Secrets of the Great Oak

Chapter 34

Anna didn't sleep at all that night. When she finally decided to give up and get ready for the day, she saw the evidence of her restlessness sitting in the form of bags beneath her eyes.

She said a shallow goodbye to her parents who gave her pitiful looks before walking out to Tam's car, idling in the driveway.

"Stella filled me in. How are you?" Tam asked seriously as soon as Anna opened the passenger side door. Then Tam seemed to notice the tiredness behind Anna's eyes. "I'm so sorry girl. Did you even sleep last night?"

"A little," Anna lied. "Thanks for picking me up."

"Anything you need, Anna, I'm here for you." Tam squeezed her hand before easing the car into the road and heading towards school.

She could feel the ache in her chest, it seemed to throb as she got closer to the classroom she knew Jake would be sitting in. Facing him was something she wasn't sure how'd she'd react to.

There had been so much left unsaid. So many emotions left unprocessed. And they would have to see each other all day today. Not to mention, they'd have to finish out their project together for Criminal Investigation.

When Anna entered the room, her eyes immediately locked onto Jake's. He clearly hadn't slept either. His features softened as he met Anna's gaze. He gave her a painful smile and awkwardly raised his hand in greeting. She looked at the ground quickly and followed Tam to the back of the room, not taking the open seat next to Jake.

Class crawled by and all Anna could do was stare at the back of Jake's head. Tam nudged her a few times, but Anna couldn't focus on anything.

"Let's get you some food. You look like a ghost," Tam said as they walked out of the room. From their conversation on the ride, Anna found out that Tam had only been filled in on the non-magical parts of yesterday's events. So, Anna kept her mouth shut and followed Tam to the cafeteria on campus.

They met up with Stella who gave Anna a tight hug as soon as she saw her. Grayson was nowhere in sight. Anna assumed that Stella must've told him to lay low so they could have a girls' lunch.
After they grabbed their food and sat down--Anna in the middle--Stella decided to address the topic head-on.
"So, you guys have every class together. How are you going to deal with that?"

"Honestly, I don't know." Anna blew out a breath, fighting back tears. "I mean, yesterday morning I woke up in his bed and now we're here. I just..."

Tam placed a gentle hand on Anna's back. "I know you broke up with him for a reason, Anna... But... Can I just say something?" Stella shot a warning glare across the table, but Anna nodded for Tam to continue. "You clearly don't want this and neither does he. Do you think there's any way that you guys could work this out?"

"He lied to me, Tam."

"I know. And I know he broke the promise you guys made like a million years ago... But, he's human. He's going to mess up at some point, you know? A relationship is about working through things like this."

Tam had a point. But, given all that Jake had kept from her, she wasn't sure if there was any recovering from this.

Anna still had to figure out how she was going to handle seeing Jake in all of her classes. She was trying to steel herself as lunch was coming to a close when a text made her phone buzz.

Can I walk you to class?

Jake was sitting across the cafeteria at a table by himself, but Anna found his eyes quickly. They were pleading. The dark circles beneath them matched his own.