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Chapter 26: I Don't Judge
Mary had just dropped Presleigh off at the high school that she supposedly went to.
Presleigh clenched her backpack straps tightly as she looked around at all of her surroundings nervously. People everywhere were cheering and laughing and just enjoying life as it was. Presleigh was use to experiencing a variety of different schools. This wasn't her first rodeo. She saw a group of your typical emo kids off to the side jamming out to some sreamo music on a majorly tattooed boy's speaker. She saw a group of your typical cheerleaders and jocks sitting on a group of picnic tables and benches talking about the latest parties and couples. She saw your typical group of nerds reading books-
Someone pushed Presleigh in her back a little too forcefully for her comfort interrupting her train of thought. She snapped her body around to find out who her offender was. Presleigh was ready to pounce until she realized that it was just some girl with bright blue eyes. She was in a softball jersey and blue jeans and had her chocolate brown haired pulled back tightly in a ponytail. She was a striking young girl.
The girl took it upon herself to wrap her arms around Presleigh and give her a tight hug, which freaked Presleigh out even more. But then Presleigh reminded herself that she had to blend in. This girl was obviously just her good friend.
"I love your outfit, Presleigh! You can seriously make anything look cute."
The girl beamed at Presleigh. Presleigh blushed and ducked her head. She wasn't expecting to hear that. Then she remembered what she was wearing, and really didn't expect to hear that.
"Thanks," Presleigh muttered.
The girl hooked Presleigh's arm with her own and started dragging her to the picnic table of football players and cheerleaders. This shocked Presleigh greatly. Were these people really her friends? Presleigh usually fit in with the emo kids or nerds.
Once Presleigh and the girl made it over to the group, they all stopped what they were doing and said their overly excited greetings to Presleigh.
Presleigh heard all sorts of different things from"You look so hot in that" to "Oh my gosh, Pres, did you do something different with your hair? I love it!"
Now usually Presleigh would throw up to all of these compliments, but she decided to make the most of it all and just allow them to keep on coming. She said thank you to each one of her admirers and complimented each one back. Apparently, they weren't use to getting compliments from her because they all looked at her surprised yet highly flattered by her compliments. Amongst all of the useless conversation between the people, she caught people's names. The girl in the softball jersey was named Abbey.
Once the bell rang, Abbey hooked Presleigh's arm yet again and skipped to the school's doors. The group followed Presleigh and the girl closely behind. The girl turned her head to look down at Presleigh to tell her something. The next words that came out of the girl's mouth Presleigh would never forget.
"The leader leads. And that's you, Presleigh Rose."
Presleigh woke up with Dean's arm wrapped across her chest from her dream in a cold sweat with her chest heaving up and down violently.
SPN
"Does my hair look bad?"
Presleigh twirled around in a circle showing off her outfit. After her three sixty twirl, she held up her jazz hands and shook them. She had purple skinny jeans painted on, a black and grey baseball tee that said "Love Yourself First" on the front of it in big letters, and dark grey high top sneakers. Her hair was the way it normally was: air-dried waves.
There was nothing special about the way Presleigh was dressed. Nothing at all. It was her usual clothing, and it was her usual hair. Dean knew that. He knew that Presleigh was just being as sarcastic as she possibly could. She didn't want to go to school, and he knew that.
Dean was sitting at the kitchen table eating some Coca Coca Puffs in a green ceramic bowl. Milk was sloshing onto the table as he chowed down on his breakfast. Dean was smacking the milky cereal loud and clear. Jessica and Sam had left for class a few minutes earlier, and he finally felt like he could be himself. And he wasn't holding anything back.
Dean stopped what he was doing and gave Presleigh an annoyed look. He knew she wasn't thrilled about going back to school. She hadn't been to school in over two weeks, and she probably wasn't expecting on going anytime soon. But after Dean found out about Presleigh's little made up "case", he decided that school wouldn't be that all of a bad thing for the kid. And he knew that she needed some normalcy back into her life right now.
So Dean didn't have all that bad of intentions.
"You look amazing, Pres," Dean said with a sarcastic look of awe.
Presleigh grinned cutely and shrugged her shoulders.
"I know right," she replied.
Presleigh walked over to the pantry and looked for some cereal. A small box caught her eye. She picked it up and read the label out loud.
"Nutrigrain? What the freak is that?"
Dean was standing the doorway with a milk stash, which confused Presleigh greatly. She didn't even see him drink a glass of milk. And then she remembered how messy of an eater he was, and then it all started to make sense. He reached for the box of breakfast bars and grabbed it from Presleigh's hands. Dean gave it a once over and then threw it in the trash can sitting next to him without a second thought.
