Are we your favorite?

"Are we your favorite class?"

I wonder if they are just guessing.  Do they ask every teacher this?  Am I that transparent?  They don't know how I am with my other classes, so I am not quite certain how they could guess this.

"Do you have the most fun with our class?"

I don't want to lie to them.  But I cannot tell them the truth.  I cannot say, "Yes.  You are my favorite class.  You are often the highlight of my day.  I look forward to this class and don't stress out at all about this class.  I love the students.  You are my favorite."  I cannot say this.  Because even if I would swear them to secrecy, it would come out.  At some point, one of them would open one of their lovely, excited mouths and spill the secret.  How would I recover from that?  While I may be permitted to have favorites, they are to be secret favorites.  Ones that are never actually discovered until twenty years later when you run into your students at the grocery store and you see them juggling kids.  Then you can say it as much as you want.  Then it is acceptable.  As much as I may want to tell them now, I cannot.

Instead, I say, "Are you guys done with your assignment?"

"She is completely avoiding our question!  Don't lie--are we your favorite?"

"I'm not going to lie.  You have five minutes left to complete your reading."

They mustn't know.  But how can I help it if they think they are my favorite?  It is hard to argue with the truth.