Welcome to the Queendom

Chapter Sixteen

I saw you dancing with that guy that I'm guessing Big E introduced you to.

Yeah😊. His name's Trey and he's Langston's little nephew.

I shook my head at my phone. Looks like my sister had a crush.

How old is he, I texted.

15 and guess what? He lives in Hampton!😱😱😱. He goes to Bethal. Chels, that's where I'm going next year! Can you believe it?!

Hope he lives up to Mom and Rob's expectations.

Oh, don't worry about that, Chalice texted back. His GPA is 4.0 and he's in the National Honor's Society. He also takes band and has a concert later this week. I'm gonna see if I can go.

Good luck with that, I replied as a knock sounded at my door. Gotta go. TTYL.

I placed my phone on the bedside table and removed myself from my position of laying upside down with my legs up against the headboard. I opened the door and saw Dean leaning against the frame.
"Hey," I said. "What's up?"
"Nothing," he replied with a shrug. "Just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out today."
"Where?" I asked as I fixed my red XO one of the shoulder shirt that was a little ruffled from the bed.
"Brooklyn Bridge Park?"
"Awesome," I said. "Give me a sec."
I slipped on some black Converse and adjusted the waistband of my black leggings. I pulled my hair up into a high ponytail and snapped on an ankle bracelet Chalice had given me before they left to go back to their hotel.
It was a 9 minute drive from Sheraton to the park. When we got out, Dean retrieved a blue and white stripped throw blanket from the backseat. He tucked it under his arm and used his other one to sling around my shoulders. It was warm outside with a slight cool breeze. I could stay out here forever. We were about four days into Spring and already the temperature was rising little by little each day. Dean led me out into the open grass field by the water which gave us a fantastic view of the Brooklyn Bridge. I quickly snapped a picture before we sat down and sent it to Chalice before placing it in between my legs as I stretched them out. The blanket was soft.
"Where'd you get this?" I asked.
"I use it for plane rides," he replied before awkwardly clearing his throat. "So, I talk to my mom."
My head snapped in his direction. "When?" I asked excitedly.
"Saturday night after our fight," he said sheepishly. My smile faltered a little because neither one of us wanted to remember that again.
"Oh," I said. "And how did that go?"
"She had been calling me lately because she wanted to fix things before she broke the news that she was gonna get back together with my dad."
I tilted my head to the side as he turned to look at me. I was genuinely confused. "Broke the news?" I asked, laughing a little. "You're acting as if that's a bad thing."
"I don't really like it," Dean replied with a shrug. "My dad left after I was born, literally. He watched me be born and then just....left. My parents haven't talk to each other since and now that he's popped back into her life, she's falling head over heels for him again. I just don't want her to get hurt."
I smiled, touched that he still cared for his mom. Well at least her feelings. "Does that mean you and your mom are good?"
"Yeah. I've been avoiding her because she did...things for money." When my eyes widened, he quickly added, "Like selling bad things, but not anymore." I let out a breath. "I just thought she didn't care and left me to fend for myself but she just couldn't be around."
I nodded in understanding. "Well I'm glad that everything with your mom's okay. She seemed like such a nice lady at Muzzie's and it looked like she felt genuinely bad."
He nodded. "They're having this type of party Saturday and Mom said she had some announcements to make. Probably to tell all her friends that her and Tyler are going out again."
I started to grin widely which made him shake his head. "What?" I asked.
"I don't know, but I feel like the next thing that's gonna come out of your mouth is bad," he said.
I swatted his arm. "It's not bad. I was thinking we could go," I suggested. "For your mom," I added.
Dean shrugged, looking skeptical. "We could go," he said. "Maybe."
"We should totally do it," I stated. "What better way to kick off you and your mom's new friendship. Where's it going to be."
"Cincinnati back in Ohio. I know that's a little far from Boston, but we could make it work."
"Definitely," I agreed excitedly.
We laid back on the blanket and stared up at the clear, blue sky. A puffy, white cloud slowly passed by and it looked a little bit like a heart. I would dedicate that cloud to Ms. Daniella and Mr. Tyler.