The most annoying sound in the world, according to Castiel, was the sound of the alarm clock. He was quite sure that every high schooler would agree with him.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
With a groan, he rolled over to stop the infernal noise, only to swear loudly.
"Gabriel!" he yelled in rage as he tumbled out of his bed. A loud cackle was the only response he got.
His idiot of a brother had changed the timing of his alarm. He hadn't switched it off. No. That way, Castiel would no doubt miss school. The younger Novak brother didn't believe in getting out of bed, until forced by something or someone. So Gabriel had set the alarm in such a way that Castiel had only ten minutes to get ready or miss school entirely.
He cursed the college system for giving their students such long breaks. He now scoffed at his previous thoughts of missing his brother when Gabriel was at Stanford. How he had forgotten about all the years of being pranked was beyond him. He should have been prepared. But it wasn't his fault in assuming that Gabriel would have grown up when he was off studying to be a lawyer. Nope. He should have known better. He hadn't grown up at all. Not one bit.
Still mentally cursing Gabriel, he randomly picked out a T-shirt while pulling on his jeans and trying to brush his teeth simultaneously. He wouldn't dream of slacking in his dental hygiene no matter how much in a hurry he was, thank you very much. He desperately wanted to shower but that was not an option if he wanted to make it.
His parents were in the kitchen having breakfast when he waved a quick bye to them as he rushed out of the house and into Gabriel's waiting car.
His brother took one look at him and burst out laughing. Castiel was a sight. His usually wild hair was wilder than usual, his blue eyes valiantly tried to show anger despite being clouded with the vestiges of sleep and he was grumpy. All in all, he looked like a puppy that got caught in the rain. Castiel punched his brother in the gut for good measure, trying to cut off the laughter.
"Ow!" Gabriel said, "I almost felt that." He grinned mockingly and started driving. Castiel just scowled.
"Aw! Come on Cassie. You've got to admit, this is funny."
"I don't see the humour in this, Gabriel. Just like I never saw the humour in any of your pranks." he said. "And I've told you. Don't call me that."
"You couldn't see humour if it was two inches from your face" Gabriel said, sticking his tongue out.
It was in times like this, that Castiel wondered how they were even related. Maybe Gabriel was adopted. That would explain so much.
"Keep your eyes on the road" Castiel lectured as he pulled his seat belt on. One could never be too safe. How Gabriel passed his license test, he would never know. And of course, just to antagonize him, Gabriel took both hands off the wheel to pop a candy into his mouth.
Deciding that some things were just a lost cause, Castiel ignored him resolutely for the rest of the ride.
When they reached his school, he groaned at the almost empty parking lots.
"Shit" he cursed. Sparing just enough time to pinch (Ha! Felt that?) his giggling brother he almost ran into the hallway. He reached his locker just as the bell rang shrilly.
Gathering his books he made his way quickly to the chemistry lab.
He sighed in relief when he finally sat at his assigned desk. Students were still tricking into the class. He wasn't late.
Mr. Simpson, their teacher, explained that they would be doing a complex titration that day. There were limited number of equipment, so they would have to do the experiment in pairs. Immediately an excited buzz went through the class as the students started picking out their partner. His mind immediately thought of a particular person sitting at the far left, but he willed himself to be practical. The entire class probably thought of the particular person immediately too.
"Hey!" Hannah called out to Castiel, distracting him from his thoughts. Her desk was adjacent to his. "You can be my partner" she said with a smile. He smiled back at her. "Sure" he said. Castiel's small group of friends would claim that his 'people skills' were rusty and really he hadn't been looking forward to finding a partner. He didn't have any of his friends in this class. Hannah was always nice to him, so this partnership would work.
However Mr. Simpson had other plans.
"Quiet. I've already formed the pairs. Please join your partner at their desk where the equipment is already present as I read out the names."
They all groaned collectively.
Mr. Simpson began to call out the names as if he hadn't heard them.
Castiel resigned himself to be paired with a stranger. The equipment was at his desk, so at least he didn't have to move.
"Dean Winchester" Mr. Simpson read and the whole class seemed to hold its breath "and Castiel Novak."
If Castiel hadn't been so focussed on the speck on his desk willing away a blush and trying his best to control his heart from leaping out of his mouth and running away, he would have seen that almost everybody in the class was giving him a look. Some girls, Bella, in particular was giving him the stink eye.
When he did look up, it was to see the 'too-pretty-to-be-called-handsome' face of Dean Winchester taking a seat next to him.
Did he mention that he, Castiel, had a huge crush on Dean Winchester, the football team captain, Mr. Popular and was known as a ladies man?
No? Well then. Yeah. He did.
This class was going to be a long one.