I will always remember the first time I saw him.

Of course, after going to the same school for three years, I had seen him around, crossing paths occasionally but never truly acknowledging each other. We remained in separate spheres of life, divided by our academic levels and our social status. But this was the first time I truly saw him.

It was the first day of my senior year of high school, and I took the seat in the back of the physics classroom, placing my headphones in my ears, and scrolling through my music library to find a song that would drown out the conversations of those who sat around me. I decided on "Suspect Device" by Stiff Little Fingers, turned the volume as high as it would go, and let the opening guitar flood my ears, squeezing my eyes closed while I shut myself away from the external world.

My solitude was almost immediately interrupted by a tap on my shoulder. I opened my eyes, turned my head to face the intrusion, and was met with the stern glare of a girl with fiery red hair. I knew this girl to be Anna Milton, a popular girl who had been in several of my classes in the past three years since I started attending this school. I removed one of my headphones, and tilted my head questioningly, wondering what so important that she had interrupted one of my favorite songs.

"Uh… you're Castiel, right?" she asked, lifting her eyebrows in fear that she had gotten my name wrong, even after being acquainted with me for quite some time. I nodded, causing her to relax but her face turning stern again.

"Well, can you turn down your music? Everyone around you can hear it, and it's kind of obnoxious." I gritted my teeth at the familiar request. You should be grateful I'm showing you some real music, I thought to myself, but instead I smiled sheepishly and proceeded to turn the volume down slightly.

As I turned back to her to confirm she was satisfied with me obeying her request, I noticed her attention had turned to the front door of the classroom. As she studied who walked through, she ran her fingers through her red hair, and straightened her back, keeping her eyes focused on the boy. I bowed my head and rolled my eyes discretely, and then looked up again to see who it was she was gazing at.

That was the moment everything changed. That was the moment I saw him. Dean Winchester.

He was dressed in a dark brown leather jacket, which was snug around his arms, but hung loosely down his back and over his hips. Underneath he wore a black Led Zeppelin t-shirt, a faded pair of jeans, and around his neck hung a golden amulet, that appeared to be some kind of face. His faced bowed as he texted eagerly on his cellphone, smirking as he received a response. He shoved his cellphone into the pocket of his jacket, and scanned the room, searching for an empty seat.

The sun shone through the window, hitting his face perfectly as he glanced up, illuminating his golden brown hair, and making his eyes sparkle with a fluorescent green that stood out perfectly against his tan complexion. His jaw was chiseled, and he was clean shaven except for a light stubble over his chin. His skin was flawless, apart from freckles that sprinkled his nose. He ran his tongue over his pink lips, causing them to glistened against the light.

I only realized I had been staring when I noticed his eyes fall on the empty chair next to me. He pulled his lips into a small smile, as if silently asking my permission to invade my corner of the classroom. Rather than responding I slipped my headphones back into my ears, and averted my glance to watch my fingers tap the rhythm of the song against the surface of the table. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw him start to take small strides toward me, gripping a hand over the strap of his backpack that hung over one shoulder. Again, the sound of my music was interrupted by a high pitched voice.

"Dean!" Anna yelled, taking a step forward to block his path.

"Hey, Anna," Dean said, scrunching his mouth up in an awkward smile.

"I saved you a seat over here!" she grinned, placing a delicate hand over his forearm and trying to lead him to a seat which was situated between her own, and her friend Lisa. He hesitated before giving into her pull, and then swung his backpack off, slumping into the chair and crossing his arms. Lisa flipped her dark wavy hair over one shoulder and then leaned toward him, giggling and batting her eyelashes. I rolled my eyes again, turned my music back up to full volume, not caring whether anyone else could hear it or not.

Mr. Turner, the physics teacher, walked to the front of the classroom, and cleared his throat, waiting for the chatter to stop. I took the time to pause my song, which was now "Raw Power" by Iggy and the Stooges, removed my headphones, and then pushed my cellphone into my pocket. By the time I looked up again, the class had gone silent, and Mr. Turner stood with his arms behind his back.

