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When they got down to the month of September, Kamryn asked again, “What date did everyone choose?”

Bristol, who apparently was the official record keeper, listed them off.

“All right.” Kamryn stepped back and studied the white board. “I’m half tempted to just not tell them now.”

“What? You have to tell us!” Ethan whined. His name was still on the board.

Elia eyed him over before shaking her head. “For the record, Ethan, it’s not the thirteenth.”

“Shucks!”

Elia walked up and crossed out Ethan’s name. What had tipped off most of the students that they’d started a relationshipin September? She would be curious to know, but she also wasn’t going to ask them—ever. That was something that was going to remain a mystery. Along with many other things, because as entertaining as this was, Elia wasn’t comfortable with their relationship being on display for the entire Speech team.

Kamryn took the marker from Elia’s fingers and immediately crossed out two more names. “Just to make this fun, everyone who would pick September sixth over the thirtieth, raise your hand.”

Only five students raised their hands. Kamryn then pointed at the thirtieth. “And this one?” Everyone else raised their hands.

With a smile on her lips, Kamryn moved the marker toward the thirtieth, but instead of crossing out the name, she circled it in bright red marker.

“Kayla, you’re the winner of a brand-new pair of AirPods and a hundred dollars, apparently.”

The cheers were so loud that Elia’s ears were ringing. The kids were high-fiving each other and chattering loudly. Elia’s cheeks were still on fire, but she managed to raise her voice loud enough to get their attention.

“Mirrors!”

The kids immediately parted into small groups of three. Elia touched the small of Kamryn’s back and nodded toward the door. “Hallway. Now.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Kamryn walked in front of Elia until they stepped outside. “I think that was a good deflection from the real news, don’t you?”

“Sure. We cannotdo something like that again.”

“Deal.” Kamryn held both of Elia’s hands and leaned in to kiss her again. “I do have some not-so-good news when it comes to a condition of my hire.”

“What’s that?” Elia hummed, already knowing that she wasn’t going to like this conversation.

“You need to find a new co-leader for the Speech team. They don’t want us traveling together or staying together during the Speech meets. They’d like to not expose the students to anything that might have repercussions.”

Elia frowned. “I’m not sure I understand their reasoning.”

“Not all parents are comfortable with a lesbian couple leading the Speech team together.”

“How many parents?” Elia asked.

“Enough that have loud voices. But it just means that you’ll still run the team with a new co-lead, and I’ll have less responsibility on my plate.” Kamryn tried to smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“I don’t like it.”

“It’s a small concession, Elia.”

“I still don’t like it.”

“It was the only part of the negotiations that I was opposed to, but I’m here to stay.” Kamryn relaxed instantly. “They want to keep me on.”

“That’s really great news. Truly.” Elia smiled. “I’m glad they value you as much as they should.”

“You too,” Kamryn whispered. “They wouldn’t have kept me here if they didn’t want you to also stay. That came up in conversation, that if I left, you might also resign and move to another school—one that would allow us to be together.”

“Interesting.” Elia wrinkled her brow. “I think you’re more adept at negotiating contracts than anyone I’ve seen before.”