Page 116 of Love Complicated

“No.”

And then she’s quiet. Fuck. Look at her. She’s about to fucking cry, and I feel like an even bigger jerk than I did before. “Um, well, it’s not you. I just don’t like going over to people’s houses for dinner.”

Arrow stops cutting out her heart she’s been working on and eyes me suspiciously. “Why?”

I don’t look at her. “I was poisoned once.”

“Really?” Brennan asks, his eyes as wide as Arrow’s for denying her date request.

“No. Keep cutting. It’s almost time for recess.”

The chair beside me pulls out and Cash sits down, along with Grady, who remains standing, his arm on my shoulder. “I’m finished with mine,” Cash says, sliding his across the table.

My eyes drift to the card, then him. “That’s cool. Wanna put it in your backpack so you don’t forget it?”

He shakes his head. “It’s not for her.”

“Is it for Arrow?” I whisper, teasing him by ribbing him.

I’m offered a glare. “No. Just read it.”

“It’s for me?”

Cash nods and I turn to Grady, who also nods.

So I open it and damn near cry. They’re asking me to date their mom. There’s even check yes or no boxes.

Didn’t that break your heart? If you don’t at least feel your heart tugging, you’re a heartless bastard. Look past the obvious spelling mistakes for what this is. They want me to date their mom. I mean, I already have been, but when you’re eight, that’s hard to understand. “Did your mom put you up to this?”

They both smile, and Cash shakes his head, the first grin I’ve seen from him in a long time. “Nope.”

I don’t even know what to say. Instead of saying anything, I take the red marker in my hand and check the yes box. Twisting in the chair that’s about five sizes too small, I pull them both into my arms. “You’re the coolest little dudes.”

“We know,” Grady mumbles against my shoulder.

Leaving this class is going to be hard. I had no idea I even liked these kids that much, but I do, and I like to think in the month and a half I was their teacher, they all learned something from me.

Brennan can finally spell his name. Arrow is actually nice to other kids. Cash smiles and has stopped punching people and, Grady, he actually spat in a kid’s face for taking his pencil sharper. I didn’t know whether to high-five him or send him to the principal’s office. The fact of the matter was he didn’t let anyone take what was Grady Pee Pants.

And Luna, well she watched the spitting unfold and didn’t say a word. You better believe she wanted to tell, but she didn’t.

I had no idea what I was walking into when I took this job, but I like to think these kids taught me more than I taught them.

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