Secrets

16 | devon

I'm soon taking a seat in the middle row of Kai's minivan next to Hadley, buckling my seatbelt as Kai takes his place in the driver's seat. Mason is perched next to him on the passenger side, tinkering with the aux. Clover has claimed the entire back row for herself, sprawled out with a blanket and enough snacks to feed an army.

"Okay," Kai says once we're all settled into our seats, eyeing those of us sitting behind him out of the rearview mirror. "Is everyone good? I don't want to have to make too many stops. We're already running behind schedule thanks to someone."

Clover flips Kai the bird from where she sits in the far back. "Sorry I got hungry. You'll thank me later, dickwad."

Kai rolls his eyes. "Whatever. I just want to know if we're good to go."

"We're good," Hadley speaks up from her spot next to me. She wraps her fingers through mine, smiling over at me in adoration.

I swallow hard as I take note of the love gleaming in her eyes as she gazes at me. Kai's stare bores into my skin like lasers as he studies our intertwined hands in the rearview mirror, frowning all too knowingly.

I use my free hand to smack the back of Kai's seat slightly too hard. "Yeah. Let's get this show on the road."

"Fine," Kai agrees with a glare designated just for me. He shifts gears into reverse and backs out of my driveway slowly. "I better not hear a word about needing to stop from any of you."

"Finally!" Mason cries as Kai takes off down my street, soon exiting out of my neighborhood. "Let's get this party started!"

I can't help laughing when Mason goes to her Spotify app and begins playing Taylor Swift songs, a gesture quickly met with resistance from Clover, who makes no attempt to hide her disdain.

"Are you deadass, Mason? Can't we listen to literally anything else?"

"Everyone else likes the music, so suck it," Mason bites back. She shifts around in her seat to shoot Clover a death stare.

"You're kidding," Clover mumbles. She glances around the vehicle as if she has found herself surrounded by idiots. 

Hadley shrugs. "I love Taylor Swift."

I nod grudgingly. "She makes good music, Clove."

"Kai?" Clover questions, throwing her hands into the air exasperatedly. "Back me up here?"

"Sorry," Kai retorts as he makes a left turn onto the highway, heading toward the interstate. "I'm with Mason. Lyrically, Miss Swift is a genius."

Clover rolls her eyes and slumps back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest dramatically. Hadley hides her mouth behind her hand as she giggles. We all pretend not to notice the way Clover mouths the lyrics to Cruel Summer when she thinks nobody is paying attention to her.

"Hey, Kai?" Mason cries over the blaring music once we've finally hit the interstate. "I have to pee!"

Hadley and Clover crack up as Kai's jaw tenses. He takes his eyes off of the road for a moment to narrow his eyes at Mason.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"What?" Mason whines. "I really gotta go!"

"You couldn't have gone when we were at Devon's house, like, ten minutes ago?"

"I didn't have to go then!" Mason argues.

I lean in close to Hadley's ear as Mason and Kai bicker back and forth. "They fight like a married couple."

Hadley's eyes widen to the size of saucers. "You don't think . . .?"

I bite down on my bottom lip to contain a grin. I've been sworn to secrecy by Kai, which means I can't tell Hadley that I've known Kai has been madly in love with Mason since sophomore year. He's my best friend–I know all of his secrets. "All I'm saying is that if the two of them hook up in the future, I wouldn't be surprised."

Hadley places the palm of her hand against her lips to keep from laughing aloud. I share a knowing smile with her before she rests her head on my shoulder. Kai mumbles something about finding a gas station on the GPS. I lean down and press a kiss to Hadley's forehead.

"This is going to be a summer to remember," Hadley whispers to me with a coy smile. "I already know this trip together is going to be one of my favorite memories."

I play with her fingertips as we hold hands, avoiding eye contact. I try to push all of my worries and secrets to the side, wanting to absorb the moment for as long as I can. I want to remember this–I want to be able to think back to these precious memories with my friends once I'm gone.

My heart feels heavy as I turn to gaze out of the window. As much as I want to go to Stanford, I think it's time for me to admit that I really don't want to leave everything else behind.

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a/n: happy friday lovelies 🤍