Page 21 of Promises We Meant to Keep

“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 mynew 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, tryingto 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 surewhere 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.”

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