Monday

Naia's POV

The dreaded day came where I had to go back to school. I had Thursday's homework packed up in my bag along with my lunch (turkey sandwich) and an apple. As usual, Matt and Gabby walked with me to school.

"Try to stay out of trouble." Matt said when we arrived.

I grinned, "I'll try my best."

"Don't get hurt." Gabby said, giving me a kiss on the forehead.

I laughed, "I can't make any promises but I can try." I gave them both a wave and walked into the school. I went to my locker and got my books for my first class which was science.

As I was walking to class, someone ran by me, bumping the books out of my hand. This wasn't unusual but what happened next was. The person stopped and helped me pick them up.

"Oh yikes. Sorry about that." He said bending down and helping me pick them up.

I shrugged, "Don't worry about it. Happens all the time."

He handed me the books and then stopped, looking me in the eye and making me extremely uncomfortable.

"Oh, I'm Nathan, Nate, by the way." Nate said, snapping back into reality.

I laughed a little bit, "I'm Naia."

"That's a very pretty name." Nate said which made me raise an eyebrow.

"Thanks?" It was supposed to be a statement but came out more as a questions. Nate nodded stiffly and then hurried off. Confused on what just happened, I continued walking to my class.

After school, as cold as it was, I still walked to the firehouse. By time I got to Firehouse 51, I could hardly feel my toes or my cheeks.

"Brrrrr, it's cold." I commented as I took off my coat and snow pants.

"Do you want some hot chocolate?" Kelly asked me.

I smiled and nodded, "Yes please."

"Jimmy! You heard the girl!" Kelly said, making me laugh.

Jimmy got up and went to the kitchen, "One hot chocolate coming right up."

"Still in one piece kid?" Herrmann asked me and I nodded. I had managed to avoid my bullies today which was good. I then thought about Nate again and how he acted around me.

"I see that look in your eye, what's the secret?" Shay asked, nudging me on my good side.

I blushed, "What secret?"

"Ooohhh! Come on, spill..." Stella said joining in.

I shook my head, "I don't any secrets."

Gabby, Foster and Brett came over now when they heard the mention of secrets.

"What's the secret?" Gabby asked and I immediately groaned.

"There's no secret!" I said though my voice wavered slightly.

Brett laughed, "Uh huh, does it involve a boy."

I turned beet red. Boy were they good. No pun intended.

"Come on Naia, you know we'll somehow wean it out of you anyways." Foster said and I shook my head.

"There's no secret." I said though I could tell I was losing.

Matt came over now and I face palmed. He really didn't have to get into this.

"Who has a secret about a boy?" He asked and I buried my head into my hands.

Gabby laughed, "Apparently Naia."

"I have to meet him before you go out with him." Matt said and walked away.

I shook my head, "We're not going out."

"You admitted it! There's a boy involved!" Shay squealed and I mentally kicked myself for letting that slip.

I sighed, "Fine, fine. I'll fess up."

"Don't leave out any details." Foster reminded me and I rolled my eyes at her.

"His name is Nate. He bumped into me before science this morning but instead of running off he stopped and helped me pick up my books. Then he kind of stared at me for a moment and then told me his name and so I told him mine and he said it was a pretty name." I said and shrugged. "It's nothing."

Shay made kissing noises and I made a disgusted face before shaking my head. "No, no. I don't like him, he doesn't like me."

"You sure about that?" Sylvie asked.

I nodded, "Absolutely. Now, will you drop it?"

"What does he look like?" Gabby asked.

"Is he cute?" Foster chimed in.

I groaned, "I don't know, now can we please just move on. I'm twelve for Pete's sake." Thankfully, Jimmy finished the hot chocolate and handed me my mug. I thanked him and then topic then changed to hot chocolate.

"You know who has the best hot chocolate?" Shay asked us, "The cafe on Illcrest road. I can never remember the name of it though."

Foster rolled her eyes, "There's a lot of cafes on Illcrest Shay, you'd have to be more specific."

"Shut up!" Shay retorted, giving Foster a look but she was smiling.

Even though I wasn't feeling like it, I decided to start my homework and get it over with. Missing a month of school really took a tole on my brain, I had missed a whole unit in math so now I had to catch up on it. Sadly.