Meet Me Where the Oak Tree Grows novel Chapter 44

I said, “Oh man, it was such a surprise! As soon as he got jolted awake, his expression changed, and he sat up straight as a pin without a word. Seeing him like that snapped everyone else out of their daydreams. No one wanted to get in trouble. We didn’t find out until after class that they were cousins!”

Marie burst into laughter, tears streaming down her face. “His cousin sounds like a character! And his name—something unique, right? I remember you mentioned it before. Was it King something?”

“Lord?” Jonah chimed in out of the blue.

“That's it, haha!” Marie clapped her hands with delight.

Later on, I found out that Jonah had slyly joined the parents' group chat and memorized every single classmate's name.

...

I’m not big on gadgets, so I’ve got this routine where I flip through the newspaper during breakfast.

As I grabbed the paper he handed over, the bold black headline hit me: “Shocking! High School Sweethearts Flunk Exams After Romance!”

I picked up another newspaper. Another bold headline: “Beware! A Tragic Accident Fueled by Young Love.”

I looked up.

Jonah, with a straight face, said, “See? I told you young love is no good, didn’t I?”

I pointed at the newspapers and said softly, “But ‘The Daily Chronicle’ stopped publishing in 2008, and ‘Morning News’ folded in 2015.”

He was at a loss for words. Honestly, who knew he had the knack for faking newspapers?