Chapter 7
Stef's POV:
"Crap!" I shout as I run out the front door. I run down the path and turn my head left and right. No sign of her. I don't know what to do. I run back towards the house to grab my keys. I can't let her go. What if she runs away from us and we never see her again? There is a good chance that she is our daughter, I have to try and find her.
"I got them already." Lena says running out of the house with my keys in hand. "I'll text the kids and let them know we are going out for a little bit." We get in the car and I pull out of the driveway. I am not really sure where to go so I just start driving around.
"I have no idea which way we should go, but I guess we will try driving in the San Ysidro direction. She could be on any street though. Dammit! I... we can't lose her. This could be Ella, we can't lose her again. We have to know."
"It will be okay honey, we will find her. If we don't find her tonight, you can look into her at work tomorrow. Get the address of her foster home and we can go there. If we are lucky, she will show up to school." Lena says, even though I can tell she doesn't believe it.
"I doubt she will come back to school, at least not for a bit." I sigh.
"I know. The poor girl is just traumatized and is so scared of someone finding out what's really going on. She is going to be hiding. Do you think she is a runaway?"
"I thought that too. I mean she doesn't have physical bruises like she is being physically abused. I mean, If her foster parents are withholding food from her that would be physical abuse. But I have this feeling they don't exist. I mean, no one came with her when she came to tour the school. Although, Karina said she met them. So maybe they do exist. I am so confused. Nothing adds up," Lena sighs.
"Let's just keep our eyes open, love."
We make it back home after driving for about two hours. I pull into the driveway, shut the car off, and just lean my head back against the headrest.
"What now, Lena?"
"I don't know. I feel so defeated. We are both so drawn to her, had the same thoughts about her being our daughter, and then the way she woke up... exactly like Ella. How can we not think it's her. We need to find her. We may have been reunited with our daughter. Like, it's crazy to say out loud."
"I know. We can try different things tomorrow. I think for tonight, we aren't going to get anywhere. Let's go inside."
Lena and I get out of the car and head inside. Mariana is sitting on the stairs waiting for us.
"Did you find her?" She asks hopefully.
"No sweets, we didn't," I sigh.
"Where do you think she went? Why does she keep running off? Is she being hurt?"
"We aren't sure sweetheart," Lena starts, "but we are trying to figure out what is going on so we can help her if she needs it."
"I really like her, I feel like we are actually going to be good friends."
"Mariana, did she ever mention anything to you about her foster parents?" I ask.
"No, not really. Just that they don't really like her having friends over because they work so much. We were talking about where to work on our project. Something about her foster parents not wanting her friends at home without them in case someone gets hurt or something happens. So that other kid's parents don't feel like they are not being properly supervised," she shrugged.
"Okay, well if you can think of anything else that may help, please let us know. Why don't you go get ready for bed and we will come in and say goodnight soon. Love you sweetheart." I give her a quick hug and watch her walk up the stairs. She stops and turns around.
"Uhm, I forgot she gave me her number." Mariana says nervously.
"What?! You didn't think you should share that with us?!" I say, trying not to fly off the handle.
"Well, she told me that if she gave it to me I had to promise not to share it with anyone. Ever. I promised her so I was just really nervous that if I told you she wouldn't trust me anymore. I called her like twenty times and sent her like five texts. They all went to voicemail and the texts aren't even sending. Her phone is off anyways."
"Mariana honey, we need the number. We need to make sure she is okay. Please give it to us," Lena says.
"Please Moms, she trusted me with this. I could tell it was important to her. Can't you just use my phone and we try to communicate to her through me. I think she would more likely answer me anyways. I think she would get mad at me and not talk to you two and then we can't communicate with her at all."
"As much as I hate to say this Lena, she is right. She probably won't talk to us. I think if we go through Mariana we will at least get to know she is okay and then we go from there."
Lena nods her head. "Let us look at your phone." Mariana places it in Lena's hand.
Gabriella's POV:
I finally got back to my abandoned house at 3am. I ran as fast as I could after leaving the AdamsFosters house. Which wasn't very fast considering I was feeling so dizzy and light headed. Not to mention my backpack felt extra heavy for some reason. I was worried I was going to throw up my dinner because I had been running for fifteen minutes on a full stomach. Luckily, I didn't. I finally slowed down to walk and decided to keep going until I couldn't walk anymore. When I knew I wouldn't get much farther on foot I just waited at the closest bus station. I was worried that if I waited at a bus stop too close to their house they would catch me.