"Welcome to 12th grade Physics, I'm Mr. Turner. Now, since it's the beginning of the year and I know you guys still have your minds in summer, we'll ease into things. First I'm going to take attendance, and then we'll discuss the curriculum for this school year."

He sat down at the computer on his desk, and pulled on a pair of reading glasses.

"Lisa Braedan?"

"Here!"

Garth Fitzgerald?"

Here."

"Joanna Harvelle?"

I'm here."

"Anna Milton?"

"Present!"

"Castiel Novak"

I raised my hand slightly, not wanting to speak. Mr. Turner glanced up and nodded at my gesture.

"and Dean Winchester, I saw you walk in. Tell Bobby I said hi, will you?"

"Sure thing Rufus," Dean said with a grin.

I frowned, wondering why Dean and our Physics teacher were on a first name basis.

"Hey, here I'm your teacher, so you have to call me Mr. Turner, remember?" The teacher called back, chuckling as he spoke.

Mr. Turner passed out the syllabus and then discussed the course load for the year. He explained how tests were weighted, and discussed the format of the midterm and final exams. He was a kind man, he explained everything well, and didn't seem entirely uptight about the lesson plans.

I glanced at the clock, noticing there were only three minutes until the bell rang. I kept my eyes locked on the seconds hand as it ticked it's way around. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the silence that had spread over the classroom was pierced with a shrill ring. I shoved the syllabus into my backpack, and slung it over my shoulder. With my eyes aimed at my feet, I walked swiftly out the classroom and down the hallway.

It was lunchtime, and I sat at my usual table with a red lunch tray in front of me. Before I began eating my burger, I once again put my headphones in and chose a song. Before I could pick up my burger, a hand came from behind me and snatched it away.

"Hi Cassy," the person spoke. I didn't even have to turn to know who it was. I would recognize that English accent anywhere.

"Balthazar, give me my food back." As my friend moved around the table he took a bite out of my burger and then placed it back on my tray.

He slumped down in the chair next to me, and picked up my phone, unlocking it to see what song I was listening to. He grimaced when he read the band name.

"Social Distortion? Come on Cassy you can do better than this bollocks." He pressed the skipped button until he found "Complete Control" by the Clash. He picked my right headphone out of my ear and began listening along with me, using the plastic utensils on my tray to drum to the beat on the table.

Balthazar was really the only person I got along with at school. He had moved here from England three years ago, and we clicked immediately. He was cynical, extremely sarcastic, and uninhibited, but he knew how to make me laugh, and listened to the same music as I did. We kept to ourselves for the most part, but our peers weren't overly fond of us.

"I like Social Distortion, Balthazar," I laughed, snatching my phone back from him. "Don't complain or you can find someone else to listen to music with."

My friend sent out a fake laugh. "Yeah, as if. You know you're the only one for me!" He ruffled his hand through my hair roughly and then returned to his fake drumming. "What's wrong? You seem a little down," he asked.

"Nothing, you know, first day of school always sucks." Balthazar took that as a challenge. He knew making a fool of himself in public never failed to cheer me up.

I laughed watching him attempt to spin the plastic knife around his fingers, dropping it on the floor continuously. He gave up, and changed the song, finding "No feelings" by the Sex Pistols. As the song started, he snatched my phone from me, placed both headphones in his ear, and leaped out of his chair. This time he chose to play air guitar, singing the words loudly.

"I got no emotions for anybody else, you better understand I'm in love with myself, myself, my beautiful self!" he sang, causing people from the surrounding tables to turn and frown at him. He disregarded their annoyed expressions and put on his best Johnny Rotten impression, finishing off the song by smashing his air guitar into the table, and then blew a kiss at a football player who grimaced at him from the table next to us.

