or well, James is back."

"James?" Troy asked.

"Mhmm, he's well, my dad."

"Oh. Well that's a good thing then right?"

"I haven't seen him since.. Well, I don't even remember. My mom and I lost contact with him while he was stationed in Europe." She said.

"Is he nice?"

"He seems nice, but I didn't really talk to him. I left after him and my mom explained to me why he was never around."

"Well, you should go talk to your parents then. Give him a chance Gabby." He said, shooting the ball after Martin had passed it to him.

"Yeah, I guess you're right.. I think we should get going then, it's almost time for dinner and my mom is probably worried." Gabriella let out a sigh.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine." Troy said, trying to comfort her.

"Hey, did you want to come over for dinner? My mom wanted to invite you, but you left before she could ask."

"Uhm, yeah, I'm not really dressed, and I still have to ask my parents."

"That's okay, we can drive over to your house since you jogged." She giggled.

"Great. Let's go."

"I win then!" Martin yelled, retrieving the ball after he just made a shot.

"What! You so cheated!" Troy laughed.

"Nope. I won." He said as they were walking to Gabriella's car.

"I want a re-match." Troy chuckled.

"Boys..." Gabriella giggled.

"Girls..." Troy and Martin mocked.

Well, there's chapter 8! Please Review! Thanks! Hmm, okay, I'm gonna go work on the next chapter for "My Heart's Debut". The next chapter for that one should be up tomorrow hopefully, soo go review that story too if you haven't read it!