I'm so sorry about how long it's taken me to get out, I wanted it to be out sooner and I'm so sorry that it wasn't.

I'm slightly worried about how well this is going to be accepted seeing as it was a while ago since I wrote Life Changing, but I guess I'll just have to post it and see.

So, without further a do, here's the first chapter to Life Changing: Again, enjoy!

Adjusting

The door slammed loudly and the baby boys who had just fallen asleep were now wide awake and their Mum was on the verge of tears, while their Dad was far from happy with their big sister.

"Jasmine Marie Bolton, you come back down here, right now," The twelve year had just entered her bedroom when Troy called her back downstairs and so made the point of slamming her bedroom door a couple of times, before coming back downstairs.

"What?" She asked angrily, her left hip jutted out as she stood.

"Don't you dare use that tone with me young lady. You do not slam doors, do you hear me? We just got your brothers to sleep and your Mum has a thumping headache and you coming in and slamming the front door and your bedroom door for that matter does not help." Troy raised his voice but didn't shout, he knew Gabriella would be trying to get the boys back to sleep.

"Well how was I supposed to know you just got them to sleep? I'm not psychic Dad."

"That's not the point Jasmine, they're two week old babies, they're gonna cry at whatever loud noise there is and you shouldn't be slamming doors anyway, you've always been taught that, it just seems recently you've forgotten it. I don't understand what's going on in your head right now Jazz, you were fine when they first came home, but these past couple of days you seem to have made it your mission to upset the twins and Gabi, why sweetheart? I know this is all new to you, but if something's bothering you, you need to tell us so that we can try and help you." Jasmine had her eyes trained on the floor as Troy spoke to her and as she lifted her head to look Troy in the eye, he was surprised to see she had tears brimming in them.

"I'm sorry," She whispered, before turning on her heel and running back upstairs to her room, but to Troy's surprise, she didn't slam her door.

Sighing, Troy ran his hands through his hair and made his way back towards the lounge, where his wife and newborn sons where situated.

Yeah that's right, Troy and Gabriella had been married for a little over two years now and four months after they said 'I do', Gabriella signed the papers, along with Troy and Jasmine, that legally made them mother and daughter, yeah you're right again, Gabriella adopted Jasmine. And these baby boys?

These baby boys are Troy and Gabriella's, two week old sons, Michael and Mitchell Alexander Bolton. The only thing that stops these little boys being identical is that while Michael has Troy's sandy brown hair, Mitchell has Gabriella's dark brown. Other than that they both look exactly like Troy, Michael pretty much being a mini Troy, the boys both have Troy's electric blue eyes, identifying them as his sons.

Walking back into the lounge, Troy found that Gabriella had gotten the boys back to sleep, but she was slumped down on the floor against the couch, near the boys' bassinette, softly crying into her hands. She looked up once she realised Troy was back in the room and gave him a soft, watery smile while trying to wipe away her tears.

"Cuddle?" Troy asked her, as he walked over to the bit of the couch behind Gabriella and sat on it, before pulling her up onto it with him. He cupped Gabriella's face in his hands and wiped away her remaining tears with the pads of his thumbs. "Okay I'm rephrasing that; you can only have a cuddle if you stop crying, deal?" Gabriella nodded with a sniffle and allowed Troy to settle them more comfortably on the couch for a much needed hug.

"My head is thumping so badly Troy; it feels like I've got a million drums being played up there." Gabriella's voice was soft and Troy knew she was on the verge of more tears.

"I'm sorry sweetheart; Jasmine shouldn't have slammed those doors. Listen, why don't you go up and cuddle down in bed and I'll bring you up some pain killers?"

"Yeah, that doesn't sound like a bad idea and I put some milk in the fridge if the boys wake up and want feeding, is Jazzy okay?" Gabriella's voice was still soft, as Troy led her towards the stairs,

"I don't know, I don't think so, I told her off for slamming the doors and told her that if something was bothering her she should tell us and then she looked me in the eye, on the verge of tears, said sorry and ran back up to her room, I didn't think it would be a very good idea to follow her."

"No probably not, but I'll poke my head in now and see if she's alright, I haven't had much time for her since we brought the boys home."

"Okay, as long as you feel up to it, I'll grab you some painkillers and be up in a few," Troy kissed Gabriella on the forehead as they reached the bottom of the stairs and watched her climb the first few steps, before heading through to the kitchen.

