She nodded imperceptibly. What else was I supposed to say? "Not that we want you to sign a contract, but we do like to have everything set in place once Bijou starts school, so as not to disrupt her routine. Do you have any future plans that would affect how long you could potentially stay with this job? Like graduate school, moving—children of your own?" I stared at her. People normally thought I was nineteen, even though I was twenty-four. Children of my own? "I'm not planning on any of those, um, anytime soon."

She smiled. "You're young, but you never know! Have you always liked children?"

This was a mistake, I thought. The Ericksons had been so easy, so trusting, I'd imagined that all families were like that, and clearly Nathalie was expecting someone who had prepared, someone who cared, earnestly. I didn't like children; I wanted a job where I didn't have to talk to ninety people per shift who all said the same things. I wanted to stop forcing myself to laugh, I wanted peace.

Excerpted from Win Me Something by Kyle Lucia Wu. Published with permission from Tin House. Copyright (c) 2021 by Kyle Lucia Wu.