A/N: Welcome to the mess that ended up being a five chapter story of Sam Winchester's kindergarten experience. Considering this was only supposed to be ONE chapter when I started writing it in May, I'd say it's gotten out of hand, especially because I finished last week. But, as always, when something takes more than three seconds, I wouldn't be publishing if it was humiliating.
Disclaimer: I disclaim all rights to Sam, Dean, and John Winchester. I disclaim all rights to anything involving Supernatural. I disclaim that this story has no embarrassing spelling errors, and if it does, please point them out to me, because when I read my stories, I find mistakes to the point where it's embarrassing. Then, I'm lazy, so I don't fix them, but if YOU find them, I might.
Never Mind.
Chapter One: Of Big Brothers and Kindergarten Jitters
By fourth grade, Dean knew school was a joke. You didn't need a college degree to be a hunter, and that was exactly what Dean was going to be. Dad promised that Dean could come with him once he turned ten, and Dean would be ten this year. This year, Dean would be an actual hunter like Dad, and Uncle Bobby, and Caleb, and Pastor Jim, and a whole lot of other people who were a lot cooler than the mechanic or traveling salesman Dean told everyone his dad was.
So yeah, by fourth grade, Dean knew his grades in school would impact him. Besides, every time they moved (which was a lot) Dean was behind or confused and they were never anywhere long enough for him to bother catching up anymore. It was that he wasn't capable of it, it was just hard work, and Dean had other things to worry about.
Like training and Sammy. Last year, in third grade, Dean would have to skip school to watch Sam, and sometimes, Dean let homework slide to make sure Sam was okay. Dean didn't mind. It was just part of being a big brother, and besides, school was a joke.
This year would be different. Sam was going to full-day kindergarten, so Dean wouldn't have to stay home from school if Dad went hunting. They still wouldn't be in any town for more than two months, so it wasn't like either of them would have a chance to settle in, but still, maybe Dean would do better in school and make Dad feel like Dean wouldn't grow up to be a one-trick horse.
Just because Dean didn't think school was important, didn't mean Sam should feel like that too. Somewhere, deep down, Dean realized that would make him a bad big brother, and Sam was so excited about going to school. Dean wasn't going to ruin that for him. No matter how geeky that made his little brother.
He was, however, going to dose him with a hard sense of reality. He just wanted Sam to be prepared.
Dad was home the night before school started, and he even made dinner to celebrate Sam going to kindergarten.
"You excited about school tomorrow?" asked Dad. Sam was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. "Stop bouncing, Sam," he added sharply.
"Yes, sir," said Sam.
"Geek," scoffed Dean good-naturedly.
"Nu-uh," said Sam back, although he didn't really know what "geek" meant. "I'm just smart." He had a pretty good idea though.
"Whatever."
"Why don't you like school, Dean?" asked Sam. "Is it bad?"
"Nah," lied Dean. "Only, the other kids can be really mean."
"Oh."
"The teachers too, sometimes," added Dean.
"Like how?" asked Sam, who was suddenly pulling that stupid puppy-dog face.
"Some of them tell you you're stupid," said Dean with a shrug. "They probably won't tell you that, Sam. You practically glow in genius juices." Sam wrinkled his nose at the thought of really smart people like Dad or Dean being wrung out for the stuff that makes them so smart.
"And, I mean," continued Dean. "We dropped you in so much of the stuff; you're practically a genius, so I'm guessing school will be easy." No one noticed Dad's smug smile. Dean's smile, however, vanished. "Don't get the wrong idea, though, Sammy," he said warningly. "Moving and school don't really go well together." Sam cocked his head. "Like, different schools teach different things different times, so sometimes, you're a little behind."
"Don't scare him, Dean," said Dad.
Dean ignored him. "It doesn't mean you shouldn't try, though, okay?" he continued. Sam nodded. "Because that would be a damn shame." Dad had given up a long time ago to get Dean to stop cursing (granted, he didn't try very hard). "And you know what I always say?"
"If I need anything, ask Dean," repeated Sam.