TGTGTGTG

Gabriella had had enough of people crying today, her sons, herself and now by the sounds of it her daughter as well. The loud sobs that were coming from Jasmine's room indicated that she was still crying and told Gabriella that this wasn't just over her slamming the doors.

After knocking on the door multiple times and getting no reply, Gabriella walked in and was met with a young girl in distress. Jasmine had trashed her room, throwing things all over the place and smashing a glass she had in there, but what broke Gabriella's hearts the most was the state of Jasmine herself. She was curled up on her bed, her teddy Rosie cuddled close to her chest, as she let out heart wrenching sobs.

Jasmine lifted her head when she realised she was no longer alone in the room and really wanting a hug right now, got up and slowly made her way towards Gabriella, unsure of why she was there in the first place.

"Come here sweetheart," Gabriella held her arms out to Jasmine and she quickly collapsed into them, sobbing against Gabriella's shoulder, as she let out all her pent up emotions. "Oh Jazzy please stop crying, it's gonna be okay honey, it's all gonna be okay." Not feeling too steady on her feet, Gabriella led Jasmine back over to her bed and settled herself against the wall which was next to the bed, as Jasmine crawled next to her and laid with her head in her Mum's lap.

"Talk to me honey, what's gotten you in this state?" Jasmine shrugged as Gabriella started running her hands through her hair. "Please Jazzy talk to me, why are you so upset?"

"I think I got my period yesterday," Jasmine whispered, before rolling onto her side and burying her head into Gabriella's stomach as more tears began to fall.

"Oh honey its okay," Gabriella replied, as she ran a comforting hand up and down Jazzy's back. "Why didn't you come and tell me?"

"You always look so tired now and you're always looking after the boys and it's kinda embarrassing." Gabriella smiled softly, as Jasmine sat up and wiped away her tears, before self consciously wrapping her arms around herself.

Gabriella grabbed Jasmine's pyjamas, which were resting neatly on top of her pillows and passed them to her as she moved to the edge of the bed. "Bring these and some clean knickers through to mine and your Dad's bathroom and we'll get you sorted out sweetheart. How you feeling about the cramps side of things?"

"I think I'm okay right now, I don't feel right though and my boobs kinda hurt."

Gabriella chuckled softly. "Mine too," she replied. "Just not for the same reason. So, my bathroom in a few?" Jasmine nodded and allowed Gabriella to give her a quick kiss on the fore head, before she headed out of the room, just as Troy walked up the stairs.

"Hey, I thought you'd be curled up in bed by now, Mum phoned so I got delayed and came to tell you, is Jazzy okay?"

"She will be, she's gonna come and cuddle in bed with me for a while," Gabriella told him just as Jasmine came out of her room.

"I'm sorry for slamming the doors Dad," Jasmine's voice was hoarse and her eyes were red from her crying.

"Me too honey," Troy continued when Jasmine looked at him confused. "There's obviously something bothering you and I'm sorry that you didn't feel like you could come to me or Gabi about that, you have told her now though, right?"

"Yeah, Mum's gonna help me out, everything's gonna be fine Dad," Jasmine gave Troy a quick hug, before heading down the corridor to the main bedroom of the house.

"What you gonna help her with?" Troy was clearly confused by what Jasmine had said.

"I'll explain it all to you later honey, it's nothing to worry about. I've got pain killers in the bathroom, now that I think about it, so instead of bringing me some, could you please get the hover and clear up the glass that she's smashed in there. She's trashed the place, so could you maybe tidy it up a little? It'll all make sense to you later, so could you do it without asking any questions?"

Troy nodded. "For you sweetheart, anything," And with that said, a quick hug and kiss was exchanged before the couple headed in different directions, Troy promising to come and check on his girls in a little while.

TGTGTGTG

Troy climbed back into bed just as Gabriella finished putting the boys back to sleep in the bassinette in their room. A little over half an hour ago Michael and Mitchell woke up wanting to bed fed and while Gabriella took care of that, Troy would take care of burping and changing them afterwards, with Gabriella breast feeding there wasn't a lot he could do to help. Just as Troy had finished changing Mitchell and Gabriella was lulling Michael back off to sleep, cries could be heard coming from Jasmine's room and so Troy headed off to check it out.

