"Dude, really?"
"What?"
"Seriously?"
This time, I paused and looked at him, wondering what could make him say that again. I waited to see if he had anything less subtle to say, I swear Dean, you're a big pain in the ass. "What did I do this time?"
Shaking his head with a small smirk, Dean turned his attention back to the car. "Nothing."
Oh give me a break.
"Come on Dean, you started it." I argued, hoping I'm not gonna regret it. "What did I do this time?"
We just got into the Impala, I haven't even said anything and already he's starting to get on my case. I can see it now, he's gonna bash on everything I chose and call me all sorts of names. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. Was he like this to Sam when they were kids?
"You're dressin' like a nerd again." He said, putting the key into the ignition. Like he can talk; here he is again wearing dark clothes and the exact same leather jacket. If anything, I'd say he hadn't showered or changed his clothes since we've met. And he's ragging on my ass about my attire?
"Oh come on, Dean, it's just jeans and a hoodie. What's nerdy about that?"
And a rosary, a few rubber bracelets with movie titles on them, a hat and a band t-shirt underneath...
Ok, I get it. But still, jeez.
"I just had to have two geeky brothers." He reached over and yanked the black hat off my head, and dropped it on my lap. "Leave this in the car, you can wear the rest of that crap. Deal?"
"Deal." Crap? Never mind a pain in the ass, he's being a dick. I can't tell if he's doing it on purpose or if he's messing with me. Either way, it's gonna be a long day.
Before Dean hit the gas, I touched my chest, feeling the rosary beads underneath. One way or another, I was going to wear it. I'm pretty sure Dean knows I'm wearing it, he just hasn't said anything. Out of respect, I hid it underneath my hoodie. I can't say for sure, but I felt safe with it on me.
"Ready?"
The word echoed in my head, like it had a much deeper meaning than a simple drive into town. I can't figure out why, but the word felt like a heavy rock in my gut.
Stop it, just answer the question.
"Yeah." I answered flatly. What else can I say?
I looked out towards the cornfield again, watching them sway back and forth in the autumn wind. Relieved to see nothing but stalks of corn and dead leaves. I pray he's gone for good, whoever he was. But that's also odd, considering he was there just moments ago. How can anyone be there one second, gone the next?
Maybe he was the reason I got out last night.
When I first heard of Mason City, I expected to see sky scrapers, long lanes of traffic, and a bunch of stop lights hurdling herds of people to and fro. Even though 'city' is in the name, this doesn't look like it. Even the late morning traffic didn't feeling like a legit city. It looks more like a large town. Some of the stores were connected and put into center's like a bunch of mini malls. They were, literally, connected like one giant building with different signs on the front. About five minutes later, we started seeing bigger stores like Fleet Farm and Target and a bunch of restaurant chains nearly filled corner to corner with cars. Must be lunch time or something. After the fourth or fifth stop light, Dean turned left.
Shockingly, he's been quiet since he gave me grief about my hat. I'm no mind reader, but I can tell something's bothering him, and I have a strong distinct feeling it's about me. Or maybe he did see that guy in the cornfields. Actually, I want to talk to him about what's bugging him, ask him about that guy, what I'm suppose to be looking for at the stores, why he's been so quiet. At the same time, I don't want things to get awkward.
Then Dean turned left again, then again into a parking lot and parked the Impala in the nearest spot. In front of us was a family struggling to get the kids in the car while putting bags of food into the trunk. Wait, we're at a grocery store? You can get school stuff here?
"I thought we were shopping for school stuff." Considering I'm not starting for a good while, why not start early!? Ok, cool down Cas, don't panic.
"We will, we just need to get some stuff here." Dean said, pulling out a small list from his pocket. He looked at me expectantly. "What? You comin?"
Not like I got anything better to do.
I hopped out of the car, and joined Dean as we walked up to the store. Right as I stopped to look for traffic, Dean grabbed my sleeve tightly and held me still. The hell? I know to look both ways before crossing a road. I ain't a child. He still had a hold of me when we crossed and got into the store. Casually, he grabbed a basket and turned towards the produce section.