I slide in the tiny open space to enter the house and go straight to my room. I couldn't even look around. I was so exhausted. Not to mention getting here at night really scares me. It is dark and creepy. I hate this place. I try not to think about how scared I am because I know I will start crying. There is no way I am going to school today so I just plop down on my crappy mattress and let sleep take over me.
I groan at the light shining through the windows. I wonder what time it is. Mariana let me charge my phone at her house while we were working on our project so it is fully charged. I turn on the phone to see what time it was. 10am. Ugh. I am so tired. My phone all of a sudden starts buzzing like crazy.
I have 5 texts and 20 missed calls from Mariana. Oh gosh, I forgot I gave her my number.
From Mariana: What happened? Are you okay?
From Mariana: Why did you just leave like that? Is everything okay at home?
From Mariana: You left your school bag here. I can bring it to school tomorrow.
From Mariana: Did my Moms do something? I am sorry if they upset you, they always have good intentions though. Can you just text or call me back when you get these?
From Mariana: Can you just let me know that you are safe? I am worried.
Ugh, now she is getting involved. This was so messy. I see I have a new email.
From coach Johnson: Hello Gabriella! Mrs. AdamsFoster told me that you were interested in playing soccer. We actually have a couple spots left on the team. We didn't have as many players this year as usual. We have two starting positions that we haven't technically filled yet. No one has been chosen for those at this point. They are left defender and center midfield. You don't happen to play either one of those do you? Why don't you come by after school and you can practice with the team. We will see how you do. Looking forward to it. - Coach Johnson.
Oh my gosh. I can practice with the team?! Wait, I can't go to school. But I can't drop out of school, what am I going to do? Maybe I could just go to practice and try to get on the team for now. I need a long term plan before I go back to classes. Stef and Lena are probably already looking into my file and have contacted my social worker. Lena will check my attendance and as soon as she sees I am there, she will find me. I refuse to get placed into another abusive home. I would rather live homeless, alone, scared, and hungry. But, soccer is the one of two things that give me actual joy and make me feel like life may be worth living. I don't know what to do. I can't miss this opportunity. I will go play soccer. They won't look there if I am not in classes all day.
I hop out of bed and change into the one athletic outfit I have. I have a set of shin guards and cleats that I stole from Olympia tucked in the closet here. I feel really guilty. But I definitely wouldn't have been able to play if I didn't steal them. I keep feeling like crap every time I steal something but I don't know what else to do. The scary part is, I have gotten very good at it. I open my bag to put my cleats in and see 3 oranges, 4 protein bars, two medium size bags of pretzels and 3 apples. No wonder this was so heavy. I look at the food and my heart sinks. One of the AdamsFosters put food in here. Which means they know I don't have enough food to eat. I hear my stomach growl loudly and can't help but feel semi thankful. I shove my cleats in the main zipper pouch and put my shin guards in one of the water bottle pouches on the side of my bag.
I walk outside and start heading towards the bus station. The next bus isn't until 11am. I think I should be fine. It takes an hour on a good day. If I get there by noon I will have to hang out somewhere for a couple of hours but I don't want to risk missing it.
Lena's POV:
I just got off the phone with Stef. She said she found Gabriella's foster parent's address and is going to head over there and see if she is there or if she can find anything out. I feel nervous for her. She promised she would bring some backup and be extra careful. Between the first night we got Jude, my kids being held at gunpoint, and Stef getting shot, I can't help but feel sick to my stomach.
I have been checking the attendance report for Gabriella's classes all day. She hasn't been marked present in any of them. I can't help but feel discouraged. I have walked around before school and between classes hoping I would see her. I have her school bag in my office. I am glad Stef decided to shove the food in her other bag instead. At least she has that. I knew I wouldn't see her today. But I can't help but try. I sit in here for the next two class periods trying to distract myself as I wait for an update from Stef.
The bell rings and I decide I should probably walk the halls at some point. I can't hide in my office all day. I can't help but look for long brown curly hair as I make sure that everyone is moving along to their next class. As I turn the corner Coach Johnson and I almost walk into each other.
"Oh my gosh, Lena. I am so sorry. I almost ran into you. Forgive me!"
