I have no idea if people are still reading these. My name is actually Stephani3mk on this site but I can't get into my account. I have tried literally everything. That being said, I thought I would try to finish this story if people are actually interested. I used to have so much fun writing these and thought I would keep going. I am annoyed I can't get into my first account because it has tons of reviews and follows so hopefully some people find this. Anyways, let me know if you are interested and I will keep writing. I will post each chapter and then finish where I left off. I am changing the chapters slightly. I had only written 4 so far. Enjoy!

Lena's POV:

We pull up to the school and everyone starts to pile out. "I am leaving at 4:30pm if anyone wants a ride home and needs to work on something, otherwise you can walk. Jude as soon as you are done tutoring please come to my office so we can go."

"Yes Mama" Jude says. I smile at my sweet boy.

"Everyone have a good day!" I shout as they all walk off in different directions. I pause for a moment and watch my kids walk away. Jude immediately goes to Connor and they quickly get engaged in deep conversation. Mariana goes over to the dance team sitting around a table and chooses a spot next to Hayley. Hayley gives a quick hello and then starts asking questions which I assume is about Jesus. I see Mariana's shoulders slump and can't help but feel bad for her. I watch Jesus cautiously walk over to Hayley, knowing that it will upset Mariana. He taps her on the shoulder. She turns around and instantly flies into his arm giving him a kiss. Mariana rolls her eyes and turns towards the other girls who are laughing at the entire situation. Something about those girls does not feel right with me. I don't like the influence they are having on my little girl. Not to mention the unhealthy relationship Jesus and Hayley have, they are obsessed with each other. Callie and Brandon head up to the music room and in a few seconds I see Callie on a stool strumming the guitar through the music room window and I assume Brandon is playing the piano along with her.

I stop observing my children and head towards my office. I have about ten minutes until classes start, we had a late morning, which is most mornings when you are trying to get five kids out of the house. I set my bags down and unpack some files and my laptop. I look at my calendar and check the date. September 19, 2016. My heart clenches. It is getting closer and closer to my least favorite day of the year. I think that it will get easier over time but I am pretty sure it gets worse. I look at my schedule for the day and I am free of meetings until 11:00am with a new student who is starting tomorrow. Perfect, now I can get caught up on paperwork and reply to emails.

I get out the file of the new student and open it. I want to make sure I know her name and the parents before they come in. I open it and see the name Gabriella Morrison. There is no picture in the photo slot, weird. I go to see the parents and it says that she is in foster care. Her current foster parents' names are Beverly and Jason Hills. Gabriella is a thirteen-year-old freshman. Huh, she seems to be a little young for a freshman. She is transferring from San Ysidro public school. Just seeing that town written down gives me chills from all the bad memories we have of that place. Apparently they are moving closer to the school which is what is written where their address is supposed to be. That's weird. I then look at her transcripts and am honestly shocked when I see an average of 99.89. Holy cow. That is definitely the highest average in the Sophomore class. It states that she is on the varsity soccer team for San Ysidro and she was in the All- state orchestra for two years. This girl is very involved, well rounded, and extremely studious. No wonder she got accepted, she will surely bring our stats up.

I hear the bell ring and realize classes have started. Katrina has been getting on my case about being in the halls "observing" the kids as they switch classes. I wonder if she knows we run a school and not a prison. I walk into the chaos of kids at their lockers trying to get to class on time. I slowly make a lap around the halls until the final bell rings and the halls empty quickly. I see a girl walking around the beach outside with a bag on her shoulder. Is she skipping? I think about going and making sure she is where she is supposed to be but I can't make out who it is and I have tons of paperwork to complete before my 11:00am appointment. I don't want to accidentally tell a student who doesn't go here to get to class. She is on a public beach. Maybe she has study hall. I walk back to my office and get lost in my paperwork.

I am removed from my trance as I hear a knock on my door. My eyes quickly flicker to the clock and it reads 11:00am. Shoot, I lost track of time. I quickly put my papers in neat piles, pull out Gabriella's file and walk to open the door.

"Your eleven o'clock is here," The receptionist says.

"Thank you, please send them in."

I move a few feet away and leave room for the student and parents to enter. I look up and see what I assume is Gabriella and my heart stops. Why does she look so familiar? Those eyes, I have seen those eyes. She is dressed in black skinny jeans with holes in them, run down black combat boots, and an army green t-shirt. She has light mocha skin, dark curly hair and hazel-green eyes. She is absolutely beautiful.

"Uhm, Mrs. Adams-Foster?"

"Oh! I am so sorry. Gabriella is it?" I say reaching for her hand.

