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Chapter 6: Mrs. Knight

Gabby had been in Inverness for nearly a month. She hated everyday of it. At least she got to spend Sundays with her grandmother. Gabby was Presbyterian, as was her grandmother. Her aunt and uncle were Catholic, so she didn't have to go to the literally all day service with them. Instead, she got to spend a nice day with her grandma and her friends. It wasn't exactly as she pictured Sunday, but it wasn't as bad as the rest of the week.

Everyday Gabby had to work in the uncle's jewelry store. Her cousins did, so therefore, she did. She really didn't have any friends. A bunch of the school kids had come in when they heard she was in town, but she really wasn't too open minded about getting to know them. They were all cheerleaders and jocks. All the guys hit on her, apparently she was the closest thing to a "city girl" most of them had ever seen. And that was only because she lived in the 21st century. They all still dressed like it was the 1990s. (That's actually kind of true! My aunt and uncle really do live there!)

For the fourth of July the "family" went to the mountains, which Gabby thought sucked. She longed for the beach, but of course, they were in the middle of the state and it was a hell of a long drive to get to one. She had a car, which was nice, not that there was anywhere to drive to. The closest mall was in Ocala, which was a ways away from the "city".

Finally August came and it was time for school to start. During the summer the gang came to town twice, they really didn't have anything to do though, so it was boring. Pay had told Gabby the significance of the ring over the phone, so the first time they came to town she was sure to thank Troy properly.

FLASHBACK

It was June 23rd and the gang was coming to visit. At about 2:00 they waltzed in the store. Gabby had her back to the door while she was cleaning some of the jewelry cases. Troy snuck up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and began to nip at her neck, while he whispered, "Miss me?"

She spun around completely surprised, they hadn't called to tell her they were coming it was an amazing surprise.

"Why yes Mr. Bolton, I have missed you." She said in a very proper voice. After their fun greetings they just hung out at the store until Gabby could leave.

"Let's go to Starbucks!" Sharpay suggested.

"No Starbucks." Gabby said gloomily. Finally they decided to go to this no nothing café where everyone hung out. They sat down with their coffee and tea and such and began to talk. A bunch of jocks from Gabby's soon to be new school walked over and said:

"Hey baby girl. Are these guys bothering you?" It was Josh Litherland, the leader of the pack.

"No actually. YOU are." She retorted, getting laughs from her friends.

"Oh baby don't be like that. You know I can give you what you want." Well this aggravated all the guys and they stood up protectively around the girls, since the other guys in his posse were eyeing them all.

Troy stepped forward, he's about 6'5" and Josh is about 5'8", so needles to say, Troy's more intimidating. "Back off my girlfriend if you know what's good for you." He challenged

Josh surprisingly did as he was told and left, with his posse trailing behind him.

That night Gabby convinced her aunt, who completely ruled the family, to let her have dinner with her friends at her grandmother's house. After what seemed like an eternity of arguing, she got her way. After eating a delicious homemade dinner, made by Gabby and her grandma, with Zeke cooking dessert, the group all sat outside on the front lawn, sprawled out on blankets taking in the stars and the moon, which you could see perfectly.

Gabby suddenly rolled on top of Troy and looked him in the eyes, "Pay told me what the ring signifies. Troy, I had no idea. I just wanted to say thank you and let you know that I feel the same way." She smiled down at him a placed a passionate kiss on her cheek, which ended in him rolling on top of Gabby.

Before the two separated Chad yelled, "My eyes, I can't see…the passion has blinded me. HELP!"

Taylor smacked him on the back of the head, hard, and scolded, "Way to ruin the moment."

"What moment?" Jason asked, and everyone looked at him. "What?"

"Nothing baby." Kelsi replied sweetly, giving him a little peck on the lips.

END OF FLASHBACK

Gabby thought about the two times she had seen the gang this summer and sighed. Her aunt had never let her fly out to Albuquerque to see them. Hell, she'd never even let her drive to Jacksonville to see her old friends. Not that any of them made the trek to see her anyways.