I threw a french fry at him as he slumped back in his chair and laughed.

"Stop acting like an idiot," I laughed, "it's only the first day of school and you're already going to piss of a teacher."

"See if I care! We only have one more year at this awful place, I will act as I please." He crossed his arms, and raised his chin in the air. There was no arguing with him.

As I continued to eat my food, I noticed my younger brother and another boy of his age walking toward our table. My brother had just started at this school as a freshman. The other boy had long brown hair that fell past his ears. He was much taller, but quite lanky and had a young face.

"Hey Castiel, do you mind if we sit with you guys? All the other tables are taken."

"Hi Gabriel!" Balthazar said cheerfully throwing his arm around my brother's shoulders and pulling him into the chair next to him. "Who's your friend?"

"This is my friend Sam Winchester. He's a freshman too." Sam smiled awkwardly and held his hand out to me. I took it and smiled back, noticing his familiar last name. He set his lunch tray down on the table, and sat in the chair closest to Gabriel.

"How's your first day Gabe?" I asked, dipping another french fry in ketchup and taking a bite.

"Uh, it's alright. My teachers are dicks but at least I made one friend," he responded tilting his head toward Sam who was stabbing his fork into his salad.

"That's more than I can say for Cassy," Balthazar said laughing. I nudged him with my elbow and chuckled.

"Don't act like I'm not your only friend," I said and then turned my attention to the other freshman boy. "How about you, Sam?"

"It's been pretty good, thank you. I don't see a lot of my friends from middle school in my classes, but I have English with Gabe. My older brother is a senior too. Do you know him? His name is Dean."

I nodded, my mind flicking back to physics, thinking of the small smile he gave me while he stood at the front of the classroom, and the way his eyes shone in the sunlight.

"Yeah," I said softly, "I think I have a class with him this year."

"Are you guys friends?" the younger Winchester asked me, and Balthazar started laughing.

"I don't think we're the kind of people your brother would associate with," he said with a smirk.

The cafeteria filled with the noises of chairs scraping the floor, indicating that students were heading back to class. I took one last bite of my burger before pulling my backpack over my shoulder, and throwing my trash in the garbage can behind me.

"I guess it's almost time for our next class, what do you have Balthazar?"

"Study hall with Mr. Shurley, what about you?"

"Calculus with Mr. Crowley," I wrinkled my nose in irritation, knowing he wasn't the kindest teacher.

"Well, I'll see you after school then Cassy?"

"Yeah, see you then."

Sam and Gabe were already making their way toward the door of the cafeteria, and Balthazar ran to catch up with them, knowing his class was in the same direction.

I walked forward, attempting to dodge the masses of students who were discussing their next classes. Before I could make it to the front door, I felt someone forcefully bump into my shoulder from behind, knocking me onto the hard floor. I looked up and saw an athletic boy I recognized as Raphael, though I wasn't sure of his last name.

"Hey, watch where you're going, faggot." He spat the words at me, turning to his group of friends who all laughed, and continued on their way.

I rolled my eyes, getting called that name certainly wasn't uncommon. Before I could pull myself off the ground, I looked up to see a hand outstretched, inviting to help me up. I was hesitant to accept it, but froze when I glanced up at the boy's face to see a pair of sparkling green eyes. I took his hand, and smiled awkwardly in thanks as he helped me up.

"I'm sorry, don't listen to them, they're just a bunch of assholes," he smiled reassuringly.

I didn't look him in the eye, and instead turned to walk toward my next class. Before I could get more than a step away, he stood in front of me, blocking my path.

"You're Castiel, right?"

I looked up, and met his eyes with my own. He looked at me curiously. How had he known my name?

"Yeah."

"I think our little brothers are friends. And your in my physics class, right?"

I nodded slowly. He looked confused at my lack of conversation but didn't pry. He smiled, similarly to the way he had smiled at me earlier that morning.

"Okay, well, I'll see you around Cas."