Page 8 of Promises We Meant to Keep (Love in Massachusetts #1)

eight

Elia paused as she walked from the main desk in the empty classroom toward the white board. Kamryn stood in the doorway, leaning against it, with a smile playing at her lips and her arms crossed. Elia narrowed her gaze but twisted the top off the marker none the less.

“What?” Elia barked out.

“You haven’t really changed all that much. You know that, right?” Kamryn seemed so pleased with herself as she stepped farther into the room and leaned against the desk while Elia wrote a few words on the whiteboard.

“I’ve changed more than you might think.”

“Hmm.” Kamryn crossed her arms.

Capping the marker, Elia tossed it onto the top of the desk. “We’ve had twenty new students sign up for the team this year. I’ve added them to the roster and will figure out housing arrangements when I get a chance, at least for the first couple of meets.”

“All business today?” Kamryn asked, her voice nearly a gentle tease.

“I’m only ever business.”

“Memory tells me otherwise. But if you want.” Kamryn picked up the piece of paper that Elia had pointed to earlier. “How are we dividing the coaching up?”

“Let’s play it by ear.” Elia’s stomach bubbled, and she realized belatedly that she’d forgotten to grab her snack from her office.

Kamryn’s phone rang. “I’m going to take this, if you don’t mind.”

“By all means.” Elia left the classroom, checking the time on her watch before snagging the small bag of carrots she’d left on her desk and returning to the classroom.

Kamryn was still sitting on the edge of the desk, but her shoulders were rounded, and she looked absolutely dejected. Elia nearly stopped what she was doing, wanting to help her out or ask what was wrong, but she didn’t. It wasn’t her place to do that.

“All right. Yeah, I understand, but I don’t think she’ll be able to make it.” Kamryn’s voice trailed off, and she glanced up at Elia, her cheeks reddening. “I’ll ask. I promise. Talk to you later. Love you. Bye.”

Kamryn dropped her phone onto the desk with a sigh and picked up the paper now, squinting at it as if she was reading it. But Elia knew that move well. She’d used it so many times in her life that she was sure that distraction and refocusing were exactly what Kamryn was attempting to do.

“Since we both specialize in speech, I suppose one of us should volunteer to teach debate.” Kamryn still didn’t look up from the paper.

“I can do that.” Elia popped a carrot between her lips, snapping off a chunk. She didn’t take her eyes from Kamryn. “What was the call about?”

“Nothing.” Kamryn bristled.

“It upset you.”

“A lot upsets me,” Kamryn said into the paper, her voice mumbled and quiet.

“Like what?” Elia wasn’t sure why she was prying again. But something about Kamryn and who she was now was so different than when she’d been a student there. Elia wanted to know more.

“Like why you’re not Head of School.” Kamryn crossed her arms, her clothes straining from the move and the fabric tightening the wrinkles right out of it, at least for now. “You still haven’t answered that question.”

“I never applied until this summer.” Elia took another bite of a carrot. “How would I have become Head of School without applying?”

“By actually applying.” Kamryn seemed so sure of herself, something in that brutish personality that came with her generation. Elia envied it sometimes, and other times, she was glad to be on the quieter side that tended to fall between the cracks. It meant fewer people were looking at her and trying to find the cracks in her facade.

“I didn’t.”

“But why?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Elia’s shoulders stiffened. “What was your call?”

“If I tell you what my call was about, will you tell me why you didn’t apply?” Kamryn narrowed her eyes, as if that would get Elia to bend over backward and give Kamryn what she was wanting. “Fine, that was Andra. Apparently, Rosie has texted everyone to tell the entire group about my new girlfriend , and she was wondering if I needed to change my RSVP for her wedding.”

“Oh.” Elia’s cheeks burned, the memory of that kiss rushing into her face so quickly that she had to turn away. To mask it, she grabbed the marker and turned toward the white board, trying to pretend that she had forgotten to write something up on the board. Deciding on the date, Elia walked toward the board.

“She asked me to ask you… my girlfriend … if you were coming to her wedding so she could adjust the seating arrangement and catering numbers.”

