"See," Nessa said, her fists on her hips. "I told you we wouldn't the fire extinguisher."

She stared proudly at the flames that danced around in the barbecue grill. It was kind of off-putting, her being so excited about fire.

Seeing Kai's shirt reduced to a pile of ash didn't give me the freeing feeling I thought it would. It was like waking up on your sixteenth birthday after hearing for years how life changing it would be, only to still feel like a fifteen-year-old.

No physical changes, no internal rewiring to instantly rid me of my feelings for Kailand. Just a pile of ashes.

Vanessa must've sensed me dilemma. She put her arm around my shoulders and giving me a side hug. "I hate seeing you hung up on a guy who doesn't deserve your time," she said sympathetically. "But I also understand now that moving on takes time. Whatever you need, I'm here for you."

"Do you know anyone with a time machine?" Fast forwarding through the stages of grief would've been great.

The backdoor slid open and my dad walked out. He started to say something, but stopped when he saw us standing around the grill. "You two trying to start another fire?" He rushed over, taking the fire extinguisher from me a putting out the flames.

"Mr. Cunningham, I assure you we have learned our lesson and were very careful this time," she said in her professional voice that she usually only used at the dentist office. 

My dad didn't humor us with a reply, instead he turned to me and said, "You have guests."

"Oh, it's probably the girls from the yesterday," Nessa said, walking in through back door my dad left open. He was still fussing about having to clean the barbecue pit when I slid the door closed behind me.

Vanessa had told the other girls from the park to meet at my house since I lived closest to the freeway we had to take to get to Sprinklez.

Dread flooded through me at the thought of having to sing in front strangers. Possibly in front of Nate. After that fight last night, I'd be surprised if he even showed up.

Unfortunately, after about an hour of begging, I realized Nessa wasn't going to miss another opportunity to talk to Lorenzo. We were actually going to sing karaoke for a group boys. When did she become so boy crazy?

When I asked her just that, she pulled out the Finn card again. 

As we walked through the house, grabbing our purses and heading out the front door, I wondered if it was too late to piss off my dad and get put on punishment.

Daisy, the blond from yesterday was doing squats on the sidewalk. When Nessa asked what she was doing she said, "If I'm going to be performing for cute dudes I want to give them something nice to look at."

The girl with the purple braids down to her butt, rolled her eyes. "Well, that just set us back fifty years."

"Stop, Sierra," said Lizeth, the girl who was referee for the water fight. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to look nice for a guy. It's only an issue when everything you do is to please a man."

Another girl, Kara, nodded in agreement, joining Daisy and her random squat work out. "Landon is probably at home picking out which cologne to suffocate me with or doing push-ups. It's not just us girls who put in a little extra work."

"Exactly!" Nessa said. "The only time my brother ever cleaned his room or his ass was when his girlfriend was coming over."

Everyone laughed before heading to our separate cars.

I didn't realize it yesterday but Lizeth, Sierra and Kara all went Aster Pointe High. I've had classes with them all, but we never really ran in the same circles. Daisy had a Central High baseball cap on, so I assumed that was where she went to school.

The four of them arrived in a car together, but when we got ready to leave Daisy asked if she could ride with us. "Kara's a cool girl and all, but her driving is questionable and I value my life," she said, explaining the switch.

I turned to face her. "Sorry to break it to you, but Vanessa probably isn't any better."

"First of all," Nessa said, starting the car and connecting her phone to the Bluetooth for music. "If your scary behind learned how to drive a car, you wouldn't have to worry about my driving."

Yes, I was sixteen, almost seventeen, and the thought of driving gave me a borderline panic attack. Moving my dad's car from the driveway to the garage was about all I could handle.

"Knowing there are reckless drivers on the road is enough to keep me away," I told her once she was finally on the road, following Kara's car.

"That's why I haven't learned," Daisy said, flipping through a clothing catalog Nessa's mom always had stashed in the car. "The fact that I could do everything right, but end up in an accident because some other driver is staring at their phone is insane to me. Like, I'm just supposed to trust all these people?"

Nessa laughed, shaking her head. "I hope you let your future spouses know they'll be chauffeurs for the rest of their lives."

"I'll make sure to add it to my vows," I told her.

"Speaking if future spouses..." Daisy leaned in-between the seats, bored with the catalog, her blue eyes now glittering for gossip. "What's up with you and Nathaniel?"

I looked to Nessa, waiting to hear her answer, until I realized Daisy was watching me. I choked on air.

"What? Me and Nate?" I asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, I saw you two walking home together," she said with a wide grin. "And you two looked awfully cozy behind that tree."

Nessa smirked at me. I ignored the burning my cheeks.

"Nothing is happening with me and Nate," I told Daisy. That might've been true, but it didn't stop my body temperature from rising. "And he has a girlfriend."

Plus, he was the most annoying human on the planet. I had a feeling she and Nate might've been friends, so I kept that to myself.

