Welcome to the Queendom

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"When are you and Dean gonna be friends again," Nikki asked me Friday night at the Verizon Center half an hour before SmackDown.
"Um," I said, picking at the skin around my thumbnail, "in another life?"
Nikki placed her hands on her hips, sighing. "This is not how things were supposed to happen. You guys were supposed to meet and fall in love and start dating, then get married and have twins-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," I interrupted, standing up from the couch. "Twins?"
"What's wrong with twins?" Brie asked.
"Nothing's wrong with twins, but carrying two babies at once...." I trailed off, holding my stomach. It sounded painful. "But how can we have a relationship when we can't even have a friendship?" I asked. "Something just always happens to ruin everything."
"Well maybe you can fix things soon," Nikki insisted hopefully.
I came and gave her a hug. "Not this time, Nikki," I said

"Don't snap your leg off," Randy joked when he passed by me in the hall while I stretched one of my legs on a crate.
I laughed. "Don't worry, I won't."
"So what's been going on with you?" he asked as he sat down on the crate after I put my leg down. "You didn't text me back Wednesday......or Thursday......or earlier today."
I rubbed my temples. "I'm sorry, I just had a lot on my mind."
"Well you need to get whatever's on your mind," he knocked on my forehead, "out. You know when tomorrow comes around things are gonna get hectic."
That's when I palm-faced myself. I completely forgot that this Sunday was WrestleMania.
"You know what you need?" Randy questioned. "To go to a spa. I looked at your schedule and you don't have anything to do until noon. Kill time at the spa until then."
I nodded. "Maybe I will," I said actually taking it into consideration.
"Hey, Chelsea," a crew director said. "You're needed in room 101."
I frowned. "Isn't that an extra locker room?" I asked.
He raised his hands. "Don't ask me any questions. I was only told to tell you that."
Then he walked down the hall. I looked at Randy with raised eyebrows but he just shrugged in return. "I guess I'll see you later," I said.

When I walked into room 101, I saw Dean sitting on the couch with his arms folded across his chest. I turned around to leave but the door slammed in my face. I tried to turn the knob but it wouldn't budge; locked.
"Hello?" I called out, slamming my palm on the door. "Is anyone there? We're locked in."
But no one came to my calls. I turned around and leaned my back against the door. We stayed there for what seemed like forever in awkward and intense silence with me frowning at Dean and Dean frowning at the wall. Not standing the silence anymore, I started rummaging through the vacant cubbies, searching for something, anything that could help me loosen the lock and break it. Dean didn't move a muscle to help.
"Why'd you leave?" he asked after a few moments.
I sighed, not being able to find anything. "What are you talking about?" I questioned. "You mean why am I trying to leave? Because I have a match soon and I don't want to be in a small room alone with you."
"Thanks for being honest," he mumbled. "But I'm not talking about right now. I'm talking about yesterday."
"Because you irritated me, Dean. I just couldn't be around you at that moment. Was it wrong to say yes to your mom even though you guys weren't speaking, yes, kinda, but my heart was in the right place. My heart was also in the right place, with you, when I later turned her down. Ever since the party last Saturday everything has been spinning out of control and I don't know what to do anymore."
I hadn't noticed I was crying until Dean stood and wiped the tears away. "Sit down," was all he said and I obliged. He sat beside me and we just stayed there for a few moments before he sighed and ran his hands along the sides of his face.
"We've both been under a lot of stress as of late," he admitted. "We're both out of it."
"I miss the old times," I confessed. "When we would just hang out with each other and just have a good time. Why is everything ruining that? It's like we're not supposed to be friends."
"Maybe we're not," Dean said sadly.
I turned to look at him, thinking he was joking, but the look on his face said otherwise. "What are you saying?" I asked.
His next words seemed forced and strained. "I don't think we should be friends anymore. Maybe we should just stick to bring strangers."
"You mean....." I trailed off for a bit. "Pretend like we don't know each other?"
"Yeah," he whispered. "Now is as good a time as any to start. I mean we have a lot on our plates with WrestleMania only two days away. I think it would be good for us."
"Oh," was all I could say without crying. I nodded. "I think that's a good idea," I lied. "And I completely respect that."
I leaned forward with my elbows on my knees and looked down at the floor. I spotted something silver and picked it up; a paper clip.
I bent it out of shape and went to the door, messing with it. After some effort I got the door free and it swung open. I turned back around to Dean.
"Bye," I said and walked out, not waiting for him to respond.

1
2
I kicked out of Summer Rae's pin attempt and rolled onto the apron.
"What's wrong, Chelsea?" Summer taunted. "Where's your head?"
She reached over the top rope and pulled me to my feet by my hair, but I countered and grabbed her head, dropping to the floor so that her neck hit the top rope. I took deep breaths for a couple of seconds and made it back into the ring by 4. I grabbed Summer's arm and pulled her to her feet, Irish whipping her into a corner. I hopped onto the second rope and kicked her in the head. She dropped like a sack of potatoes.
1
2
She kicked out and tried to crawl out of the ring but I grabbed her ankle and dragged her back in. When I reached down to grab her she folded me up into a package roll-up but I countered it into a cradle.
1
2
3!
"And the winner of this match, Chelsea Renee!"
The ref raised my hand in victory as explosions sounded and Kane flanked by Billy Gunn and Road Dogg came out onto the stage.
"Congratulations on your win tonight, Chelsea," Kane said. "But let's see if we can have the same outcome at WrestleMania Sunday. Don't disappoint us."
I quickly grabbed a microphone before he could retreat backstage. "Who's 'us,' Kane? You honestly think you're on Stephanie and Hunter's level?" I laughed. "The only person I need to worry about disappointing is myself because at the end of the day, when I look in the mirror, it's me, myself, and I. When you look in the mirror you don't see a 25 year old trying to prove herself. You don't walk around in my skin. And trust me, baby boy, I'll be getting things done on Sunday without The Authority's help. Make sure to tell Steph that."

My Schedule:
8am-10am: Interviews (Stephanie and Hunter changed it so that I start my day early with everyone else)
10:15am-12:45pm: Make-A-Wish with John Cena and Daniel Bryan
1pm-5pm: Autograph Signing
5:15pm-5:45: "Lunch" with the The Bellas. (Short lunch)
6:00pm-6:50pm: Get Ready for Hall of Fame Ceremony (Seriously, I need an hour for my maids to get me ready?)
7pm-8pm: Hall of Fame "red carpet" pre-show
8pm-11pm-Hall of Fame Ceremony
11:15pm-12:15am: Hall of Fame Dinner
Will I even have time to take a breath?