"Dean!" Presleigh exclaimed.
"What? I'm helping Jess and Sam out here. Trust me. I know what I'm doing," Dean countered with a wave of his hand.
Presleigh couldn't help but grin as she shook her head and continued looking for some cereal. Once she finally found some Rasin Brand in Jess and Sam's Pandora's box of food, she headed for the ceramic bowls in the cabinet.
"Uh un. Here's a bag. We gotta get to heading out. It's already seven thirty, Pres."
Dean handed Presleigh a plastic bag that he found in a wooden drawer. Presleigh groaned. She was just one step closer to her personal version of prison.
"Pleaseeeee, don't make me go, Dean," Presleigh whined.
She grabbed Dean's arm and gave him longing, sad eyes. She tried to think about every sad puppy ever on those depressing commercials as she looked at Dean in the eyes in hopes that he would understand how much she didn't want to go to school.
Dean however happened to be one of those people who were completely unfazed by the puppy dog commercials. He rolled his eyes and poured her cereal in the plastic bag for her to speed things along.
"And why on earth would I just allow you to sit here and do nothing all day while were working on this case?" Dean asked curiously.
"Because you need me Dean," Presleigh answered desperately.
Dean stopped what he was doing and gave Presleigh a sideways glance with a raised eyebrow.
"I need you?"
Presleigh shook her head fervently.
"Yes Dean! Do you know how bored you're gonna be without me?"
Dean laughed.
"Oh believe me. I'm gonna be just fine without you."
Presleigh groaned again and rolled her eyes. When Dean was done filling up the plastic bag with Rasin Brand, he handed it to his sister sealed tight.
"Don't spill these in my Baby," Dean said.
Presleigh nodded her head as she snatched them from Dean's hand.
On the way out of the apartment, Dean turned to Presleigh and asked her, "Where did you get that shirt from? I like it."
Presleigh shrugged her shoulders.
"I found it in Sam's laundry."
SPN
Much to Presleigh's dismay, Dean and she got out of the apartment fairly quickly and into the Impala fairy quickly as well. They listened to the radio softly as they made the short drive to the school.
Stanberry High School was a lot nicer than most of the schools the Winchester had gone to in the past. It was a huge, fairly new, building made of grey cinder blocks. There were a ton of people sitting and standing outside the school talking to one another and goofing off. The school seemed really peppy and school spirted.
It all made Presleigh sick.
As Dean put the Impala in park, Presleigh swung her head over to look at Dean. Her facial expression let Dean aware that she was clearly over the whole entire thing. Dean knew that look all too well. He sighed and looked at Presleigh.
"Look, Pres. We're only gonna be here for a little while, okay?"
"Oh come on, Dean. It looks like friggin' High School Musical, and you know it," Presleigh told her brother in exasperation.
"It's not that bad."
Dean went serious.
"Listen to me, Pres. You have to promise to me that you're not gonna skip class."
Presleigh now looked like all of her sad puppies she was thinking about earlier had all been hit by an eighteen wheeler.
"Dean! You know I cannot do that. I cannot promise something like that!"
Dean narrowed his gaze at her.
"I want you to Triple Promise Promise Promise me you won't skip any classes whatsoever. I don't care if your hair is on fire."
Presleigh sighed in defeat. She knew she was going to have to surrender eventually. She didn't have any fight left in her. It was barely even eight o'clock.
"Fineeee. I Triple Promise Promise Promise I won't skip any classes under any circumstances. There. Happy now?"
Dean grinned and nodded his head.
"Very."
Dean got out of the car and Presleigh got out slinging her book bag onto her right shoulder. Dean walked around the Impala to Presleigh and swung his arm around her. They walked into the giant school and made their way to the front office.
Presleigh had a little comfort in the fact that she knew that she was in control of how long she would have to stay here. After all, it was she that was in complete control of the case.
Well, except for the little part of Dean knowing the entire thing of course. But she had no clue that was going on.
SPN
"Dean. Why are you limping? What happened to your leg?" Presleigh asked alarmed as she followed him into the living room.
Dean didn't answer her until he made his way over to the couch. Once he sat down, he swung his leg onto the couch and let out a low groan of pain. Presleigh practically ran over to Dean to pull up his pant leg and see what was going on, but Dean stopped her.
"No, Pres, let it be. It just got a little messed up today. That's all."
Presleigh looked at Dean confused.
"What, did you trip and fall on the way to the refrigerator?" Presleigh asked with a small smile.
Dean took his eyes off of the TV and glared at his little sister.
"No. Looks like our ghost got a little upset earlier and decided to come after me today," Dean replied.
Presleigh's eyes went wide.
