Nobody Like You

Chapter 4 Gabriella: Breathe In, Breathe Out

Being in my family was strange for me. There were times when I felt like the luckiest girl in the world to have the parents that I have but there were other times where I felt like I landed in the completely wrong family. Everyone loved having attention and the spotlight on them all the time when I was happiest with being alone in a room playing the piano. Which is why when my dad asked me to play a song for his investors, I was not happy.

"Dad seriously? You know how I feel about that," I groaned.

He gave a pleading look. "It shouldn't be that bad honey. The investors just have a thing for classical music so I figured having my talented daughter play something for them while they're here signing some last-minute papers."

"I must've missed the part when I became a show pony," I mumbled before looking at my mom for help. "Mom?"

She looked up from her planner. "Gabriella, I know you're not a fan of playing for an audience like this but you are just too good not to show off your skills. Plus, how do you plan on getting into Julliard without practicing in front of important audiences?"

Realizing that she was right, I sighed and nodded, giving in. Playing for my dad's investors shouldn't be too bad. At the end of the day, it was just a room full of stuck-up rich guys just looking to spend their money.

As I sat at the piano practicing, all I could think about was how to make this piece sound like the best thing I'd ever played. After about two hours, I heard Alexis run through the house yelling about her tennis practice before she finally made it to where I was.

"Gabby guess what? My groundstroke has been improving, Coach Roberts said so," she said, excitedly.

I smiled and held up my hand for a high-five. "That's great, but not surprising. We all know you're amazing at any sport that you play."

"Thanks. Even Aiden said he was impressed with how I played."

When I looked over and noticed that Aiden was standing in the doorway, the ending to last night came flooding back to my mind. He probably thought I was a crazy person with the way I was staring at our family portrait, but I shouldn't even care what he thought of me. He was just our bodyguard but I still cared what he thought of me.

"She really was impressive," he admitted. "I didn't think someone this small could show so much aggression with a racket."

"Yeah, make sure you don't piss her off when she's holding one," I smirked before turning to Alexis. I wanted a second to talk to Aiden about last night but that wasn't going to happen with my little sister standing there. "Miss Gloria's making chocolate chip cookies that have your name on it."

"Mommy's not looking?" she asked, skeptically.

"No I think she just got on a work call. Go for it." She smiled mischievously before running off to the kitchen as I turned back to Aiden. "So I feel like I should clarify something about last night. When I was looking at our portrait, I wasn't saying that I didn't like being part of my family or anything."

He seemed surprised that I was even bringing up last night but quickly shook his head. "I didn't think that at all."

"I just have these moments where I think about all the things that had to happen for me to be this spoiled, rich girl like the ones at my school." I paused before looking back up at him. "I'm adopted."

"That explains it," he commented. When I sent him a confused look, Aiden continued. "I just noticed that you don't look anything like your parents so I just figured you took after your grandparents or distant relatives. I heard that's common."

Wasn't my first time hearing that so I nodded in understanding. "Yeah everyone who doesn't know us always think that. But no, I was adopted by my parents when I was a year old. My birth parents just couldn't take care of me anymore, so I was placed with a foster family until my parents found out about me. They were having trouble conceiving and according to them, they knew I belonged with them the moment they held me for the first time."