“I know your secret.”

Shocked, I jerked away from the child who’d whispered in my ear.

Which secret? The possibilities—from innocuous to appalling—flipped through my brain at lightning speed. I feigned nonchalance.

“Really?”

He leaned in again. “You’re 61.”

“Oh, that.” I smiled weakly, relieved. “Don’t tell anyone.”

Laurie P. Mendoza is a 61-year-old elementary school counselor with a checkered past.