Cake Me Up was gone. The pastel walls were charred black. The sweet aroma that always filled the air was replaced with the unbreathable smell of smoke. My eyes stung for more than one reason as I looked up at what used to be my favorite place.

The fire had long been put out, the firemen gone. The only thing that remained was yellow crime scene tape meant to warn people not to enter and, to my surprise, my dad.

He was hammering a piece of wood over the broken window, but stopped when he saw me and Nessa step out of the car.

He set down his hammer and wrapped me in a hug as I completely fell apart. He might not have understood my dream of following in my aunt's footsteps, but he knew how much Cake Me Up meant to me. He knew that seeing it destroyed like that killed me.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I knew how much you loved this place."

"Who did this?" I asked, pulling out of the hug and turning back to the burned building.

"No one," he said, brows pulled together. "It was an accident. Something about a gas leak. Why do you think someone caused it?"

I glanced at Nessa, who was just as confused as me. It was possible Kai only assumed the person who paid him to get Nate and me out of the bakery had something to do with the fire. But if that was the case, why would someone try to get us out of the shop in the first place?

"Charm, is there something you're not telling me?"

Taking another look at what used to be Cake Me Up, I knew I had to tell my dad everything—even the part about me staying out with Nate. He didn't seem too hung up on me sneaking out with a boy. But he wanted to track down Kai and get him to tell the police what he knew.

"Does Aunt Mimi know?" I asked, suddenly remembering she was out of town.

"I've tried calling her," he replied. "But she hasn't answered. She probably has her phone off. You and Nessa should go to her apartment—"

"She left on a trip." I said, reaching for my phone. Nate didn't know where my aunt went, but maybe his mom did.

His phone rang and rang before going to voice mail. Why wasn't he answering? He could've still been asleep. Or he could've been with Janae, listening to her stories about how amazing Greece was.

It was not the time to be focusing on my jealousy. Pushing those feelings aside, I walked back to Nessa's car. "Dad, we'll be back."

"Where are we going?" Nessa asked as she pulled out of the shopping plaza.

"To find Nate." I didn't miss the wary look my best friend gave me. "What?"

"Nothing," she said too quickly. "I'm just wondering if you're looking for Nate because he knows where your aunt is or because..." She didn't finish, instead glancing at me.

I knew where she was going. She thought I wanted to find Nate to make sure he wasn't with Janae. The thought definitely crossed my mind. Maybe both reasons were correct.

♡ ♡ ♡

Nate wasn't home and neither was his mom. The driveway was empty and no one opened the door.

He was with her. He had to be. Why else would he ignore my calls and messages? We were supposed to be baking...the audition. It completely slipped my mind until that moment.

How was I supposed to enter the competition with no partner or audition tape? Honestly, what would've been the point? The whole reason I wanted to join was so Cake Me Up could have the recognition it deserved. Now that it was gone...

I wished I could hit rewind and go back to last night when it was just me and Nate. When anything felt possible.

How did everything go to shit so quickly?

When I returned to Nessa's car, she didn't start it up right away. Instead, we sat there parked in Nate's driveway, sitting in complete silence for what felt like hours. I probably would've cried if I had the energy.

After a couple of minutes, Nessa spoke, "I think it's time to revisit the bucket list." She reached into the backseat for her purse and pulled out her journal.

"Now is not the time," I told her, sagging against the seat.

"Now is the perfect time," she said, flipping the notebook open. "Besides, if you go home you'll just sit around sulking and over-thinking and stressing yourself out over things out of your control."

All I could do was smile at how right she was. I really picked the best best-friend in the world.

I watched as she scanned the list for some activity that I hoped could distract me from the dumpster fire that was my life.

"But this, you can completely control." She grinned, tapping the page as she pointed to the next item on our list. Number thirty-two. "Don't make that face, you're the one that added it."

"I was a different Charm back then." That wasn't entirely false. The only problem I was facing back then was Kailand, and he was nothing more than a speck of dust on my thoughts now.

This new Charm had to deal with my dreams going up in flames. Literally. Number-thirty-two would on add even more stress to my life.

Ignoring my protests, Nessa started up the car and backed out of the driveway.

♡ ♡ ♡

"Did somebody die?" That was the first thing my little brother said to me when he opened the door.

They usually came to our house, or we'd meet somewhere, so Cash being shocked by me on their doorstep was understandable. I felt guilty about that. I needed to make more of an effort to spend time with my baby brother.

My brother, however, was no longer thinking about me. His eyes were on Vanessa. He wet his lips, nodding at her in a way I guessed he thought was cute. "Sup, Vanessa."

For the first time since I learned Cake Me Up burned down, I actually laughed. Was he trying to flirt? "Ew."

"Hater," he said, eyes slit at me. Turning back to Nessa, he smiled and said, "Come in, beautiful."

Nessa gave him a tight-lipped smile. I could tell she would explode into laughter at any second. "Thanks, Cash."

"Charm." Samir, appearing out of nowhere, pulled me into a tight hug. "I heard about the bakery. Are you okay? I'll make you some cocoa."

Samir had gone back to the kitchen before I could say anything. With Samir, anything could be fixed with a cup of hot cocoa—even in the summer, apparently.

"What's in the bag?" Cash asked, finally noticing something besides my best friend.

I glanced down at the duffle bag clutched in my hands. My stomach dipped at the thought of my next task. There was already so much for me to be stressed about, but Nessa was right. This was the one stressor in my life I could control.

Swallowing my nerves, I asked, "Where's Mom?"

"She's in her office," Cash said dismissively, his focus back on Nessa. "Where are my manners? Come have a seat."

As Cash ushered her to the living room, Nessa gave me an encouraging smile over her shoulder.

I climbed the stairs, trying to remember which door led to my mom's office. After finding the bathroom and the guest room, I finally found my mom sitting behind a white desk. Everything was polished and sleek and pink. White and gold accents were placed around, but mostly, it was a lot of pink. How didn't I know it was her favorite color?

There was a lot I didn't know about my mom, though. All I really knew was that being in her presence usually activated my fight-or-flight response and I always wanted to run. This time, I wanted to fight.

"Charm, I'm so sorry about the bakery," she said. Her voice was full of sympathy, but she didn't frown until her eyes fell on my shorts and my thighs that were dimpled with cellulite. That only fired me up even more.

The bakery was destroyed. Nate was probably getting back together with his ex. I couldn't do anything about those things, but I could tell my mom how much her looks and subtle jab hurt me.

Dropping the duffle bag on her desk, I unzipped it and pulled out some of its contents while my mom watched in confusion.

"These are the clothes you've gifted me over the years," I said, piling the dark, baggy pieces of clothing on her desk.

Her mouth opened, but no words came out. Good. Because I wasn't finished. "I'm fat and I've been okay with that for years," I started, reciting the words I rehearsed with Nessa on the drive over. "But then you show up with one of your "gifts" and it's like I'm back to being an insecure middle schooler."

She stared up at me, stunned, as my words settled between us. She snapped out of it a moment later, standing as she returned the clothes I'd thrown on her desk to the duffle bag.

"Charm..." she sighed, unable to look up at me. "I love you and I love how confident you've become. But I've seen how people look at you—"

"I don't care about how people look at me," I cut in. Her eyes darted up to me then. "I care how you look at me. And it hurts when all you see is that I don't fit some beauty standard and not how happy I am in the body I have."

Her lips pressed together, her gaze falling back to the pile of clothes on her desk. She held up the last dress she bought for me, the one a middle-aged woman might've worn to a job interview. "I am a shitty mother."

My jaw dropped. I don't think I'd ever heard her cuss before. She was nothing if not classy.

"I mean, look at this," she said, holding up one of the tags and reading, "Slim-fit, tummy control. The dress is hideous." She dropped the garment and walked around the desk, cupping my face in her hands. "I am so sorry, Charm. I thought I was helping. Obviously, you don't need my help."

Tears that were backed up since I walked away from what was left of Cake Me Up spilled over.  "Not when it comes to my clothes," I said, giving her a watery smile. "But of you could talk to dad about this dentistry thing, I'd be forever grateful."

My mom hugged me close as a laugh escaped her along with a few tears. I couldn't remember the last time we shared a moment like this. Hopefully, after this heart-to-heart, we'll have many more.

♡ ♡ ♡

After saving Nessa from Cash and taking Samir's delicious cocoa for the road, we headed back home. I filled Nessa in on everything that happened with my mom and she was just as happy as I was. At least one good thing came out of this horrible day.

"See," she said, ignoring the speed limit as she flew through my neighborhood. "Aren't you glad I didn't let you wallow at home?"

A grin spread across my face as I looked at my best friend. "Yes, thank you."

"Just fulfilling my best friend duties."

When she pulled into my driveway, a familiar car that was parked next to my dad's had me jumping out of the car before it came to a full stop.

Aunt Mimi was back.

The sound of my dad's angry voice quickly squashed my excitement. He was scolding his baby sister about her poor choices.

I followed their voices to the living room, but froze in my tracks when I heard my aunt say, "Langston, I didn't know and I definitely didn't mean to get Charm caught up in this."

Caught up in what? I thought to myself.

"You never mean to do anything because you never think before acting," my dad paced the floor, rubbing his brow. "It didn't occur to you to run a background check before hiring that boy?"

My heart dropped several stories. Were they talking about Nate? Did they think he had something to do with what happened to Cake Me Up?

That was impossible. He was with me the whole night.

Just as I was about to step forward and tell them that, my phone rang. A name I'd been hoping would flash across my screen all day appeared.

Nate.