"Dean!" Professor Raine shouted, pointing at the freckled boy sitting at the back smirking at a girl.
"Yes, sir," he said, sparing a glance towards the teacher.
A few kids smirked and giggled.
"Stand up," the teacher commanded.
Slowly, Dean stood up and raised his eyebrow.
"Tell me the integration of sinø into cosø," Professor Raine questioned, looking positively bugged.
"Uh," Dean said, scratching his neck and smiling at a girl beside his seat who giggled and blushed.
Professor Raine looked at the exchange, merely amused.
"Sam Winchester," he said, turning on his heel.
The youngest boy in class stood up from the front, nervously.
"Can you answer my question?" Professor asked.
"Y-yes sir," Sam said. "Substituting value of cos with square root of one minus sin square and sinø with t and square root of one minus t squared with z. But of course we will have to break into intervals as we squared-"
"Good, good. Sit down," Professor said, a little surprised. "Now. I gather that you both are brothers."
Sam nodded.
Encouraged, the Professor continued, "Dean, the integration of sinø is cosø. What is the differential of cosø?"
"Negative of sinø," Sam mouthed at Dean.
"Sam, don't help your brother," Raine said, without even sparing Sam a glance.
Dean just stared right back at Raine, without saying a word.
"A week's detention with me and your Football coach will hear about this," Raine concluded, turning around to walk back to his seat.
Dean rolled his eyes and sat down. He resumed to grin at the girl sitting beside him, curling her hair on her finger and biting her lip.
Sam sat down only when Raine resumed teaching. He had tried to get Dean to study he would never listen. They anyway, changed schools every few months. He understood Dean's reasons for not doing homework. He worked extra hours to get money and even handled the house. He pushed Sam to study while their father travelled the country, looking for the man who he thought had killed their mother. It was stressful but as Dean had told him, John Winchester had been maddened by Mary's death. He was initially a cop which made his research even more rigorous.
On good days, Sam managed to feel sympathy for the old man but such days were rare. He usually felt angry. Even though he didn't know his mother, Sam was sure Mary would never want anything like this. Dean had told him about her. Her faith in angels, chicken soup and the fragrant candles she loved so much.
Dean didn't say much but Sam knew he wasn't as whole and happy as he pretended. He looked up to their father and missed their mother. Constantly stressed and working until late at the mechanics', Dean didn't have much time to talk with Sam.
"Samuel!" Professor Raine called, startling Sam. "The class has been dismissed."
Sure enough, everyone was leaving. Dean clapped Sam's shoulder, before entwining arms with a blonde girl.
Sam thanked the professor lamely and left in a rush. He shared advanced math and Political Sciences with Dean. He headed upstairs for Chemistry lab.
Dean looked longingly at the soccer field. He wanted to play. He did not understand why, though. Never once had he interested himself in sports. Not that he wasn't good, he was very good. The incident of beating the bully Harold Andrews at football always brought a smile to his face and had managed to impress every girl nationwide. It was just that sports wasted a lot of time he didn't have. He needed to take care of house, Sammy and also go to work. He couldn't just ignore that for his personal entertainment.
He sighed, leaning against the railing separating the seats from the field. His eyes followed his favourite player on the team. The lankiest fellow on the team but the best defense one had ever seen. He was a senior and two years elder to Dean. Everyone always praised the buff player, Gary White. But Dean saw right through him. His offense was weak and he was just a big old bully with a complex.
"So which player are you looking at or is it the cheerleaders?" a voice asked right beside Dean's ear.
Dean yelped and jumped away.
"Woah, there, sissy boy," the blonde girl said, rolling her eyes. "I'm here to watch the match. Everyone thinks it's because I like boys in shorts. Well, yes I do but then football is so interesting. Mom won't let me watch it on tv. She wants me to study or help her with the bar. By the way, I'm Jo. You are?"
Dean stared at the girl. She hadn't even paused to breathe.
"Not a talker, are you?" she said, turning to watch the match again. "Oh, Gary! How offensive is your offense," she cried, slapping the metal of the railing in despair.
Dean instantly liked her.
"I'm Dean," he said, trying to add a little charm to it.
"Hi, Dean," she said, distractedly.
So, she was resistant to his charm. Dean shrugged, lamely and stood beside her, following the lanky player again. With only his eyes sadly.
"They really should let girls on the team. I'd kick most of their asses. Gary really sucks. I don't understand why he's the golden boy. I'd worry about saying this aloud but I know you. You're the ladies' man here and I know for a fact that Gary doesn't know you. So, that means you won't tell him. Besides, you seem nice. Something about your eyes. I'm obviously not flirting with you because I already have a boyfriend. You see that skinny player in white? He's the best here," she said.
To Dean's delight, she pointed at the same player he was looking at.
"Do you know his name?" he asked, trying to make it seem casual.
"No," she said, not even sparing him a glance.
Dean followed her gaze back to the game.
For the next half hour, the two of them stood together, watching the game. Jo had a habit of commentating in between but Dean didn't mind. He rather enjoyed it.
As soon as the game was over, the players huddled together. Jo finally turned to look at Dean. She smiled.
"Good game, eh?" she asked.
"Yeah," Dean said, his reply delayed. He wasn't expecting her to actually let him reply.
Jo grinned. A very wide grin that lit up her face.
"Well, I gotta go," she said, standing straight. "Mom will be waiting. I have help with the bar and then also complete my homework," she said, rolling her eyes. "So same time tomorrow?" she asked, holding out her hand.
"Okay," Dean said, returning the grin and handshake.
Dean stared as the skinny player got closer to the stands. He almost flailed. It was like getting a good look at your favorite celebrity. The player wasn't skinny as he looked. He actually had a little muscle packed on him. He had black messy hair and his eyes were the most beautiful blue.
The player jumped on the stands and started to walk towards the back, where Dean saw a red head sitting. She was reading a book but got up when he got closer.
"Anna," he said. His voice was low and a little gravelly.
"Finally! I thought it would take you forever," she said, exasperately, putting the book in the bag beside her.
"Well, I was practicing and I've told you, you needn't wait. I can walk back home," he said, with an edge of sympathy.
"Castiel, you are thick," she said, throwing a second bag at his chest and walking past him.
"Well, all the brains were given to my beautiful twin sister, what can I do," Castiel said, slinging an arm across her shoulders.
She just rolled her eyes.
Dean realized he was staring at them. Anna gave him a hard look while Castiel just smiled, walking past him.
Castiel, he thought. Biblical, he decided.