"Oh no, it's okay. I almost ran into you too." I smile at her kindly. I have always really liked her. She is genuine, kind, and truly cares for the students. She teaches gym during the day and coaches some of the sport teams. She helps build strong character, work ethic and team building in the girls she coaches. She always goes above and beyond.
"Well thank you, for being so understanding. I have to run for my next period but I wanted to tell you I got in touch with Gabriella and she is going to play with us this afternoon, so thank you for connecting her with us. We are still shy of a couple players. We have a full team but I usually like a little more than I currently have. Well, have a good day!"
Before I can get anything out she walks away. Gabriella talked to her? Is she going to play today? She won't, right? Well, I know I am going to find out.
I head back to my office and can't wait any longer, dialing Stef's phone number.
"Hi love," she says, answering the phone.
"Any news?" I say hopefully.
"No, no one was there. Or at least no one answered the door. I looked in the garage and there wasn't even a car there so I am going to have to come back. I am going to look more into where the parents work and see what I can find."
"Okay honey, but I ran into the girls soccer coach and she said Gabriella was practicing with them today. I know it is a long shot but maybe you and I should be here in case she shows up. She seemed very excited and passionate about soccer. I think if anything can get her to show up today, it would be this. She may have thought we wouldn't know she was going to practice with them and will come. If we are both here we may be able to get her to talk to us."
"Alright, what time is practice? I will be there."
"Final bell is at 2:30pm, so practice is at 3pm." Maybe come at 3:15pm so you don't cross paths, then we will go to the fields together."
"Sounds great. See you soon my love."
The day has ended and I am just waiting for Stef to get here. I have already packed up my things and put them in the car, because I was just so anxious to go check out the soccer fields. There is a knock on my door. It's 3:10pm.
"Come in!"
"Hi, love" I see Stef walk in. I smile and stand up. She changed out of her uniform. Good call. She always thinks about the little things. Gabriella would feel way more intimidated if she was viewing Stef as a cop.
"Hi my love," I walk over and give her a peck on the lips and squeeze her tight.
"I missed you Lena, is that crazy?" I can't help but smile at my wife. She is so sappy and I love it.
"Not unless I am crazy too. I have been wishing you were with me all day. This is all so hard and all I wanted was for you to be right next to me. I love you so much Stef."
"I love you too, baby. Let's go see if Gabriella is here."
We walk out of my office rather slowly. I grab Stef's hand. I don't care if I am at work. School is over and most students have gone home or are occupied by some activity, not roaming the halls. Stef looks over at me and winks.
We walk outside, still slowly, and start walking on the path to the soccer field that is along the beach.
Stef breaks the silence. "You know, if we pretend we aren't scared for our lives that we may have found our daughter and she slipped from our grasp, it's almost like this is a date." I can't help but chuckle. I stop and cup her cheek.
"Honey, if this is the closest thing we have to a date, then there is a severe problem."
"Don't I know it." She winks.
I pull her forward and we keep walking. The field comes into view. I carefully guide Stef towards the locker rooms and bathrooms so we can hide behind the building so we aren't seen.
I scan through the players of girls and my breath catches. She's here.
"Stef, do you-"
"I see her. What do we do?"
"Let's wait until she is done and then we will carefully walk up to her and ask to speak to her casually. I am hoping she will come to us if I call her, instead of running away. She probably doesn't want the coach and team to see the interaction. What do you think?"
"Let's try it. It sounds the least aggressive and hopefully she will come willingly if we put her on the spot a little bit."
I look at my watch, 4:25pm. Practice ends at 4:30pm. The girls are all sitting in front of Coach Johnson. Luckily, Gabriella's back is to us. Stef had gotten her a water bottle from the vending machine by the locker rooms. Always a provider. We slowly make our way over until we are about five feet from everyone. The coach is just finishing up.
"Alright everyone, great practice and Gabriella, welcome to the team!" All of the girls clapped and a few she was sitting next to cheered. I can't help but feel grateful she has made some friends. "Same time tomorrow!"
Everyone stands up including Gabriella.
"Hi sweetheart." She freezes as she is standing up. She quickly recovers and turns around giving a forced smile. I can see the panic in her eyes.
"I was wondering if you would be able to chat with us?" Everyone is kind of watching so she just nods her head. I smile at her and Stef and I lead her over to a bench a little ways away from everyone.
Gabriella's POV:
As we are walking over to the bench I am filled with so much dread. I knew I shouldn't have done this. Obviously she would find out I made the team. She is the vice principal for crying out loud. I start beating myself up for my ridiculous desire to play soccer again. We sit down and it is quiet for a moment.
"Are you okay?" It's Stef. I just keep looking forward. "Honey?"
I sigh. "I'm fine"
"Why did you run Gabriella?" I shrug.
"Can you use your words sweets?" I finally look up at Stef glaring. Use my words, what am I two? We make eye contact and her hazel eyes are piercing. They look so full of concern and... and love. How can she even care, she doesn't know me? I stop glaring at her suddenly feeling bad and look away.
Lena starts after she realizes I am not going to say anything. "Honey, can you please talk to us? I don't want to sound threatening, but we would rather hear it from you. If we need to find out the truth without your help, we will." I look up at her with wide eyes.
"Yes, we will. So if you tell us, we may get the truth faster and actually be able to help you properly." I keep staring at her for a second. Should I tell them? I am so tired of my scary abandoned house. Being cold, dirty and not eating enough. But I only ever had one good foster home and one okay foster home. The rest were awful. What if I get sent to a bad one again? But what if I get sent to one that I can at least be warm and shower in? I don't know what to do. I can't tell them I ran away. I will get sent to juvie. Although, I could still tell them I live in my "current" foster home. They haven't reported it. We would all get in trouble. They probably don't even know I moved out. I still have stuff there and they are drunk or high all the time. Oh well, let's see what happens.
"Well, my foster parents don't pay much attention to me." I say looking at them. They seem surprised I am saying something. I will tell them about this family and see where I get moved. If it still bad, I will go back to my abandoned house.
"Can you tell us more?" Stef says.
"Well, they are drunk and high all the time, but I didn't even mind that cause they were always so out of it, I could do whatever I wanted. I was fine with it until..." Oh shoot, I wasn't going to add that part. I realize my mistake and stop talking.
"Until what?" Lena asks softly.
"Nothing." I say.
"Honey, you did so good, please," she tries.
"What are you going to do with this information?!" I say standing up quickly, starting to lose courage.
Stef stands up too and says, "We just want to help you. Get you in a safer home!"
"It's not worth it. So many homes aren't safe and I don't want to switch schools again. I finally am at a decent school that makes me feel like I might learn something. Or could get into a better college! All of the crappy schools I have gone to have made me feel like I am stupid! I am finally on a sports team and actually like the coach. You aren't ruining this for me." I start walking away quickly.
"Honey please," Lena starts, following me. "Let us help you. I will make sure you can come to this school. I promise!" I stop and look at her.
"How can you promise that?"
"I just can, please."
"Fine. It was fine until one night the Dad came into my room. He actually thought I was his wife. I tried to tell him I wasn't but he didn't hear me. He tried to take my clothes off. He did touch me. Everywhere. But he never got any clothes off. He was strong and I was so scared thinking he would do more, but he was so intoxicated I pushed him over and he lost his balance. He actually thought it was his wife though, so I don't think he was trying to hurt me. I ran away from him and felt so awful and scared. I don't even know if he remembers. They are so intoxicated, they rarely know what is happening." I say with a tear falling down my cheek. I turn my face away from them. I don't want them to see me like this.
"Sweets, I am so sorry. That had to be really scary." I hear Stef's soft voice. I can't look at them. I am lying to them by keeping out some important details but I can't admit the rest. This isn't even the worst thing that has happened to me. But I was hurt worse than that when I was in my first ever foster home. I couldn't let something else like that happen again, so I ran away. That was three months ago. I haven't been back to that house since I needed them to show up for my meeting for Anchor Beach. I had been walking dogs and saved $300. I told them if they sobered up and made it to the meeting and helped me get in this school, they could have the money. They agreed and surprisingly followed through. They may have been desperate for the money. After the meeting, I gave them the $300 and told them I would be home later. They said okay. It was then I realized they didn't even know I had moved out and hadn't been living there for three months. Or they don't really care. They still get the checks.
"It's fine. It's not even the worst thing." I shrug.
"That doesn't actually make us feel better," Lena says walking in front of me so we can make eye contact. Stef follows.
"Did they ever hit you?" Stef asks.
