Naia's POV

"Oh! Is the freak finally being adopted?" Olivia sneered after she had overheard me telling Nate. I rolled my eyes and continued talking to Nate.

"I'm so happy," I said and smiled. "It's like a dream come true!"

Olivia cackled, "Did you guys hear that? The freak dreams of having parents."

The whole classroom burst into laughter and Nate gave them all dirty looks while I stared down at the desk, my face turning red. There wasn't a teacher in the room since we were still waiting for class to officially begin.

The class laughed until Mr. Harrison walked in and the whole room went silent. While he took attendance, Nate glanced over at me but I avoided his eyes. I was beyond embarrassed and kept my head down the whole class. When the class started coming towards an end, I quickly scribbled down the homework on a sticky note and as soon as the period bell rang, I grabbed my stuff and headed to my next class.

"Naia!"

I knew it was Nate by his voice but I continued to walk as though I hadn't heard him. Unfortunately, Nate caught up to me and I slowed down so he could walk with me.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

I could tell Nate was trying to catch my eye but I ignored it. "I think you know what's up," Nate said and I sighed.

"It's fine, really," I said even though we both knew things were not fine. "There's always going to be jerks in the world."

"Yeah, I know that, but you know you don't have to cope by shutting me out, right?" Nate asked.

I sighed, "I'm not shutting you out Nate. I'm just trying to get to my next class."

"Naia," Nate said.

"What?" I asked, starting to become exasperated. "I appreciate you're concern but I'm okay."

Nate raised an eyebrow and I nodded.

"I'm sure," I answered his question before he could even ask. "Now, I'll see you soon."

Before another word could be said, I hurried off into the crowd of people, searching for my next class.

"How was school?" Gabby asked as we walked home.

I nodded, "It was good."

"Are you sure?" Matt asked.

"Of course I'm sure," I said a little bit too quickly. "It was fine."

Matt and Gabby both nodded but I could tell they didn't believe me. However, they didn't push it.

"Do you have a lot of homework?" Gabby asked and I shrugged.

"No, not really. Just a little bit of math." I replied. "But it's not hard stuff so I should be able to finish it quickly."

Matt shook his head, "And you said you weren't a smart girl. I would say otherwise."

"I'm not smart," I protested, "I just find this stuff easier than most. I'm not a genius."

Gabby unlocked the apartment door and we filed in. We did the usual stuff of taking off our coats and washing our hands before I jumped into homework. Halfway through my math homework, Gabby handed me her phone, saying there was someone on there for me.

"Hello?" I asked, confused about who would ever call me.

"Naia!" Ellie's voice practically screamed through the phone. "You're getting adopted!"

I laughed. Of course, Ellie would call. "Yeah, how did you find out?"

"Gabby phoned yesterday, but that's not the important part," Ellie said, brushing it off. "The important part is that soon, both of us are going to be adopted. Remember when we would sit in the basement and tell each other how we dreamed of being adopted?"

"Do you think we'll be adopted?" I asked Ellie. We were both bruised and battered from the last beating and were now locked in the cold basement.

Ellie snuggled in closer towards me, trying to preserve body heat. It was late November so the basement was freezing. She nodded, "I do actually."

I wanted to believe her. I did. However, I knew the odds were against both of us. Ellie was turning eleven and I would be soon. Most people who adopted wanted babies or at least younger kids.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Ellie asked and I could make out the features of her face in the dark.

I shook my head, "No, I believe you. I think we'll be adopted soon." It was easy to tell that I was lying through my teeth but Ellie just nodded and pretended to not notice.

We leaned against each other and soon, my eyes started to droop.

"Naia? You still there?" Ellie asked from the other end and I snapped out of my flashback.

I nodded numbly, "Huh? Oh yes, of course."

"So, when do you think we can meet up?" Ellie asked and I smiled at the thought of seeing her again.

"I mean, probably a day when Matt and Gabby have the day off. I'll check with them today and you check with your parents on a day that you guys are free and we'll go from there." I said and Ellie expressed her agreement.

"Sounds goods. Anyways, I have a ton of homework to get through by tonight so I should probably go." Ellie said, sounding disappointed.

"That's okay. I have homework too." I said. "We'll talk soon?"

"Yeah, definitely," Ellie said.

I nodded, "Okay then, talk to you soon!"

"Bye!"

"Bye."