"Burn it." Nessa held Kai's prized Blink 182 shirt between her thumb and index finger like it was a dirty dish rag.

It was the next day and Nessa had come over to beg me not to let her go to the concert alone. I'd told her about what happened at the park with Kailand and she insisted that I show her the shirt.

I snatched the shirt from her, shoving it back into my bottom drawer. "Do you remember what happened the last time we tried burning a guy's things?"

In middle school, Nessa and I set fire to her then boyfriend's love notes in my backyard and started a tiny fire. The grass still hadn't grown back in the spot.

"We were thirteen and didn't fully understand the danger of matches and finger nail polish remover."

"I'm not burning the shirt," I told her as I went to my closet to pull out another dress.

My bed was covered with almost every single item from my closet while I tried to find something to wear for the catering job. It needed to be professional, but cute. And something I'd be comfortable in for about four hours.

I held up the simple red wrap dress I wore to Cash's fifth grade graduation last year. It was the most professional thing I owned. Like Aunt Mimi, I enjoyed patterns on my clothes. Solid colors were so...dull.

My mom picked the dress out for the family photos we took with Cash and my step-dad, Samir, after the ceremony.

"What about this?" I asked Nessa.

"What about you don't change the subject?" She got up from my desk chair and retrieved Kai's shirt from the drawer. "Why the hell are you holding on this?"

I huffed, throwing the dress down on my bed and taking the shirt from Nessa. "I don't want to burn it, okay?"

She threw her hands up, shaking her head at me. "You don't want to burn it, you don't want to give it back—Holding on to it is kind of weird."

"Then I'm weird," I snapped, returning the shirt to the drawer for the second and, hopefully final, time.

Vanessa's face softened as she watched me, her wide eyes filled with sympathy. She was right, I knew that. Keeping the shirt made zero sense. I just wasn't ready to let it go just yet. Nessa didn't push the topic further.

"It's going to be windy today, so maybe don't wear a dress," she said instead. "Wear some cute shorts that could work in a kitchen or at an outdoor concert?"

I shook my head at her. "The only way I'm showing up at that thing is in a body bag. Besides, I have plans." Aunt Mimi had an actual catering job that night and she was letting me tag along.

I fully intended to use the time we spent together baking to talk up how well we worked together and not-so-subtly remind her of the deadline for the bake-off entries.

Nessa groaned, dramatically throwing herself into the pile of clothes on my bed. "You suck sweaty monkey balls."

∆ ∆ ∆

I died. I died and my purgatory was the Aster Pointe Park.

It was just after noon and if it weren't for the cloud cover I'm sure I would've in a puddle. The stage was occupied by a group of girls with guitars who were doing a soundcheck. People were already arriving with their blankets and picnic baskets to claim their spots even though the concert didn't start for another hour.

Not only had my aunt failed to mention that she was hired as one of the vendors for the concert, but she also left out the part where I'd have to work side-by-side with Nathaniel.

Aunt Mimi was at Cake Me Up getting together the rest of the baked goods we were going to sell because they all couldn't fit in her car.

I had the grand pleasure of setting up the booth with Nate. Which felt more like I was working alone. While I arranged individually wrapped cookies in a variety of flavors on a table, Nate was supposed to be hanging the banner. Instead, he stood with the rolled-up banner tucked under his arm as his fingers flew across his phone screen. The only thing he had done was unfold the three tables and arrange them around us in U shape.

The idea of breaking his fingers took over my thoughts. Okay, so maybe he wasn't an asshole who judged people based on their weight, but he was still the worst employee Aunt Mimi had ever hired.

Nate was lazy. Always on his game or his phone. If by some miracle he had neither, he just stared off into space. If Aunt Mimi wasn't so smitten with his mom she would've fired him already.

Until she came to her senses, I was the one who had to keep Nate in line.

"Do you plan on putting the sign up today or..." I trailed off, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Yeah. I got it." His voice sounded zombie like. Like that was just an automatic phrase he spit out when he was too into his game or phone to be bothered to listen.

I set out some brownies, also wrapped individually for easy snacking. Nate was still in the same spot, eyes glued to the screen of his phone. But he had stopped typing, his fingers drumming on the sides of the device. He stared at his phone like it killed his entire family and kicked his dog.

I wondered if I looked like that when I glared at him.

"Nate?" I tried to remain neutral, but there was a sharpness to my tone.

His dark eyes slid over to me, reluctantly leaving his phone. "I heard you." He snapped, causing me to flinch. He threw his phone on the table, which was weird considering how attached he was to it. "Tape?"

I wanted to ask if he was okay, but I felt it wasn't my place. Instead, I turned my attention to the tables. Aunt Mimi bought some tape for us to attach the Cake Me Up sign to the table, but I couldn't find the roll.

Before I could say anything, Nate grumbled, "I'll find some." He stalked off towards the other food stands, but it didn't look like he planned on stopping at any.

I wanted him to leave, just not in such a broken mess.

Turning my attention back to the cookies, I noticed Nate's phone screen was still lit up with text messages. All from him to someone named Janae. The last message on the screen read: You're really not going to talk to me?

The screen blinked out before I could read any of the other messages. Not that I should've even been reading his private texts. Still, I couldn't stop thinking about them. Was Janae his "older and cultured" girlfriend as Nessa put it?

A hand landed on my shoulder and the shriek that came out of me brought the eyes of everyone near our booth. Heat flooded my entire body as I turned to find a wide eyed, slightly amused Nessa.

"Why are you so jumpy?" She tried to sound concerned, but her lips were twitching to smile.

"Why are you sneaking up on people?" I countered, stealing another glance at Nate's phone. I wasn't going to tell Nessa what I read because it wasn't any of my business. Or Vanessa's for that matter.

