Meet Me Where the Oak Tree Grows

She always worried I'd be caught off guard by my period one day, so she made sure I knew how to use sanitary pads early on. We always kept a
stash at home and in my backpack, just in case.
But she never mentioned how painful periods could be. It was like getting stitches on your forehead but worse, coming in waves as if there was a
meat grinder turning my insides to mush.
Aunt Marie was already asleep at this hour, and only Jonah was burning the midnight oil. I swapped out the bedsheets, tossed them into the laundry
basket, and figured I'd deal with them later. After changing into fresh clothes, I clutched my aching stomach and slowly made my way downstairs,
leaning heavily against the wall.
Jonah nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw me. He said I looked as pale as a ghost, and thinking it was some sort of stomach emergency, he
was ready to whisk me off to the hospital.
I caught his arm and said, “It’s just period cramps.”
He froze in his tracks. Menstrual cramps and toothaches—two of the most annoying, uncomfortable, and downright frustrating things in the world.
There we were, two clueless souls: me, rolling around in bed, and him, frantically searching Google for answers.
He announced, “It says you shouldn’t eat spicy food during your period.”

I just sighed.
Later, I wolfed down two whole servings of that spicy chicken. No wonder I was in so much pain!
I followed all the advice I found online—drank hot water, chugged ginger tea with honey, slapped on a heating pad—but nothing seemed to do the
trick.
Finally, I stumbled upon a comment suggesting that a guy’s warm hand could help ease the pain when placed on the stomach. Desperate, I gave him
a pleading look. “Jonah...”
Resigned, he sighed and rubbed his hands together to warm them up. Then he lay down beside me, propping himself up with one arm while placing
his other hand over my stomach. His warmth slowly seeped through my clothes and eased the pain bit by bit.
After a while, I whimpered, “Jonah, my back aches.”
He shifted, gently massaging my lower back.

A little later, I said, nearly in tears, “Jonah, my calves are cramping.”
With a sigh, he switched hands and started massaging my legs.
Physically, I felt a bit better, and drowsiness started to creep in. Half asleep, a thought popped into my head.
I nudged him with my head. “Jonah.”
“What now?” he asked, half-annoyed, half-amused.
“It’s not that—I just need you to wake me up at seven tomorrow. I’ve got a final exam at school at seven-thirty.”
I’ve been home so long, and I’d almost forgotten about school.

Silence filled the room. After a long pause, I heard his exasperated voice above me. “It’s already three in the morning. Why didn’t you just wait until
after the exam to tell me?”
Knowing I was in the wrong, I snuggled closer to him, found a comfy spot, and pretended I hadn’t heard him. Eventually, I drifted off to sleep.
...
Determined to get me up for school, Jonah was awake before six. He went into the other room, grabbed the sheets and clothes from the laundry
basket, and soaked and scrubbed them in cold water. He didn’t want anyone to stumble upon them in the morning, so he left them in a basin instead
of hanging them out to dry.
Once the house was tidied and breakfast was ready, he came to wake me.
“It’s seven, time to get up.
“It’s seven-oh-five, hurry up.
“It’s seven-ten, Lana!
“If you don’t get up now, you’ll be late!”
No amount of calling or shaking would wake me. Jonah took a deep breath, bent down, and scooped me up from the bed. He quickly slipped slippers
onto my feet and half-guided, half-pushed me towards the bathroom. As he did, he reassured himself: “Luckily, she wasn't completely out of it when
she woke up. Even with her eyes half-closed, she managed to handle the toothpaste over without a hitch.”

Meet Me Where the Oak Tree Grows
Chapter 34
Under the Veil I Rule
Chapter 305
Reading History