"Only once. The Mom and Dad had a horrible fight. She was so upset. I had never seen her like this. He cheated on her. I actually felt bad for her so I asked her if she was okay. She turned towards me and I realized I shouldn't have spoken to her. She was so furious and just charged at me. She slapped me across the face, and then shoved me into a bookcase. The entire shelf and everything on it fell on top of me. She left me there for about an hour before finally picking the bookshelf off of me. I was trapped under there and I couldn't get out. The shelf was so heavy. But that's it. They aren't necessarily physically abusive. Just addicts whose judgment and choices get impaired."
"I am so sorry, honey," Lena says, rubbing my arm up and down. I kind of want to hug her. But I don't.
"Well, I need to go anyway." I say walking to grab my bag.
"Honey, wait." Stef. "You need to come with us. We need to call your social worker." I sigh. Whatever. I will comply and go along. I always have my abandoned house for back up. I don't say anything. I just nod. Stef gently takes my hand and guides me to her car. She opens the back door. I look at Lena, nervous to get in the car. She gives me a smile and nods. I get in.
Stef's POV:
She is hiding something. I know it. I can feel it. But I don't know what. What else could she be hiding? She told us what was happening. I could tell she was telling the truth about those things. But I can't shake this feeling.
I pull into our driveway. Gabriella must have been spaced out cause I see her look outside and frown.
"Why am I here?" She asks.
"Well, we thought it would be better to have you here while we call your social worker in case it ends up being a while." She looks at me through the rear view mirror as I say this. She nods.
She slowly gets out and shuts the door. I watch her walk over to Lena's side and she just kind of waits for her. That's sweet. Lena puts her arm around Gabriella. I can see her lean into her touch slightly. I can't help but smile at the small exchange. Lena has such a way of making people feel comforted. She is so soft, loving and nurturing. These are some of the things I love most about her.
Lena leads her inside. I shut the door behind us all and lock it out of habit.
"Why don't we head into the living room while Stef calls Bill." Lena says looking to Gabriella.
"Is Mariana here?" I smile and respond.
"She is sweets, she is in her room. Would you like to go see her?" Gabriella nods. "Go ahead."
I watch her tentatively walk up the stairs.
"Well, this is surprising," Lena says.
"It is. I am glad she told us. Something feels off. Like she isn't saying the entire truth. I also am curious why she is telling us now."
"I know. I thought the same thing. Either she has something else up her sleeve or she is truly just so tired and done being in such a negative situation. Thinking of her around all those drugs makes me cringe." I see Lena visibly shudder as she finished saying this.
"So, we are going to let her stay here right?" I say cutting straight to the chase.
"I was hoping you would say that."
"Well, I figured that was what you meant when you said you promised that you could make her go to this school. Let's call her social worker."
Mariana's POV:
"Mariana?" I hear someone calling my name from the hallway. I get off my bed and look outside my door.
"Gabriella!" I say happily running over to give her a hug. I feel her stiffen at first, probably shocked that I am so excited to see her, and then she relaxes into the hug a little more.
"Hi!" She chuckles. "I didn't know which room was yours so I kind of just said your name hoping you would hear it"
"Come into my room!" I say leading her over onto my bed.
"What happened? Are you ok?"
I see her sigh before answering. " I am fine. Just going through a lot at my foster home. Your moms were worried but I really didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so I left." I don't fully believe her but I let it go.
"Well, I am glad to see you. Not to be rude, but why are you here?"
"I don't know honestly. Your moms are calling my social worker and brought me here. I am not sure what is going to happen." I can tell she is nervous so I take her hand.
"It will be alright, my moms wont let anything bad happen to you." She shrugs.
"Why didn't you answer my messages?" I ask.
"Sorry. My phone is off most of the time and I didn't get them until this morning. But then I had to take the bus cause I was late for school and I didn't get a chance."
"It's okay. I am glad you are here now. Want to do something fun, while you wait for the social worker?"
"Okay."
"Want to paint our nails?" I say, not knowing what else to offer. She doesn't seem like a nail girl, but I remember her talking about art class. I mean, it's painting right? I actually see her face light up a bit.
"Sure, I can paint a design for you if you want?" She says excitedly.
"Omg, you can?!" I am bursting with excitement at this.
"Yeah, anything you want."
"How about something fall like. Maybe leaves?"
"Okay!" Once she confirms she can do this I run to bathroom, get all of my polish and go back in my room. I set a towel on the floor and make her sit.
"Alright, glam me up!" I say as I hold my hand out to her to paint.