AN: Hello! Although I'm not a huge fan of high school AUs, I find that they're fun to write. Please enjoy this one I decided to start on whim as a contribution to the destiel part of the archive.

"Dad, when's mom coming back from work?" asked his sister impatiently.

"The traffic is really bad over there, so I don't know when."

"But I need help with my homework!" said his brother

"Daddy's busy right now. Go ask one of your brother's to help you... Cas, will you help him?"

"Yes, what do you need help with?"

"Math, but mom is better at helping me with it..."

His sleepy eyes opened and his first question of the day was why he had decided to replay that memory out of all of the ones he could choose from.

Monday 26th of August

School was a bore to many students, but no one felt it as tedious as Dean Winchester. As he glanced down at his new time table, Dean sighed because he would have to go through another year of misery and things he didn't care about. Since his dad had persuaded him to take at least another year before dropping out, it would seem that he would have to endure this one with whatever patience he had left.

Liberton High School, unchanged as ever, was full of predictable outcomes. But he couldn't predict the girl who walked into his path that day.

Unanticipated and dream-like, a girl with red hair came up to him out of what seemed like nowhere. This took him by surprise since he was too busy reading his time table to look where he was going. Dean had never seen her before, but she was cute and his attraction towards her was growing the longer he looked at her face. Her lovely face that demolished the filter in his brain.

"Heaven must be missing an angel." he said.

"I've heard that one before." the girl replied. She had a nice smile, he thought. Teeth that reminded him somewhat of Freddie Mercury... God, no. What a terrible comparison. Her teeth were like white pearls. Better.

"No doubt you have. Though, I don't think I've seen you before."

"That's because I'm new," the girl answered. "I was about to ask where I could get one of those." She pointed at the time table in his hand.

"Weren't you issued one before the start of term?" he inquired. Then a little half smile. "Or is this an excuse to talk to me?"

He had really gone over his head now, but the new student didn't seem to mind. She laughed a little at his flirty nature and continued.

"Mine was stolen," she explained.

"Oh, I see," Dean didn't press for details even though he was curious as to why would someone steal another person's time table. "Reception is to the right of the stairs which is just down the hall. They'll give you another one."

"Thanks," She outstretched her hand. "My name is Anna, by the way."

"Dean." He shook her hand, her fingers feeling small and light. "My locker is that way too, so, mind if I walk with you?"

"Of course not."

They walked to reception, and while they waited for Anna's new time table to print out, they talked. It turns out that she moved to this school because of her dad's new job. He was a writer, but his books were failing, so he found a job in a publishing firm. Dean mentioned that his dad was a mechanic, to which he added that he was going to follow that career path as well.

The receptionist handed Anna both a locker key and her newly printed time table. Dean had a glance at the latter and his eyebrows raised.

"You're a senior?" he asked.

"Yes, I am. Are you?"

"I'm a junior." He put his hands in his pockets. "Sorry, I thought you were too."

"That's alright. To be honest, you look like senior yourself." she replied.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Anna continued to read what classes she had today and frowned. "I have no idea where any of these rooms are." she sighed.

"Well, you'll get the hang of it. Rooms that are numbered below a hundred are on the ground floor, rooms numbered 100 - 199 are on the second floor and the rest is on the top floor." Dean explained.

"Again, thank you." she said. "It was nice to meet you."

"Same here."

Dean wished her luck as she went her own way to her find her locker. On his way to his own locker, he thought about Anna and cursed that, being in the year above him, she wouldn't be in any of his classes. Her voice still chimed in his head, though, and he craved to hear it again.

He found Benny waiting at his locker, probably with news about his summer. A summer, Dean guessed, was spent indoors.

"Didn't think you'd be coming back this year," he said as he stopped leaning against the pillar.

"Well, you know me. Can't get enough of this place." replied Dean jokingly.

Benny played football on the school's team and hated just about every member on it. He was fast when it came to picking up rumors. Dean hated rumors, particularly about himself, but being friends with Benny meant he could find out things on a need-to-know basis.

"Saw you with new girl a few minutes ago." Benny commented.

"Do you know her?" asked Dean.

"Nah, but I know she isn't the only one, though. Her brother's moving into our year."

"She didn't mention she had a brother." Not that she needed to mention it, but if the conversation about their families had continued, he probably would have found out.

"My sources ain't wrong." Benny confirmed.

"Do you know his name?"

"No, but were gonna to find out since he's in our English class anyway. Which is... now, actually." he said while checking his pocket scrunched time table.

"Excited to find someone new to pick on?"

"You'd just tell me to quit picking on him. Since you're pretty smitten with his sis, I take it."

"Well, your right about me wanting to see more of her..." He gave Benny a push for grinning too much. "Not in that way, you pervert. I mean, I'd like to hang out with her. So picking on her little brother isn't going to get her to like me."