"What?! What do you mean?! What did you do?!" Presleigh asked Dean the three questions in practically a second.
"Woah there. Slow down, Pres. You said it was like, what, a level eight? Eight is pretty close to ten, Pres…" Dean trailed off.
Dean winced as he adjusted his leg on the couch.
"Yeah, but-
"No buts then. This thing is one angry ghost."
Presleigh had no idea what to say. Could this really be true? Was there really a ghost out there? And if there was, it sure wasn't some make believe ghost that she came up with so that she could see her older brother a little while longer. The worst part of it all was that Dean was looking in the complete wrong direction. He could possibly end up getting really hurt because he was thinking he needed to be looking for somebody's bones that didn't even exist!
Presleigh was in a whole lot of trouble. She just knew it. She couldn't just come out and tell Dean though. That would be awful; he would probably kill her. Like toast. Like Presleigh's dead; game over.
"What's wrong, Pres? You look a little under the weather. I hope you're not catching a cold in this California air," Dean said.
In Dean's mind, he was enjoying every single moment of this. But in Presleigh's mind, she was freaking out every single moment of this.
"No, um, maybe? I've got to go the bathroom."
Presleigh got up from on her knees of the living room carpet and ran into the guest bathroom and shut the door. She grasped the edges of the sink's counter, and then slowly raised her head. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and agreed with Dean; every trace of color had been zapped out of her normally rosy cheeks; she did look under the weather.
But, nope. So much more was going on than a little old cold.
"What did you get yourself into?" Presleigh asked herself.
SPN
"Caleb!"
Presleigh shot up and ran from her seat on the couch beside Dean and leaped into Caleb's arms. Her arms wrapped around his waist as she tightly hugged him. Her head was facing off to the side, and her eyes were shut tight.
She enjoyed her few moments in Caleb's arms. She had grown to really love and respect the hunter. And on top of all of that, she had been so worried about him. She felt as though everything was had been her fault. She felt like she got him in the middle of this mess in the first place.
Presleigh opened her yes.
"I've missed you so- Who is this?"
Presleigh suddenly noticed a tall, good looking boy standing behind Caleb not really sure what to do next.
Presleigh broke away from her and Caleb's embrace and looked up at him for his answers. Caleb stepped to his side and held up his hand to welcome the boy over to him. The boy walked over to Caleb slowly. Caleb swung his arm over the boy's shoulder and massaged it one time with his hand before introducing him.
By the time Presleigh was done hugging Caleb, Dean had made his way over to Presleigh and Caleb. Dean came up behind Presleigh and put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly.
"This is a buddy of mine, Maddox Stents," Caleb introduced the boy.
A light bulb went off in Dean's head.
"Stents? You must be Joey Stents' son then?" Dean asked as he extended his right hand to shake the boy's hand.
Presleigh didn't know what to think. Dean never made the first move of politeness to strangers. This was a big deal.
"Yes sir," the boy answered Dean softly.
There was a pain in the boy's deep toned answer.
"I'm sorry for your loss. Your father was an amazing hunter. He helped save my dad's butt on numerous occasions from what I've heard."
Dean offered his condolences.
The boy nodded a thank you at Dean but didn't say anything else.
So he's obviously a hunter since his father was one. And his late father knew my father? Now that's weird, Presleigh thought to herself.
"This is a good friend of mine Dean Winchester, and this wild one here is Presleigh Rose Winchester," Caleb introduced the two Winchesters in the room to the boy.
The boy nodded his head at them both.
Caleb and Dean had some silent conversation with their eyes before Dean broke the awkward silence.
"Let's come in the living room," Dean offered.
The boy and Caleb followed Dean and Presleigh into the living room. Dean sat in the recliner and Caleb and the boy sat on the couch. There was an empty seat on the couch beside Maddox, but Presleigh opted out for the armrest of the recliner.
Presleigh gave Maddox a long once over.
Maddox had long golden hair that came a little below his shoulders. It was completely straight for the most part but had a little curl to it underneath the straight locks. He had fairly tan skin, and it appeared as though he hadn't found a razor for below his nose in a couple of days. His eyes were a deep chocolate brown, and they had a kind, yet rugged, look to them; Presleigh could visibly see a tough life in them. He was the same height as Dean and just a little shorter than Caleb, and he had a well-built frame. He was dressed in an army green baggy jacket and grey t shirt underneath with dark blue jeans over black biker boots.
The boy was undeniably handsome. And Presleigh could not take her eyes off of him.
He seemed very uncomfortable being here, or did he seem very sad? Presleigh couldn't decide which one was the winner.
"How was the drive here?" Dean asked Caleb casually.