"Is she okay?" Gabriella asked, as she climbed back into bed next to Troy after making sure the boys were completely comfortable.

"I think so, she was really agitated, I think she'd had a nightmare 'cause she was sitting up in bed and breathing really heavily when I walked in, but I gave her a hug and she calmed down and started to drift back off to sleep." Troy answered as he pulled a yawning Gabriella into his arms, allowing her to use his chest as her pillow. "Hey, you never told me what was wrong with her earlier."

"Oh yeah," Gabriella responded, her eyes drooping. "She got her period yesterday, so I was helping her get herself sorted out."

"Woah, I wasn't expecting that, although I guess it was gonna come one day. How come she only told you today? I mean, I understand why she didn't wanna tell me, but why didn't she come and tell you?"

"I asked her that, she said that I always look tired now or that I'm looking after the boys and she said she was kinda embarrassed about it as well."

"Okay, well you have it all under control now, right?"

"Yes Troy, of course I do, I wasn't just gonna leave her to fend for herself, was I?" Gabriella answered and punctuated her sentence with a very loud yawn.

"Okay honey, I'm sorry, I know you would help her, I shouldn't have asked you that, just forget I said it. Lets just get some more sleep, Jazzy has gone back to sleep and you need to get some more sleep before the boys wake up again 'cause I'm at work from seven 'til seven tomorrow." Troy is a fully trained, emergency medicine doctor and works in the accident and emergency department at the local hospital.

"Yeah I remember, what time did Mum say she'd be here?"

"Between half eight and nine, just after Jazzy leaves for school, she said as soon as she gets here you're going back to bed, so don't even try and argue with her tomorrow, you hear me?"

"Mmm-kay," was Gabriella's reply, to which Troy simply chuckled and kissed Gabriella on the head before following her to dream land.

TGTGTGTG

"That was the best shower I've had in a long time, thanks Mum."

"No problem sweetie, I'm glad I could help." Maria had arrived at the Bolton household at eight forty five and had immediately sent Gabriella back upstairs telling her to get some more sleep and have a nice long shower before even thinking about coming back downstairs.

"Are the boys both asleep?" Gabriella asked, as she took the coffee Maria was offering her and went through to the lounge.

"Yeah they haven't been down long though; I woke them up with the hovering and they both wanted changing as well, so I did that and then we all had a cuddle for a bit, which sent them back to sleep about twenty minutes ago."

"Thanks Mum," Gabriella said again, as she gave one final look to the boys in their bassinette, before curling up on the sofa. "You should probably know that Jazzy is now officially a woman."

"Okay, when did this happen?" Maria wasn't sure how to respond to this news, but knew it was probably something she needed to know, especially when it would come to Jasmine's sudden mood swings.

"A couple of days ago, she only told me yesterday though, she walked in and was slamming doors, so Troy told her off and she ended up crying. I went in her room to speak to her and found that she'd trashed the place and was sobbing on her bed. We talked and eventually she told me she thought she'd gotten her period and was basically to embarrassed to tell me and with me being busy and tired 'cause of the boys, I'm not sure when she would've said anything, to be honest."

"I'm sure she'd of told you at some point, what did Troy say? He knows right?"

"Yeah he knows, I made him clear up her room and told him not to ask question because I'd explain later, I told him after the boys woke us up at…three, or whatever time it was this morning. He was shocked, I'd say that's the best way to put it, but he knew it would happen at some point so I don't think he's too bother by it, other than having to live with two hormonal women and two newborn babies."

"I'm sure he'll cope, he's a great Dad and husband to you all, you're very special to have someone like him Gabi," Maria told her daughter sincerely.

"I know Mum, believe me I…" Gabriella was cut off by the house phone ringing and she quickly got up to answer it before it woke the boys.

Maria could hear Gabi talking in the hallway but couldn't make out the conversation, all she knew was that it wasn't Troy; her daughter's voice was too serious. It was only a few minutes after that phone call began, that it came to an end and Gabriella walked back into the lounge.

"Who was it honey? Is everything okay?" Maria was concerned as she watched Gabi pick her phone up from the couch before walking back out into the hall to get her shoes from the cupboard under the stairs. "Gabi? Sweetie, what's going on?"