"Hey, you never know. You might be pals with him and then have an excuse to go over to her place." Benny suggested.
"Speaking of which, how is your little brother? Kid's getting tall."

"Sammy's fine. He was actually pretty happy about going back to school. I swear, he gets a kind of high or something when he opens a new textbook."

"Well, we can't all be as enthusiastic about this dump, right?" said Benny. The bell was almost about to ring and commence the first class of another insufferable year.

This year, their new teacher would be Ms. Blake. Who, as far as teachers go, was one of the most tolerable of the school's staff. Dean was certainly glad he didn't end up with any of the less tolerable teachers in the English department, as most of them still held a grudge against him.

So, the two of them headed to class. Being careful to avoid Meg Masters in the hallway and sighing with relief as she passed the class room door, because this meant that she wouldn't be in their class this year. Dean didn't even want to think about last year's English class when Meg Masters sat in front of him and caused all kinds of problems. They sat down at the back of the class and saved a seat for Jo when she came back from her holiday in Europe. Ms Blake began with a welcome back speech and Dean could already feel the slow disappearance of his good mood.

Ten minutes into the lesson, but the anticipated new student hadn't shown up yet. As Ms. Blake droned on, Dean began to wonder if Benny was wrong and that he wasn't even in his class. However, he was proved corrected when the door opened and revealed the brother of Anna.

"Yes?" said Ms. Blake. In the way Dean was seated at the back of the class, he could only make out the top of the new student's head, who had black hair.

"Um, It says on my time table that I'm in this class." said the student. His voice was quite deep had a kind of gravely sound to it.

"Ah, you're the new student that I was told would be joining our class. You're a little late, though. What's your name?" asked the teacher.

"Castiel."

Did Dean hear that correctly, or did the new kid just mispronounce his own name? Castiel...

"Nice name." she commented, though it was unclear if this was sarcasm.

"Thank you."

"We don't have any available desks for you at the moment, but since Jo isn't back from her holiday yet, you can take her's for now."

Crap. Dean's desk was right next to Jo's which meant the new guy had to sit next to him. He could see his face now as the new student made his way towards the desk. Squintish eyes and straight nose. Benny, to his left, repressed a laugh at how convenient the seating plan was.

The teacher picked up on where they left off, explaining to Castiel what it was they were learning. After that, she told the class to copy the notes she had written on the board about drama terminology. I've got more chance of surviving a 40ft drop than remembering this stuff. Castiel pulled out a notebook and a pencil from his bag. Mildly impressed that he came prepared on his first day, Dean leaned over slightly to talk to him.

"Got a pen I could borrow?" he asked. Then that was the first time that Castiel looked at him, and Dean thought it was a little unnerving. Castiel went through his bag and procured one from his pencil case then handed it to Dean.

"Thanks," He took the pen and laid it next to his own notebook. "You know, I met your sister in the hallway. She's nice."

"Oh," he replied. "Yeah, she is nice. I suppose she'll make friends fast here."

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure you'll make friends here in no time, too." Dean said. He should probably start writing down the notes on the board, but he'd rather make conversation with the new addition to the class. "Castiel is kind of an uncommon name."

"I like it. Though, my family is known for uncommon names." he remarked.

"Really? I think Anna is pretty common name, if you ask me."

"Well then, I guess she's the exception to the rule." said Castiel amusingly. They both began to write the words on the board then Dean spoke up again.

"I've got a brother. And my dad. Neither of them have cool names, though."

"Are you implying that not only is my name uncommon.. it's cool?" he asked while squinting. I wonder if he does that a lot.

"Well... yeah, I suppose it is cool." Dean admitted.

"Thanks," Castiel took a glance at Dean's notes. "Uh, you misspelled 'soliloquy', by the way."

Unlikely. How could he have misspelled something that the teacher had already written down? But upon closer inspection, he realized that Castiel was right. That was a little bit embarrassing. He didn't talk to Castiel for the rest of the lesson.

There was something that Benny said which stuck at the back of Dean's mind. If he could become friends with Castiel, maybe he could be closer with Anna. From the moment he saw her, he couldn't get her out of his head. She was pretty and had an adorable smile that would make anyone melt in her hands. He could see himself with her.

It wouldn't hurt to be pals with her brother.

Was it true that he would be able to make friends easily in this place? Castiel was home schooled up to the 6th grade and didn't have many friends in the school before this one. The only person he could call his best friend was his foster brother, Balthazar. Though even then, he didn't think that counted. His sister, Anna, was a great friend too, but she wasn't always there all the time. Other than his siblings, Castiel had never made any other friends. Maybe now was time to do so and since this was a new school, no one new what he was like. He could be anyone he wanted to be! Not just the shy kid who always tried to do what he was told.

