Page 4 of Promises We Meant to Keep (Love in Massachusetts #1)

four

“I nearly forgot the festival was tonight,” Elia said, turning to her best friend, Abagail, and smiling. They’d gone out for dinner, Elia really needing to get away from the school and from the jealousy that was raging within her. It was taking over everything she had attempted to do that first week of school, and every time she’d seen Kamryn, it had gotten worse.

She’d avoided Kamryn as much as she could, but it was impossible in a school so small. The kids arriving had been the sanity she’d needed, and meeting up with Abagail was her chance to unwind and vent. And boy had Abagail heard it over dinner.

“Remember when we were in our twenties and we used to come to this thing every year?” Abagail laughed lightly, holding onto the takeout containers in her left hand.

Elia nodded, shoving her hands into her pockets. It was supposed to get chilly that night, the first night that it’d truly feel like fall, though it wasn’t set to last very long. “Yeah.” Elia’s gaze was drawn to the town square, with the lights that were up year-round casting a glow onto the cobblestones and the people that loitered underneath them.

“Let’s go tonight,” Elia said in a rush, an impulse that she hadn’t known she’d still possessed. Then again, she’d done a whole lot impulsively in the last two weeks, including just about every interaction she’d had with Kamryn.

Why couldn’t she get that woman out of her head already?

“I can’t,” Abagail responded. “I’ve got that early morning meeting, remember?”

“Right.” Elia shoved her hands a little tighter into her jacket, clenching her fists. She wasn’t ready to go back to the school, not just yet. She needed a bit more time than she’d had away from that place, somewhere to find her center again and to step away from the insane jealousy that kept her up at night.

“But you should hang out for a while.”

“I…” Elia was about to object, since her introverted self wasn’t someone who would just stay alone at an event if she could avoid it, but something caught her eye. There was a loud raucous laugh not that far off, but the tone of the voice sounded very familiar. “Can you stay just a few more minutes?”

Abagail looked at the square and then back at Elia. “A few.”

They walked together, closer to the square, saying nothing. Elia was comfortable with that silence, wanting it, craving it even. She didn’t need to talk to Abagail to know what she was thinking, or that Abagail was just as curious about Elia’s change in mood as Elia was.

They stopped by the first booth, and Elia paid for one spiked hot apple cider and one not spiked. She handed the alcohol-free one to Abagail and sipped on her own. The warmth spread down her throat and into the top of her chest, warming her even more. It used to be a lot colder for these events, but the tradition of having all the fall things never quite stopped.

Once again looking around and observing, Elia took everything in. She was sure there were likely a few students out here tonight. The older ones typically came out to enjoy one last weekend of freedom before the school year really took over and consumed their life.

Speaking of… there was Bristol. “Hey, Dr. Sharpe.”

“Bristol.” Elia smiled at the soon-to-be young woman. She’d been on the speech team for all the years she’d been at Windermere, and they’d soon be spending a lot of time together. “Enjoying the festival?”

“Oh yeah!” Bristol’s eyes lit up. “One last hurrah!”

Elia could understand the sentiment, but she kept her reaction calm. She nodded to Bristol. “Then enjoy away. Don’t let me stop you.”

“Speech is on Tuesday, right?” Bristol leaned up on her toes. It was her nervous tic. Her gaze slid from Elia to Abagail before she bounced back down onto the flats of her feet.

Did she think they were dating?

It wouldn’t be the first time, though she and Abagail had never considered it.

“Tuesday at four.”

“I’ll be there!” Bristol grinned broadly before she skittered away.

“How do you think coaching Speech is going to go with your former student now your co-leader?” Abagail asked in hushed tones as her shoulder brushed against Elia’s. She took a quick sip of her drink.

Elia’s jaw clenched again. She’d given herself a migraine twice now because of that bad habit, which she really needed to get over. Rolling her shoulders and purposely loosening her muscles, Elia raised her gaze to meet Abagail’s. “I’m not concerned about her abilities.”

“Didn’t think you were,” Abagail mumbled into her drink.

Elia winced. “I don’t need a co-leader.”

“You do, and you just don’t want to admit that she’s right.” Abagail had that sickening I’m right smirk on her lips, and Elia turned away so she wouldn’t have to face it.

Logically, she knew that Kamryn was right. That the board was. This did add a layer of protection and safety to the entire Speech team, but that didn’t mean she liked it—especially because the solution was Kamryn herself.

That laugh echoed in Elia’s ears again. She looked around the square, trying to find the source and pinpoint why it seemed so familiar, but she didn’t manage to find it.

“Elia, what harm is there in some extra help?”

“It’s not the help I’m worried about.”

“Then what is it? Because you’ve been on edge for three weeks, and something has to give soon.”

Elia sighed heavily, wrapping her hands around the cup of spiked cider and taking another sip. She wasn’t ready to answer the question. She wasn’t ready to face the truth of why this hurt so much. Right now, she wanted to sit in that anger a bit longer, and she wanted it all directed at someone who could very easily distract her from the real reason why she was so upset by it all.

“Fine, keep your silence.” Abagail sighed. “Call me when you’re ready to talk, okay? I promise I’ll answer this time.”

Elia chuckled lightly. “You’re going out of the country for two weeks. I don’t think you’ll have time to take my call on your whirlwind vacation with your newest fling.”

“Oh, you never know.” Abagail smiled. “I need to get going. But seriously, Elia. Call me when you’re ready to get over yourself and actually talk about what’s going on.”

“I will.” Elia latched her hand onto Abagail’s arm and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Have a good trip.”

“I always do.” Abagail wrapped her free arm across Elia’s shoulders and gave her a side hug, pushing Elia’s boundaries for physical comfort. But they both knew that Abagail was the only one that Elia would allow to do this. “See you.”

