Naia's POV
"Happy Valentine's Day!" Nate said to me as he greeted me in the morning as usual.
I smiled, "Happy Valentine's Day Nate."
"You were supposed to wear pink today, we're having some sort of assembly," Nate chided jokingly, pointing out how my red sweater wasn't pink.
"Hey, pink is a shade of red. You should know that" I retorted as I gathered my textbooks.
Nate chuckled, "That's right, Miss. Art Expert."
I rolled my eyes and shut the locker door before locking it. "Well, I will see you in history," I said and stuck my tongue out at Nate before walking away to my first class.
"So, are you going to the Valentine's Day Dance?" Nate asked me while we were eating lunch. I took a bite of my sandwich and chewed before answering.
I shook my head, "Probably not, why?"
"You should go, it'll be fun," Nate encouraged me, a goofy smile on his face.
I rolled my eyes and chuckled, "Have you gone before?"
"Why actually, I have," Nate replied, pretending to be offended. "Have you?"
I bit the inside of my cheek, an image of Ellie popping into my head for some reason, "Uh, no, I haven't."
"The more reasons to go," Nate grinned, pointing his fork at me before sticking back into the thermos and twirling a piece of spaghetti around it and then sticking it in his mouth. He did it in such a dramatic way that I couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Dances are just not my thing," I explained, taking another bite of my sandwich, "Valentine's Day Dances are even worse. Gosh, when the slow songs come on, I bet it's the cringiest thing in the world."
Nate shrugged, "If you come, you'll know."
"Why are you so adamant about me going to that Valentine's Day Dance?" I laughed, "The snacks there can't be that amazing."
"I mean, those heart cupcakes are pretty good," Nate winked, making me laugh even harder.
I shook my head, "You're trouble."
"Says the person who punched a someone in the face," Nate shot back.
"Now you know I can actually punch," I grinned, "If you need more proof, I'll happily give you some."
Nate pretended to be scared, "Punch me? You wouldn't."
"You wanna bet?"
"You never gave me an answer," Nate told me as we walked out of the school together. My backpack was heavy with homework and my brain was trying to remember everything I learned today, the thought of the conversation at lunch had totally slipped my mind.
"Really?" I asked, looking over at Nate, "I thought I told you I wasn't interested in cheesy Valentine's Day Dances."
Nate shrugged, "I think so, but I just thought maybe after my convincing speech you had changed your mind."
"No, but hey, I shouldn't stop you from going," I said and Nate nodded.
"Gosh are you clueless," He mumbled and I stopped where I was, unsure if I had heard him right.
"Did you just call me clueless?"
Nate stopped and turned to face me, a smirk on his face. "And if I did?"
"I am not clueless, thank you very much," I said.
Nate shook his head, "Whatever, see you tomorrow then?"
"Yeah, see you tomorrow," I waved and then headed down my usual path to the firehouse. It was a nice day, considering it was February 14th. It wasn't snowing, in fact, there wasn't any snow to be seen. It was chilly, but not cold. So like a said, it was a nice day.
When I got to the firehouse, nobody was inside so I assumed they were on a call. It wasn't unusual for me to arrive while they were on a call so I grabbed myself a banana and sat down to start my homework.
I had already finished my banana and was halfway through my history when they got back.
"I can't believe that man was alive," Otis said, shaking his head as they walked in. "How is he alive?"
"Well, he's not out of the woods yet," Sylvie told Otis and took a seat next to me, "Happy Valentine's Day Naia!"
I dropped my pencil, "Is he going to be okay?"
"It's too soon to say," Gabby replied and took a seat across from me.
Ambo 23, child injured at 56 Mary Street
"I swear, it's been call after call today," Foster groaned, getting up from the couch. "It's your fault, Shay! You jinxed us this morning!"
"I did no such thing," Shay retorted, following Foster out of the room.
I smiled weakly over at Gabby, "Long day?"
"You'd think it's some kind of Valentine's Day curse," Gabby shook her head. "Anyways, I heard there was a dance tonight at your school?"
"You mean the one I'm not going to?" I rolled my eyes and picked up my pencil. I didn't plan on doing more homework though. Instead, I twiddled it with my fingers.
Sylvie looked over at me, surprised, "What do you mean? You should go!"
"Naw, dances aren't my thing," I explained, "I've already told Nate that at least a thousand times today."
Gabby wiggled her eyebrows. "Did Nate ask if you were going to the dance?"
"Yeah, gosh, it seemed like it was all he could talk about today," I sighed and looked back down at the history homework in front of me. "We had a pop quiz in math today and instead of talking about that during lunch, we seemed to spew Valentine's Day Dance out of him."
"Man are you clueless," Sylvie told me, shaking her head. "You are absolutely oblivious aren't you?"
I looked over at Sylvie and shot her a warning look. "Hey, Nate already called me clueless today, you don't have to as well. I'm not even sure what he was talking about."
Sylvie opened her mouth to explain but Gabby stopped her. "Maybe it's better if Naia stays clueless," Gabby said and Sylvie chuckled.
"I am not clueless thank you very much," I piped up, "No, not me. I am not clueless."