She screwed her face, flopping back on the seat. "He does? Well, I'm just glad he was able to move on after what his ex did to him."

Those messages on his phone yesterday came back to my mind. Was Janae his ex? If she was then he definitely hadn't moved on.

We'd both been in relationships we couldn't move on from. That huge thing that we had in common almost—almost—made me feel bad for him.

Then I remembered the childish way he acted last night with the shirt. He probably brought the break-up on himself.

"Well, he said he'd been with her for a year," Nessa told her.

Daisy made a sympathetic sound from the back seat. "Yeah, that's Janae. I guess he hasn't moved on because they're definitely not together anymore."

When Daisy didn't explain further, Nosy Nessa took her eyes off the road to look back at her. "And? You can't just leave us hanging."

"Nessa!" I yelled before she rammed into the back of the car Kara's car, who had just stopped at a light. She turned back to the road, apologizing.

"What Janae did to Nathaniel was...brutal," Daisy said, pulling out her phone. "And I'm leaving it at that."

Nessa glanced over at me with wide eyes. I pointed to the road ahead of us, where her eyes should've been focused. Gossiping about Nate was not how I wanted to die.

For the rest of the ride Nessa and Daisy talked about music and movies and teeth since Daisy recently got braces removed. Nessa was lecturing her on the importance of a retainer while my mind drifted back to Nate. He was like a fly annoyingly buzzing around my head.

What did Janae do to him? And if it was so horrible, why was he still texting her? Yes, I was—am—still a little hung up on Kai, but I never went so far as to beg him to take me back.

Maybe that was why he looked at me the way he did when he gave me Kai's shirt back. Like me, he knew moving on was hard. That loving someone who didn't love you back was the worst pain in the world.

♡ ♡ ♡

Sprinklez was a cute little ice cream shop that served the best sundaes. Bright white walls with blown up pictures of different ice cream creations lined the wall. The glass counter was to the right, at least twenty different ice cream flavors lined up along it. The stage with the karaoke machine was set up to the left, currently unoccupied.

The boys took up two tables right in front the stage. I wanted to run at the sight of them.

"Why did I let you talk me into that stupid water fight?" I asked Nessa as we made our way over to the guys.

"It was for Finn." My glare was met with a grin. "It'll be fun! We've always wanted to try karaoke."

"Not in front of a bunch of dudes."

"It'll be fun," she repeated.

I tried really hard not to imagine choking her

"The entertainment has arrived!" The guy who wanted everyone to pay yesterday said when he saw us.

"Ew, Alex, you make us sound like exotic dancers," Sierra said, dropping in the seat next to him and taking a sip of his milkshake.

"Was that not part of the agreement?" The smirk on his face disappeared when she flicked his ear.

The rest of us girls gathered around the table behind the boys. Nessa picked a chair directly behind Lorenzo and asked about his Rick & Morty phone case, effortlessly striking up a conversation.

Kara went over to a white guy with shoulder length red hair, sitting in his lap and giving him a quick kiss before asking. "What are you guys talking about?" I assumed it was Landon, her boyfriend. And his cologne as definitely suffocating.

"Nate's party," he told her.

I hadn't even noticed Nate, in the corner of the booth against the wall. He was looking at his phone and I couldn't help but wonder if he was waiting for her to text him.

Why did I even care? I turned away, trying to focus on Daisy and Lizeth talking about volleyball or Vanessa and Lorenzo talking about Rick & Morty, but the conversation at the next table was way more interesting.

"For the last time, no party," Nate said, sounding exhausted. The dark circles under his eyes proved he probably didn't get much sleep. The knuckles on his left hand were also pretty dark. Purple and red after repeatedly colliding with someone's face.

His hand flexed. No. Waved. I looked up, startled that Nate was watching me staring. My cheeks were flaming hot. He looked like he wanted to laugh. I turned back to Daisy and Lizeth and tried to follow along as they talked in some coded volleyball language.

The conversation from the next table still stole my attention. Did Nate have a birthday coming up? I loved baking birthday cakes. I loved baking cakes in general, but there was something special and challenging about a personalized cake. Having someone tell you exactly what they want and the look on their faces when you bring them that exact thing. The feeling is unmatched. I'd even be willing to make a cake for one of my least favorite people.

A Black guy in a snapback, that I recognized from school as Andrew Watley, pointed an orange plastic spoon at Nate. "I'm with Landon. It's your eighteenth, plus the first time you've been single since, what, seventh grade?"

Nate made a face. "I only started dating Janae in tenth."

"Yeah, but there was Jasmine in ninth," said Landon. "And Lisa before that."

"And after what happened at the grad party—"

"Come on, Kara," Andrew said. "We don't speak of that. I can't handle him crying again."

"I'm sitting right here," Nate said, rolling his eyes.

"Sorry," Landon said, patting his shoulder. "But it'll be good for you to do something besides lock yourself in your room killing zombies."