“Do you want me to go?” Elia clenched her fingers around the marker, keeping it tight in her hand as her lifeline.

Kamryn jerked her chin up, her entire body tightening as her face lit up with confusion. “Go with me?”

“To the wedding.” Elia squared her shoulders as she walked closer.

“Why would you want to go to the wedding?”

“That isn’t what I asked,” Elia added, dropping the marker and standing directly in front of Kamryn. In this position they were nearly the same height, but Elia had all the power. She was standing, and she was prepared.

“I… don’t know. It’d be nice to have someone there to help keep me in line since Lauren and Rosie will be there. Have I mentioned that lesbian relationships suck when we’re all in the same friend group?”

“I don’t think that’s exclusive to lesbian relationships,” Elia replied. “You don’t have anyone else who can come?”

“Greer will be there for the wedding, but that’s it. She can’t go to anything else. Her work is… she’s getting laid off, and so she needs to work as much as possible in order to save up money for when she’s unemployed.” Kamryn frowned. “Sometimes being an adult sucks.”

Elia did smile at that, her lips twitching upward into a small smile. “More than sometimes. What other things are there?”

“Bridal shower. Bachelorette party. All those things that traditional women do.”

“And you’re not traditional? I seem to remember someone wanting to get married and have a few kids.” Elia wasn’t sure where she was pulling that memory from, but she definitely remembered something along those lines.

“Dreams change, Dr. Sharpe.”

“Elia,” she corrected. “Please.”

“Elia,” Kamryn repeated the name, and it sounded sweet coming from her.

“Dreams do change. Maybe you got the answer to your question in a roundabout way.”

Kamryn hummed, again narrowing her eyes. “I don’t think so. You wouldn’t have applied this year if that was true. You would have just let the board figure it out on their own.”

Elia sighed and glanced toward the door. Students would be arriving any time for their first speech session of the semester. She usually looked forward to this day, but Kamryn had been distracting her since she’d walked into the room and Elia had lost all track of time.

How was she supposed to tell Kamryn that she was more right than she thought? Elia had never given up on that dream, but it had taken this long for her to even hope it was a possibility. “What did the board tell you about the position and others who had applied?”

“Not much,” Kamryn answered, stretching her hands above her head and moving up onto her tippy-toes. “It was a super quick turnaround, and they made it abundantly clear that this was only temporary.”

“So you’re just done at the end of the semester?”

Kamryn nodded. “When Dr. Waddy will come back.”

“Kamryn…” Elia dragged out her name. She canted her head to the side and stayed very still. “I visited Miller in the hospital last week. He’s not going to be coming back at the end of the semester.”

“But the board said he would be.”

“Even if he wanted to, the stroke did a lot of damage. I’m not sure if physically he’ll be able to return to work at all, and definitely not in the next five months.” Elia stayed still, glancing toward the door to make sure that there weren’t any students coming in. “Maria hadn’t told anyone just how bad it is yet, but it’s not easy to hide if you go visit him.”

Kamryn frowned. “So they probably need a longer term Head of School then.”

“They’ll likely open up the search in November when Maria can’t hide the fact that he won’t be returning.” Elia hated to think about it, but she’d already mentally started preparing ways that she could help them move out of the Head of School’s house in the middle of the winter. It would be difficult, but she had no doubt that this was coming to that.

“Damn,” Kamryn mumbled and plopped herself back down onto the desk. “I can stay on for another semester. It’s not like I have anywhere else to go, but that’s really going to hurt the students and faculty.”

Was Kamryn finally understanding the weight of the position? This was the mature side that Elia had seen from her several times in the last few weeks, but she longed to see more of it. And she was spot on. This was going to hurt everyone involved.

“What will you do for income if you don’t stay?”

Kamryn shrugged and leaned back slightly. Elia couldn’t tear her gaze away, not now. She’d found herself staring at Kamryn more and more lately, unable to stop just watching her.

“Find a new job somewhere.” Kamryn frowned. “I wasn’t going to give up the chance to get back here if I could, though. That’s been my dream since I left.”