"Right," confirmed Dean. "I don't mind, and besides, big brother knows best," he added with a smirk.
(Supernatural: Of Big Brothers and Kindergarten Jitters)
Dad dropped the boys off at school in the big, loud badass Impala that Dean was trying to get his hands on as soon as he was old enough to drive, even though Dad told him it was never going to happen. Sam grabbed Dean's hand as soon as Dad and the Impala were out of sight.
"Dean," he whispered nervously. "Where do I go?"
"How should I know, Sam?"
Sam shrugged. "Find it," he muttered.
"Are you kidding?" asked Dean incredulously. "I'm new here, too, Sammy! And all of the kindergartners are new!"
"Sorry," muttered Sam, but he didn't let go of Dean's hand. He stood on the blacktop with kids milling around them, staring down at his boots. "Could you help me?" he asked without look up.
"Fine."
Dean took Sam over to where a kindergarten teacher was herding a bunch of five-and-six-year-olds into lines and handing out name tags. Most of them were holding their parents' hands loosely or striding confidently (and not-so-confidently) over. They were all nervous, but none as nervous as Sammy, who was clutching Dean's hand so hard it hurt.
"Loosen up, kiddo," Dean whispered. "I think I found the kindergarten."
"Really?" said Sam bitingly. Five-years-old and a biting sense of sarcasm. Sam clutched Dean's hand harder.
"Skip the bitch-face, Sam," he muttered back. Dean pried Sam's fingers off his hand. "I gotta go, Sammy." He gave Sam a little half-smile, ignoring his own anxiety growing in the pit of his stomach. "You've been so excited about school, too! Just remember that. You'll be fine. I'll see you at the end of the day."
Sam nodded, but he didn't move, so neither did Dean. "Why can't you come with me?" Sam pouted.
Dean rolled his eyes. "I have to go to fourth grade, genius. I already went to kindergarten."
"You could go again," Sam muttered under his breath.
"Yeah, right," said Dean, who apparently heard anyway. "Don't be a girl, Sammy, just go to school."
Dean supposed he wasn't being totally fair. When Dean went to kindergarten, he was so scared he couldn't speak. He remembered something like a temper tantrum, resulting in Dad half-dragging him to school. But come on, this was Sam. Sam wasn't afraid of anything and he was afraid of going to kindergarten! Sam fearlessly answered strangers' questions, and was too cute on purpose, and forced Dean to walk to the library and got a library card all by himself, even though he could hardly read or write, and even though Dean told him they were just going to move before he could get any use of it. Sam always talked back to Dad, and he always talked about Mom. And Sammy was afraid of going to kindergarten.
Sam threw his arms around Dean's waist. "I'll see you at the end of the day," said Sam.
"Yeah, okay," said Dean back. Dean sort of didn't want Sam to go to kindergarten.
A short woman with dark hair came over to the boys. She smiled and her cheeks had dimples deeper than Sam's, but Dean thought it wasn't quite real. "Are you Sam?" she asked. Sam wrapped his hand in Dean's jacket. He nodded. She handed Sam a long piece of yarn with a stupid laminated paper pencil with SAM W written on it in big, black letters.
"Bye, Dean," said Sam, disentangling his hand from Dean's jacket, looping the name tab around his neck. He readjusted his backpack and smiled. He was excited again.
"Be good," Dean reminded him, even though reminding him to be good was like reminding him to breathe, or Dean to take care of Sam, or Dad to be awesome.
(Supernatural: Of Big Brothers and Kindergarten Jitters)
Dean was late for fourth grade. Like as soon as the kindergarten was herded inside, Dean was the only person on the blacktop playground. Sighing, he fished the paper that had his teacher's name on it from his pocket and made his way inside, expertly avoiding the secretary/security guard at the front office. Thankfully, all of the teachers had their names taped to their doors, so finding the room wasn't hard.
He was still late. Dean planted a fake grin on his face and stalked inside. He smirked at his teacher and took his seat. He knew it was his because it was the only seat left. Dean Winchester was written in neat, cursive letters.
