Secrets of the Great Oak

Chapter 2

The drive from campus to Jake's was only about ten minutes, but Anna had no sense of time, her head still reeling from Criminal Investigation class. She knew she was going to Jake's and that she was missing her first day of Math 1010 but, she couldn't think too far ahead with all the information she had just been given.

"Hey. Earth to Anna." Jake tugged on one of her curls just slightly.

"Yeah. What? What's up?"

"I've never seen you be so interested in a window before. That's all." He smiled that mischievous smile and glanced at Anna for a moment before turning back to the road.

"It's not the window," But, he probably already knew that. "It's just everything. I don't know what to think or where to start," she confessed.

"Baxter will tell us where to start, I'm sure. Try not to harp on it too much. Especially not today."

She looked at him. "I'm scared, Jake."

"Honestly, me too."

***

They pulled up to Jake's apartment complex and he offered to carry her bag for her. Just like always. She let him and followed him up the stairs to the second level and then to the white door of his unit.

Jake's apartment was a typical guy's apartment; mismatched furniture, not much on the walls, some clothes on the floor, dishes in the sink. But, to Jake, it was home. His mother never would have allowed for his camera stuff to be strewn across the coffee table. Heaven forbid he leave a pot on the stove at that woman's house. It wasn't dirty, just messy. And it definitely wasn't much, but it was cozy.

Anna plopped down on the tan, upholstered couch right away. She picked up a stack of newly developed photos from a band Jake had been working with.

He filled the kettle and set it on the stove. Jake rarely drank tea himself but Anna was over so often that she bought a kettle for his place and left some tea bags for herself in his cupboards. He didn't seem to mind one bit, always telling her to feel right at home here.

"These are amazing, Jake." She was holding some of his best work as of late.

"Thanks. It's just some small band that played at The Basement last week." He shrugged off the compliment, coming to sit beside her.

"Jake, I mean it. These are incredible. This was a paid gig, right?" Every once in a while he would work for free for an up and coming band that truly couldn't afford his services.

"Yes, Mom, it was paid." He snatched the photos from her hand and replaced them on the worn coffee table. Jake was very well paid. He was able to afford his own place and help his mom with bills every month. She had always struggled to keep up on her own.

The kettle shrieked and Jake went into the kitchen to prepare the tea bag.

"Jake?" Anna said, his name like her voice was about to break.

"What is it?" he looked up from the tea.

"I'm not okay." And she dissolved into tears right there on the couch.

Jake finished pouring the tea and set it on an end table, careful to avoid his equipment and developed photos. He lowered himself onto the couch next to her and she leaned into him, her hands covering her face while she sobbed.

***

He couldn't help himself; he pushed strands of hair behind her ear and pulled her to his chest.