Page 96 of Promises We Meant to Keep

Simone paused, nodding slowly. “I suppose you’re right.”

Kamryn swallowed the lump in her throat. “I appreciate you coming to me. I’ll speak with the board about some of the events that have happened recently. They really need to be informed abouteverythingthat’s gone on.” And by that Kamryn meant everything. She wasn’t going to mince words or her own accusations. She was going to throw Susy under as many busses as she possibly could.

The school wasn’t the problem.

Elia wasn’t the problem.

The board was.

And Kamryn was going to do everything in her power to make things right. Even if it cost her the job of her dreams and the love of her life in the process.

thirty-four

“She hasn’t said anything?” Abagail asked, sitting across from Elia at a high-top in their favorite coffee shop in town.

“Nothing,” Elia answered, sipping the tea she’d ordered in the oversized and pretty mug. She’d needed to feel better about herself, so she’d willingly spent extra money just for the thrill of being frivolous for once.

“Nothing at all.”

“No.” Elia groaned. “She hasn’t even officially accepted the resignation. I’m not even sure if I can tell the other teachers or start to prepare for my replacement when I leave.”

“It’s been days, Elia.”

“I know.” Elia had stayed as far away from the administration building as possible since she’d handed in her resignation. The devastation that she’d caused Kamryn wasn’t lost on her. And yet there had been radio silence since.

“You might need to confront her.”

Elia groaned and closed her eyes. That was the last thing that she wanted to do. She just wanted to pack up her life quietly and move on. She’d already started figuring out which things she was going to keep and which ones she was going to toss and collecting boxes to prepare for her move.

“I need an answer. I want to tell the students and prepare them as soon as I can. We have a meet this weekend, and I can’t imagine holding that in and not trying to prepare them for this transition.” Elia stared down into her tea, wishing the leaves would have more information than she did. But unfortunately, she wasn’t a witch, and she wasn’t going to be able to read the leaves at the bottom of the cup.

“She’s really said nothing?”

“Nothing,” Elia confirmed again. Abagail seemed more surprised than Elia was. It made sense to Elia why Kamryn would avoid it. She was probably still looking to see if there were any other viable solutions to this problem.

Elia knew there weren’t.

Hell, they both knew that.

It was just a matter of actually admitting it, and then making plans to move forward from there. So why wouldn’t Kamryn talk to her already? Because the silence was killing Elia slowly. She finally took a sip of her tea, bringing her gaze back up to Abagail.

“You’ve really got it bad,” Abagail said. “You weren’t even this tortured with Yara.”

“Yara and I broke up mutually. The relationship wasn’t going anywhere, and we stopped trying. Kam and I haven’t even had a chance to start.” Elia sighed. “We’ll never get a chance.” She had to keep trying to convince herself of that because she didn’t believe it yet.

“And you and Kam…”

“Didn’t break up,” Elia answered confidently. They’d have to have an official relationship to break up, right? Wasn’t that how these things worked? Whatever they were to each other had ended, though. Elia had made sure of that, and the silence from Kamryn was the confirmation she didn’t want but needed. “I’ll talk to her Thursday at practice, before we leave Friday morning for the Speech meet.”

“You really want to do that before you’re stuck on a bus with her?”

Elia shook her head. “I’d rather not wait until afterward.” She needed the closure. And the more this tension lingered in the air, the more she felt that was true. “But enough about me. What’s going on with you?”

Abagail groaned. “You won’t believe what I’m doing.”

“Tell me.” Elia needed someone else to focus on, someone who wasn’t herself. She was tired of the insular thinking that was dragging her down.

“I’m dealing with a new company that we were hired by.” Abagail frowned. “And there’s a lot of complications with this one. We weren’t prepared for it.” Abagail sipped her tea. “It’s been a nightmare, actually.”

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