Presleigh knew that Dean was setting up for small conversation before getting Maddox out of the picture, so Caleb and Presleigh could catch up on a few obvious important things.
"It wasn't too bad of a drive. I swung up to Wyoming to pick Maddox up before making my way down here," Caleb answered.
"Well good. Let me and Maddox here go get you guys' luggage then."
Dean stood up from the recliner and Maddox did the same. Presleigh was grateful for Dean. She then moved to the couch to sit by Caleb after the apartment door shut behind them.
"I was worried sick about you Caleb!" was Presleigh's opening statement.
Caleb let out a laugh.
"You were worried about me? I was worried about you."
"Yeah, well, I didn't wake up completely a okay in a phone booth after a wicked fight, okay?" Presleigh countered.
"And I didn't wake up in an alternate universe with a Daddy look alike, now did I?"
Presleigh looked appalled.
"I can't believe Dean told you!"
Presleigh was mad at Dean for telling Caleb about what she had told him, but in the end, she knew that Caleb would have found out one way or another, especially with him coming to California.
"What did you expect? It's Dean," Caleb said with a cheeky grin.
"True. Dean can't keep vital information to himself if his life depended on it," Presleigh agreed with a roll of her eyes.
"Well, first let me say this. You don't have to tell me everything that happened in one sitting, okay Presleigh? I know you probably have a million questions, important questions, but let's just relax and take each day as it goes. How does that sound? What are ya thinkin'?"
Presleigh felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. That's just what she needed to hear. She needed Caleb's God given gift of dealing out immediate peace right now. She was so thankful for Caleb and for Caleb being here with her in this moment. She needed Dean's security. She needed Sam's comfort.
And she needed Caleb's ability to give her a peace about the whole situation that she was in.
"You have no idea how much I needed to hear that. Like, Caleb, I am not a worrier; believe me! I don't even sweat if I'm failing Algebra and I got one week to bring it up…. And Sam's home. But this! This has made me grow grey hair. Look!"
Presleigh showed Caleb the roots of her blonde hair. There were no grey hairs of course.
Caleb could see the truly admiration and thankfulness radiate off of Presleigh, and it made him happy. He felt like he had actually did something with her, like he had accomplished something. Caleb smiled at her before answering.
"Oh, believe me, I know, Presleigh. Dean can't keep vital information to himself, remember?"
Presleigh nodded her head embarrassed at the memory of Dean and Caleb actually being good friends who have supposedly talked about her quite often.
"We can talk about everything throughout the week. How's that sound?" Caleb asked.
Presleigh raised her eyebrow accusingly at him.
"Okay, well, I want you to start talking right now then. Like for starters, who the freak is that boy that you decided to bring along for the journey?" Presleigh asked skeptically.
Caleb laughed at Presleigh's incapability of enjoying the unknown.
"Why? You got the hots for the young man already?" Caleb asked Presleigh in his Southern twang.
Presleigh narrowed her eyes at him much like Dean would do to her if she said something inappropriate at the wrong time.
"No. I don't 'have the hots' for people. I just focus on trying to tolerate them."
Caleb laughed and held up his hands in surrender.
"I'm just messin' with ya, Pres. His father was a huge friend of my father's growing up. After my father passed, that man helped me through a huge rough patch of my life; he was there for me. Joey, Maddox's father, was a hunter and much like your father is now, a driven hunter. And, well, about two weeks ago, he got killed while on the job. And, apparently, Maddox didn't think it would be a good idea to call me and let me know that, hey, I'm living by myself now because my father's dead. So when word got around about Joey's passing, I called Maddox up. And then on my way here, I swung by and picked him up. Maddox, Pres, is a good kid. He's seventeen, and it had only been him and his father growing up. So, try your best, and be a friend to him, okay? I'm gonna try and get him signed up at your school with you, so I can get him back into the swing of things ya know."
"So, like he's under your wing now?" Presleigh asked curiously after she took in all of the new face's story.
Caleb nodded his head seriously.
"Yes ma'am. He doesn't need to be alone right now. Plus, he's still a minor, and he has no uncles, cousins, great aunts, like I said, it was just him and his dad growing up. I'm gonna be there for him like his father was for me."
Presleigh nodded her head in understanding. Presleigh was grateful for the fact that if something ever happened to her father that she would have Dean or Sam to take care of her. Her stomach dropped at the thought of losing her father.
Presleigh couldn't imagine what was going through Maddox's head. I mean losing the last part of your family just two weeks ago at the age of seventeen is major. It's not something you just get over very easily. Presleigh couldn't even picture her life without one of her brothers or even her father whom was rarely there for her much less no one.
"So you're gonna promise me you'll be nice to him and show him the ropes, right?" Caleb asked Presleigh hopefully.
