Naia's POV
I wasn't sure what time I fell asleep at or how long I slept for but when I woke up, the clock on the T.V. box read 9:25. Matt and Gabby were still on the couch on either side of me and were both awake.
"You're up!" Matt said, looking away from the movie they were watching.
I yawned and rubbed my eyes to try and be more awake. "Yeah, for now. We'll see how long I last."
"Why don't you go and wash up for bed? You do have school tomorrow." Gabby told me. I nodded, agreeing that it was a smart idea.
I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and then pulled my hair up into a bun. I was planning on taking a shower but couldn't find any towels anywhere.
"Where are the towels?" I asked Matt and Gabby when I walked back out to the living room.
Gabby got up and led me to a closet next to the bathroom. "You can pick one. When you're done with it, just give it to me."
I thanked her and went back into the bathroom. I took a quick shower and after, just like Gabby said, I gave her the towel. Then, I went to my bedroom and crawled underneath the covers. I was about to turn the lamp light off when there was a knock from the doorway.
"I came to say goodnight," Gabby explained as she walked in.
I nodded and smiled at her. "Oh, goodnight then."
Gabby laughed at me and sat down at the foot of my bed.
"I also thought maybe you could tell me a bit more about yourself. I feel like I don't know you very well." Gabby admitted.
Carefully, I pushed myself so that I was leaning against the headboard, using my pillow as a cushion for my back.
"Alright," I said, a small smile on my face. "Ask anything you want."
Gabby nodded slowly and she looked like she wanted to ask something but she didn't.
"Honestly, you can ask anything," I told her, "Nothing's too personal, I mean, I'm living with you, so really, you can ask anything you want."
"Okay..." Gabby still seemed cautious which made me nervous about what the question would be, "I know you were too young to remember your biological parents, but have you ever wondered who they were? Maybe trying to find them again?"
I thought carefully about my answer. Well, I knew what my answer was but I had to think about how to put it.
"Yeah, sort of," I finally replied, "I guess part of me is still angry with them for leaving me with such awful people, but I'm sure they had some sort of logical explanation to do so and I'm sure they didn't' know that the Samuals were so mean. Most people don't."
Gabby nodded, "That's reasonable."
"You can keep asking," I told her and she nodded again.
"Alright...when's your birthday?" Gabby asked.
The Samuals had just left the house. We all heard the door click, us three, me, Ellie and Haley.
Whenever the Samuals weren't home, we always took this as an opportunity to do stuff we couldn't do if they were. To us, we were being rebellious, sneaking into the cupboards and fridge, making sure the food we stole wouldn't be noticed.
We knew most kids would just open the door and take whatever they wanted in whatever amount but we couldn't do that. Not without getting a beating. So when we home alone, we would eat whatever we wanted, just in small amounts. Very small amounts.
Earlier today, Ellie had come up with the idea to raid Mr. Samual's office for our birth certificates. We wanted to find out when our birthdays were. It was pathetic that we didn't know when our birthdays were, but the Samuals never told us and we never asked.
Who knew what kind of beating we would get.
As soon as the door clicked shut and we heard the lock turn, we hurried into the office and started rummaging through drawers, trying to find where our documents were.
It took what felt like hours but was really only about half an hour when Hailey found a folder labelled "birth certificates" in Mr. Samual's messy writing. We pulled out papers and found our birth certificates.
Nobody spoke as we read was on them. November 1st. My birthday was on November 1st. I knew I was 9, I didn't need to see the year to know that. The Samuals didn't keep us that oblivious to who we were. I wanted to keep reading, find out who my parents were but the front door creaked as it opened, signalling the Samuals arrival. We hurriedly shoved everything back in its place and ran to our room.
"Naia?"
I pulled myself back into reality. "Huh? Oh, November 1st."
"That's coming up!" Gabby pointed out, "We should throw you a birthday party!"
I shook my head, "No, it's okay. Really. Birthdays were never a big thing anyways."
"I'm not taking no for an answer. You're turning twelve, aren't you? That's a pretty big number. I'm going to make sure that a birthday party is the most special one you've ever had." Gabby told me, determined. I had a feeling arguing wasn't going to do anything so I just nodded.
"That should be easy, I've never had a birthday party before," I admitted. "They never told us about our birthdays. Ellie and I sneaked into their office and found our birth certificates to find out."
Gabby tried to cover up the horror on her face with a smile but it was a tight smile and I saw right through it.
"Well then, in that case, I'm going to make this birthday even more special," She then got up and placed a kiss on my forehead.
"Alright," I whispered back.
"Sleep tight." Gabby told me, "I'll be in the living room if you need anything."
I nodded, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight."