Best Kept Secret (Best Kept #1)

Chapter 9: Short Girls Are The Best

Song: Drive by Halsey

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Mia sat a basket of fries in front of me and I thanked her, taking one and biting half.

"What have you been up to lately?" Caleb asked, stealing one of Mia's fries.

"Not much," I answered.

Mia thought it would be a good idea for me to come to her school for lunch. I've done this several times before, but the lack of sleep I've been getting is catching up with me. "Liar," Mia hissed.

I raised a brow at her.

Then she grinned. "Come on, Luce. Tell Caleb what you've been up to lately."

I glared at her and looked back to Caleb. His dirty blonde hair was messy, but the kind of messy you have to achieve by playing around with it. His hazel eyes were always soft and kind. Mia got lucky with Caleb. "The same," I said. "School, bakery, then lock down."

He looked surprised. "What about this Benji guy Mia keeps going on about?"

"What about him?" I stuffed my mouth with three fries to buy me more time.

Caleb glanced at Mia and back to me. He slowly smiled at me like he knew something I didn't. "Is our precious Lucy finally going to get a boyfriend?"

I nearly choked on my food and Mia started laughing until she snorted and turned red in the face.

"Sorry," Caleb said sheepishly while fighting a smile. "But seriously, who's Benji?"

"A friend," I replied.

"For now," Mia muttered.

I didn't tell Mia about what happened last night and how I made out with Benji in the janitors closet. I'll keep that to myself for now. So instead of answering Mia, I checked the time on my phone and stood up. "I need to get back to the bakery before my mom calls."

Mia frowned. "Already? We were just getting to the good stuff."

"I'll see you tonight, Mia." I threw her a smile and looked to Caleb. "I'll see you later."

Caleb smiled and nodded once before I turned to leave. I walked across the courtyard and out of the main gate to get to my car in the parking lot. As soon as I was on the road, a text from my mom came in. I didn't even need to look at it to know it was my mom because of her special text tone.

Mia's school was only a five-minute drive from the bakery, so it didn't take me anytime at all to get back. Just as I parked my car on the side of the building, another text from my mom came through. I let out an annoyed sigh and got out of the car. It was pointless to compose my expression, but I did it anyway as I walked through the front door of the bakery.

My mom's head rose up from what she was doing. "Finally," she breathed. "What took you so long?"

I wrinkled my nose and kept walking to the backroom. I dropped my bag on the table and walked to the rack where my apron hung. With quick fingers, I tied it around my waist and went back out.

* * *

We were in the middle of dinner when my phone went off in my pocket.

Jason, my mom and dad, and Mia all looked at me like I just dropped the F-Bomb with no warning. "Sorry," I muttered and quickly picked my phone out of my pocket. A text from Benji.