Are you my Mother's?

Chapter 1

Lena's POV:

We pull up to the school and everyone starts to pile out. "I am leaving at 4:30 if anyone wants a ride home, 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. 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 11:00 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 freshman 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 11:00 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 11:00. 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.