Chapter 1

Gabriella woke up early in the morning on her eighteenth birthday. She looked across the room and saw Isabel staring out of the window. The sun was shining brightly. Isabel turned and saw Gabriella sitting up on her bed.

"Happy birthday, sis," Isabel said, as she gave Gabriella a hug.

"Thanks, Isabel," Gabriella smiled. "You're probably the only one who would remember."

Isabel did not answer. She knew that Gabriella was right. She did not want to upset Gabriella by saying 'yes'.

"Are you really going to leave?" Isabel asked. She had heard about Gabriella's plan to walk out of the house.

"I'm sorry, Isabel," Gabriella said. "But, I have to go. I'll come back for you, once I find a place to stay."

Isabel looked at Gabriella sadly. "I'm going to miss you," she said, softly.

"I'm going to miss you, too, Isabel," Gabriella replied. "You're my best friend, and you'll always will be, remember that, okay?"

"Always," Isabel promised.

Gabriella and Isabel got dressed quickly. They hurried downstairs and saw Mrs. Montez standing at the front door. She grinned cruelly at Gabriella.

"Get your fat ass out of here," she snarled. "You're eighteen now. I don't have to look after you."

"I was planning on leaving anyway," Gabriella said. "But, when I'm gone, please don't hurt Isabel."

"Take her with you," Mrs. Montez said. "Just don't come back."

"Fine," Gabriella said.

Gabriella hurried upstairs with Isabel close behind her. They both gathered their things and put them into one bag. There was not much as Mrs. Montez had never gotten them anything. She only got presents for James. Isabel and Gabriella made their way out of the house without saying a word. Isabel was really glad to get out of the house that she had to call 'home'. She was glad to go with her sister to wherever she was going. The two sisters climbed into Gabriella's car and drove away.

"So, Isabel, you are probably wondering where we are going, right?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah," Isabel nodded.

"We are going to Adriana's house," Gabriella said. "Dad's sister."

"Oh, will she take us in?" Isabel asked.

"Yeah," Gabriella nodded. "I've already arranged everything with her. She's really rich. She gave me this car, you know. She'll get you to a good school and everything."

"Where does she live?" Isabel asked.

"Albuquerque," Gabriella answered before turning her attention to the road again.

A few minutes later, Isabel fell asleep. Gabriella drove all day before she got to Albuquerque. When she reached Adrianna's house, it had gotten quite late. She hoped that Adrianna would still be up at that time. Gabriella woke Isabel up.

"Iz," she said, shaking Isabel a bit.

"Yeah, Gabi," Isabel groaned.

"We're here," Gabriella said.

Isabel sat up and glanced out of the window at the bug house in front of them.

"Are you sure that this is the right place, Gabs?" she asked. "Because, this is not a house. It's a castle."

"Oh, well, we'd better go see if Adrianna's home," Gabriella shrugged and jumped out of the car.

Isabel followed Gabriella to the doorstep. Gabriella rang the doorbell and a few minutes later the door opened. A young woman who looked like she was in her early twenties stood at the door, smiling warmly at them.

"Hi, Adrianna," Gabriella smiled as Adrianna wrapped her arms around the two girls in a hug.

"Are you two okay?" Adrianna asked, hurriedly. "Where are your things? No, don't worry about them. One of the maids will go and get them for you. I have been waiting for you for hours. What took you so long? I was worried sick…"

"Honey, you're blabbing," a male voice said. Gabriella and Isabel looked up and saw a man standing at the doorway.

"Gabi, Iz, this is my fiancé, Nick Fox," Adrianna said. "Nick, this is Gabriella and this is Isabel."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Fox," Gabriella smiled, politely.

"Oh, now, remember girls, I am a very strict person," nick said, waving his finger at them. "But, only if you keep calling me Mr. Fox. It's Nick, girls."

"Oh, okay, Nick," Gabriella said, slowly.

"Oh, Nick," Adrianna laughed. "Don't scare them. Girls, Nick is the most easygoing person that you could ever meet. You could probably get away with murder with him around."

Gabriella and Isabel laughed. Adrianna led the two girls into the house. The house was warm and was quite homely. Isabel smiled at the thought and accepted some hot chocolate from Adrianna.

"You girls must be really hungry, right?" Adrianna asked. Both sisters nodded. They had not had anything to eat the entire day. "Dinner will be ready in a couple of minutes."

"Thanks, Addie," Gabriella smiled. Adrianna was like her best friend, after Isabel. She could share anything with her and she always knew that Adrianna would be there for her.

"Thanks for letting us stay here, Adrianna," Isabel said, softly. It was the first time that she had spoken after she had gotten out of the car. "You, too, Nick."

"It's not a problem," Nick shrugged off the thanks.

"I promised your father that his two beautiful girls will be happy in their life," Adrianna said. "If you're happy, then everything's good."

"And, we have some good news for you two," Nick grinned. "You two have been accepted at East High School."

"You mean the East High Wildcats?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah," Adrianna frowned. "Do you know them?"

"Well, I've heard of them," Gabriella said. "I mean, they were our biggest rivals. I was one of the West High Knights."

"Oh," Nick said. "IT ought to be weird, then; fitting in with all the people that you hate."

"I don't hate the Wildcats," Gabriella said. "I hate the Knights. They are quite mean and stuck up."

After dinner, Isabel and Gabriella went to bed. They each had a room of their own. It was nice to go to bed after taking a bath in the hot water. Gabriella wondered if it was all a dream. She had always wanted to live a luxurious life, but, she did not want to be stuck up either. Both sisters were excited to go to a new school the following day. It was also one of the nights that they had slept peacefully without a disturbance for a long time.