Naia's POV

"Soph!" Nate called, "Don't cross the street without us!"

"I won't!" Sophie yelled back and dutifully stopped at the intersection while Nate and I hurried to catch up, just to be safe.

It was the end of the week and Nate had invited me to take Sophie to the park with him. I remembered how I was hesitant the first time he asked after I came back to school. How I had made up some lame excuse because I thought I Sophie would remind me of Jane.

At first, it did.

But I was slowly getting past that.

"I thought siblings were supposed to hate each other," I told Nate when we got to the park. Sophie had immediately run over to the swings, demanding that Nate push her even though we all knew that she could swing by herself perfectly fine.

Nate shrugged, "I don't think they hate each other. They just get so annoyed with each other, especially when they're close in age. I'm older than Sophie by seven years, we have different interests, it's easier to get along."

"Yeah but still, you two are so sweet together," I pointed out.

"Hurry up Nate!" Sophie waved Nate over.

I followed Nate over to the swing set and watched as he started to push Sophie. The wind started to pick up make me shiver a little underneath my jacket.

"When Sophie was little, about three because I was around ten at the time, she got pneumonia," Nate told me as Sophie demanded him to push her higher. "We almost lost her. She came really close to dying."

I didn't know what to say to that. Sophie looked so healthy now.

"I think when you get really close to losing someone, you then realize how much they really mean to you," Nate told. Sophie squealed with delight as she flew in the air.

"Yeah..." I nodded.

Nate smiled, "I hear people say all the time how much they hate their siblings but I almost lost my little sister. The doctors told us she was going to die. The fact that she's still alive makes me feel like I can't take this for granted."

"Now that tugs on the heartstrings," I told Nate and watched as Sophie kept screaming at Nate to push her higher.

"I love Fridays!" I exclaimed as I flopped on the couch in the common room. I had homework I had to complete by Monday but I didn't want to do it now so I was procrastinating. I did have a book with me though and planned to do some reading.

Shay looked up from the magazine in her hands, "I totally agree but why the sudden love proclamation?"

"Proclamation?" I looked over at Shay, a curious look on my face, "Why the sudden fancy word?"

"Just feeling fancy today," Shay joked and I laughed. "So, why the sudden proclamation?"

I shrugged, "I don't know, I just felt like I had to say it."

"Whatever, you do you," Shay smiled and returned to flipping through the magazine.

Ambo 23, medical assist on 815 Davis Street

Shay tossed the magazine aside and got up.

"Well, you keep staying comfortable," She told me as she walked backwards to the apparatus floor.

I snickered, "Will do."

A few moments later after Shay left for the call, Stella came waltzing into the room with a smirk on her face.

"Can I help you?" I asked, looking up from my book.

"So why were you late today?" Stella asked, taking a seat next to me on the couch.

I scrunched my eyebrows and I wondered what she meant, "I was late today?"

"As in why were you late coming to the firehouse after school," Stella clarified and I nodded.

"I was with Nate at the park with his little sister Sophie," I told Stella and figured that would be sufficient enough for an answer and returned my gaze back to my book.

When I still felt the stare of Stella burning into me, I dog-eared my page and set my book down, exasperated.

"What?" I asked, giving Stella my full attention.

A mischievous grin grew on Stella's face, "What's between you and this Nate guy?"

My eyes widened with horror as I realized what she meant.

"Nothing!" I replied quickly, maybe too quickly. "He's my best friend. My only friend."

"Uh-huh," Stella nodded her head but the cheeky grin didn't fade. If anything, it just grew bigger.

I sighed, "Whatever. Believe what you want to believe but we're just friends. If it wasn't for him, I think I would absolutely despise school."

"Speaking of school, how's it going there?" Stella asked me. I was relieved that she moved on to another topic.

"It's fine," I shrugged and picked up my book, playing around with the pages. Immediately, my mind went to the notes I got in my locker but I didn't feel like telling Stella or anyone really about them.

Stella raised her eyebrows, clearly unconvinced, "You sure?"

"Yeah," I nodded and put my book my down, "Yeah, I'm sure."

"You know you can tell me if anything is happening, right?" Stella scooted closer to me.

I nodded again, "I know, I just don't feel like talking about it. It's easier to just leave it alone instead of waking the monster."

"Maybe that's true for a temporary fix but if you want a permanent fix, you have to address your problems," Stella told me gently and I smiled.

"I know, but for now I want to just leave it. I'll cross the bridge later."

Stella nodded, "Alright."

"Okay," I looked up at Stella who smiled down at me.

"Now how about we go and annoy the boys," Stella suggested and I grinned.

"That sounds like the best idea I heard today," I replied and we got up and headed for the Squad Table on the apparatus floor.