"I thought you weren't coming?" She said, yanking her shorts down. She treated those concerts like mini-Coachella's, going full boho chic—earthy tones and turquoise jewelry.

"I was hoodwinked," I told her, turning back to the snacks on the table and setting out price cards that, without being taped down, were going to blow away if a gust blew by.

"Well, since you're here now," she reached into her sagging tote bag and pulled out some black fabric wrapped in ball. When she held it out properly my jaw dropped.

"You stole the shirt?" I snatched it from her, hiding it in a box under the table. My eyes darted around the park, hoping Kai wasn't there to see it.

She folded her arms over her chest. "Charm, we've been over this. Holding on to the shirt of that asshat is not healthy. Summer is about change and fresh beginnings."

"That's spring," I pointed out lamely.

"Whatever," she said with a wave of her hand. "It's summer and we're going to be living our best lives. You know what?" She dug into her bag and pulled out her journal and a pen. Flipping to a new page, she leaned over the table and began writing.

"What are you doing?" I asked, waving away a fly.

"Making a list," she announced, ripping out the page and handing it to me. "We'll each go home tonight and make a summer bucket list. I started yours already."

1) Get rid of Kai's shirt!!!!

I held back an eye roll and threw the bucket list in the box with shirt. "The only thing I'm worried about this summer is making sure Cake Me Up doesn't close up."

"See, this is why we need the list," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "We've been so obsessed with our futures that we are missing our present."

"Cake Me Up losing business is very much a present issue," I matched her stance, placing my hands on my hips. "Besides, what happened to keeping your eye on the prize?"

That phrase, regardless of how annoying, got me through finals. It was Nessa's mantra.

She sucked in a breath, slowly letting it out. "Finn died."

All the stubbornness drained out of me as my arms fell to my sides. Finn was her pet iguana. She'd had him for as long as I've known her. I think it was originally her older brother's pet, but Nessa claimed it when he got bored with it. She loved Finn more than anything. Teeth included.

"What? When?" I hugged her and she hugged me back.

"This morning," she said into my shoulder. "I didn't say anything because I didn't want to believe it. I thought he was just messing around, you know? Playing dead like a possum. After I left your house my parents told me I had to clean out his tank."

I pulled away just enough to see I her face. "I'm so sorry." I felt extra bad because Finn kinda creeped me out and I was glad Nessa would never ask me to hold him ever again.

"I've been so focus on working with your dad that I haven't spent any time with Finn all summer," she said frowning at the grass between us. "Look, becoming a dentist is my dream but I want some crazy stories from my youth to tell your grandkids about."

I nodded, then stopped. "My grandkids?"

"My mom showed me a video of my birth," her eyes went wide with horror. "I am never having children. Did you know you could break your ribs pushing? Absolutely not. You have all the kids and I'll be the fun aunt that keeps their teeth clean."

I couldn't help but smile at the thought of us growing old together. And because I loved my best friend too much (and because I felt guilty about Finn) I retrieved the summer bucket list from the box and picked up the pen she left on the table.

2)

I paused, trying to think of something I wanted to do that didn't involve cake. It was harder than I thought. Then it came to me.

2) Go to Disneyland

When I showed Nessa she grinned, nodding eagerly. Neither of us had ever been, but it was a dream. "Yes! We are definitely doing that. I need to ask your dad for a raise."

"You're not even getting paid."

"Exactly!"

∆ ∆ ∆

Nate eventually came back. I wasn't surprised that he didn't have any tape on him. His relationship troubles gave him a pass that time.

Aunt Mimi came back with boxes of more sweets and the tape we needed for the signs. The Cake Me Up booth was set before the first performer walked out on stage.

Aster Pointe Park had concerts all throughout the summer. Anyone could sign up as long as they're music was kid friendly, so the concerts had mix of musical genres. Most people were just there to soak up the sun so they didn't mind the drastic change from country music to rap.

I all but tuned out the music. The only thing I wanted to hear were people asking me "What's good?" as they eyed all the sweets on the tables.

Everything was selling fast and we still had about an hour left of the concert. Some people would be hesitant about buying something then come back a minute later showering Aunt Mimi with compliments while they bought one of everything.

I wished Aunt Mimi had listened to me and got more business cards made. What if these people got home and completely forgot where that amazing, melt in your mouth cupcake came from?

Running to the booth went smoothly and I pointed that out to my aunt many times. I also dropped details about Baka-A-Palooza as we maneuvered around each other to fill orders.

Each time, she'd change the subject by telling me to restock the cookies or cupcakes or donut holes. She was being hardheaded, but I wasn't going to back down.

"Charm!" Nessa ran up to booth, soaking wet and laughing. "Water fight..." She said in-between catching her breath. "Girls...versus boys...and we need...more people."

"I'm working."

She leveled me with a stare. "Summer Bucket List."

"This wasn't on the bucket list."

"We'll add it later," she said. When I didn't budge, she added, "Do it for Finn."

If only she knew how gross I thought Finn was.

"Go!" That was Aunt Mimi, placing her hands on my shoulder and guiding me away from the tables. I had a suspicion she just wanted me gone because I kept bringing up Bake-A-Palooza. "You too, Nate. I got this."

Nate had been silent most of the night. Every so often he'd start to pull out his phone, thought better of it and left the device in his pocket. The upside to his possible getting dumped was that he was quick to restock the tables and clean up any trash that ended up near our booth.

When Aunt Mimi suggested he go with us he looked like jumping off a cliff would've been less painful.

"Come on, I can't be the only one slacking off," I said before I could think to stop myself.

//

Hi! Hello!

So Nate might be having relationship troubles??

And Charm is giving his rudeness a pass but how long will that last???

As always, thanks for reading!! <3<3