Not Just An Oak

1 / meet Ross

I was so tempted to drink Oak. He just looked so delicious. I wanted to taste him so bad but I knew I couldn't. As tasty as he seemed, it would kill him if I did that. Object or not, I would not kill anyone.

"I love you Oak," I whispered and leaned in for a kiss

It was my biggest, darkest secret. No one, not even my best friend knew about the love I had for Oak. 

He was my little carton of joy. He needed constant care, being put in the fridge and whatnot. But I didn't mind, I would do anything for him. 

Oak was feeling insecure at the moment, and he was questioning why I wanted to keep our relationship a secret. I laughed and rolled my eyes.

"Oak, you know how much I love you. But being the captain of the toe wrestling team isn't easy. People would bully me and they wouldn't understand..."

He still felt insecure and I tried to cheer him up with a kiss.

I looked at the time. It was 8:00 and I had to leave for school. With one last peck, I ran outside where my pet kangaroo, Ross was munching on something. He was a large red kangaroo and since he didn't have a pouch, I had  to ride on his back. 

Ross looked like a toughie but he was actually a big cookie on the inside. I put on the saddle and the rest of that jazz. I mounted Ross and as I only had 10 minutes to get to school, I put him into a canter. 

I quickly arrived at school and took him into the kangaroo enclosure at the back of the school. 

"Bye Ross," I said happily and skipped to my area of friends. 

I had a large group of friends, and I was immediately greeted by several people. I sat in my usual spot and sent a quick text to Oak.

Hey Oaky. I've got a long day, and have toe wrestling after school, so I'll text you later😘

I heard someone clearing their throat, and I immediately looked up. Christopher Schmitz. Chris was a super sweet jock who played soccer. He had brownish-blonde hair and light blue eyes. He was pretty well built and maybe he had some abs under his shirt.

"Hey Madelyn," he said, blood rushing to his cheeks

Why was he so nervous? And he only used my full name when he was being serious.

"Hey Chris..." I said suspiciously

"Look, I was wondering if-"

His voice was blocked out by my billions of thoughts. He was going to ask me out and I was going to say no. Everyone would ask why and I would have to lie. 

"Maddie?" He asked

I shook my thoughts away and focused on him.

"Sorry, can you say that again?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me sometime. If you don't want to, it's completely fine, I just thought-"

"Stop Chris. You're embarrassing yourself. Let's just be friends okay?"

Chris looked heartbroken, and I felt so bad. He was embarrassed too, everyone was staring at us.

"O-okay," he stuttered "I just thought you-"

I cut him off with an icy glare. 

"I'll go..." he mumbled

^^^

Yes, idiots. Australians DO ride kangaroos to school, this is not a myth. It is about the same tack-up as a horse:

No one not rides in the pouch though, that part was a joke. The smaller children ride grey kangaroos (which is a smaller (more grey) version of the red). You move up to a female red kangaroo and then to the male red kangaroo. 

Male kangaroos have to have a firm leader, as they can become very aggressive during mating season. If they don't, you'll have to take the bus to school, or ride a horse instead.

We do have kangaroo enclosures near the school, where we can put our kangaroos for the day. There they are looked after by volunteers. Of course, you have to register your kangaroo before you take him/her there and have to spend a day there with your kangaroo so they can assess him/her.

Fun fact time: over