“Email me when you get there.”

“I know the drill, boss!” Abagail laughed as she stepped away.

The warmth was suddenly gone. Elia hadn’t realized how much of that had come from Abagail’s very presence until that moment. Sipping her drink, Elia stared down into the cup. She would finish drinking it and then she would head back to the school for the night. That would force her to stay out just a little longer. It’d be good for her in the long run.

There was that laugh again.

Elia was drawn to it, trying to figure out where it was coming from. She was determined this time to figure out why it sounded so familiar. Carefully walking through the throng of people, Elia followed the noise until she stopped short.

Kamryn.

Her boisterous laugh was what Elia had heard, and it tickled the recesses of her memory because it had been so very long since she’d heard it. Swallowing back the disgust, Elia stared. Kamryn was being obnoxiously loud, something Elia hadn’t ever seen before. Her movements were all over the place.

Staying put, Elia sipped her drink again, observing. What was it about Kamryn that irked her so much? Was it actually Kamryn herself or was it something else entirely? Elia listened carefully to the music and the voices around her. She could fade in here, fall into the background, and no one would know that she existed.

But her entire being was centered on Kamryn.

Maybe she was just happy? She seemed to be with friends.

A small group of women surrounded Kamryn, five women to be exact. One of them looked familiar, but Elia couldn’t make out her face from this distance. She was the one facing Kamryn so it was hard to see, but Kamryn’s facial reactions didn’t exactly say that she was excited to be there. There was something hard about them, something stiff.

Elia caught sight of Bristol and two other girls from the Speech team hanging out by the band that was playing. They giggled as they pointed toward a group of boys who were also seniors at the school. That was hopefully not going to make for some interesting drama throughout the school year, but Elia would keep her eye on it if she could.

Kamryn lifted a small cup to her lips and chugged it. Elia frowned. That was definitely alcoholic, and if she remembered correctly, the vendor who had those cups specifically sold shots and nothing else. Elia watched as Kamryn threw the cup into the trash next to where she was standing and then turned back to her group of friends. She wobbled slightly.

This was going to turn into something else entirely, something that Elia wasn’t sure she wanted to deal with. But she couldn’t let Bristol or any other students who were out tonight see Kamryn make a fool of herself. She would embarrass the school, and the school was having enough issues right now. It didn’t need any added ones.

Dropping her half-full cup into the nearest trash, Elia started to weave her way through the throng of people. She couldn’t let Windermere go through another scandal on her watch, although at least she wouldn’t be the one who caused this one or was at the center of it.

Straightening her shoulders and plastering on the best disappointed face that she could manage right now, Elia walked. She had to move all the way to the back of the crowd in order to get around them. She wasn’t a person who would just push through people to get where she was going, especially when she was trying not to make a scene.

She’d text Abagail all about the drama when she got home that night. But this incident only confirmed exactly what Elia had thought from the start. Kamryn wasn’t fit to be temporary Head of School, and the board shouldn’t have hired someone so young and immature to take on the position. They should have hired Elia, someone who had a reputation with the school—good or bad, it didn’t really matter—but someone who knew how to control themselves.

As she approached, her stomach twisted into knots. Kamryn definitely wasn’t herself. Elia had never seen her like this—not just drunk, but loud and boisterous. It was so forced, like she was trying to cover something up. But what exactly was it?

Elia rounded the last small group of people. Kamryn’s eyes lit up when she reached her, going from surprise and shock to bold and knowing. Kamryn tipped back another one of those small brown paper cups that no doubt had a shot in it that was actually equal to three shots and way overpriced.

“Elia!” Kamryn slurred.

She was definitely drunk.

Elia approached cautiously, with the goal to mitigate any drama or scandal that could result from this. She needed to get Kamryn under control and back to the school where she could sleep this off and forget tonight happened. Well, probably not forget. Elia wouldn’t let her do that. She would remind Kamryn of the stupidity of this moment every chance she got, especially if it made a difference in keeping the school safe from her stupid mistakes.

Kamryn snagged Elia’s hand and jerked her close. She leaned in, up on her toes and pressed her lips to Elia’s ear. Elia’s entire body shuddered. Only Abagail touched her like this, and even then, it was far more reserved than whatever Kamryn was doing right now. This was… this was nearly intoxicating in and of itself.

The scent of alcohol wafted to Elia’s nostrils, and her stomach churned with it. “Kamryn—”

“Please just go with it,” Kamryn whispered, managing somehow to keep her voice so quiet that even Elia who was right next to her had to strain to hear what she said.

“I’m not—”

Kamryn’s lips covered hers, cutting off anything that Elia was going to say. Kamryn’s hand slid behind Elia’s neck, her fingers diving into the rough hairs at the back of Elia’s neck, the ones that were graying but that she ignored because unless her hair was up no one could see them.

Gasping, Elia parted her lips to say something. But the words were lost again when Kamryn slid her tongue against Elia’s. Those shudders from before turned into shivers of pleasure. Elia wrapped an arm around Kamryn’s side when she started to sway to the right. She propped Kamryn back up and had to use her other arm to prevent her from falling the other direction. She was surprised to find that she was essentially hugging Kamryn in a tight embrace.

Elia sighed, physical sensations floating through her and sparking alive. It had been a long time since a kiss had managed to do that. Not since she’d kissed anyone, but since it had been such a basic physical reaction. Elia relaxed and pushed into Kamryn, tangling their tongues as her eyes fluttered shut for a brief moment before her mind came back to her.

Pulling away, Elia kept her arms around Kamryn, scared that she was going to topple over herself in her drunken state. And there was no mistaking it now. Kamryn was sloshed.

“So you’re her new girlfriend.”