"That was Jasmine's school, they said that she's been set upon in the girls bathrooms and is really hurt and upset, but she won't leave until I'm there, she's locked herself in one of the stalls and is curled up on the toilet seat with the hood of her hoodie up so no one can see her, they're pretty worried about her. Do you think I'm okay to go dressed like this?" Maria looked at her daughter's attire of some dark purple velvet sweatpants, a black vest top and the zip up jumper to match the bottoms, her hair was pulled up into a messy bun.

"I'd say your fine sweetie, just go to Jazzy, I'll be fine here with the boys, do you want me to phone Troy?" Gabriella shook her head as she finished tying her shoes and picked up her house and car keys.

"He'll only worry at work and from the text he sent me it seems they're pretty short staffed, so he can't come home anyway. Jazzy sounds to be in a real mess and was specifically asking for me, so I'll leave it at that for now, I think too many people will freak her out right now."

"Okay sweetie, you go, take your time and I'll see you when you get back."

"Okay thanks Mum, give the boys a kiss for me," Maria nodded and gave her daughter a hug and kiss, before she was out the door and making her way to East Valley Middle School.

TGTGTGTG

"We're sorry to have to call you in Mrs Bolton, but Jasmine is really upset and refusing to leave the bathrooms unless you're here." Gabriella had arrived at East Valley to be met by the deputy head teacher, who was leading her to Jasmine's 'hiding' place.

"It's fine Mrs King, if she needs me, she needs me, it's just a good job my Mum was at home with me so I could leave my sons with her or I would've taken longer getting here while waiting for her to get to ours."

"Ah yes, you have some newborns don't you? Twin boys if I'm correct?"

"Yeah, Michael and Mitchell, they're two weeks old now, things are a bit crazy but we're slowly adjusting."

"I can imagine, but I'm sure Jasmine is a great big sister, she's just in here," Mrs King had stopped and was gesturing to the door of the girls' bathroom.

"Okay thank you, if it's alright with you, I think I'll take her home afterwards."

"Please do, it'll give us a chance to deal with the people who did this and give Jasmine a chance to recover. Just give us a call before she comes back and we'll do our best to make everything easy for her to settle back in." Gabriella thanked Mrs King again and with the information to sign Jasmine out at the office before they left, she pushed open the door to the toilets and finding only one of the cubicles occupied, the one at the far end, it wasn't hard for her to figure out where Jasmine was.

On the phone Mrs King had told Gabriella that people had looked over the top of the cubicle wall to check on Jasmine and talk to her, that's how they knew how she was sitting, but Gabriella wasn't going to do that. She knew invading Jasmine's space would only upset her more and that she needed to gain Jasmine's trust before she could enter the place, which right now, seemed to be her safe haven.

"Jazzy sweetheart it's Mum, are you okay in there?" It seemed like a stupid question to ask but Gabriella wanted to alert Jasmine to her presence and get her talking, before she tried getting her to open the door.

"They hurt me Mum, they really hurt me," Jasmine's voice was shaking and was hoarse, but right now it sounded like she'd stopped herself from crying.

"Yeah sweetheart, so I heard, you think you can open the door so I can take a look at you and give you a hug?" Gabriella didn't get an answer this time and didn't think she was going to get one, until she heard movement and then that tell tale click of the cubicle door unlocking.

Jasmine wouldn't look at Gabriella, she kept her eyes trained on the floor, but it wasn't hard for Gabriella to see the wetness on her cheeks or her incredibly swollen left eye. She had her arms self-consciously wrapped around her stomach and she was clearly shaking, as more tears began to trickle down her cheeks.

Wordlessly, Gabriella stepped forward and took the broken young girl into her arms and held her for the next few minutes as she let out all the hurt, fear, upset and anger that was running through her veins.

"I-I don't w-want to be h-here anymore Mum, c-can we p-please go home?"

"We can indeed sweetness, Mrs King has said you can have a few days off so that you can get some rest and they can deal with the people who did this, do they know who did this?" Jasmine purely nodded, not really wanting to relive anything she'd been through. "Alright honey, let's just put a cold paper towel on that swollen eye of yours," Gabriella momentarily let go of Jasmine to wet a paper towel, before quickly handing it to Jasmine who gingerly held it to her eye, while Gabriella picked up her bag from the toilet floor.

"Do we need to go and get anything out of your locker sweetheart?" Jasmine shook her head and pointed to her school bag that Gabriella had slung over her shoulder.

"It's all in there, I don't leave stuff in my locker."

