Page 91 of I Think He Knows?

The door to my classroom opens, and Jess appears in the doorway.

“Did you see the email?”

“Yep. One guess who probably called the meeting.”

“Our fabulous new assistant principal,” she suggests with a smile.

“Lilly is ready to leave her mark on Eastern Lake Elementary.”

“She’s not the only one,” Jess mumbles. “Mrs. Wallingford is all in to be madame president next year. We’re all doomed.

I sigh. “Well, at least you can use this time to get on her good side.”

“Or else,” she jokes. “Anyway, save me a seat in the meeting.”

The students begin to arrive. I can tell instantly it’s going to be a much better day. And the sun is shining, so they will be able to expend some energy outside. This alone makes a tremendous difference.

I continue working through my lunch period. I don’t want to fall behind in case Lilly’s plans add extra projects to our already full work loads. There’s also a part of me actively trying to avoid Cam. We’ve texted a few times but seeing him in person only reminds me of my deepening feelings for him…and the possibility of losing him.

After dismissal I head to the auditorium for the meeting. I’m one of the first to arrive, and as luck would have it, Lilly is already there. She’s flipping through slides of a PowerPoint presentation and doesn’t notice me at first. I sit on the aisle in the second row and open my laptop.

“Hi, Serena,” she calls when she finally sees me. She’s wearing another stunning outfit, a white shirtdress and black boots.

“Hey, Lilly.”

Thankfully Jess arrives before I’m forced to have a conversation with Lilly.

“Are you saving another seat for Cam?” she asks.

“Probably not,” I say. “You know he likes to linger in the back at these things. He claims his attention span isn’t great.”

“Does she have a PowerPoint presentation?” Jess mumbles under her breath.

“Yep.”

“Are we going to be here all night?” she asks.

“Very likely.”

My phone buzzes with a text from Mason.

I think everything is ready. She totally suspects something is up.

My phone buzzes again, and this time it’s from Cam.

In the back. If you want to sneak out, I can create a distraction.

I turn around in my seat, and sure enough, Cam is sitting in one of the last rows. He flashes me one of his brilliant smiles, making my pulse speed up. He waves, and I wave back.

“Do you want to go sit with him?” Jess asks.

I shake my head. “No, I’m good.”

Ms. Lewis begins the meeting by thanking everyone for another successful Celebrate Our School event. Then she turns the time over to Lilly, who begins her presentation. And to her credit, some of her ideas are good. She then asks the art, music, and physical education staff to join her.

I watch as those teachers including Cam make their way to the front. Cam doesn’t look amused as he shoves his hands into the pockets of his joggers.

Lilly announces that after a discussion with Ms. Lewis she’s planning to spend extra time working with these departments to make sure our students are getting every possible benefit from their programs.

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