Here is chapter one of my new story. I hope you enjoy. For anyone who doesn't figure it out, TAPP stands for TeenAge Parent Program.

Gabriella scurried around the small house she called home, trying to get all her things ready to go. From outside, a horn honked.

"Gabby, that's the van. You better hurry up or you're going to miss it and be late for your first day of school!" her roommate exclaimed.

"I know, I know!" she replied, throwing things in a bag. "I was up half the night with Belle. I'm exhausted and slept through my alarm." The horn honked again. "Go stick your head out and let them know I'm coming."

Her roommate opened the door and waved to the driver before coming back inside. "Need some help?" she asked watching Gabriella struggle with her bags.

"Please," Gabriella answered. "You get Belle and take this bag. I'll get the other ones and grab the car seat."

They carried all the stuff outside to the van. Her roommate stuffed the bags under the seat while Gabriella strapped in the car seat. Once it was securely installed, she turned to the other girl.

"Thanks, Audrey," she said gently taking the baby from her arms.

"No problem," Audrey replied. "Good luck."

Gabriella gave a weak smile and climbed in the van. As she buckled her daughter in and the van began to move, butterflies filled her stomach.

The girl in the seat behind her leaned forward. "Are you new this year?" she asked.

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah. I moved here from Cedar Crest."

"Well, welcome to East High. I'm Gina, and this is Matthew," she said motioning to the sleeping toddler in the car seat next to her.

"I'm Gabriella. This is Izabelle." Her nerves were beginning to settle.

"Six months?" Gina asked.

Gabriella looked down at her little girl and smiled. "Next week. How old is Matthew?"

"Just turned one last month."

Gabriella looked at the other passengers in the full sized van. There were two other moms with babies and one pregnant girl. "I expected more of us," she commented.

"Oh, there are. There are a bunch of vans that have specific areas of the city they pick up. There were twenty five of us last year."

Gabriella nodded and looked out the window to take in her surroundings. She saw her school in the distance and the van slowed down as it entered the school zone. "Where are we going?" she asked when they drove past the entrance.

"We go around back. The parking lot can get a little crazy, so they don't want us in it with the kiddos," Gina answered.

The van turned onto a gravel road that ran along the far edge of the school property. Once they passed the football and baseball fields, they curved around the track. They passed the gym and parked in a row of vans just like theirs on a small paved lot in front of a little brick building.

Carrying Isabelle and her bags, Gabriella followed Gina. Gina only had a diaper bag and purse to carry, making her realize that perhaps she over packed. Matthew held his Gina's hand and toddled inside before dropping to his knees and furiously crawling across the room to the toys.

"Welcome back, Gina," a middle aged woman said walking up to them.

"Hey, Mrs. Morrow," Gina replied hanging her diaper bag on a hook on the wall to her right. "This is Gabriella and her daughter Izabelle."

"Nice to meet you, Gabriella. I'm Mrs. Morrow, the coordinator of the teenage parent program here at East High. Come in my office and we'll get you two all set up here," she said motioning for Gabriella to follow her. Once in the small room, Mrs. Morrow pulled out a small stack of paper and pulled a post-it note off the top. "We got the pack of papers you faxed over last week. The only thing missing was her shot record. Do you have that?"

Gabriella perched Izabelle on one knee and set her backpack on the other. "No," she said digging through it, "but I have a philosophical exemption form." She pulled a blue paper out of the bag and handed it to Mrs. Morrow.

"Here are a few papers we need you to fill out about little miss Izabelle. The first sheet is your class schedule. When you're done I'll give you a tour of our building and introduce you to the other teachers in the program. Take your time," Mrs. Morrow said as the bell rang. "I'll write you a pass to class."

There was a light knock on the door and Gina stuck her head in. "What periods do you have TAPP?" she asked.

Gabriella looked at her schedule. "Fourth and seventh."

"Awesome, I have it third and fourth. Fourth is lunch period, so we have lunch together, too. I'll see you then." With a smile and a quick wave she was gone.

"Bye, Belley Boo," Gabriella said hugging her daughter tightly with tears in her eyes. "I love you." All too soon the time had come for her to go to class. She spent all of first period filling out papers, touring the building and meeting the other program teachers. After first period came homeroom, which all the girls in the teen parent program had with Mrs. Morrow. Homeroom was now over and she had no choice but to go to her second period class.

"Bless your heart," Gina said softly. "This is your first time leaving her, isn't it?"

Gabriella nodded and handed Izabelle to Mrs. Morrow as a tear rolled down her cheek. They walked out of their building and into the school's main building in silence. After a few moments, she stopped. "I think this is my class," she said sadly.

Gina turned to her and placed a hand on her forearm, giving her a warm smile. "Don't worry, it gets easier," she assured her.

