Naia's POV
Things were going great. I was the happiest I've ever been in a long time. Everything seemed to be just going my way. Nate and I had gotten a lot closer. Sometimes if Matt and Gabby didn't have a shift, he'd come over and the four of us would play Monopoly until his parents came to pick him up or if there was enough snow, we'd go sledding. Other times, I'd go over to his house and I'd help him keep his younger sister, Sophie, entertained.
School had ended like usual and we were planning on going to Nate's house to pick up Sophie and take her to the park. Nate had a wonderful family. His parents were so nice to me and even though according to Nate, Sophie could be quite annoying at times, I could see how much they adored each other.
It had snowed the other night and the sidewalk was rather slippery so we held onto each other while we walked.
"I'm excited to see Sophie again." I said to Nate who nodded.
"Yeah, she loves you." Nate said and then laughed. "Probably more than she likes me."
I shook my head, "That's not true. I can see how much she looks up to you."
"Is that Nate holding hands with the school freak?"
We turned around to see Olivia and her gang walking behind us.
"What do you want Olivia?" Nate asked and Olivia snickered.
She twirled a lock of her hair and tried to look innocent. "Oh nothing. You do know that the Freak doesn't have parents because they didn't want her right? I mean, who would want anything to do with her."
"Well, you should know that I'm friends with Naia and maybe if you guys actually made an attempt to know her better, you'd know that she's nicer than all of you combined." Nate said and then held my hand. "Come on Naia, Sophie's probably getting impatient."
As we walked away, I heard Olivia and her friends whisper but I ignored them.
"Can I ask you something Nate?" I asked as we kept on walking.
Nate shrugged, "Sure, go ahead."
"Why are you friends with me?" I was really curious. "You heard Olivia the other day, you could be so popular if you didn't hang out with me so much."
Nate laughed, "I choose to hang out with you Naia. You're funny and nice. I enjoy being with you because you're easy to be with. You don't gossip or make fun of people. Plus, what's so great about being a jerk."
I chuckled, "Thanks Nate. You're pretty fun to be around too."
When we got to Nate's house, Nate pulled out his key and unlocked the door.
"I'm home!" He called out and I heard the sound of feet as Sophie came running towards us.
"Nia!" Sophie said happily. For some reason, she couldn't say my name so I responded to Nia. I opened my arms and the five year old gave me a hug.
"Hey Soph!" I said. "What did you do today?"
Sophie smiled, grinning to show her missing tooth. "I lost a tooth!"
"Another one?" Nate asked and Sophie nodded. "You wanna go to the park?"
Sophie started hopping up and down, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Mrs. Walters came over from the kitchen and I waved at her.
"Hi Mrs. Walters." I said.
Mrs. Walters shook her head, "Please, Naia, call me Celine." She had told me that before but I kept forgetting.
"Do you guys want a snack?" She asked and I looked over at Nate who just shrugged.
"I'm not really hungry but if Naia is..."
I shook my head, "No it's fine, maybe when we get back from the park." Celine nodded and told us to stay safe and went back to the kitchen while Nate tried to get Sophie into her coat and snow pants.
It was a little bit of a struggle, but in the end, we managed and found a sled to pull Sophie on. When we got to the park, we pulled her up to the top of a sled and Nate on on behind his sister.
"You guys ready?" I asked and Nate nodded. I pushed on Nate's back and they slowly moved foreward. When the hill started to dip, they went flying down the hill. I heard Sophie's laughs and that made me smile.