Chapter Ten - The New Dexter

Months went by and Dexter slowly stopped feeling the hurt that Julienne had caused him. He worked hard acquiring anything and everything he could to save up enough money for what he planned on doing next. She thought he was a loser, a disgusting man, she'd show him what he really was. He saved and saved until he had enough, and then he headed into town.

His first stop was the consignment shop. No he didn't have enough money for brand new clothes, but he had enough to buy a whole new wardrobe that wasn't ripped, torn or so dingy. After that he headed to the salon to get his hair cut. The transformation was amazing! He even flipped off the mirror pretending it was Julienne. He felt wonderful with his new look and the new Dexter was going to be happy.

As he walked out of the salon, confidence back after his makeover, he ran into Dee Tex. She was the police officer that had come to his house long ago when the burglary happened. At first she didn't recognize him and he didn't her. Then she stopped turned around and called his name. He turned not sure who was talking to him, and saw her smiling at him. She reintroduced herself and they stood there chatting for awhile before passerby's started giving them looks. Dexter didn't realize how much they had in common and didn't want to stop talking just yet, so he worked up the nerve to ask her to the fall festival. She said yes and told him she would meet him there later.

Dexter went home after that, put his new clothes away, showered and changed. He'd never been to one of the festivals in Twinbrooke's, but they always looked like fun. He was to meet Dee around 6pm at the festival, so at 5pm he called a taxi and headed back into town.

She cleaned up nicely was his first thought. Out of her uniform you could see the length of her hair and it showed off the beautiful blue of her eyes. She wasn't supermodel gorgeous like Julienne, more cute like the girl next door.

Dexter and Dee had a wonderful time at the festival, they talked a lot more, then had a little bit to eat before they headed into the haunted house. Dee was laughing and having such a good time that Dexter didn't even protest when she drug him into the photo booth to take a picture. Take a picture, that was it. Nothing more, and Dexter was relieved. He wasn't ever going to throw himself at another woman again and sure wasn't going to make the mistake of sleeping with her before he even knew her. He still didn't know if that baby Julienne was carrying was his or not. Not that he'd have any rights to it, Julienne made that clear.

As the night progressed Dexter found himself thinking less and less of Julienne and more and more about Dee. What was her story? She was single, that was a relief! Dexter had found that out right away! They played games together, laughing and having a good time. He let her win or so he thought on a few of them.

When it started to get dark, the festival announced that the fireworks display was about to take place. Dee and Dexter had just gotten out of the haunted house for a third time, and positioned themselves where they could watch the show. It was beautiful, and Dexter had to say, it was probably the most magical night of his young life.