Gabriella walked into her classroom and sank into a seat in the back row. She didn't even bother to try and listen to the teacher; she couldn't stop thinking about how much she missed her little girl and how awful she felt for leaving her. She hugged herself as silent tears slowly burned her cheeks, ignoring the stares and snickers of the group of kids in front of her.

The bell rang and snapped her out of her trance. She headed to the gym and sat on the top row of bleachers.

"Ladies and gentleman," the teacher said from the gym floor in front of the bleachers. "I am coach Bolton. This class is called physical education. Anyone who thinks they can dress out and sit on their butts everyday should see a guidance counselor during their lunch period and have their schedule changed. Please bring appropriate shoes and clothing. We begin dressing out on Monday. Until then, read, do homework, talk to your friends, whatever."

Great, she thought. This is going to be a fun class. She leaned her head against the wall behind her and closed her eyes. The next thing she knew, she felt something light and scratchy hit her forehead and heard laughter. She opened her eyes to see a wad of paper in her lap.

"Look, guys, the weeping sleeping beauty is up," a guy said as he and his friends laughed again.

Gabriella's deep brown eyes met his piercing blue ones and glared. Before they had time to tease her anymore, the bell rang sounding like music to her ears. She got up and hurried down the bleachers, out of the gym and into the TAPP building.

As if on cue, Mrs. Morrow lifted Izabelle from the changing table and turned towards the door with a smile. "There's your mama," she said in a singsong voice.

Gabriella rushed over to her and swooped Izabelle into her arms. "I missed you, Belle." She sat in one of the rocking chairs along the wall and lovingly gazed down on her, stroking her face as she nursed.

"So, how was it?" Gina asked. She kneeled down on the ground and Matthew happily crawled over to her.

"Awful," Gabriella sighed. "I cried and daydreamed through the first class and slept through the second, so the actual classes weren't too bad."

"Then what was so awful about it?"

"The people in the classes. The crying and sleeping made the classes easier to get through, but I'm pretty sure it gave the other kids reason to mock me forever."

"Yeah, well, the kids here are stupid and immature, especially the guys."

"I noticed. Not to mention they obviously have ego's bigger than their brains. Sitting all high and mighty in their letterman's jackets. They threw stuff at me in gym."

Gina rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, the leader of the pack had bright blue eyes and a fluffy headed sidekick?"

"Yeah," Gabriella replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Troy Bolton, the basketball star. He thinks he runs the school. His sidekick is Chad Danforth and at any time there are basketball jerks and cheerleader groupies hanging all over the place."

"Do you know them or something?"

A distant look came over Gina's face. "No. No I don't."

It turned out, Gina and Gabriella had health and life management together fifth period. Gabriella gave her note to the teacher that excused her from class ten minutes early so she could nurse Izabelle.

The teacher read it and smiled. "Good for you, Gabriella," she said. "Just get my attention when it's time for you to go."

Gabriella nodded. As she and Gina turned towards the student's desks, snickers were heard across the room. Gabriella looked to find the source and scowled when she saw Troy Bolton and his gang whispering and laughing at them.

"Great," she muttered.

"Just ignore them," Gina said.

Unfortunately, the only open seats were right behind Troy and his friends. "I see you found a friend just as pathetic and lonely as you are," the one with the afro said smirking at them as they walked by.

"Shut up, Danforth," Gina said as she started down the aisle only to find it blocked by a pair of legs.

"How nice of you to grace us with your presence, Gina," the guy said as he looked her up and down.

"Don't worry, Dick," she said plastering a fake smile on her face and shoving his legs out of the way. "You'll be in a different class by tomorrow."

"Good afternoon, students," the teacher said as the girls took their seats. "I am Ms. Grimsley. Welcome to health and life management." Gabriella began to daydream as Ms. Grimsley handed out and explained the syllabus for the first semester, the health portion, of the class.

A hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality. "Get up," Gina said as she and everyone else in the class stood up.

"What? What are we doing?" Gabriella asked as she stood up. Gina shrugged.

"Everyone grab your stuff and stand in the front of the room," Ms. Grimsley said. Everyone did as they were told and waited in front of the room for directions. "The other half of this course is life management skills. One very important skill in life is the ability to work with someone that you normally wouldn't or even don't like. So, you all draw a number out of this box. There are three of each number. Those of you who draw the same number will be in a group for the remainder of the year." All the students sent nervous glances to their friends. "Ok, let's start. Tell me your name then draw a number."

Gina was first. She drew a three. After she drew her number, she whispered something to Ms. Grimsley who nodded. Gina walked behind Ms. Grimsley's desk and got on the phone.

After about half the class had drawn their numbers, Ms. Grimsley approached the guy Gina confronted before class. "Name?" Ms. Grimsley asked.

"Rick Stohl," he answered reaching into the box. He pulled out a piece of paper, looked at it and let out a whoop. "Seven!" he exclaimed. He walked over to Troy, who had also drawn a seven, and gave him a high five.