"Bobby wants us to pick up some stuff." Dean said as he started putting food into the red, nearly broken basket. My mind went back to the stuffed fridge and cupboards at the house, wondering why Bobby would sent us to get more. Dean and I only ate breakfast burgers, we didn't even touch the milk or the fruit. And I doubt Bobby eats that much food.
"Don't we have enough?" I asked, wondering what food I liked in this section. It's a grocery store, best time to wonder what I like and don't like. "You and I didn't clean out the cupboards at breakfast."
Dean scoffed and looked at me like I was some kind of idiot. "Bobby won't touch apples and grapes, at least not the fruit kind."
Not the fruit kind? What...
"Not the fruit kind?" I asked slowly, I hope I'm not gonna regret asking. Dean chuckled softly, shaking his head as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and continued walking.
"I'm not talking about that stuff with you yet." He said, squeezing my shoulder with an amused grin. "Wait til you get your first girlfriend, then I'll tell ya."
Tell me what? What's a girlfriend? Stuff I don't wanna know about, and questions I don't need answered! Leave it as that and move on!
Now that I get a moment to think about it, I wonder if Bobby is Dean's dad. Everything Dean grabbed; tons of bacon and eggs, donuts, hamburger meat, the foods that were making Dean drool, were things that Bobby planned on filling the cupboards with. I guess living on the road can make any guy miss a home cooked meal.
We walked up to the register's and Dean pointed to the machines filled with various drinks.
"Might wanna grab one, it's gonna be a long day." He told me, placing the food on the conveyor belt. My eyes glanced over the options, nothing but soda and some tea and water at the bottom. Now that he mentions it, my throat was pretty dry and we didn't grab anything from the house. But there's a problem.
"What's good?"
"I drink beer, Cas." Dean said, patting me on the shoulder. "I don't like drinking a lot of soda or any of that healthy crap. I'm a warrior that survives on beer and pie."
In other words, you're on your own. Great.
"Excuse me." Startled, I jumped to the side, watching a teenager grab a familiar greenish yellow soda from the machine. But with so many choices, how can that kid make such an easy choice? Oh to hell with it.
"That's full of caffeine." Dean informed, picking up the basket. "You just had coffee. You sure?"
Dude, seriously?
"Yeah, I'm sure."
"You stay here." Dean commanded as we pulled up to the house. I froze, waiting for him to continue. "Best to let Bobby put this stuff away. If he's up."
"Ok."
I sat still, watching Dean haul the bags of groceries up to Sam who kept glancing at me. His expression blank as paper. I sighed and looked out the window. I'm kinda getting' sick and tired of getting the stank eye from Sam. Either he's got serious middle child issues, or he's got a problem with me and just won't man up and tell me.
In a way, I was glad Dean was taking the food up. So far, this has been one of the happier days I remember, which may as well be since I only remember a couple of days. I didn't want Bobby ruining it for me by giving me death glares, bad enough I was getting them from Sam. I can feel his gaze burning the side of my face, I wouldn't be surprised if he was imaging me bursting into flames by his eyes. I should tell him he's no Superman.
I looked into the side mirror on the door, seeing Ryan feeding the horses and pigs across the street. He turned around, saying something to two blond haired boys dressed in dirty shabby clothes. Then, coming up to the gate on a horse was a thin, dark brown hair girl younger than me. But not by much. Ryan looked at her and pointed to the barn. Nodding, she coached the horse into the bar and hopped off.
Man, this is driving me insane. I want to meet them so bad, I think more than anything, I just wanted to have a friend. I know, woe is me type of bullshit heard in cliché stories. But I'm alone, and I'll possibly be alone unless I try to communicate. I just hope I do better than I did talking to Ryan this morning.
"Hey, quit staring." Dean said, slapping me behind the head. Good thing he didn't slap me hard enough for my head to bash into the dashboard. But it still stung. "Don't think the neighbor would appreciate you staring at his daughter."
"Think I'll suffer head damage before I get to school."