The teacher rushed over to him. "You must be Dean," she said sweetly. She was kind of young, and Dean thought she was kind of pretty. He felt sort of bad for making a bad first impression.
He nodded. "That's right," he said.
"I was afraid you got lost." She handed him a stack of papers for Dad to fill out. Grown-up homework, he would grumble. Like he didn't have enough to deal with without having a million papers to sign. "Did you get lost?" the teacher asked Dean.
"Nah," answered Dean. He wanted to say No, ma'am. My little brother was afraid to go to kindergarten. I wanted to make sure he was okay. Instead he said, "Nah, I had to make sure my brother made it to school."
"Oh," she said. "Your brother?"
"Sammy's in kindergarten," said Dean in the way that he only ever talked about Sammy.
She smiled and went back to her desk.
(Supernatural: Of Big Brothers and Kindergarten Jitters)
In kindergarten, Sam was also given papers for Dad. His kindergarten teacher smiled at the class and introduced herself. Her name was sort of long and hard to pronounce so she told them it was okay to just call her Miss D.
Then, she told them to sit on the carpet in a circle so they could play a fun get-to-know-you game. The kindergartners all sat on an A-B-C rug (Sam could already sing his ABC's forwards and backwards, even though Dean told him that knowing your alphabet backwards was stupid). She said that they would go around in a circle and share their name and one thing they did over the summer. Miss D. started, and when she was done, she smiled at them. It was sort of a fake happy smile, but no one had ever smiled at Sam like that. Dad would think she was kind of patroning, or something. "Who's next?" she asked.
Sam's hand shot up in the air. A couple of other kids raised their hands too. "Okay, Sam," she chose.
"I'm Sam," said Sam. "This summer Dean and I went to Uncle Bobby's and played every single day, and Dean wasn't as bossy as he usually is when Dad works."
"Good, Sam," said Miss D. "Jeffery, you're next."
The boy sitting next to Sam grumbled a little and they went around in a circle. One girl, named Emma, went to Disney World and rode a big-kid rollercoaster. Another girl named Alice learned to roller-skate.
The last student to share was sitting next to Sam. "I'm Andrew," he said. "This summer, the only thing I did was go on some road trip with my two older brothers, and three older sisters. And my mom and dad didn't come so it was just the six of us stuck in a car most of the time. It isn't that exciting though, cuz my oldest brother is eighteen and smells like socks."
Sam didn't think it sounded exciting anyway. He was always in the Impala, and Dean smelled worse than socks.
Then Miss D. asked who was nervous about kindergarten. Sam was still kind of scared. There were lots of kids in his class and he couldn't remember anyone's name except for Andrew (with the big family) and Miss D. Everyone except for Andrew (with the big family) and a little boy (even smaller than Sammy) whose name might have been David raised his hand. "See?" said Miss. D. "It's okay to be nervous." Then she read a story about being nervous in kindergarten and how the little boys and girls got un-scared of kindergarten and how it was really fun.
Miss D. sent them back to their tables. Sam sat at a table with Andrew (with the big family). Sam smiled shyly at him. There were two girls at their table too. Their names were Lauren and Victoria.
After they introduced themselves to their tablemates, Miss D. handed out pieces of paper with black letters and spaces and places to color. Miss D. handed out crayons to color with.
Sam could read the papers, just like Dean said he'd be able to. "This is me. My name is –"and then a blank space to put your name.
They were making a class book, she explained. On the line they would write their names and they could draw a picture of themselves and then we would put them together in a class book. They would all get a copy at the end of the year. Sam was so excited; he forgot they wouldn't be staying until June. "This is me. My name is Sam." And he drew a picture of himself and his floppy hair. They all shared their pictures and names again.
It was time for lunch after that. Miss D. told them they should line up shortest to tallest. Sam just after Possibly David, who had two girls in front of him. Andrew with the big family was all the way in the back.
Sam clutched his brown bag lunch to his chest as Miss D. led them to the cafeteria, reminding them not to talk in the hallway and not to run and showing them the main office and stuff. Sam sat with Tall Andrew with the Big Family at lunch.
