1)I love everyone who reviewed/favorited/subscribed this story. You guys are amazing and I would hug every single one of you if I could.

2)Sorry for any grammatical errors in the last chapter. I was exhausted when I wrote it and my editing skills were NOT up to par.

3)This story isn't my idea! I wish I was this clever. Read The Pregnancy Project by Gaby Rodriguez and Jenna Glatzer. It's a really good book. Or watch the movie. Either will work.

4)Yes, this is told in Gabriella's point-of-view.

5)Enjoy this chapter.

Only 40% of teen mothers finish high school. Less than 2% get a college degree by age 30.

Was I really doing this? I've been asking myself this question for over a month now. Am I really going to go through with this? I mean, it's like I've told anyone I was "pregnant". It was still early enough to think of a new project idea.

"What's wrong?" My older sister Lola asked, sitting down next to me on my bed. She was going to start her sophomore year at UC San Diego in a week.

"I'm just thinking." I told her. "I have a lot on my mind."

"About your fake pregnancy?"

I raised my eyebrow at her. I didn't tell her anything about this. "How did you know about..."

"Mom." Lola replied. "We were talking and she told me."

"Of course. Mom can be a big blabber mouth."

"She didn't mean to. She was rambling and it slipped out. I was two seconds away from calling you and cursing you out, when she told me it was fake."

"I swear, mom and dad are going to give themselves grey hair over this fake pregnancy. Imagine when you, me or Angelo actually have children one day."

"How did you get Troy to agree to this?" Lola asked, scratching her head in confusion.

I shrugged. I'm still trying to figure out how I got him to go along with this. "I don't know. He still thinks it's a bad idea, but once I get one, I have to run with it or I will lose my mind. I don't think he has much of a choice. I was going to do it with or without him."

"So he was going to be the father in this equation no matter what you did?"

"Yeah." I agreed.

"So does anyone think that you're pregnant?"

I nodded, "Yeah. Troy's family. Only his parents know the truth. He was going to lie to them, but Lucille started crying hysterically and ha a panic attack. We almost had to take her to the hospital. Troy ending up cracking. He isn't the best liar."

"Lucille, had a panic attack?"

I nodded remembering when we told them the other day. It was not pretty. "Yeah. She's just happy I'm not actually pregnant.

"You really have it all figured out, huh?" Lola asked, smiling.

I smiled,"Yeah."

I was lying. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I guess I was just going with the flow. This was totally new for me. I was such an organized person, but this was different.

"How are you going to tell your friends? And your teachers?"

"I don't know. I guess I'll just tell them. Everyone else will find out, eventually."

Lola stared at me. "This is so much better than my senior project. I interned at Taylor's mother's office for psychology. I got an A, but you'll get like an A++, if that's even possible."

I let out an exaggerated sigh, "I hope." There was still a 99.9% chance this would blow up in my face.

"I have faith in you. This will be the most amazing thing East High has ever seen."

This was one of the moments where I seriously love my sister. She has the most optimistic view on life.

"Thank you."

"It's what I'm here for."

Everyone was sitting in my room, staring at me. Taylor's mouth was open, Zeke was staring at Troy, Kelsi looked like she wanted to cry, and everyone else was just shocked.

This isn't the type of staring I'm used to. I'm used to being stared at with envy, or admiration. Not this. This mixture of shock, and sympathy.

Sharpay cleared her throat, "Hold on. You're pregnant? How?"

Troy rolled his eyes, "Well Sharpay, when two people..."

"Shut it, Super Sperm!" Sharpay snapped. I chuckled. One point for Ms. Evans. "I mean how can you two be so...stupid?"

"You guys have been having sex since you were like, what 15?" Taylor said. "I mean two and a half years later, your pregnant?"

Chad put his head in his hands, "Troy, you, Jason, Zeke and I didn't buy all those condoms for you to not use them."

"Yeah, and Gabriella," Sharpay started, pointing her finger at me, "I have seen you swallow your birth control pills dry. What the hell happened?"

Crap. I wasn't planning on explaining this. "Well, I guess things happen. This is just one of life's obstacles."

"This is a lot bigger than an obstacle!" Sharpay said. "This is...a baby! You are having a baby! You don't even want kids until you were 30."

"Yeah and in 6th grade I wanted Invisalign but my mom made me get regular braces. Life isn't always about what I want, anymore. I'm having a baby and it's about the baby."

"This is so selfish of you!" Sharpay exclaimed. "We can't do anything fun. We were supposed to go to Cabo San Lucas for spring break."