His next class, Maths went well and was easy enough to pick up on, but the dark haired girl who was eyeing him up like a meal behind his seat unsettled him a little bit. He didn't talk to anyone or find someone who would make a potential friend, though he eventually concluded that the first day of starting a new school might be too early to start making friends. But who knows?

After a double period of history, it seemed that he would spend lunch with Balthazar like last year. Castiel looked for his brother who had already found a table near the vending machine.

"You look a little depressed," said Balthazar as Cas took a seat. "Was history really that bad?"

"How did you find it?"

"I was about to fall asleep," he replied. "I don't remember history being that boring. It's clear that you're upset about something, though."

Castiel didn't reply and took out his packed lunch, a peanut butter and chocolate spread sandwich on brown bread. It was made sloppy, but tasted better than it looked.

"Made it yourself?" asked Balthazar. He bought his own lunch.

"I miss the way she makes them," he said as he took a bite.

"Well, there's no use getting sentimental about it," said Balthazar in a dismayed tone. "I don't think I could bring myself to eat one just yet."

Not far from where Cas was sitting, he could see the guy who asked to borrow a pen from him earlier, sitting at his own table with his small group of friends and... well of course she would be there. Standing next to Dean was Anna. And for a brief moment, the pen borrower and Castiel's eyes met but then averted as she was talking.

"Looks like someone's making new friends." Balthazar commented when he noticed the direction Cas was looking in. But Cas just looked down at his sandwich again, away from the attention that his sister was getting. "Oh, I see. Were you hoping to make new friends as well?"

"Don't take it as offence." said Cas.

"No, I completely agree. You really need get more friends."

"Okay, now you're offending me."

"How about you join Anna and her new found clique over there?"

Cas took a look at the small group again and wondered if he could ever find a place among there. But if he left to go and introduce himself, Balthazar would be eating lunch alone. He picked up on this straight away and pointed it out.

"Don't worry about little old me, I've had my fair share of eating lunches alone before you even stopped home schooling."

"Sure you don't want to come along?" asked Cas. But Balthazar just rolled his eyes which meant it was something he'd rather not do, so Castiel went without him.

I feel nauseous already. He approached the table with slight hesitation then Anna, who was sitting down now, spotted him and smiled while Castiel felt the other pairs of eyes look at him.

"This is my brother, Castiel." she announced. "I believe you and Dean have already met."

His name was Dean? It was the student who thought his name was cool. He gave a slight nod to Dean and then looked at his other friends who were probably waiting for him to say something.

"...Hello."

"Castiel, right?" asked one of them. A boy whose hair fell over his eyes. "Do you like the school so far?"

"Yeah, it's... a lot bigger than my old school." he replied. Perhaps his 'people skills' weren't all that rusty after all.

"Come sit with us, if you like. Anna was just telling us that she was in ballet." said another one. A red haired girl, like his sister.

"Okay."

He sat opposite Anna and next to the other girl who invited him. His sister continued with her ballet story and the six of them listened in. It was true that Anna had taken ballet lessons, but stopped before the summer. Although, it was nice to hear her still talk about it though, Cas thought. His family had given up a lot of things before the move...

"Cas himself took tae kwon do lessons for a few months." said Anna. This brought Castiel out of his daydream and into the horror that was half a dozen people looking at him.

"Really? That sounds so cool!" said another.

"I didn't really enjoy it that much." he replied. Cas's experience with people picking on him usually ended with them being injured due to underestimating his skill in hand to hand combat. Needless to say, he wasn't a stranger to landing himself in trouble at school, even if it was accidental. People didn't bother him much after that, but he supposed that was the reason why he didn't have many friends.

The conversation moved on to other things and Castiel was eventually introduced to everyone at the table. The red haired girl was called Charlie and the boy with the hair over his eyes was called Sam, who happened to be Dean's younger brother in his sophmore year. The one in the hat was called Benny and the other at the end of the table was called Garth.

They talked about things that Cas didn't know the context of yet. For example, people in they knew in school, teachers, television, family, music... It was only natural that Cas felt a little left out, but Anna managed to keep up with the topics of conversation a lot better that he did and she was just as new as him. He contemplated about rejoining Balthazar and spending the rest of his lunch with him, but he was determined to make some new friends this year. He stayed put, but not really listening to their words.

"Are you nervous?" she asked him. Cas nodded. "Well don't be. Going to school is just like being home schooled except lots of people will be learning there too."

"I know what school's like, mom." he replied putting his lunch in his bag. "Gabriel told me."

"Is that so? Well whatever Gabriel told you, it's probably not true" she answered. He should have known better than to listen to his older brother's tall tales about school.

"Not even the aquarium?" he asked. His mother laughed.

"You watch tv, yeah?" she said. Cas nodded again. "Well, the schools on tv are a little like that, except a lot more learning is done. And done worry, you'll make friends. Maybe not on the first day, but one day you will."

