Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21
Pilar
Whoever thought it would be a good idea to charge me with working with children was borderline insane. I was not cut out for this. Yet, here I was, cutting paper with a group of five-year-olds who barely knew how to wipe themselves. One of them was eating his boogers, the little blonde named Saddie— with an ie at the end —was sitting prim and proper, legs crossed and head held high as if she were the princess at this table. And the last one, Marcus, was stabbing at the paper so hard, I was sure he’d cut himself by the end of this little exercise, safety scissors or not.
“Remember to cut along the dots,” I said, my voice as chirpy as the forced smile on my face. “And please, Daniel, stop putting your hands in your mouth.”
It was the only thing I could say to not mention the fact that I’d been watching him eat his boogers for the last five minutes. I sighed. Why did people have children on purpose? I didn’t know. They were cute little rascals though, I’d give them that. And smart. Still. I couldn’t imagine having these little germ carriers around me all the time. It was probably why I had been assigned to do this to begin with. Likely my mother’s idea. She always said I needed to work on my maternal side because I had been born without an instinct. She wasn’t wrong. I’d never cared for dogs or cats or birds or any other kind of pet. When our family dog, Shaggy, died when I was twelve, I didn’t mourn for him the way the others did. Maybe I was broken. I bit my lip and chewed on that idea as I cut along the lines and folded the paper. We were making a row of hearts. Next, we had to color them. Saddie was already halfway there. I could tell she was a perfectionist, the way she made sure not to color outside the lines.
She was the girl I would have gotten along best with in school. I’d always liked everything to be neat and tidy in every aspect of my life. Until Ben. He made me want to give up all of those stupid pretenses. With him, I yearned to color outside the lines.
“Why are you blushing?” Saddie with the ie asked.
“Me? I’m not blushing.”
“You are.” She turned her nose up at me. “Are you thinking about Prince Charming?”
“Prince Charming?” I raised an eyebrow. “Definitely not.”
“I think about Prince Charming a lot,” she said. “You should too if you’re going to marry one.”
“I’m not certain I’ll marry a prince.”
“No?” she frowned. “But you’re a princess. That’s the best part.”
“Is it, now?” I laughed. “I wasn’t aware.”
“What’s the best part of being a princess?” Marcus sniffled, rubbing his nose with his hand. I watched where he put it next—on the scissors, of course.
“I guess doing things like this.” I smiled.
“You mean cutting and coloring hearts for Miss Kate’s classroom?” Daniel asked. “You don’t have to be a princess to do that.”
“True. But I meant spending time with smart kids like you.”
“You don’t have to be a princess to do that,” Saddie said.
“So basically, the only cool thing about being a princess is finding and marrying a prince?” I asked.
“He’s supposed to find you,” Saddie said.
“Oh.”
“He’s supposed to rescue you from a tower,” Marcus added.
“Oh?”
“And fight a dragon,” Daniel said.
“Well, if I find myself sitting in a tower with a dragon guarding me, I’ll be sure to call out for a prince. But I’ll tell you what, my brother is a prince and I don’t think he’d rescue anyone from a tower.”
“No?” Saddie gasped. “What if the princess was in danger?”
“My best guess?” I leaned forward. “She’d have to save herself.”
“Well, that’s a boring story,” Daniel said.
“Not romantic,” Saddie added.
“But realistic.” I shrugged. “We’re the only ones who can save ourselves.”
“But what about the dragon?” Marcus frowned.
“The dragon is life, and we are all the princesses and Prince Charmings.”
“Hmm.” That was Saddie. “I like my version better.”
So do I, Saddie. So do I.