I almost told her we could still do this. I wasn't planning on doing this project past early April. I felt really bad about lying to my best friends.

I frowned, "Sorry Sharpay. I have to focus on school and this baby."

Kelsi looked shocked, "Wow. Gabriella, you actually sound...mature."

"What? Are you saying I'm immature?"

"Mature isn't the right word. Motherly, maybe?" Kelsi corrected.

"Thanks. I guess it comes with, you know, being a mom."

"So how far along are you?" Jason asked.

"Five weeks."

"How are your parents taking this? Troy's jaw isn't broken."

Troy shrugged, "Well, they're pissed, but what can they really do. We're turning 18 in a few months. They'll soon have no control over us anymore."

"What about college?"

"I'm going to college. I don't care what I have to do, but I'm getting a degree." That was probably the most honest thing I've said in this entire conversation. I'm getting out of this boring as town if it's the last thing I do.

"Yeah, but statistics say..."

"Lets not get into stats right now, Tay." Troy said, cutting her off.

Kelsi sighed, "So this is really happening?"

Troy gave her a nod, "Yes. Brie and I are...having a baby."

My room got silent. No one could say anything. They were too shocked to speak.

Sharpay cleared her throat, "You better have a girl."

I smiled, "Let's hope."

School. For the first time in a while, I was looking forward to this. Excited and nervous. I had no idea how this was all going to play out. I hope my friends didn't spill the beans.

"Are you ok?" Troy asked, watching me pace back and forth in front of him.

I nodded, "Yeah. I'm just...I don't know."

Troy grabbed my hands and pulled me into a hug. He smelled like Hugo by Hugo Boss. "Breathe. Are you breathing?"

"Yes." I mumbled into his chest, taking a deep breath. "I'm breathing."

"Good girl."

I pulled out of his embrace. "I'm going to the bathroom. I'll be back."

"Ok. I'll see you at lunch." Troy kissed me on my forehead and walked off.

I walked down the hall and made my way to the girl's bathroom. Sharpay and Taylor were in here doing their makeup. "Hi."

"Hey!" Sharpay chirped, excitedly. I guess she was feeling better after her temper tantrum yesterday. "How are you?"

"Not feeling too good." I answered.

Sharpay frowned, "Is it morning sickness?" Her voice dropped with the last two words.

No, it wasn't morning sickness. It was anxiety. "Yeah. Morning sickness."

"Saltine crackers and ginger ale." Taylor told me.

"Are you tired?" Sharpay asked. "Are you getting at least 10 hours of sleep?"

"Yeah." Another lie. How many lies am I going to tell? What if I can't stop?

Taylor pulled a bottle out of her purse. "Here. I got you some cranberry juice. It keeps you hydrated and it helps protect you and the baby."

I smiled, "Thank you, Taylor."

"No problem."

The bell rang. "Tay, we have to get to math."

Taylor frowned, "Don't remind me about math class."

I grabbed her hand, "Let's go. Bye Shar. We'll see you at lunch.

Sharpay grabbed her makeup bag off of the counter, "Bye."

Taylor and I left the bathroom and rushed to math class. Mr. Mitchell was a total asshole to people who were late.

We quickly walked into class and took seats in the back row. As soon as we sat down the bell rang.

"Good morning, class." Mr. Mitchell greeted. "Get out your notebooks, because we are going to spend all day talking about inverting matrices." The entire class groaned. "Oh, it's not too bad."

Mr. Mitchell started talking and I started to tune it out. I went to bed really late and I was exhausted. Maybe I should start getting 10 hours of sleep.

Someone tapped my shoulder, "Excuse me. Gabriella?"

I turned around and saw my classmate, Amanda. "Yes, Amanda. Did you want something?"

"Is it true?" Amanda asked.

"Is what true?"

"Are you pregnant?" Amanda whispered, sharply.

"Excuse me?"

Amanda showed me her cell phone. She had a text message from someone saying I was pregnant.

I grabbed her phone and studied the text. "Who sent you this, Amanda?"

"I don't want to say."

"You better say." I ordered. "And you better say it quickly."

"It was Ellie Richards."

"Ask her who told her." I ordered, handing the phone back to her. She typed a message quickly.

"Ellie said Heather told her. Heather heard you talking about in the bathroom."

"Heather?" I repeated.

I couldn't stand Heather. She was such a bitch. I didn't see her in the bathroom. Was she hiding in the stall?

Amanda gave me a nod. "Yeah. So is it true? Are you pregnant?"