Gabby got up and got ready for the first day of school. When she walked out she realized that she was so not going to fit in. She dressed differently, acted differently. Jacksonville was NOT a big city, in the sense of like New York or L.A., but good lord, it was more than this hick town ever saw.

She arrived at school and went into the principal's office to get what she needed. The school wasn't very big for a public school, but whatever, there weren't that many kids in Citrus County, where the school is located, anyways. "Gosh I'm bitter about being here." Gabby thought to herself. The day was boring. She was in all A.P. classes, but they weren't the same caliber as the A.P. classes at Episcopal. They were way to easy. She had shocked her Spanish teacher. As it turns out, being half Spanish and speaking Spanish fluently, she knew more Spanish than her teacher did.

Finally the day ended, Gabby had to go home and pick up Gilligan before going to work at the shop. Her aunt wouldn't let Gill in the shop unless Gabby was there, so she had to spend the entire school day home alone since their dogs were allowed in the back of the shop during the work days.

Gabby walked in and sighed, Mrs. Knight was there YET AGAIN. "I swear," Gabby thought to herself, "this woman just wants to bother me, she doesn't want any jewelry." Currently, her aunt was dealing with her.

"Oh, Gabriella, darling!" Mrs. Knight called in her overly distinguished voice.

"Yes, Mrs. Knight? May I help you?"

"I'm still not sure about what I want dear." The older lady replied.

Before Gabby could respond Julie interrupted, "Why don't I have my daughter help you seeing as how Gabriella knows nothing about jewelry or selling it?" she suggested.

"Oh no dear, Gabriella has been most helpful, and she listens patiently to me. It's so nice to talk to her. You know, I'd actually like to take her to get a cup of coffee next door. Would you mind?" Julie shook her head and she and Gabby walked next door to the little coffee shop. There they chatted about everything until Mrs. Knight suddenly brought up Gabby's family.

To Gabby's own surprise she told her everything. From her mother's accident to how she ended up here and how much she hated it. "No one abuses me. For that I'm extremely grateful. But I'm not appreciated. I'm almost verbally abused. I don't ever do things as well as my cousin does. It's awful. But I'm hopefully going to UCLA next year, so I'll be out of here soon enough I suppose." Finally she and Mrs. Knight headed back to the store. Mrs. Knight once again bought nothing.

During school for the next week Gabby became sort of friends with the theatre kids, for some reason she fell right in with them. She always did theatre at EHS, but she planned on giving it up after the fall musical Guys and Dolls. The guys wouldn't leave her alone, EVER. They always wanted to go on dates and such with her, but she always responded with "I have a boyfriend that I love. I don't need to date."

About another week later Gabby was at her locker during lunch, putting books away and pulling out those that she would need when she felt a familiar pair of strong arms wrap around her waist. She giggled as she leaned into the person's body and heard him whisper: "I've missed you Ella Bella."

Gabby turned around to face Troy and said, "I've missed you too 14." She teased. He leaned down and gave her a sweet kiss. When they pulled away she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Visiting my girlfriend. What else?" He laughed and explained that he'd be going with her to her classes today. During the day girls constantly flirted with Troy, but Troy just ignored them and always made a point of giving Gabby a kiss or some other sweet gesture when he felt she was getting annoyed with them.

When the end of the day came the two got into Gabby's car and drove off to get Gill and go to the store. When they arrived she was shocked to see the rest of the gang there. As they sat in the store talking they suddenly heard shouting coming from the back of the store. Gabby pulled out of Troy's grasp to see what was going on.

"You can't sue for custody, we're her blood relatives." Julie screamed

"Well we've had a social services person coming in and she's determined that we have a case seeing how unhappy Gabby actually is." Lucy responded coolly and calmly.

"What?" Julie said confused. Suddenly Mrs. Knight walked in…Mrs. Knight was a social services agent?

AN: I know I promised that this would be up last night but I got sick. Anyways, I'm super late for school because I was sick. I guess I best go in! Read and review.

Mollie XOXO