I was instantly reminded of the hours and hours I spent in bed watching different baking shows on my laptop after Kai. How I didn't want to leave my room no matter what my dad or Nessa promised me. I wanted to sulk in the doubt and the questions.

Would anyone ever fall in love with me?

Would anyone want to be seen with me in public, letting the world know that they loved me?

Part of me wanted to tell Nate's friends to back off. That a broken heart wasn't so easy to bounce back from. That he needed time and space to figures out his next move.

Then it dawned on me that I was relating to Nathaniel. Public enemy number one. The guy who blinked annoyingly. He always kept his eyelids closed a nanosecond too long, who did that?

"The nights not getting any younger," Alex said with a mischievous grin. "You ladies performing or what?"

Nessa and I went over this as we watched Kai's shirt disintegrate. Instead of performing in one group we thought it'd be less awkward and complicated if we broke into groups of two. The other girls agreed when Nessa texted Kara the idea.

Liz hopped up from the table, grabbing Sierra on her way to the stage. Daisy, Kara and the guys started cheering them on before they even picked out the song.

Liz picked up a microphone and turned to the crowd. "Please save your applause until the end."

Sierra selected a song, the opening chords beginning as Liz handed her the extra mic. Someone had dimmed the lights. The song sounded familiar, but I didn't place it until Sierra sang the first line.

The Start of Something New from High School Musical.

Liz and Sierra danced around the stage, singing their hearts out to each other. They were completely carefree, like they were in their bedroom singing into hair brushes instead of on a stage in front of a group of teenage boys.

When they finished, they bowed and curtsied while we clapped, cheered, whistled.

Daisy and Kara went next, singing Dear Future Husband by Meghan Trainer. Kara was singing directly to Landon, not at all shy to show some PDA.

A little zap of jealousy hit me. I didn't care how TV and movies made it look, secret relationships were nothing compared to being able to show the world—or an ice cream shop full of your friends—how much you loved someone.

I fooled myself into thinking I was okay with only kissing Kai behind closed doors, hating having to walk the halls at school pretending he was a stranger. Those annoying questions crept back up. Would anyone ever love me publicly?

I had to look away from Kara and Landon, the jealousy settling like a rock in my stomach. Then I was hit with the guilt of being jealous in the first place. I tried to find literally anything else to focus on.

While my eyes darted around the small, dim ice cream shop, they landed on Nate. Unlike me, he didn't immediately turn away, offering a sad smile instead. Maybe he couldn't handle watching his friends being all lovey-dovey either.

Daisy and Kara ended the song by striking a pose before reclaiming their seats. I wasn't ready. Why had their performance only felt a second long? Nessa was already at the stage before I even thought to stand up.

When I joined her she was still flipping through songs on the screen. "Think we can pull of some Ariana Grande?"

I was about to say yes, just so we could get the whole thing over with as quick as possible, but a different song caught my eye. "What about this one?"

Nessa smirked, nodding, reading my mind. "Perfect." She hit a button and As If by Blaque started to play. We were obsessed with the song. After watching Bring It On! it became a kind of anthem. A song we'd sing at the top of our lungs after we allowed some boy to break our heart.

It was mostly used after middle school crushes didn't pan out. Honestly, it'd been years since we needed it since we'd both been focused on our individual passions—teeth for her, cakes for me. Maybe that song was the one thing I needed to officially rid myself of Kai.

With my short-lived romance fresh in my mind, it was easy to forget all the eyes on me and get lost in the song.

Nessa and I danced around each other just like when we were younger and I found myself smiling and giggling throughout the song. The heavy, broken pieces of my heart stitching themselves back together with each lyric.

When the song ended and they cheered us on I felt lighter, ready to make the most of the summer with my best friend and my new friends.

After Nessa dropped me off at home I went straight up to my room, grabbed a fresh sheet of paper and a purple gel pen, and started a new Summer Bucket List.

1. Get over Kai
2. Go to Disneyland
3. Perfect icing flowers
4. Convince Aunt Mimi to do Bake-A-Palooza

I paused at the fourth task. That was going to be the hardest to accomplish. Aunt Mimi was stubborn, especially when it came to how she wanted to run Cake Me Up.

It sucked she couldn't see the potential the shop had...but maybe if I showed her. If I gained us more customers, she had to see my side of things. She had to see how successful Cake Me Up could be with just little internet marketing.

Aunt Mimi didn't do social media. I think she had a Facebook just to keep in touch with relatives, but that was it. And if she didn't have an Instagram, that meant Cake Me Up didn't either.

I pulled up the app on my phone and after many attempts at a username (because Cake Me Up was taken), my favorite place on earth had a social media account.

After adding some aesthetically pleasing pictures with the right hashtags, Cake Me Up could potentially see new customers soon.

That night I went to bed fantasizing about a line so long to get into Cake Me Up it obstructed traffic.

Around one in the morning I woke up to a call from Nessa. "Meet me outside."