"Uh, duh, Caleb. I'm not a witch ya know."
"Yeah cus you'd know I'd ground you for life if you were," Dean said as he walked into the living room catching the tail end of Presleigh and Caleb's conversation.
Dean was carrying a small suitcase and a pillow, and Maddox was doing the same as he followed closely behind Dean.
"I'm gonna put you guy's stuff in our room. Me and Pres can sleep on the couch."
Dean made his way to the guest bedroom and Maddox followed him.
Before Caleb could follow the other two men into the guest room, Presleigh wrapped her arms around Caleb's waist.
"Thank you, Caleb, for everything. I really do like you ya know. Even if you annoy the mess out of me sometimes."
Presleigh smiled brightly up at the hunter. Caleb laughed.
"The feeling's mutual, kid," he said with a smile.
SPN
Intense competitiveness and energy was pumping through the atmosphere of Sam and Jessica's apartment.
Sam and Jessica had come home from classes to two extra guests. Normally, Sam would have totally freaked out on Dean for not even letting him know that Caleb and Maddox were supposedly coming, but Presleigh noticed that Sam was purposefully distancing himself from Dean. Upon finding out the news, Jessica was extra excited, like Presleigh had expected she would be, and insisted that they stay for as long as they liked. But even Miss Positive had to accept the reality that they were going to need a little more house hold items if two extra guests were going to stay here for even just a little while. So Dean, Caleb, and Maddox headed out to the grocery store with a long, Jessica handwritten list of necessities. Presleigh had decided to opt out on that uneventful event and stay at the apartment with Sam and Jessica. Presleigh's boredom finally took her over, so she went into Sam and Jessica's room to see what they were doing.
And low and behold, they were studying. They were lying on their bed with open books and open notebooks scattered here and there and everywhere. Presleigh thought she couldn't get any more bored, but she thought wrong.
After unashamedly letting Sam and Jessica in on how miserable she currently was, Jessica finally came up with the idea of a game. A game that would benefit them all.
A Study Game.
Presleigh would read out loud a question from their AP European History: Napoleonic Notes, and Sam and Jessica would have to answer them. Whoever answered the question first correctly, he or she would win a point. The game was currently tied and the game was quickly heating up.
"What were Napoleon's reforms called?" Presleigh asked as she was standing up dancing from foot to foot reading the notecard out loud.
Jessica jumped up from her seat on the couch with her right arm raised high.
"Code Napoleon!" she shouted loudly with great joy and enthusiasm.
Sam slapped his knee and groaned out loud.
"Correct!" Presleigh shouted.
Presleigh made another tally mark under Jessica's name on the dry erase board that once read the days of the month and all of Sam and Jessica's upcoming tests and parties, which confused Presleigh. Sammy didn't have fun.
Jessica fist pumped and did her little winning dance that she had grown accustomed to doing, and then sat back down. Sam scooted to the edge of the couch ready to answer the next question.
"Okay Sam, if you don't answer this next question correctly, you lose, and man, wouldn't I just hate that…" Presleigh told Sam sarcastically.
Sam squinted his eyes at his little sister. Presleigh wanted Sam to lose so badly. For all of the times that he acted as Mr. Know It All growing up, she was so pumped to rub this big L in his face…. at least for the next week or so.
And the good thing was that Jessica was starting to grow on Presleigh.
Presleigh was beginning to like Jessica and appreciate her bubbliness.
"Napoleon's influence upon Europe ended the Old Regime abuses of what?" Presleigh read the notecard out loud.
Sam stood up barely after Presleigh had finished asking the question.
"Serfdom!"
Sam turned around to Jessica and pointed his finger in her face.
"Ha! And you thought you had won! You can't beat me!" he exclaimed.
"Wait!" Presleigh shouted stopping Sam dead in his gloating fit.
"What?" Sam quickly snapped his head back around to Presleigh.
"There's two-
And before Presleigh could finish getting her statement fully out, Jessica jumped up from the couch and shouted, "Serfdom and feudalism! HA! In your face, Samuel!"
Jessica and Presleigh's faces were both exuberant. Presleigh threw the cards up in the air and started doing the snake as the notecards rained down around them all. Sam's face was so bitter and red that Presleigh thought he was going to die of defeat. It was priceless.
Presleigh danced her way over to him and gave him a hard pat on the back.
"Oh don't look so sad Sammy. She's just smarter, and prettier, and funner than you," Presleigh said with a grin.
"It's-
"More fun. I know. I just wanted to get on your nerves," Presleigh interrupted smugly.
Sam rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in the air.
Jessica walked over to Sam and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Oh cheer up, Sweetheart."
