Keeping Fantasia: The Third Book of the Fantasia Series

Chapter 135: Kim Possible

Chapter 135: Kim Possible

On Sundays, Gwen slept in.

Instead of waking up at 4:30 AM, she woke up at 5.

So, instead of meeting Jak before dawn, she met him at the break.

Oddly, Jak's jeep was already parked at the beach access point. He was leaning against the hood, fully dressed in his marine corps uniform.

"No lesson today." he said. "Oogie Boogie was mentioned during the Tinkertell interview last night. King Arthur has ordered all pertinent personnel to review the video content with his analytics team. Judging by the message I got from Melody this morning, pertinent personnel also includes my mother."

Irritably, he sighed. "Sorry to cancel."

Gwen trotted to halt. She was almost relieved Jak couldn't stay. Learning that they were cousins had added another upheaval to their developing relationship, and Gwen was ready to get off the roller coaster for a while.

Moreover, she honestly wanted to be alone.

Last night had been weird. Having Jak in her bedroom had felt way too intrusive.

At the time, Gwen had  initially welcomed his company:  Jak buffered her from her family and distracted her from the Tinkertell Talk Show.

But the benefits had ended there.

Had they been alone, they would have vented about their parents, but Gwen wouldn't allow any bad-mouthing in front of Michaleen. She also didn't want Michaleen to know about their secret boxing rendezvous, (and clearly Jak felt similarly because he didn't bring it up), so they couldn't talk about that either.

So, there was nothing to do...other than pack.

And when Jak was given a task, boy did he deliver.

"Where do you want your Emergency Medicine Study Guide? Is this box okay?"

"These tea bags look used. Should I throw them out?"

"Do all these sneakers go with you? Even the ones without laces?"

"I see one cocktail dress in the closet; do you have a garment bag? No, no that's a laundry bag. A garment bag is something you zip around the dress to prevent wrinkling."

Lots and lots of questions.

Jak hadn't been inappropriate, (as a matter of fact, he'd been a perfect gentleman) but Gwen still felt vulnerable. Her bedroom was her sanctuary, the one place she could break down, dream big, and snuggle hard.

Jak only had to look to see her secrets. And for some reason, Gwen feared he would share his discoveries with Titania.

"Don't worry about canceling. I understand." Gwen tucked stray hairs behind her ears. The ocean breeze was being particularly rambunctious. "You can't ignore an order from the king."

"Duty calls." Jak remote-started his jeep. His phone instantly lit on the mount. "Quite literally."

Through the window, Gwen saw dozens of new messages, several with all-caps government alerts, likely the summons from King Arthur.

"You know..." she nodded at his phone. "We didn't have to meet. You must be in a terrible rush. I would have been fine had you just texted."

Jak opened the back door.

"We said we'd meet every morning, correct?"

"Yes."

"Did you think I would abandon you by the ocean?"