"Yes Ma'am," she replies, grabbing my hand. I can't describe the feeling I get when she grabs my hand, it is like I know this girl. She just looks so familiar, so much like someone I know but I can't place it and it is driving me crazy.

"Are your parents coming?" I ask confused.

"They actually couldn't make it."

"They couldn't make it? I emailed them two days ago as a reminder and they confirmed that they would be here. Is everything alright?" I ask, looking her in the eyes trying to get a read on her.

"Yes everything is fine," she pauses to smile, "They have really demanding jobs and sometimes they are on call so they have to go in. They told me to go and fill them in and if need be they can reschedule a meeting with you."

Something seems off. She starts tomorrow so I guess I will just have to go through some things with her. "Okay. Well why don't you sit down and we can have a look at your transcripts, your schedule, and see if we can get you plugged into some of the activities in the school." I guide her to the seat across from my desk.

"One of the main reasons it is so important that your parents come is so they can sign your application, some of it is missing." I say looking at her carefully, trying to study her reactions.

"Yes, I was informed of that actually so my foster Mom had them faxed to her and we filled everything out and signed them. I have my birth certificate as well." She says pulling papers out of her backpack. It is a simple worn out black backpack.

"Okay yes, that is good, thanks." I say curiously. "Are you sure you don't want to wait until we can do this with your foster parents? You could start next week if you would prefer. We have a lot of information to cover and I don't want you to get overwhelmed." She gives me a puzzled expression and I can tell she is curious why I seem so concerned, it breaks my heart. She starts to remind me of why I got my degree in child psychology. My gut tells me this girl needs some help.

"No, that is okay. I am a pretty independent person. My foster parents are great at letting me handle some things on my own. They are always there to help but I hope to get emancipated when I am sixteen so I like to practice these kinds of things to prepare myself for other situations that I will need to take care of in the future." Emancipated? A chill runs down my spine. No child should be on their own. I can't imagine if Callie really did go through with independent living. After seeing all the help she actually needed and still does I can't help but worry even more about the young girl in front of me. I see her eyes grow wide and I can tell she is shocked that she just said that out loud. She talks like an adult. She kind of reminds me of Callie.

"How come you and your parents came to the decision that you should transfer? Is it just because you are moving?" I ask.

"Foster parents" She corrects.

"Sorry, I knew that." I smile sadly. Obviously she doesn't have the strongest emotional tie with them or she wouldn't have corrected me. I feel bad for saying that.

"It's okay," She smiles again. I have seen that smile too. "Actually I plan to go to medical school and my previous public school doesn't give me the best connections. This school will prepare me better and look a lot better on college applications. My foster parents are very supportive and agreed to help me get there. Besides, my foster Dad just got promoted so they wanted to move this way anyway. I guess I am just lucky." She says smiling. It almost sounds rehearsed.

"Wow, you have your plan already set in stone! That's great that you know what you want to do but you can change your mind too you know?"

"Yeah, I just want to help people." She says, looking at me intently.

"That's wonderful sweetheart." I see her face lose her composure for just a second as she looks at me oddly for calling her sweetheart. She quickly pulls her face together and I can't help but feel sorry for her at the fact that she must not hear terms of endearment very often.

"Yeah" she mumbles, looking away shyly.

"Why don't we look at your transcripts, they are very impressive." I see a blush creep onto her face and it is adorable. "You should be proud." I have the need to make sure she knows that she has done a good job, something tells me she doesn't hear that a lot either.

"Thanks" she mumbles again.

"You basically will just transfer into the 9th grade curriculum that we offer here. It is pretty similar to what you had from San Ysidro . You will be in biology, spanish level 1, AP world history, algebra, english. Obviously it will be different depending on the teacher and where they are at in the material but if you feel you need any help you could always talk to the teacher and we do offer different forms of tutoring. You also will have gym every other day and the day you don't have it will be a study hall. That leaves extra curricular classes. Have you gotten a chance to look at our courses offered?"

"Yes, actually I was hoping to join a music class and an art class. Maybe photography or painting? I know this isn't a class but I was hoping to join the soccer team as well. I know they already started the season but I thought maybe I could talk to the coach and see what she says?"

"Of course, I can put you in contact with her. We can definitely get you into a music and an art class. We have 9 periods a day, one is filled with lunch and with an art and a music class you will have two extra curricular classes. Your gym and study hall will take up one period and then that leaves the other five periods to fill up your core classes . Does that sound okay? It is a pretty heavy load, maybe you would like to think about only taking an art or a music class?"

"No thank you Mrs. AdamsFoster. I would really like to keep a full schedule. Are there any classes that are every other day that could fill the study hall I am in already?" I don't think I have ever met a student who doesn't want to have a study hall.

"I really would like to leave you that study hall. I am worried you will burn yourself out. I know it is only the second week of school but you might have some catching up to do and the extra time may help you out. Some scheduled time to do homework will be really beneficial to you, especially if you join the soccer team. I highly encourage it. It is not even everyday." I study her carefully trying to gauge her reactions. She has kept an even face the entire time. I know she doesn't agree but I can see her not wanting to argue further and draw attention to herself.

"Alright." She sighs. I feel bad that I pushed her into it but I know she is going to tire out.

"Let me give you the coaches email. I will email her as well just to let her know that you will be in contact. I am sure she will be fine letting you try out. The season has started but only about two weeks in. Their first game is this weekend." I write down the email on my card and hand it to Gabriella. She gives me another precious smile. "That is my card too. If you ever need anything, just give me a call. ANYTHING. Seriously, I am here."

"Thank you Mrs. Adams Foster. My foster parents wanted to make sure I thanked you for meeting me and to let you know that they are looking forward to meeting you in the future."

I really hope everything is alright with her foster parents. It seems strange to me that they both couldn't make it. "Also thank you for helping me get my schedule set up."

"Of course, your schedule will be ready tomorrow so just make sure that you stop in the office and grab it. Actually, why don't you stop in here in the morning before school starts and I can give it to you." I want to make sure she has a great start and first day. "Usually I would give a tour, would you like one?" I look at her curiously.

"No that is okay. There are room numbers I can follow. If the room number is in the 100's it's on the first floor, 200's on the second, and so on. I'll find my way." She said that hesitantly. I can tell she is a tiny bit nervous by the slight quiver in her voice but she is trying hard to hide it.

"You know what, I would feel better if I could at least show you where the classes were. I want to make sure, as your vice-principal, I do everything you need to be successful. Let's go, it won't take long. You can leave your bag in here if you'd like." I watch her grasp the bag tighter and pull it closer to her chest.

"Or you can bring it with you," I say trying to ease the situation. She puts it on her back and stands up when I do. "I will just show you the rooms you will need to know about and then you can be on your way, alright?" I receive a small nod.I don't even think about what I am doing and I gently lay my hand on her back to guide her out the door which causes her to jump and step away.

"I am sorry!" I say feeling terrible, "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay," she mumbles, "I just didn't sleep well last night, I am extra jumpy." She laughed. I just smiled and put my hand out to have her leave the office. I watch as she follows my hand and steps out of my office. She moves over to the side so that I can lead the way. I take her through the school and her eyes have grown a little bit. I can tell she hasn't seen anything like this before.

"The beach is right there!" She gasps as I show her where the kids usually eat lunch. I can't help but laugh a little bit.

"That was my reaction too. It is so awesome to be able to work right by the beach." I smile at her while we make eye contact. I am not sure why but I keep eye contact for about ten seconds until she looks away back towards the ocean trying to hide her face in her hair. So sweet. I watch her observe the ocean as she looks at it in awe. Even her nose looks familiar. Is that weird? It kind of reminds me of Stef's. I lose my thought when she looks at me and I realize we should probably move on.

"So you saw all of your classrooms, the art rooms, and the music rooms. I think that should be all you need. Oh! Do you want to see where you would practice soccer?" She just shrugs.

"You don't have to."

"Nonsense! Come on." I smile about to touch her shoulder but then catch myself before she notices. Good thing because I don't want to make her feel anymore uncomfortable than I have to.

We go behind the school and get to the field and I can tell she loves it. I just let her look around for a minute.

"Do you like it?" I ask her.

"Yeah, it is way better than my old school, that's for sure. It would be awesome to practice here."

"Is there anything else you can think of that you would like to see or do you have any questions?"

She just shakes her head slowly. I think she realizes she should say something because she quickly starts talking.

"Oh! No. Thank you so much for taking a lot of time with me. I really appreciate it. You may be the nicest person I have ever met." She blushes after she realizes she said that to me.

"Well thank you," I laugh. I hope I am not the nicest person she has ever met, we have spent less than an hour together.

"I will walk you out." I say walking in the building.

"No it is okay, your office is in the opposite direction. I remember how I came in." She says.

"Are you sure?" I ask her.

"Yes, thank you so much. I will come get my schedule from you in the morning. Thanks again!"

"Anytime Sweetheart." I reach for her hand and she flinches a little bit. I don't like that. I don't like that at all. She recovers and grabs my hand slowly shaking it and regaining her smile.

"Goodbye Mrs. Adams-Foster. It was really nice to meet you."

"Goodbye Gabriella." I watch her walk off. Her head is full of big curls that bounce when she walks. She has great posture but she looks worn out and run down. You can tell just from her physical appearance that she hasn't had the easiest life.

I make it back to my office and I can't help myself from opening up her file and looking at it again. There is something about that girl. I have no clue what it is but I feel drawn to her.

Gabriella's POV:

As soon as I start making my way out the bell rings and the halls start flooding with people. Oh great. I decide to go outside by the lunch tables and walk around so I don't have to fish through a bunch of people. I make it outside and realize that I have to wait until 2:00pm for the next bus. I had to take the morning one at 6:00am just to make it on time for the 11:00am appointment. I sigh and decide to make my way to sit at the beach for a while.

I find a pile of rocks and go sit down so I can look at the beach. It is so peaceful. In this exact moment I don't have to worry about anything except for waiting for the bus. I think about my meeting with Lena and smile. She was so nice. No one has ever been this nice to me and I am a complete stranger. She is the kind of person I picture my Mom like. If I had one. She would be what I want her to be like. Soft, sweet, genuinely caring, and has the best interest at heart. It is crazy to feel all those things just from a short meeting with someone. I let myself drift into sleep as I think about starting school tomorrow.

Lena's POV:

"Hey Mama." I look at the clock and it already says 4:31pm. Wow, I have been engrossed in work literally all day.

"Hey baby, how was tutoring?" I ask looking to Jude.

"Good, I am starting to understand some of it but I am still working on some things." He shrugs a little disappointed with himself.

"You will get there Jude. It takes time. The important thing is that you are trying your hardest and getting the help that you need." I smile at him. He nods his head.

"I really am."

"I know you are and that is what counts. As long as you keep at it you will get there. Are you ready to go?"

"Yup!" He says eagerly which causes me to laugh.

"Everyone sent a text saying they are walking home so it is just us. Let's head out." As I begin to gather my things my eyes land on Gabriella's folder. I can't help it as I pick it up and put it into my bag to take home. I want to review it later.

Jude and I make it home and everyone is off doing their own thing. Jesus is face timing Hayley, Callie and Mariana are in their room doing homework and Brandon is practicing the piano. After I check on everyone I see Jude at the table working on homework.

"Do you want a snack?" I ask Jude, getting myself some water.

"No thanks, I had left over fruit from lunch so I ate that at tutoring."

"Alright Honey. I will be in my room if you need anything." I say walking upstairs. I sit on my bed and pull out Gabriella's file. I wish she had a picture with it. I sigh and flip through the information I have. It is not much but I feel drawn to it. I look over her full name: Gabriella Elizabeth Morrison. We have the same middle name, that makes me smile. Birth date: September 30, 2010. My heart stops beating as a loud gasp escapes my mouth. That has to be a coincidence.

I practically run over to my closest and take out some pictures. I find the one with Stef, the baby, and I the day she was born in the hospital. I try to picture Gabriella and study each of us very carefully looking for similarities. I get a photo that is a close up of our baby Ella and look at her hazel eyes. I am going crazy aren't I? I stare at the photo and can't help but tear up.

I look up when I hear the door opening and Stef walks in.

"Lena, my love, is everything okay?" She says rushing over to me. She sits on the bed and pulls me in close. She sees what's in my hand and her eyes water as well.

"I miss her Stef."

"Me too Lena, me too."

"I want my baby back home. I just wish we knew what happened. That way I wouldn't have to spend so much time wondering if she is alive or not. I miss my baby. How are you supposed to get over a disappearing child?"

"I don't think you ever can. I think the idea of knowing where our little girl is would seem easier but at the same time it will always be hard as long as she is not here with us."

"Do you think she is out there somewhere Stef?" I ask her, looking into her eyes.

"I don't know love, but if she is I hope she is happy and safe. I think about the fact that Colleen didn't choose to leave Callie and Jude, just like we didn't choose to leave Ella, but I hope someone out there is watching out for our baby, like we are watching out for Callie and Jude. All I know is I hope that whoever took our 5 year old child from us, gets what they deserve."

I debate telling Stef that I think I saw our daughter today but right before I say it out loud I realize how ridiculous it sounds. There is no way I saw her. I tend to get emotional as September 30th roles around and I know I might just be using Gabriella to fill that ache. Something about her does draw me to her though. Maybe I am supposed to be there for her and let her know that someone cares. If Ella is still alive, I hope that people reach out and help her for me.

I feel myself being pulled down onto the bed in a big hug and I realize I am crying again. I let Stef's arms wrap around me securely while I think of all the places my daughter could be and hope with all my might that she is alive, healthy, happy, and safe.

Anyways, like I said I am going to try and finish this story, so if you are reading it and interested let me know. I hope people are still reading the Fosters fanfiction lol.