"I let you win. And you know it," Sam replied stubbornly.
Jessica laughed softly and nodded her head.
"I know, Sam," she replied.
Presleigh's jaw hung open wide.
"Are you serious? Jess! He did not 'let' you win! You won fair and square. Sam's just a bad sport, and he's always been that way."
Jessica just pushed Sam into the kitchen and turned her head around and gave Presleigh a wink.
Presleigh nodded her head in understanding and gave her a huge smile.
Presleigh started gathering up the notecards and started racking her brain. She had already known Jessica for a couple of days now, but she was really starting to grow on her. She liked how she treated Sam nicely, and she liked how she didn't let him run all over her with his need to be right about seemingly everything. Presleigh was finding out that Jessica wasn't all that bad. If another girl had to be in Sam's life, Presleigh was alright with Jessica being that girl.
"Hey! Where do I put these cards?" Presleigh called from the living room.
"They were in the top drawer of the dresser to the left! Me and Sam are gonna start on supper! Thank you so much, Pres! Sam says thank you too!" Jessica answered from the kitchen.
"Yeah, thanks, Pres," Presleigh heard Sam mumble from the kitchen.
Presleigh rolled her eyes.
Presleigh made her way to Sam and Jessica's bedroom and slowly opened the wooden door to their bedroom.
This was the first time actually being in their bedroom. Their bedroom was pretty simple, like most of the college kids' apartment. There was a bed with green covers in the center of the room, a wooden dresser on the right side beside the shuttered window, a white chair with tons of books and articles of clothing laying all over it, and a door that led to the closet and bathroom.
Presleigh walked over to the dresser and being the klutz that she was tripped over a little tennis ball that was out in the middle of the floor. Luckily for Presleigh, she caught her balance on the bed, but unluckily for the cards, they went sprawling out of Presleigh's grasp. Presleigh mumbled something under her breath that she knew Dean would kill her for saying.
"Tennis? You play tennis, Sam? Seriously?!" Presleigh whispered to herself.
She got down onto her knees and started gathering up the cards. As Presleigh was looking everywhere to make sure that she had gotten them all, she caught sight of a little box underneath Sam and Jessica's bed.
At first, Presleigh shook off even the thought of seeing what was in the mysterious box.
"Come on, Pres. It might be somethin' you don't even want to look at," Presleigh whispered out loud to herself.
But then her curiosity started to eat away at her.
Presleigh turned to the opened bedroom door and could here Jessica and Sam happily playing around with one another in the kitchen, and then she turned her gaze back to the box.
There was only one freakin' box under the bed. One! It had to be something important, right?
Presleigh took in one deep breath before quickly reaching for the wooden box. She slid it out from underneath the bed and opened the top.
Inside the box were a bunch of glass jars. In each glass jar was an envelope with something different written on each one. Presleigh unscrewed the first jar and reached for the envelope. She slid the envelope out of the jar and read the words written in Sam's notorious handwriting: "Apartment Rent". Presleigh opened up the flab of the envelope and found a bunch of twenty dollar bills in it. She closed the flab back and put it back in the jar. The box must have just been where Sam hid his money. A little disappointed of the outcome, Presleigh was just about to slide the box back under the bed, when something caught her eye.
Presleigh could almost make out "Presleigh" on one of the envelopes in one of the glass jars. Presleigh reached for it and unscrewed the top like she had with the other one. As Presleigh pulled out the envelope, her jaw dropped.
"Presleigh's College Fund."
Presleigh almost dropped the envelope. After her shock, she fumbled the envelope open to see what was inside.
Inside the envelope laid close to a hundred little twenty dollar bills.
Presleigh's heart started beating so fast that she thought it was going to explode.
Sam had been keeping a college fund for her, and from the looks of it, it had been a long, long time that he had been keeping it. Presleigh didn't know what to think.
Sam had been planning to send her to college for a long time? It shocked Presleigh to even think about that because she never remembered him mentioning it to her when they were growing up. Of course he would talk to her about how much he wanted to go off to college and have a normal life, but he never mentioned her having a normal life.
Presleigh heard Sam's footsteps get closer and she quickly stuffed the envelope back in the jar and closed it and slung the box underneath the bed.
"What are you doing, Pres?" Sam asked curiously.
Presleigh stood up suddenly and held up the gathered cards.
"Dropped em," she said. She turned around and went to put them back in the spot Jessica had told her about.
Presleigh had to hide her face from Sam. She didn't know what to think, and her face clearly showed that.
SPN
"I promised Dean I wouldn't skip. I promised Dean I wouldn't skip. I promised Dean I wouldn't skip."