"Yes, Amanda. I'm pregnant." Amanda was about to say something but I stopped her. "If this ends up in the school newspaper, I will punch you in the throat. Really hard."

It was official. Everyone knew I was pregnant. This wasn't how I wanted it to come out. That bitch Heather stole my spotlight.

I don't know how I was going to tell everyone, but a fucking mass text message was not how I imagined things going down.

Chad looked at his phone, "Montez, you're a trending topic on Facebook."

"No way!" I exclaimed.

"Yes. It says Heather Morgan and 23 other friends posted about Gabriella Montez. Someone named Claudia Wells said, "Wow. Gabriella Montez couldn't remember to use birth control. She's an embarrassment.". It got 7 likes."

"So not only does the school know, but probably most of Albuquerque." Troy said, putting his arm around my shoulder. He gave it a slight squeeze.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Sorry Gabs." Sharpay apologized.

I was confused. "Why are you sorry?"

"We shouldn't have been talking about your pregnancy in the bathroom." Taylor explained. "If we wouldn't have been talking about it, none of this would have happened."

I shook my head, "Don't blame yourself because it isn't your fault. You couldn't have known about that fly on the wall."

"We still feel bad."

"Don't. Honestly, I'm not mad."

"You aren't? Why not?"

"I mean in like, four months, everyone was going to find out sooner or later. Sooner is better than later."

"Are you sure you're ok?" Taylor questioned.

"Yes." I assured. "I'm ok."

"Positive?"

"Like my pregnancy test." I joked. I had to admit, it was a good joke. Troy let out an amused snort. He knew if I ever took a pregnancy test, it'd be extra negative.

The bell rang, signaling that lunch was over. I grabbed my bag and started out of the cafeteria. Only a few more classes and I can leave.

"Gabriella!" I heard someone say. I turned around and saw Lauryn coming towards me.

"Hey Lauryn." I greeted. Her face was flushed and pieces of her reddish-brown hair were falling out of her bun. "Are you alright?"

"I was running, no speeding walking from the library." Lauryn replied. "I can't really run anymore."

I started walking again, "You shouldn't. It's bad for the baby."

"Right." Lauryn agreed. "So, welcome to the club."

"What club?"

"The Pregnancy Club." Lauryn said.

"Oh!"

"I got a text from Heather saying you were pregnant. I have no idea how she got my number."

"Heather's our own personal Gossip Girl. It's really annoying."

"Don't let Heather bug you. She's a bitch."

Lauryn stretched her arms above her head. I could see her tiny baby bump peeking out from under her shirt. It was crazy how real it was.

I dismissed Lauryn's comment with a flick of the wrist, "Heather doesn't get to me. I find her ridiculous at times."

Lauryn laughed, "She's very ridiculous. I'll have your back, though. We have to stick together. We can waddle down the halls together."

We stopped in front of our classroom. I gave her a hug. "Thanks Lauryn."

After a few seconds, Lauryn hugged me back, "You're welcome."

I closed my eyes as I pulled off my shoes and threw them across my bedroom floor. "I'm so tired."

Troy put his hands on my shoulders and started to massage them. "Today seemed to drag on."

"When I walked into school, people were complimenting me on my makeup and my purse. Walking out of school, people were calling me 'mommy', 'MILF', and 'preggers'. It's crazy how fast things can turn around."

"This is what you wanted, right. You wanted everyone to find out."

"Yeah, but I wanted to do it on my own time."

"This just accelerates the process. Sooner or later, right?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, but..."

"No buts, missy!"

"I guess I didn't expect everything to happen so fast. We told our friends yesterday, and today the rest of the world finds out."

"Oh quit exaggerating."

"You know what I mean, smartass."

"Want my opinion?" Troy asked, taking his hands off my shoulders.

"Sure. Now keep rubbing."

"My motto is, "Fuck it.". Babe, you can't plan everything."

"You're right."

"And because you are such a good little manipulator, I'm stuck in this with you, too." Troy added, jokingly. "We are in this together, so if anyone messes with you, they'll have to deal with me."

"You deserve the Boyfriend of The Year award."

"I should have gotten it years ago with all the stuff you've pulled in the past."

"I'd totally have sex with you if I wasn't so tired."

Troy shook his head, "No way!"

"Why?"

"Look, sex can result in a real pregnancy. And I've seen what pregnancy can do to people. Plus my mom made me watch the video of her giving birth to me. We aren't having sex until we're not fertile anymore."

"That'll be a long time from now. I'd say about 40+ years." I teased.

"I can wait."