Secrets of the Great Oak

Chapter 6

Anna wrote well into the night. She must've written over 4,000 words. Inspiration had come and creativity began to flow through her like a dam breaking. She just kept writing, and writing, and writing.

It felt like magic. She hadn't felt so free in years. The story had just come to her as she lay in bed. Another faerie tale of her own crafting. She wrote of a fae prince that fell in love with a human girl and whisked her away into the faerie realms to be his wife. The whirlwind romance was full of magic and new discoveries. The human girl gave up everything for love but, ended up being the queen that the realm truly needed. It was a lovely tale of a young woman discovering all that she was meant to be and saving a kingdom from the brink of destruction.

When she finished the first draft of her short story, she finally headed to bed. Not two hours later her alarm went off. And she had to get up and get ready for work before Jake came to pick her up. Anna made sure to pack extra clothes to change into for girls' night that night.

Anna came downstairs to find Jake in the kitchen with her parents, sitting at the island with a bowl of her cereal in front of him. She pulled it out of his reach and sat down next to him.

"Hey! I was about to eat that!" Anna took a bite.
"Oh, were you? I'm sorry. I thought since it was my cereal, that it was my breakfast." She licked the spoon.

Her mom and dad were laughing as her mom said, "Alright you two, be nice. There's plenty of cereal to go around. We've got a showing to go to. We'll see you tonight, Anna?"

"Actually, Stella, Tam, and I are going to have a girls' night. So I don't know when/if I'll be home."

"Oh! Well, that sounds like fun! Tell them we said, 'hi'. You should have them over sometime soon, sweetie. Love you both, bye!" She shouted as they walked to the living room and out the door.

Both Anna and Jake shouted after them, "Bye! Love you!" And then Anna said, "Do you think it's weird that my parents say they love you and you say it back?" Jake took the cereal bowl back from Anna and grabbed the spoon out of her hands. He licked it as she cringed. "Gross, Jake!" She pushed his shoulder.

"One, your parents have known me since I was, like, five years old. So, no I don't think it's weird because they actually love me and I actually love them and you. And two," he took a bite of the cereal. "We share food and drinks all the time. So this isn't gross." He said while chewing. "And, you kissed me last night, remember?" He winked at her.

"I didn't kiss you on the mouth and there was definitely no tongue. So yes, licking something that I've licked is gross."

"Well, we've technically touched tongues, several times. Maybe you should've just gone for the kill last night. I know Liam would've loved it." He laughed, obviously proud of himself.

"Okay, now I know for sure that the cheek show was a mistake. Clearly, it's gone to your head." She pulled the bowl of cereal out of his grasp and walked over to place it in the sink.

Spoon still in hand, Jake walked over to Anna and backed her into the counter. He braced a hand on the granite on either side of her and brought his face close to hers. "And what if it did? What do you want to do about that, Matthews?" Her breath caught in her throat as she met his stare. Amusement rose in his eyes. A smile crept across her face and she pushed him back as she loosed a laugh.

"I'm going to go to work and let you take care of yourself, like a big boy." It was her turn to wink now. He tossed the spoon in the sink with a clink and followed her out of the kitchen and towards the door. She heard him laughing behind her as she turned to shut and lock the door before heading towards his car.