After a few more people, it was Gabriella's turn. "Miss Montez," Ms. Grimsley said holding the box out for her.

Anything but seven, Gabriella thought as she reached into the box. Anything but seven! She pulled out a paper and turned it over to reveal the number. Her stomach flipped.

"What did you get?" Ms. Grimsley asked.

"Seven," she replied softly. She walked over to Troy and Rick who had smirks on their faces.

A few minutes later, everyone had drawn and taken their new seats with their group. "These will be your groups for the remainder of the year," Ms. Grimsley said. "You start your first project today." Just as she was about to start explaining the assignment, the classroom door opened and the principal walked in. "Can I help you, Mr. Matsui?"

He scanned the room and set his eyes on Rick. "Mr. Stohl, come with me. Your schedule has been changed," he said sternly. Rick glared at Gina who had a cocky grin on her face. He grabbed his stuff and stormed out of the room. "Thank you, Ms. Grimsley. Sorry to interrupt," Mr. Matsui said before exiting the classroom.

"Ok, well, I guess we will just have a group of two. Since you probably don't know much about the people in your group, your first assignment is to get to know one another. You will spend the remainder of today and the next three days getting to know each other. Friday, you will present to the class what you learned."

Gabriella and many of the other students in the class groaned. "I take it you remember me from earlier," Troy mocked.

"Of course. The gentleman who threw a paper ball at me. How could I forget?" she asked bitterly.

"Actually, Chad threw the ball," he corrected. "I was the one who called you weeping sleeping beauty."

"Oh, excuse me. My mistake." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Do you know how many girls would kill to be in your position right now?" he asked cockily.

"I would kill to trade places with them."

"Oh, but don't you want to get to know me?"

She looked at the clock and realized it was time for her to leave. "Ms. Grimsley," she said raising her hand. She motioned towards the clock.

Ms. Grimsley nodded. "Go ahead, Gabriella."

She picked up her things and leaned towards Troy as she stood up. "Getting to know you is the last thing I want to do."

"It looks like Troy didn't take it very well today," Gina said in the van on the way home.

"I didn't tell him," Gabriella said. "And I'm not going to."

"Why not?"

"Like he needs another reason to make fun of me?" Gina nodded and they grew quiet. "So," Gabriella said trying to figure out how to ask the question she had been wondering all afternoon. "I thought you didn't know Troy and them."

"I don't," Gina replied. "At least not anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I used to be part of their little group."

"What happened?"

Gina motioned to Matthew. "He happened."

"They ditched you when you got pregnant?"

Gina sighed. "Rick is Matthew's father."

"What? And they treat you like that? Unbelievable!" Gabriella exclaimed.

"When I got pregnant, Rick flipped out. He told me to get an abortion. When I refused, he set me up so that Troy walked in on what looked like me cheating on him. He left me. Then when everyone found out I was pregnant he was able to tell everyone that it wasn't his baby because I cheated on him. Well, I got a false positive on the triple screen test for downs syndrome when I was pregnant. I got an amniocentesis to make sure Matthew didn't have it. They got Matthew's DNA and Rick did a mouth swab for a paternity test that proved he is the father. He told everyone the opposite and painted me as some psycho that was stalking him. They believed him and stopped talking to me."

"What a jerk! Has he ever seen Matthew or supported him at all?"

She rolled her eyes. "He has seen him once. When he was two weeks old I filed for child support. When he got served with the papers he came to my house and started shoving me around, threatening me and Matthew. I pressed charges, so when child support got ordered I got a restraining order against him, too."

Slowly things were starting to make sense to Gabriella. "Is that how you got him out of our health class today?" Gina nodded. "So why do Troy and the rest of those jerks still treat you like crap when he is the one lying?"

"They don't know."

"What? Why don't you tell them?"

Gina shrugged. "Just doesn't seem worth it."

"Well at least you get child support."

She shook her head. "There is a court order. That doesn't mean I get it."

"He doesn't pay it?"

"Not a penny. He owes me like five grand."

"Why don't you take him back to court?"

Gina looked sadly at Matthew. "I'm afraid of what he might do to us. Besides, they won't really do anything until he owes over ten thousand dollars. Shit happens, but we're making it. Matthew has everything he needs and that's what matters. What about Izabelle's dad?"

Gabriella sighed as the van pulled up to her house. "He's around." She unloaded her bags and lifted Izabelle out of the car seat. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said and closed the door of the van.

Ok... there you go. Love it? Hate it? Leave me a review and let me know!

Also, I am looking for a beta. I have one, but I am looking for 1-2 more. Requirements are a basic understanding of the english language, punctuation and grammar; ability to give constructive criticism (without being a jerk), reliable (don't become my beta and after two chapters just stop responding), and ability to return the proofed chapters to me quickly (within a day or two. not a week later). If you are interested, let me know.