“Really?” Elia raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah. I guess I could apply for the full-time position when it opens up. Or you could!” Kamryn turned and gave Elia a brilliant grin, one that was full of mischief.

“I wasn’t even offered an interview this time around. What makes you think they’d give me one next time?”

“Then let’s make sure they do.” Kamryn clapped her hands together, her grin getting even brighter.

“Don’t you want the position?”

“Yes and no.” Kamryn shrugged.

So they wouldn’t be going against each other for it? How odd. That bit of jealousy that had taken root in Elia’s chest eased slightly. She felt lighter somehow with just that one statement.

“I’ll dig a bit and see what I can find out about the interview process and why you weren’t included in it.”

“Don’t dig hard. I’ve ruffled enough feathers on the board.”

Kamryn pulled a face, her forehead scrunching up and brow pulling together with curiosity and confusion, but she didn’t push for another answer. “I’ll help you out. What’s a former student to do?”

“Move on with her life.” Elia sighed when she realized too late how the tone of her voice came off. “You could apply yourself.”

“Maybe I will. But it won’t be any fun if there isn’t any good competition. It’ll help elevate the search, don’t you think?”

Maybe there was something to that. Maybe Kamryn wasn’t as naive as Elia had initially thought. She’d obviously held other positions before, so perhaps she knew more about playing these political games than Elia did.

“If you help me, then I’ll help you.” Was she really going to do this? The idea had taken root, and she wasn’t able to shake it. She’d been working up toward it for a while, but it would be a good way to size up the competition and also get what she needed in return. “I’ll pretend to be your girlfriend in front of Lauren and Rosie and the others. You help me get an interview for the job—or at least figure out a way to force their hand in explaining why I was denied.”

Shock registered on Kamryn’s face. “You want to be my fake girlfriend?”

“Weren’t you supposed to ask if I was going to the wedding?” There was teasing in Elia’s voice that she hadn’t heard herself use in years. This was flirting—not flirting with the intention of anything happening, but flirting sheerly for the enjoyment of seeing someone’s reaction. In this case, Kamryn’s reaction. “I suppose you should ask.”

“W-what? Do you want to go? I mean you can go without being my fake girlfriend if you really want to.”

Elia heard student voices in the hallway. She stepped in closer to Kamryn, the fronts of her thighs touching the side of Kamryn’s leg. She lowered her voice just to make sure that no one else heard what she was saying.

“I’ll be your fake girlfriend, Kam.” Using the nickname meant something, but Elia wasn’t quite sure what it was just yet. “You help me get an interview. Deal or no deal?”

“Elia, there are other ways around this.”

“Times up, the kids are here. Deal or no deal?”

“Deal,” Kamryn whispered, looking directly into Elia’s eyes.

“Good.” The smile bloomed on Elia’s lips and face, warming her. She was enjoying this far too much. “We’ll get together next week to discuss details. Over dinner?”

“S-sure.”

Elia stepped back just as the first student entered the room with a loud, “It’s time to rock and roll!”

Kamryn still kept staring at her, but Elia had to move away to put some distance between them. She didn’t want the kids to get the wrong idea, especially after everything she had been through before. That would be her number one rule with Kamryn. They would keep everything as separate as possible.

“I hope you had a good summer, Ethan.”

“The best!” Ethan said loudly, dropping his bag into one of the chairs. He stared up at the white board and groaned. “Devil’s Advocate? Really? Do we have to start warm-ups with that?”

“Yes,” Elia responded, shooting Kamryn a look of amusement. “You shouldn’t like every single practice lesson that we do. It’s good to expand your skills.”

“Yeah, but starting with that one?”

Elia couldn’t stop herself from finding joy in this interaction. She’d waited all summer for Speech and Debate to start back up again. It was her favorite extracurricular to teach. “Yes, we’re starting with that one. Maybe you all can stump the new Head of School.” Elia waved at Kamryn. “She used to be one of my star Speech students back in her heyday. We’ll have to see how many lessons she remembers.”

“Remembers?” Kamryn stood up sharply. “Oh, I remember them all, Dr. Sharpe.”

“We’ll see,” Elia answered, ready for the lessons to start.