Page 66 of Bring me Back

“Awful? Awful?” I repeated as I cruised from Pandora’s office back to our cabins. “Dealing with the Campbells is awful!”

Hallie sighed dramatically on my heels. “She was just doing her job. Delilah probably told her about her busted college plans and Pandora felt bad. I feel bad too.”

That stopped me in my tracks. I turned to Hallie, wondering if she had gone insane. “You will not feel sorry for the Campbells, Hallie.”

“It’s not for the Campbells… Exactly.” I scoffed and walked again as she followed me. “Can you imagine if my dad forced me to go for accounting or something?”

“I’m not talking to Sharon Campbell about her amazing daughter, Cricket. Don’t even start.”

Hallie looked shocked. “But of course you are!”

Pandora’s office was far from the cabins, which meant we had to pass through the woods on our way back. The trees were sparse and tall, the smell of nature fresh. I really enjoyed it. Even though it was late, the camp’s lights at a distance were enough to illuminate our paths, and the moon was full tonight.

“You’re her teacher!” Hallie said, outraged.

“Wrong. I am the woodwork teacher.”

“You’re her teacher now!”

“It’s not going to happen, Cricket. I think I’m being quite reasonable. I’m holding myself not to blow that town up. Not to tell the whole of Bluehaven how horrible they are. And you want me to help one? To praise her?”

After everything that family put Hallie through? I could easily blame it only on the older sister, but Sharon and Delilah were deliberately being horrible to Hallie since the beginning of the term. I couldn’t excuse that. Sharon used her power over and over again to do things her way. Of course, it now made sense why she wasn’t jumping on the possibility of helping the theater department. She was head of the PTA and was obsessed with the swim team, even though her child wasn’t on the swim team. No, she was ignoring her child and…

And now I felt sorry for Delilah.

“You won’t be praising her. You’re just going to deliver a message.”

I stopped, turning to Hallie, making her stop too. I stalked over to her, shaking my head, annoyed. “Why do you want to do this? Don’t you take just a little relief in righting a wrong?”

“I won’t be righting a wrong. I told you, it’s the past.”

“My anger at Sharon and Delilah goes beyond… that. It’s about how you were treated this year.”

She sighed. “She’s a kid.”

“She knows…”

Hallie shook her head. “She’s a kid. And clearly there’s stuff going on there we don’t know. The Sharon I remember when Katie was in school? Super overprotective parent. She was cheering for Katie every time the girl breathed. If Delilah is so sure she isn’t being supported, so sure she confided in Pandora after only three days, don’t you think it's worth to believe something is going on there?”

I hated when she was right. I told her that. She laughed, “Well, get used to it, because I’m very wise.”

I took her hands in mine, and then her wrist and up her arm. I loved touching her skin, it was always hot and soft. Hallie stepped close, putting her arms around my waist. “Think. This is clearly something Sharon doesn’t want. This will definitely upset her. Does that help?”

I hummed under my breath, forgetting all about the damn Campbells and focusing only on Hallie. She looked gorgeous under the moonlight, her eyes sparkling and her smile easy. My palms touched her face. I wanted nothing more but to taste her again.

“Are we about to make out in the woods, Mr. Miller?”

I nodded slowly and bit down on her bottom lip. Hallie shivered in my arms and I took great satisfaction in her reaction to me.

“You have been teasing me a lot these days.”

“I would never.” She shook her head, sounding serious.

“I know you better now, Hallie Delos Santos.”

“Do you?” she asked, almost sounding innocent.

There, in the middle of the woods with her, everything was perfect. The breeze, her perfume, her little bold smile. I loved that she was herself with me. I loved that I was the one to discover that side of her. I grabbed her by the waist, need shooting over me when she gasped. My eyes traced her perfect features, my leg fell between hers as her hands rested on my shoulders.

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