Presleigh kept whispering this to herself as she walked through the hallways of her brand new shiny high school. She was walking to the cafeteria trying to convince herself not to ditch class and go get a smoothie.
While she was talking to herself, Maddox walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Talking to yourself now? Should I be concerned?" Maddox asked with a hint of sarcasm in his eyes.
Maddox wasn't a very expressional person Presleigh was starting to notice; the polar opposite of Presleigh.
Presleigh gave him a playful punch in the arm.
"Can't we just ditch? I saw this really cool smoothie place just a couple of blocks-
Presleigh stopped in growing sadness as Maddox shook his head.
"Pres, come on. We're halfway done with school today. Let's just suffer through a little while longer and then grab a smoothie on the way home," Maddox reasoned with Presleigh.
Presleigh didn't quite know Maddox all that well, but she knew Caleb and trusted Caleb. So that meant listening to him. And Caleb had asked her to be nice to him, and Presleigh found herself not finding that all that hard to do.
"Fine. But I'm serious Maddox. I want a smoothie."
Presleigh pointed her finger at Maddox as they walked through the cafeteria doors.
Maddox nodded his head with a small smile.
"I'm serious too, Pres. I'll get ya one."
Presleigh and Maddox waited in line and got their lunches. To Presleigh's dismay, a sloppy Joe was smacked onto her tray.
"This is why I can't ever get caught participating in the five finger discount program," Presleigh whispered to Maddox.
"Yeah, you're right. Prison food is pretty gross," Maddox replied.
Presleigh stopped in her tracks as Maddox kept walking.
"He's been to prison?" Presleigh whispered to herself.
She then ran to catch up with him.
"Whoa now. You can't just say that and not tell me the full story. You can tell me Maddox. I don't judge."
Presleigh and Maddox sat their trays down on the round table with no other students occupying the other seats. Maddox sat down at the table and said his prayer. Presleigh sat down and did the same.
"Fine. I'll tell you. But you have to tell me something about you then in return," Maddox finally gave in as he picked up his sloppy Joe.
"You're just another one added to the list of interested people."
Presleigh rolled her eyes at the thought of answering even more tough questions from another person.
"Hey, now. I'm not asking anything serious here."
"Well, I kind of thought that since I asked you why you went to, um I don't know, jail that I would get a tough question as well."
Maddox laughed.
"I spent the day in prison talking to the inmates with my church group. They fed us with the inmates."
Presleigh blinked her eyes at him.
"Seriously? Mr. Biker Boots Dirty Long Hair?" Presleigh asked stunned.
Maddox laughed hard for the first time in front of Presleigh.
"I thought you said that you didn't judge," Maddox joked.
Presleigh smirked and then clapped her hands together and closed her eyes.
"Alright then, let's hear it. What's my question?"
Maddox put down his sandwich and looked intently at Presleigh.
"Why do you like smoothies?"
Presleigh peaked at him through one eye and then saw that he was smiling at her. Presleigh opened both of her eyes fully now and grinned from ear to ear at him.
"Because I don't like prison food."
Maddox shook his head and grinned at her again.
"You are somethin'-
"Hey. You're the new girl right? Penelope?"
A tall boy with dark brown hair bubbly walked over to Presleigh. He sat down beside Presleigh and handed her a sheet of paper.
"It's Presleigh," she corrected.
The boy put his hand over his chest and apologized; his bright blue eyes gleaming.
"Oh. I'm so sorry. My fault."
"I'm Cole Berchins."
The boy held out his hand. Presleigh shook it lightly and smiled faintly at him. She then turned to Maddox and introduced him to Cole.
"This is Maddox. He's new too. I don't want to steal all of the new kid's thunder."
Presleigh made sure to emphasize the word new. If she was going to have to play the shy new kid, she wasn't going to play it alone. Cole nodded his head but seemed uninterested with him.
"Right. Well, I came over here to invite you to a college fair. It's this Thursday, and everyone is welcomed. It kind of goes over all of the information you need to know about particular schools and their requirements," Cole said directly to Presleigh.
Presleigh wanting to get the boy away from her quickly ended the conversation.
"Sounds fascinating. Really. Thanks for the invite. I'll think about it."
Cole nodded his head and smiled as he got up from the table.
"Nice to meet you Miss Presleigh."
He winked at her before walking away.
Presleigh rolled her eyes and turned back to her tray of untouched food.
"Well, that was annoying," she said.
Maddox reached over and picked up the sheet the boy had left her. He looked over it and then folded it up and put it in her book bag.
"Maddox. I don't want that."
Maddox looked at her.
"Why not?" he asked her.
"Because," Presleigh muttered.
She picked up her fork and picked at her sloppy Joe with it as she rested her head on her fist.
