Welcome to the Queendom

Chapter Forty-One

Around 7, I turned over in bed and was face to face with Chalice.
"Morning," she greeted.
"Hey," I replied tiredly.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
I ran my fingers through her hair and sighed. "Nothing," I answered. "Just tired I guess."
She nodded. "Mom's making breakfast now," was the last thing she said to me before she headed out the door, closing the door behind herself.

I huffed after I closed Chelsea's bedroom door. Dean. He must have done something to make Chelsea feel like that. I walked down the hall on my way to the staircase when I bumped into Dean coming out of the bathroom sporting jeans, a gray T-shirt with his hair still wet.
"Just the person I'm looking for," I said indignantly, crossing my arms over my chest.
He sighed. "You're gonna yell at me, aren't you?" he asked.
"I'm ready to do something else," I snapped. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't knock you so far into the future the dinosaurs will come back?"
"I'm not trying to be mean or anything," he assured. "And I love the fact that you're so willing to protect your big sister. But what's going on between me and her should stay between me and her."
"That's where you're wrong," I stated. "Chelsea's business is my business and vice versa and I refuse to have her dating a jerk who doesn't care about her feelings."
"Who said I didn't care about her feelings?" he questioned angrily.
"Well with your body language, I can't tell," I retorted.
He sighed. "Chalice," he said tiredly. "Stick your nose somewhere else, will you? You're only 14. You dont understand things like this yet."
He brushed past me on his way to Chelsea's room. I stuck my tongue out at the back of his head before clomping down the stairs.

When Dean walked into the room, I groaned and put my pillow over my face.
"Good morning to you too," he said sarcastically. I peeled the pillow away and got out of bed. "You should tell your sister to stop being so nosy."
I scoffed. "Excuse me?" I questioned. "First of all, she's not nosy, she's concerned and you have no right to tell me what I should and should not do."
"Oh, sorry," he said in mock remorse. "I didn't know getting threatened by a 14-year-old was a normal thing."
All I could do at that moment was stare at him. What was his problem?
"Why are you acting like this?" I asked. "Is it because what Randy said is true?"
"Whatever he told you," he said through gritted teeth, "is a lie."
"If what he said is a lie then why are you sweating it?"
"Because..." he trailed off, not knowing how to finish whatever lame excuse he could come up with at the top of his head.
"Wow," I said, shaking my head. "But you know what, forget it. I didn't come here to talk about what Randy said and definitely not to argue with you. I'm here for my family and I'm gonna spend the hours I have left here with them. You can stay in here for all I care."

Breakfast was tense and I'm glad Mom was upstairs instead of sitting with us, pointing it out. Instead of sitting beside Dean, I sat next to Chalice who was sitting across from him showing me pictures of her friends on her phone. I could feel Dean staring at me but I didn't bother acknowledging him. Chalice, however, couldn't help but shoot him dirty looks.
"You ready to go to Bethal?" I asked her to draw her attention away from Dean.
"Yeah," she answered, pushing her scrambled eggs around. "I mean, I wasn't at first but I think I'm gonna like it there."
"So, you're not scared anymore?" I questioned.
"Oh, I'm still scared. Just less than before."
I nodded in understanding before glancing up at Dean. He locked his eyes onto mine and we stayed that way for some time. Chalice was too engulfed in her phone to notice. I quickly looked down at my plate.
"You know where we should go?" Caron chimed in. "Rebounderz."
"Ooh, yeah!" Caiya seconded. "And Mr. Dean can go with us."
"Mr. Dean's tired so he's gonna stay here," I told her.
"No I'm not," Dean butted in making me glare at him. "I'm not tired at all. I would love to go to Rebounderz with you guys."
Chalice and I shared a look for a few moments. "Fine," I sighed. "Lets get dressed everyone."

Newport News, our next door neighbor; only 15 minutes away. I'm glad Dean and I weren't in the car alone. We didn't really say anything to each other. Just talked to the kids, answering their questions or commenting on a school story they told.
Since the kids already had the socks they would need in order to jump, all I had to do was pay for their hour and watch a safety video. Afterwards, they ran off together to the trampoline arena. I sat in one of the chairs put up and looked around at the kids running around, playing dodgeball or jumping in the foam pit. Dean sat down next to me and followed my gaze.
"I'm sorry," he said after awhile.
"For?"
He sighed. "Everything." He sat up and looked me dead in the face. "I should have just let that comment last night go, but I couldn't because I was scared."
"Scared of what?" I questioned.
"You leaving," he admitted. "Someone always tells my current girlfriend about what a 'player' I am and they believe them. Randy's doing it. I thought you were going to leave."
I laughed a little. "So by getting me to stay; by getting me to not leave, you act like a complete jerk?" I asked.
He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess I went about the whole thing the wrong way," he confessed. "I'm just really not good at things like that."
"What really got me," I said, "was the fact that you made a big deal out of it. If what Randy said was a lie, then why blow up about it, making it seem like he's telling the truth?"
"I don't know," Dean replied exasperatedly, throwing his arms in the air. "I guess I just didn't want to seem all lay back about it and then make it seem to you like I don't care. Because I do. A lot."
He buried his face in my neck and sighed. "I don't want to argue anymore," he whispered. "I think we've done enough of that to last a lifetime."
I giggled. "I totally agree."

"Butternut squash," I told Dean as he drove the kids and I back to Mom's house.
"Blue swimmer crab," he replied.
"That sounds fancy," Chalice commented. "And good."
I laughed. "Um." I tapped my chin with my index finger.
"Brown rice," a voice whispered to me.
"Brown rice," I repeated.
"Hey," Dean playfully scolded. "Caiya!"
"Sorry," she giggled.
Dean pulled up to the curb and everyone piled out, heading for the door.
"Alright, Mom," I sighed sadly. "Dean and I should get going."
"You can't leave," Caron told me. "Why can't you stay here."
"Because your sister and I have to get back on the road," Dean explained, wrapping an arm around my waist. "Don't you want to see us TV."
"It's better that we see you in person," Caiya replied.
"Yes," I agreed. "But don't you want us to fight all those bad guys?" I asked her.
She looked up at the ceiling, thinking. "Okay," she said. "I guess you guys can go."
I laughed. "Thank you."
I gave each one of them, including my mom a hug and kiss on the forehead as Dean went upstairs to get our things. He waved them goodbye as I closed the door behind us.
"Glad you came back?" Dean asked as he turned the ignition and started to pull away from the house.
"Definitely."