Chapter Six

Dexter boarded the bus with Nathan and Amara. He put the bus fare for the three of them into the small box by the driver and walked down the aisle to find three seats near the windows. Nathan loved to look at the passing scenery. He had been a little reluctant at first, but Dexter told him that it would be fun, and it was.

The three of them sat down and the bus took off. Nathan's eyes were as wide as saucers as he watched all the people walking by the bus. Many times during the ride he would tug on Dexter or Amara's arm and point at something passing by them, saying the words and grinning when the two of the congratulated him.

When Dexter got up to exit the bus was a different story. Nathan wanted to come with him, and since he couldn't, he'd burst into tears. A lot of people gave them odd looks, but Dexter just ignored them and managed to subdue Nathan right before the doors closed. He waved to Nathan and Amara before he entered the doors of McKinley High School.

He greeted Anna by her locker, making the weirdest face he could think of and stood by her locker door, waiting until she closed it. When she did, she took one look at him and walked away, smirking. "Nice try, Collins , but you can't scare me no matter what you do!" she called over her shoulder. He ran to catch up to her and laughed. "Yeah, I know, but it's still fun to try," He replied, walking to his locker to take out the books he needed for his first class, Algebra.

He walked into the classroom to sit down in his seat, and almost fell when one of the jocks pulled his chair out too far. Dexter glared at him and grabbed his chair, keeping one hand on it as he sat down. He sighed in exhaust; Algebra was the only class that he didn't share with Anna, and it was hell. A lot of students thought that Anna was scary, with her cold demeanor and grey eyes. When he was with her, everyone just ignored him. He wallowed in self pity until the teacher started class.

When Dexter came home from an extremely stressful day at school, and saw Nathan eating a snack at the kitchen table, his sucky mood instantly lifted. He dropped his bag at the door and went over to give Nathan a big hug. Nathan, as usual, did nothing but continue to eat his cookies. "How was your day?" Dexter asked. Nathan shrugged. "Oh, come on. Please tell me? What did you do with Mommy?" "Went to ice cream," Nathan replied. "And what flavor did you get?" Dexter asked. "Cookie," Nathan muttered, standing up and going to the Living room.

Dexter smiled and went to get Nathan's dirty napkin. He's going to get fat off of cookies, he thought to himself. He walked over to the living room to find that Nathan snuggled up with Amara watching Spongebob. He smiled and walked to his room to start on his homework.

The evening went like it usually did. They had Robert's famous spaghetti; Nathan made an adorable mess of himself trying to twirl the noodles onto his fork. Bath time was a complete disaster, and Dexter read Nathan his favourite book. Then, when Nathan was sleeping, Dexter came back into his room and laid on his bed. He started playing with Nathan's soft messy hair and got lost in his thoughts again.

Dexter shivered in the emergency room. He tried to wipe the snot off his face, but he couldn't even find the strength to lift his hand. He couldn't comprehend what had happened. He was in the car in the car driving home, with his mommy and sister, when there was a flash of headlights and a crunching sound of metal. His head hurt ,and he wanted to go home.

Dexter remembered that the other driver had been fine, save for a few cuts. He brushed away some tears forming in his eyes and curled up to Nathan's sleeping form, spooning him. He smelled the shampoo he had used on Nathan and relaxed, starting to daydream again.

He walked into his sister's room. He couldn't really see over the bed, but he could see that Bianca was connected a bunch of tube-y things and boxes. He wondered what they were for. "Your sister is sleeping now, don't disturb her," the doctor instructed. "If you need our help, press this red button on her bed. He nodded and looked at his sister. There were scratches and bruises on her face. Her eyes had tape over them, and she was really pale.

He reached out to touch her face, it was cold and clammy, not at all like the face he remembered. He held her hand until the nurses came and told he had a visitor. He took the hand of the nurse and went back out to the waiting room. He saw Amara Jackson waiting for him. She ran over and scooped him up in a huge hug, running her hands over his hair. He started to relax and melted into her embrace. She set him down and said, "I'm so glad you're okay, Dexter."

About twenty minutes later, he was getting into a rusty '78 Camaro and being driven to her house. She'd explained to him that his mom had put her as an emergency contact on his files, and that he was allowed to live with them for the time being. She drove home very carefully, so she wouldn't scare him. She said that Nathan was asleep now, and that his stepdad was home alone with him. She didn't trust him.

Once they got to the rundown complex, she hurried him inside and upstairs. She let him borrow some of Nathan's clothes and sleep on a pallet next to his bed. He snuggled down into the warmth of the blankets and Nathan's too-big T-shirt and fell fast asleep…

Dexter jerked awake. He looked down and saw that he was still in Nathan's bed. He slipped out of it and kissed Nathan goodnight, this time, it was a tiny peck on his lips. He slowly crept out of his room and went to his own to get more sleep.