"I didn't know because was a reason."
Presleigh cut her eyes at him and gave him the death stare. Maddox held up his hands and got the message.
"Okay, okay. You don't have to tell me anything. But I will tell you something. College doesn't mean you're making the choice to cut hunting out completely, if that's what your concerned about. College means furthering your education. It's not something to just completely turn down. It's a decision that needs to be thought wisely about."
"You sound like Caleb," Presleigh deadpanned.
Maddox smiled.
"I've gotten that before."
"Well, do you plan on going to college?" Presleigh asked.
Maddox shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know. I mean, I've been to prison ya know. That doesn't really look all that good on college applications."
SPN
It was Thursday. Dean knew that.
It was five o'clock. And Dean knew that.
Presleigh and Maddox were standing in front of the College Fair Day of Stanberry High School sign. Dean did not know that.
As far as Dean knew, Presleigh and Maddox were going to this cute little smoothie shop a few blocks down from the school.
Maddox had convinced Presleigh to just try the College Fair out and see what would happen. Presleigh was totally against even the idea of it, but then she started liking the idea of convincing Maddox to go. And then he was totally against going.
So in the end, they both found themselves at the College Fair.
Numbers of different little booths were set up for different little colleges all around the state of California.
"So now what do we do?" Presleigh asked Maddox.
Before Maddox could answer, Cole came up from behind her and answered her question.
"Pick any school you like. Ask them questions. Pick up their brochures. Browse, if you will."
Presleigh closed her eyes due to her annoyance with this kid before turning around to the overly excited boy.
"Ooh, fun, thanks," Presleigh blurted out.
Cole seemed unfazed once again by Presleigh's bluntness.
"I picked up one for Stanford. That's my dream school. A lot of brainiacs go there," Cole said.
Presleigh rolled her eyes.
"Tell me about it."
"Well, I'll leave you two to your browsing."
As Cole was walking away from Presleigh and Maddox, he turned around over his shoulder and gave Presleigh a wink.
"The leader leads. And that's you Presleigh Rose."
Presleigh's eyes went wide. Her face paled and everything seemed to freeze.
Did he just say what she thinks he just said? Those were the exact words that her friend at the alternate universe school had told her. Those few words that she promised herself she would never forget. They gave her such a pride and confidence about herself that she didn't like it. But now, all those words gave her was anger.
This was no coincidence.
Presleigh grabbed Maddox's arm.
"We need to go. Now."
SPN
"Alright, that sounds perfect. Okay, I'll see you guys later."
Cole waved goodbye to a group of people outside the high school. He started whistling an old tune as he made his way out to his car. He snapped his fingers to the tune as well.
Once he made it to his car, he opened his door and got into the car. He went to put his key into the ignition, but then froze.
Presleigh and Maddox sandwiched in the passenger seat next to him, who obviously couldn't agree on who was going to sit up front, both were holding a .45 pointed to Cole's head.
Presleigh narrowed her eyes at him.
"Don't stop. Put the key in the ignition, Abbey. We're going on a little trip."
A/Notes: (I feel like I'm so repetitive, but seriously, thank you for all of the love and support!) I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please please give me tips, advice, whatever you would like! Thank you! God bless!(-:
Happygoddess2003: This means SO SO much to me! I mean it! I just love to hear that you enjoy reading my story. It definitely makes adding it into my crazy life worth it. So thank you so much. Feel free to tell me what you want to see next. I would love to write about it!
sjwmaw: Thank you! Okay, so we got to kind of see what's behind Dean's master plan to get back at Presleigh…(-; but more to come of course Lord willing. She's warmed up a little more to Jess. I know it's a little sooner than probably expected. But I just feel like Presleigh is very forgiving… which she kind of has to be when she's John Winchester's daughter lol. But yay! Caleb's back!
Emma Winchester 424: Thank you so much! And I know, I know! Things will start to unravel and make sense about what had Presleigh Lord willing. And haha thank you! I love how the show always has the funniest one liners, so there's my attempt at one… (I'm not funny, just awkward) lol but thanks again for your continued support! AND I'M STILL PUMPED FOR YOUNG NATALIE!
Emma: Thank you! It's so good to hear from you again(-: you definitely give me things to think about, and I appreciate that greatly! And I just thought that Dean knows Pres so well; she can't pull a fast one on him. Nah, she aint that at good lying. Haha but thank you for everything! I really appreciate it. Please continue giving me your input!
Jenmm31: Yay! Thank you so so much!(-: here's Presleigh and Jess's relationship evolving a little bit, as Presleigh has to kind of put Sam first and not herself. We get a little glimpse of what Dean has in store for Presleigh…(-; thank once again for rocking!