promises, promises

my cute little baby-bunny shortie comes to
me after school,
"ms. k, i am sad.
i am sad because everyone is
saying i like a boy that is
just a friend."

"i would hope that all boys are
only your friends" i want to say.

sigh.

"let's talk."

we sit.

"this is going to happen a lot.
starting now. and it will happen even
when you are a grownup."

"that is a long time, ms. k."

"well, until then, you have
to just smile."

"but i feel mad," she explained
to me-who-is-clearly-not-understanding.

"yes...but they are trying to make you mad.
if you smile, it will catch them off guard
and they won't know how to react!"

i wanted to tell her to
reveal who THEY like.
or say, "how can i like him when
i saw you writing his name all over
your notebook yesterday?"

but she will learn that game soon enough.
she will only be a fourth grader for
another five months...and then
the angelic baby-bunny shortie
will become a toughie-shortie.

when i bring it up in class,
they promise me that they
will never become an
attitude-filled middle schooler....
they will always take care of each other.

we pinkie-swear and lick the icing off of
baby-bunny shortie's birthday cupcakes.