The Princess and the Principal (The Rebel Royals 5)

Kylee opened her mouth to protest louder but paused. There was that carrot again. The high-level testing team was where they worked on post-secondary materials. It was Kylee’s dream to work on college prep tests.

That team was now walking into one of the conference room doors down the hall. The door closed behind them, shutting her out. But what if it opened for her?

She didn’t need an angle to talk to Ron. She was already in his circle of trust. They hadn’t talked about Thrive last night because the whole door opening situation had distracted them both.

Kylee had seen the work of the other company, Here 2 Learn. Their lesson plans lacked detail. Their competencies were vague. And their test questions were confusing.

She knew her work was beyond what they did. On assessment alone, she ran laps around the other company. She didn’t doubt she was the best woman for the job.

There would be no angles necessary. This would be a straight shot. She’d show that to Ron later, the next time he came to her door. Just the thought of Ron showing up at her home made Kylee feel warm and mushy.

Kylee shook herself out of it. She looked to tell Anthony her decision, but he was already walking away, his head back down on his device. Kylee flipped her sheet of paper back over. The hearts and arrows stared back at her.

The hearts looked like the bubbles of multiple-choice answers. The arrows looked like blanks ready to be filled. But did Kylee dare ask the question? Did she want to fully open the door to the possibility of her and her best friend becoming more?

Chapter Twelve

“Hasta Luigi, baby,” said a fourth grader as she carefully placed a paper crown on her head.

“No, it’s pasta la vista, baby,” said a fifth grader as his salsa smudged crown fell to the floor.

Ron chuckled at the children as he filled their paper plates with refried beans, rice, and melted cheese. It was Taco Night at Buster and Eden’s diner. The owners had allowed the school to use their kitchen as a fundraiser to help restock the arts programs. The quesadillas were aimed to get new instruments for the band. The nachos would hopefully bring in enough to refill the paint and crayon supplies for the art classes. And the rice and beans just might offer some leftover cash to go to the next class play for costumes and sets.

“The saying is hasta la vista, baby,” said Ron. “That means see you later, niño in Spanish.”

The two kids frowned at him. That was the one thing about trying to joke with the younger crowd. They didn’t always get a clever, multilingual, multi-generational joke.

“Bueno,” Ron said. “Go find a table and eat your tacos.”

The two kids moved through the packed restaurant and found their family and friends. Ron tightened the apron over his collared shirt, which was amazingly still spotless, and his dark slacks, which had narrowly escaped a queso splatter. Though he’d long removed the paper crown from his head as the thin cardboard had begun to wilt under the heat.

“You were always such a show off in Spanish class.”

Ron couldn’t hide his smile at the sound of her voice. “Buenas tardes, Señora Bauer.”

“All I can remember is me llama, Kylee.”

Kylee shook her head. Her own paper crown slid to the side, but didn’t fall off. Instead it clung to her locks like it wanted desperately to hold onto them. Ron understood the sentiment.

He felt heat rise to his face as he gazed across the serving table at Kylee. He gave a tug to his collar. Though he’d already loosened his tie, he still found himself a bit breathless in her presence.

“Hi, Principal Kidd.” Molly’s voice was singsong. Her own paper crown sat securely on her head as though it knew the little lady was born for the role.

Molly’s eyes twinkled as she looked between him and her mother. Ron noted that Kylee’s cheeks were flushed too. Was it possible she was feeling the same heat for him that he was feeling for her?

They hadn’t come to any consensus the other night when he’d opened the door to the possibility of them dating. After he made the suggestion, neither of them quite knew what to do next, especially not after Molly had tried her hand at DJing. Ron had left shortly after Kylee had turned the music off. As they’d stood on the stoop of her front porch, the possibilities had lingered between them.

They couldn’t continue the conversation now, not with half the community passing in and out of the restaurant.

Ron piled white rice, pinto beans, and cheese on Molly’s plate, as per her request. When Kylee held out her plate, Ron didn’t wait for instruction. He put soft shells on her plate, brown rice, black beans, and tons of cheese.

“This is exactly what I wanted,” Kylee said bringing the plate up to her nose.

He knew it was. Because he knew her so well. They’d spent many a Friday night at Taco Bell working on college admissions essays and planning for their respective futures.

He took Kylee’s plate from her and plopped down guacamole.

“Hey,” she protested.