When the bell rang at the end of lunch, he was at his locker to put away a new text book he'd received in history. What he didn't expect was Dean walking towards him, returning the pen that he borrowed from Castiel earlier.

"Thought you might need this." he said.

"Thanks."

Cas opened his bag to put the pen inside while Dean leaned against another locker, arms folded. Is he wanting to talk to me? He remembered to put his locker key in the front pocket of his bag so he wouldn't lose it.

"You don't say much, do you?" said Dean.

"I'm... sorry?" So what if he had nothing talk about? It wasn't like they were eager to include him in discussions anyway.

"What do you have next period?" he asked.

"Biology." Cas replied. I think...

"Room 114?"

Cas pulled out his time table. "Uh... yes."

"Your in the same class as me then," Dean smiled and hit Cas lightly on the shoulders. "Let's go."

When Castiel talked with Dean as on their way to class, he didn't feel the pressure of trying to impress him or worry that he might think he was boring. Dean was full of humor and treated Cas like he'd known him all his life. It was funny because the only people who acted like that around him were his family.

So it was a little refreshing to be treated like that from someone he had only just met that day.

"Anna mentioned that you moved here because of your dad's new job." said Dean. True. More or less.

"Yeah."

"Is she your only sister?"

"Um, no. I have a lot of siblings, actually." mentioned Cas.

"How many?" Dean asked, now more curious.

"Would you believe me if I told you?" said Cas.

"Try me."

"Fourteen brothers and sisters."

"Holy crap," Dean exclaimed. Cas was somewhat pleased with his astonished reaction. "Your kidding."

"No, I'm serious. Including Anna, there's fourteen of us." he confirmed. Dean gave an incredulous look.

"Talk about Cheaper by the Dozen."

"I've never seen that movie."

"I wouldn't recommend it." he said. "So go on, how crazy is your family?"

"More than you know." Cas scoffed.

In biology, there were three seats to each lab table so Dean and Castiel chose the one to the back of the class. They talked some more as the classroom was filling up with students. Dean was interested in why Castiel had taken the class and it turns out that biology was his favorite subject. The mysteries of life and all that shit. At least you didn't take it because you thought it would be easy and everything else bores you.

Dean thought Castiel would be a great friend. He wasn't afraid to admit it. He was a little shy, but Dean believed that he could bring him out of his shell, even though he was only trying to be friends with him to get to know Anna better. Their conversation was short lived when a demon dumped her school bag on the table.

"Hi, Meg." Dean greeted her sarcastically. "I was getting hopeful that you wouldn't be coming back this year."

"Aw, looks like your dreams have been shattered once again, Dean." she replied. Round faced Meg with the scary demeanor and the nasty attitude. He never understood why it was always the short people who got on his nerves the most.

"Why don't you go find another table?" he suggested.

"And be all by myself? Nah, I'd rather sit with my favorite classmate and this delicious new addition to our school over here," She looked at Castiel who was taken aback at the comment. She sat down in the vacant seat to his right and introduced herself. "Meg Masters."

"He's not interested." Dean contributed who was on Castiel's left.

"What, he's not allowed to make friends? At least I should know his name." she said.

"It's Castiel," he said. "My name."

"Well, Castiel, looks like were going to have fun, won't we?"

Mr. Turret, the Biology teacher, handed out sheets with the course objectives for this year. Meg passed one to Cas, but delibiratly didn't hand one to Dean. Wow. Throughout the period, Meg was talking away with Cas. Dean didn't know why it bothered him, but it did. He can make his own friends, can't he? Maybe it was because he was worried that Meg would be a bad influence on him.

"Mr. Winchester, I didn't expect to see you in my class again." said the teacher as he passed their table. Well, sorry to disappoint. "You barely scraped a pass in your last exam before the summer. Therefore, I recommended you'd take a class that was more to your forte."

"Well, what can I say. I just... love Biology." he replied with the most credible smile he could manage, but Mr. Turret didn't buy it. He shook his head and went to the next table.

"Academic troubles, Dean?" Meg jutted from behind Castiel.

"No! And that's none of your business, anyway." he replied. Meg's harassment would drive him up the wall before the end.

"Just curious, but why did you take biology, Meg?" asked Castiel.

"I know what I'm good at and I pursue it." was her short reply. Her proximity with Cas was marginally closer now. He was a little uncomfortable with this so leaned to the left, however, this meant he was leaning closer to Dean who had about enough of these two.

The attention Meg was giving Cas wasn't going to be as sweet if she started spreading lies about him. But Dean didn't fret over it because it was the first day of a long year. Who knew what to expect from it? Castiel, ever the small talker, tried to include Dean into he and Meg's conversations, a gold sign for Dean that meant getting this friendship to spark would be a snap.

AN: It's probably not much so far, but further chapters are already being written.
Reviews are much appreciated.