A/N: I just thought of this and decided to type it up. I'm putting off a couple of my other stories. Let me know if you like this or not . . . On with the story now!!!

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING!

"Hey, Tess, can I see you downstairs when you get a chance?" My mom asked peaking into my room.

"Yeah sure. What's up?" I asked following her down the winding stairs to the living room.

"There's no easy way to tell you this." She started as I continued to look at her.

"Just tell me." I said getting nervous that something was terribly wrong with the family I had come to know.

"Your dad and I are your adoptive parents." She said taking a deep breathe.

"What do you mean? You have pictures of me from when I was a baby." I asked clearly not processing what my "mother" just told me.

"We adopted you when you were just days old. Your birth father had cancer and couldn't take care of you. Your mother had just turned 20 and was still in college." My "mother" told me.

"So why are you telling me this now?" I asked her as she looked at me.

"Because when you turned 18, your father and mother asked us to give you this envelope. Since today is your birthday, I kept my word and am giving this to you." She said handing me a purple envelope.

"Can I be alone for a little bit?" I asked looking up at the mother I thought I knew.

"Sure. If you need anything, let me know." She said patting my knee before I ran upstairs.

I slammed my door shut and jumped on my bed. You think you know everything about yourself then it changes in an instant. I hesitated before sliding my finger under the envelope flap.

I slowly open the envelope and look inside. Inside there were four pages of notebook paper that looked hurriedly scribbled on. I clutched them in my hand before pulling them out. I took a deep breath before unfolding them.

My dearest Tess Alexis Bolton (soon to be DeVries),

You don't know who I am but I know who you are. You're my daughter. You're currently sleeping peaceful in your mother's arms as I write this. By the time
you're reading this, you'll be 18; a senior in high school and hopefully, going off to college. And I'll be dead.

Your mom and I were married when we were 18; just out of high school. We were high school sweethearts and knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. About four months after the wedding, I started feeling worse and worse. I couldn't concentrate; my hands started to twitch. It got so bad that your mom forced me to go to the doctors. The news was awful and it was the worse day of my life. I had a deadly brain tumor that was too big and too close to my brain to operate. They gave me a year at the most to live.

Your mom and I decided right then and there we wanted a child together. Hence why you're reading this letter. I'm sorry you won't get to know your old man at all. But I'm not sorry for a second that you're my daughter. I love you. I just wished I could have known and watched your grow up.

Now another part of this letter; I know you must have tons of questions. That's why I've included a list of people and phone numbers who are willing to answer any questions you might have. I've told them that I'm doing this and they promised me they would stay in the same place that is listed in this letter.

Your mother and I wanted what we thought was right for you. Hopefully your adopted parents were kind and nice to you. Your mother and I spent many hours debating which family to give you to.

I'm watching over you always, my princess.

Your father,

Troy Bolton

I slowly reread the letter. My father seemed like a nice guy; but he was dead. I really wanted to meet him but I guess the list of contacts would have to work.
I fingered the other pieces of paper and a picture fell out. I picked it up and studied carefully. There was a man, a woman, and a baby, me I supposed. They were both smiling; they looked happy and in love.

I put the picture down before grabbing the other paper. It was another letter to me.

Tess Alexis DeVries,

I'm your mother as of 12 hours ago. You're a beautiful baby and it's so hard letting you go. But your father and I know it's in your best interest.

I hope you read the letter your dad wrote. He's good with words so I had him write the important stuff. If you don't want to stray away from what you know, then you don't have to contact those people. We just thought you might like to know who your birth parents were.

Anyways, moving on from that. Your father and I sat down together and came up with a list of hopes and dreams we have for you. That's the third piece of paper in this stack. Also, your grandparents took that picture of you just after you were born so that's stuffed in there as well.

I love you, my sweet girl.

Gabriella Bolton

So both of my birth parents had tried to make me understand that they had to give me up. I guess my mom couldn't raise me after my dad died. I fingered the third page before reading it.

Hopes and Dreams for Tess Alexis Bolton

We hope you have a great childhood and make memories wherever you are. We hope you to find your soul mate and live many happy days. We hope you have lots of friends. We hope no one ever tells you that you can't do something; and if they do, you prove them wrong. We hope you follow your heart and be who you want to be. We hope you don't follow the crowd but you're a leader.

They had both signed it. I sighed before leaning back into the stack of pillows. I had a tough decision to make; do I leave everything I know behind and go search for who my birth parents were or do I ignore everything I had just read?

6:00 PM

I walked slowly down the stairs. I heard my "mother" and "father" talking quietly in the kitchen. They looked up as I swung open the door.

"Do you want to talk, Tess?" My "father" asked as I looked up at the two of them.

"I need to say some things." I said taking a deep breathe.

"We're here to listen." My "mom" said smiling a little in my direction. Funny, her smile use to calm me down; now it just makes me mad.

"First off, how could you go 18 years and not tell me I was adopted?" I asked the two of them.

"We tried for many years to tell you but we kept saying that you were too young to handle the real truth about your parents. When they approached us about adopting you, all we knew about them was that they were both 20 year olds in college." Dad told me.

"You've had 18 years to tell me." I said quietly as they came and sat by me.

"And if we had to do it again, we would have told you sooner. We're sorry; we thought we were doing the right thing." Mom told me.

"In that envelope you gave me this afternoon, there were a couple of letters. One from my mom and dad and a list of contacts if I had any questions." I told them.

"What did those letters tell you?" Mom asked me as I looked at them.

"My father had an inoperable brain tumor. That's part of the reason they gave me up for adoption." I told them.

"Wow, Tess we never knew." Dad said hanging his head.

"We're sorry, Tess. But what are you going to do with this information?" Mom asked me while looking at me.

"I've got to go to Albuquerque, New Mexico." I told them waiting for their reactions.

"What's in New Mexico?" Dad asked me.

"All of their friends and family, I'm assuming. In the envelope, there was a list of contacts in case I ever had questions. I'm going there to find out who my parents were. You guys can either go with me or I'll drain my savings and go by myself." I told them waiting for their reactions.