"Alrighty then, let's get you out of here," Gabriella wrapped her daughter back up in her arms and led her out of the bathrooms and then swiftly out of the school. She could sense from the way Jasmine relaxed as soon as they left the school, that what had happened wasn't just a one time thing.

TGTGTGTG

Troy Bolton was one very unhappy man.

He'd had a very long, stressful, short staffed day at work and all he wanted to do was go home, shower and spend some relaxed time with his family, apparently that wasn't going to happen…quite yet.

He'd finished his shift, half an hour late, to find two voicemails and three text messages from his wife telling him to call her before he came home. So he had, called her before he went home, only to be informed that his daughter was in a pretty bad way after being set upon at school today. Gabriella hadn't wanted to tell him over the phone, but she wanted him to know what had happened before he got home, so that her telling him didn't upset Jasmine even more.

He listen calmly as his wife told him what had taken place, how she'd had to coax Jasmine out of the toilet cubicle and the injuries she'd sustained. He'd even stayed calm when she told him her suspicions on this whole thing seeming to be more than it looked and had agreed with her, that tomorrow they would both talk to Jasmine about what was happening at school, but for now Troy just wanted to get home and make sure that his baby girl was okay.

He walked into his home at half past eight to find his whole family in the living room. Maria sat on one part of the couch with her Grandsons, Mitchell was lying next to her on the couch, her hand rubbing his stomach slowly lulling him to sleep, while Michael was being held by her other arm as he slept. Gabriella and Jasmine were sat on the other part of the 'L' shaped couch, Jasmine was lying with her head resting on Gabriella's lap, her body turned towards her with Rosie cuddled to her chest, as Gabriella soothingly ran her hands through her hair. Troy smiled towards Maria, who sent him one back, before swiftly moving towards his girls.

"Hey beautiful," Troy propped himself up with his right arm against the back of the couch, as he greeted Gabriella with a kiss on the forehead, the movement causing Jasmine to roll onto her other side to greet Troy as he knelt down beside the couch.

"Hey Princess, I hear you've had a pretty rough day." Troy gently ran his fingers over Jasmine's bruised eye and then leaned down to softly kiss it.

"Yeah, they really hurt me Dad."

"So I can see, have you got a headache at all?" Troy knew Gabriella would've taken care of Jasmine when she brought her home, but he couldn't help his doctoring instincts kicking, in, especially when it came to his daughter.

Jasmine smiled softly, knowing what her Dad was up to. "I'm fine Dad, Mum put a wet paper towel on my eye before we left school and then as soon as we got home she made me sit down with ice on it for half an hour and I did have a headache, but she gave me painkillers as well, so I can barely feel it now. Mum does know how to look after me Dad, it's one of the things she's best at."

"I know I'm sorry sweetheart, I can't help it, I know your Mum knows how to look after you I never doubted that one bit. So you're okay then, I don't need to worry?"

"No Dad, there's no need to worry I'm fine, you're not though, you kinda stink, you need a shower."

"Thanks Jazzy I love you too, can I at least ay hi to Grandma and the boys first?"

Jasmine shrugged. "I guess, but if they tell you that you smell, don't say that I didn't warn you." Troy decided to take the risk and went to greet them anyway, He kissed Maria on the cheek in greeting and then picked up each of his boys in turn, kissing them on their foreheads before placing them both soundly in their bassinette to continue their sleep.

TGTGTGTG

Jasmine couldn't sleep, she had so much running through her head that there was no way she could just close her eyes and fall asleep, despite feeling completely exhausted, this was gonna be one restless night.

She'd told Troy and Gabriella what had taken place today and how she'd received those injuries, but she hadn't told them the complete truth, the whole story.

But you see, the complete truth would hurt, it would hurt them all, but down deep down in her heart Jasmine knew that the truth needed to be told and that sometimes, it had to hurt for things to get better.

"I've got to tell them Rosie," she told the bear, as she lay on her back with Rosie sat on her chest. "It's gonna be hard, but it hurts too much to keep it inside." She reached up to wipe away the tears that were trickling down her cheeks. "They have to know the truth, they have to know why I can't go back to that school, ever."

TGTGTGTG

There it is people, I'm not really feeling it, but then again it's not up to me, what do you think?

It's taken me way longer to post than I would've liked, but life happens, I'm not gonna apologies for that.

It's up to you if it continues so:

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU!