Page 7 of Promises We Meant to Keep

“And Elia Sharpe didn’t give you any trouble with that?”

That’s what this was about. Kamryn glanced toward her open doorway and decided to lower her volume. She didn’t need anyone to overhear what she was going to say and only get half the conversation. “No, she didn’t. In fact, she said it would be good to get back to how it was when we were in school.”

“Really?” Heather seemed surprised by that.

Kamryn could understand why, especially if this was something Heather had been pushing for a while. She likely would have come up against Elia’s backbone at least a time or two. “Sometimes it just takes the right person to ask.”

“Right,” Heather said, dropping her tone. “Well, I’m glad. It’ll help keep the students safe.”

“It absolutely will.” Kamryn started to draw spirals on a yellow pad. “Let me know if you hear anything about Dr. Waddy. I’d really like to give the staff an update before the students get here.”

“I will.” Heather’s voice had that tone to it, the one that was half-fake and half-real.

Which was rather unexpected. Kamryn hung up, squared her shoulders, and rolled her neck. She really needed to sit down andfigure out what she was doing for the rest of the day. She needed to prioritize everything.

Bending over her desk, Kamryn lost herself in organizing. This was at least one thing that she could accomplish today—even if it was the only thing. When Mrs. Caldera knocked on her door lightly, Kamryn stretched her back, an ache settling into the center of it.

“Lunch is only being served for the next thirty minutes today.”

“Oh.” Kamryn glanced down at the work that was spread over the desk. “Go on ahead, then.”

“You’re not coming?”

Kamryn’s back went up. She had so much work to get done. It wouldn’t be the end of the world for her to skip one meal. “Tomorrow.”

“Make sure you eat dinner.” Mrs. Caldera pointed a finger at her. “I’ll bring you back a snack.”

“Thanks.” Kamryn smiled a little, and as soon as her office was empty, she went back to work.

“I brought the schedule for you.”

Kamryn jerked with a start. She blinked her dry eyes toward the door and tried to relax the muscles in her neck and shoulders. Elia Sharpe stood in her doorway, the light from the window in the office outside of it shining against her back and giving her an ethereal glow.

“Schedule?” Kamryn shook her head in confusion. “Schedule for what?”

“Speech.” Elia stepped forward and dropped the papers onto the desk with a soft thump. “Since you’ll need it.”

“Ah. Thank you.” Kamryn stared down at the papers that were now covering what she had been working on. Her head ached, no doubt from the stress, and from staring at a computerscreen and Dr. Waddy’s scribbled handwriting all day. “They’re only serving lunch for thirty minutes today.”

Elia frowned slightly before catching it and smoothing her features out again. “Lunch was an hour ago, Kamryn.”

“Oh.” Kamryn glanced at the clock on the far wall, realizing way too late that it had been a whole lot longer than she’d thought. Covering her embarrassment, Kamryn picked up the papers Elia had dropped on the desk and started to skim over them. “How many kids are on the Speech team this season?”

“Twenty-six. Not including any incoming students or new students that would like to join.” Elia crossed her arms.

“How many do you anticipate?”

“No more than ten new.”

“Shouldn’t be too bad a crew then.” Kamryn settled the papers back down. She wasn’t entirely sure why Elia was bringing her these instead of just emailing them over, or why she would dare to come into the office after the disaster they’d had earlier that day. “Was there something else you needed?”

“I thought you might appreciate a bit of an orientation.” Elia spoke slowly, as if choosing her words carefully and trying not to make a mess of this conversation.

Maybe she wasn’t as changed as Kamryn had thought this morning. Relaxing slightly, Kamryn canted her head to the side and waited a beat before responding. “Orientation?”

“Usually any new staff gets an orientation. I realized belatedly that Miller is usually the one who does this, and the board for the Head of School position. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was missed in the…chaos of the situation.”

“You’re right, it was missed.” Kamryn’s lips pulled up into a gentle smile. “But I don’t think I need an orientation to the school. Thank you.”

---