Bess offers to take me school shopping one day near the beginning of my school experience. I tell her that I appreciate the offer, but that I have enough clothes already. I don't want to wear anything other than the plaid shirts and jeans that I already have from my time with the Winchesters.
For the most part, I'm completely miserable. I try to get myself to be happy, and accept the fact that this is where I live now, but I just can't. It's so hard to try to have a normal life again, after everything that's happened. I can't just ignore everything and pretend that I feel normal, because I don't. I'm not some little twelve year old girl who's life is easy and normal and boring.
I keep away from friends all together. I don't want to form attachments to people, and I'm just very unwelcoming in the way I look. I make sure that I ward off people, because getting close to me has serious consequences. I've lost everyone I love, even if it was for my own safety.
One thing that I never will admit doing (if you quote me) is something I know Bess and Garth saw, at least once or twice. I'd pick up the house phone, because I didn't have a cell phone, and I'd dial Dean's number but hang up before it could call. I'd do that almost every single day. I'm not sure why I never allowed myself to call him. Maybe I missed him too much and I was worried that calling would only hold me back from moving on? Or maybe I didn't know what I was going to say. Or it could have even been the fact that I was worried what I would say, that I would break down.
One day, about a month into my stay, I decided it would be fun dialing the number 666 and seeing if that did anything. I was really bored, in my defense. I mean, I knew that there were supernatural beings, and demons, and that Satan really does exist. I heard that Lucifer's actually a pretty funny guy, so I figured the worst that could happen was me talking to him down in the cage.
But there was one thing I was not expecting. Someone answering. "Hello, darling," came in a familiar English voice over the phone, and I nearly dropped it.
"Crowley?" I asked.
"You sound surprised," he said, pretty nonchalant.
"Do you know who this is?" I asked him, a little surprised that he wasn't.
"Skylar Winchester, aged 12 years, born in Ohio, adopted daughter of Dean Winchester, currently lives with werewolves Garth and Bess Fitzgerald," Crowley recited, as if he had it prepared.
"So calling the number 666 literally calls you?" I asked him.
"Yes. Now do you want to sell your soul or am I just wasting my time?" he asked, irritated.
"Dick," I retorted.
"That's just rude," he said.
"What you said was rude, too," I pointed out. The silence was an indication that he didn't disagree. "Well, if I ever feel like selling my soul, I'll make sure to call," I said when the silence was a little bit too uncomfortable.
"If you need anything, feel free to call. I have many demons at my disposal, and having them do something for you would be as simple as a snap of my fingers," Crowley said. With that, he hung up. I was taken aback a bit. Was Crowley making an attempt at being nice to me? Weird as hell. And not as in actual hell, because that actually made sense. Hell is pretty simple-it isn't complicated at all. This was just confusing.
A month after that, I'm doing my homework in the kitchen, when I think I hear a familiar sound. I can't place my finger on it for a little while, and when I realize what I thought it was, I can't believe it. It's completely impossible. But, when I look out the window, I see a black '67 chevy impala pulling into the driveway. "Garth?" I half-yell, really confused.
Garth and Bess come into the kitchen, smiles on their face. This isn't unusual at all, like it would be if I was talking to someone different. They are the happiest people in the world, so I'm not fazed at all by their happiness. "What is it?" Garth asks.
"Why is the impala here?" I ask them. They both smile bigger. "What is it? Are they visiting?" I ask them.
"No, you're going home, Skylar," Bess says. I feel like I'm going to explode at that moment, and it's a great feeling. I'd never felt so happy before then. First, I have to make sure that they are saying what I think they are saying. Bess nods and my expression.
"I need to pack my bags!" I say, running towards my room.
"They're already packed," Garth says, gesturing towards the door.
"Listen, I'm sorry for everything. I didn't want to be unhappy here, and it's not your fault at all," I say. I didn't want them to think that it had anything to do with them. It was just the fact that I couldn't be happy leading a normal life. Not anymore.
Luckily, Garth and Bess completely understand. They act like what I said was completely obvious. "You love Sam and Dean. They were there for you after your parents died. There's nothing wrong with getting attached to them," Garth says. I'm really completely stunned. Like how is this even happening right now? "Go run out there and make sure they know how much you've missed them," Garth commands, gesturing towards the door.
I break into a run when I see Dean get out of the car. I run up to him and give him the biggest hug that I could possibly give him, nearly knocking him over. "I love you, Dad," I say, completely genuine.
He's surprised, but extremely warmed. He kisses me on the top of my head. "I love you, too, kid," he says. Oh my god, I didn't realize how much I missed seeing those two dorks until I saw them again.
I give Sam a huge hug, as well. I missed him, even if it wasn't as much as Dean. I missed both of them so much, it hurt. "Okay, kid. So here's the deal. You come back with us, you go to school," Dean says before I get in the car.
Honestly, I'm really surprised by this. I really shouldn't be, but I am. I mean, there are plenty of reasons why I shouldn't go to school, but there are also a few reasons why I should. For me, they weren't important. But I guess for Dean those reasons were important. "I don't like people, though," I protested.
"I know. But you need to go to school. Your parents dying doesn't mean that you're not going to graduate high school," Dean says. I mean, I knew I would go through at least a little school. But the prospect of graduating high school seemed a bit unrealistic.
"You didn't graduate high school," I point out.
Dean tries to come up with a good response to that, but he isn't able to. "Just get in the car," he says. I smile and get in the back seat of the impala. I missed the smell of it-the alcohol, the old and worn leather, the gun powder. Dean puts my stuff in the trunk of the car, and both of the boys get back in the car, and we leave after saying goodbye to Garth and Bess.
"So Garth called us about a month and a half ago telling us that you were miserable there. He said that you were homesick," Sam says after we pull away from Garth and Bess's house. He turns around and gives me a look.
"I missed you guys a lot," I admit.
"Did you at least try to be happy?" Dean asks me.
I know he doesn't mean it badly, but I can't help but get a little angry. "Yeah, of course I tried! It's not like it's easy being plopped from a normal life to a life where demons and monsters exist, and then being plopped somewhere else just after you've begun to get used to everything!" I exclaim.
"I'm sorry, kid. I didn't mean it like that," Dean apologizes.
I immediately feel really bad about the way that I snapped at him. I knew that he wasn't trying to imply anything, even if it came off that way. "I know. I'm sorry that I got mad. It hasn't been easy lately," I say.
"No need to be sorry. I can understand how what I said seemed to come off that way," Dean says, shrugging. Sam and Dean and I talk for the rest of the car ride, basically telling each other how the last couple months have been. They expected me to have made friends, but I really didn't. They had basically just been on a few hunts in the past two months-killed ten vampires and seven demons. They claim that they could have killed over twice that much, but that it was really difficult getting used to life without me. Although that was somewhat believable, I had a hard time that they would have killed that much if I was there. Basically, though, I was just glad to have them back in my life.