Page 2 of My Orc Pen Pal

Damn.

I was hoping he wouldn’t push it. I sighed and glanced at the clock, which was apparently moving backward.

“Well…you’re talking about two people who get married, right?”

“They don’t have to be a boy and a girl!” announced Megan. “My cousin has two dads!”

I nodded, cutting off more interruptions. “Yep, and that’s love too. So Benjamin asked about two people getting married, and if that’s true love, right?” I glanced around at their little heads bobbing in agreement. Seems like theyallwanted to know the answer.

Crap. “I can’t answer for everyone, okay? I’m sure I’msupposedto say that getting married is just like in the movies. You love someone, and that’s true love, and that’s all you need to decide to marry them and spend the rest of your life with them, right?”

Benjamin was frowning.

“But getting married is about more than just loving someone,” I said gently. Then inspiration struck. “My parents live on the island, and they’ve been marriedthirty-fiveyears.” There were impressed noises from some of the kids, who probably couldn’t imagine being that old. “And my whole life, they’ve loved each other. Theyalsofight and get angry at each other.”

“Then it’snottrue love!” announced Rebecca indignantly.

I shrugged. “That’s what marriage is, though. You can love someone and still get angry at them occasionally. As long as you can trust them to be a good partner, and as long as you can still love them despite the anger.”

“Marriage is supposed to be forever,” Benjamin said quietly.

Oh my gosh. I really, really wanted to give this kid a hug, but I wasn’t going to risk embarrassing him in front of everyone, so I nodded sadly. “Yeah, it is. If both of you can love each other enough to forgive when you get angry, then it might last forever. But true love is different than marriage—it’s about trusting your partner. Itisa partnership, like a team. You have to trust your teammate to do what they know is best, even if it’s not exactly what you would do, in order to reach your mutual goals—mutual meanssame,” I hurried to explain because I could see Jackson opening his mouth to ask.

I saw Benjamin’s lips form the wordstrustandpartner, as his frown turned more thoughtful.

“But Ms. Young,” whined Selene, “does this mean thatyoubelieve intrue love?”

Could I get away with not answering? Luckily, our alarm went off, and I slapped my knees. “Well, that’s it for this week! Everyone get their bags and lunchboxes—Emily and Jose, don’t forget I still need your permission slips for the field trip,” I called amid the disorder. “Victor, you’re still the line leader!”

The Friday afternoon bus line was always more chaotic than usual, but I could admit I was feeling the excitement for the weekend. Not just two days off, but… I had a date for the first time in a while, and wasn’tthatinteresting?

By the time I’d gotten everyone off and was back in my classroom, I’d almost forgotten Benjamin’s question. But as I scooped up the discarded pieces of paper, I found myself staring down at the one in his handwriting.

Is love real?

I knew what he’d been asking, poor kid. He wanted to know why his parents split, even though it had been a while. All the shows and movies they watched fed them this idea that True Love was the solution to everything, and everyone was owed it…but they didn’t understand the nuances. And how difficult long-term relationships can be.

I crumpled the paper and turned to throw it into the bin, but squeaked when I saw Nikki in the doorway, her arms folded and a smirk on her face. “I was wondering how long it would take you to notice me.”

Recovering, I stuck my tongue out and continued to clean up the classroom.

“I popped by earlier to borrow your stapler—I have no idea where mine went—but you seemed pretty intent with Q&A time, so I went next door.” Her dark brows drew down. “That true love question seemed intense. You okay?”

“Yeah, of course.” I paused in the middle of flipping a chair on top of the desks to make things easier for the cleaning staff. “Why?”

She shrugged. “Kinda looked like you didn’t want to answer the wholeDo you believe in true lovething.”

I quirked a brow at her. “I didn’t.”

“Look, Ro,you’rethe one that set yourself up for the tough questions?—”

“And how am I supposed to tell a bunch of third graders thatno, I don’t think true love is a thing because I’ve seen so many marriages fail, and trust is easy to lose, and real partners—like,realpartners, the ones you can trust to always have your back no matter what…” I trailed off, then blew out a breath and went back to my task. “Few and far between.”

From the door, Nikki hummed, and I winced, hoping she wouldn’t see.

I probably shouldn’t say that to someone like her, someone who’d found her True Love at Christmas… Or rather, since she was married to Eastshore Isle’s mayor, who happened to be an orc: herMate. Orcs did things differently than humans, I was learning.

Luckily, she changed the topic. “Is tonight the big night?”

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