Early one August day, a young black-haired boy was pulling awkwardly at a blue tie around his neck. It was his first day of high school, and he wanted desperately to make a good impression. Checking in the mirror, Castiel Novak decided that he looked very well-groomed. Sans his windswept hair at least.
Nodding to himself, he turned to see one of his brothers leaning against the doorframe, chuckling. "Balthazar?" He cocked his head quizzically to the side. "Why are you laughing?" The blonde boy, also a new freshman, waved his hand dismissively. "You know ties aren't required, right? Sheesh, Cassie, it's not a boarding school." Castiel frowned. "I want to show that I take it seriously." Balthazar rolled his eyes, he was wearing a v-neck and skinny jeans. "Whatever, c'mon we'll be late. And I'm sure you'd hate that." He nodded, and the boys went downstairs.
Ten other teens, all in varying grades of high school, were gathered. One of them, the oldest in fact, noted the new arrivals. "Alright, is Cas done primping?" He grinned teasingly. Balthazar chuckled. "Yeah, we're ready. Are the rides here yet?" The older boy, Gabriel, nodded. "Yup. You guys wanna ride with me in Joshua's car?" Castiel perked up. "Alright." They went down the stairs the rest of the way, and after picking their bagged lunches from the fridge, joined the small throng. Gabriel opened the door, and led the way out.
Everyone split off into pairs or trios, and each headed to one of the four cars parked outside. These particular three boys walked to the Prius (Joshua preferred Hybrids), and clambered in. "Hey Joshua!" Balthazar greeted. "Hello boys." Joshua said politely back, starting the car. "Are you nervous for your first day?" Castiel nodded, but Balthazar shook his head. "Nah, what's the worst that could happen?" The man chuckled. "I see your point, I'm sure it'll all be fine."
Arriving at the school, Castiel eyed it as he climbed out. "Thank you Mr. Joshua." He said absently. "You don't have to call me that." Joshua reminded him. "I'm the groundskeeper, not a teacher." Balthazar shook his head again, and pulled Cas forward. "Bye Joshua~ See you later Gabe!" Gabriel grinned, waving to them, and heading in himself.
Entering the school, the two Novak boys were greeted with the sound of hundreds of students milling around the halls. Castiel's nervousness only amplified. They knew nobody here aside from their brothers and sister, and some of the teachers. "Okay, what classes you got Cassie?" Balthazar looked at their schedules. "Hm... looks like we've got English together later... and Gym... and Earth Science." Cas wished they could have every class together, but didn't voice that. "Well, I guess we'll talk later. You can tell me all about your new friends~" Balthazar chuckled, and winked at Cas, before leaving to find his first class. The boy, now left alone, looked at his first class. Algebra I. He sighed a bit, and went to find it.
Half an hour later, he was still walking through the school. Cas looked at his schedule with mild frustration. "Room A1, where are you?" He sighed, contemplating admitting defeat and asking at the nearest classroom. The thought of interrupting a class only to snickers made his face redden in shame. Nope. There was no way he was doing that, he'd rather have to ask the principal.
Just then, as he was passing by a closet, he heard something inside. As he leaned in to get a better grasp of the sound, it opened. He stumbled backwards, but regained his balance in time to meet a pair of pretty green eyes on a freckled face. The other boy blinked. "Hm? Hey, were you eavesdropping?" The girl beside him blinked. "Maybe he's a pervert." Cas shook his head quickly. "No! I was just... curious. I wasn't sure what I was hearing." The boy snorted. "Uh-huh... well that's none of your business. Why aren't you in class?" Cas stared at him blankly. "I got lost. Why aren't you in class?" He laughed. "Touche! I didn't wanna go. My name's Dean by the way, Dean Winchester. Show me your schedule." Castiel held out the paper. "I'm Castiel Novak."
"Hm... Oh! The math buildings are outside, A1's the first one on the left." Dean explained. Cas blinked. "Why are they outside? Were not enough classrooms built?" The Winchester laughed. "I dunno actually, guess they just wanted to be douche bags. Well, you'd better get goin' if you don't wanna get in trouble!" He nodded. "Thank you, Dean." Dean shrugged. "No problem." Castiel left to go find his class, glancing briefly back and smiling. Had he just made a friend?
Once lunch came around, Cas and Balthazar exited their Earth Science class together, and headed for lunch. Cas had told his brother about the boy he'd met before Algebra, and Balthazar got a strange look on his face. "Hey, I heard about him during one of my classes too. He's a senior, and apparently he's got a pretty bad reputation." The black-haired Novak blinked in surprise. "Well he seems nice." Balthazar shrugged. "Eh... I'm just telling you to be careful. Gabriel's got a bad reputation, but he's family so we know what to expect from him."
Entering the lunchroom, they looked around for an empty spot. Seeing none, Balthazar thought. "Hey, let's go eat on the roof!" Cas nodded, and followed him. When they got to the roof, they saw two boys already there. One of them... "Dean?" The taller boy looked up from where he was sitting. "Oh, hey! Cas, right?" He nodded. "We didn't expect people to be up here." The shorter boy, who seemed to be around the same size as the two Novaks, shook his head. "You can sit with us, if you want. I don't mind." He looked at Dean, who hesitated, then nodded. "Sure." Balthazar sat down first, then Cas followed suit. "Thank you."
"I'm Sam, by the way. Dean's brother." The boy introduced himself. "I'm Castiel, and this is my brother Balthazar." Cas returned the favor. "Are you another freshman?" Sam blushed faintly, and got an irritated look. "Actually I'm a sophomore..." Dean snickered. "Yeah, he's just kinda short. His friend Andy Gallagher's even shorter though." Cas cocked his head. "Gallagher?" A vague image of a watermelon crossed his mind. "Not like that Gallagher." Sam said hurriedly.
"Anyway, how was your first day?" Dean asked the pair. "Well, we heard a lot about our brother Gabriel's shenanigans." Balthazar said bluntly. Cas nodded. The older Winchester laughed. "Oh yeah, he's your brother too, huh? Yeah, that last one with the cement balls painted like soccer balls? Priceless!" Sam rolled his eyes. "You just thought it was funny because Uriel tried it at a run." Dean cackled in amusement. "Hell yeah!"
Sam frowned. "Hey, isn't Uriel a Novak too? There are a lot of Novaks in this school, come to think of it." Castiel glanced at Balthazar. "Well, there is a reason for that..." Balty nodded. "We're not actually related. We all live in... well, I guess you could call it an unofficial orphanage." Dean raised his eyesbrows. "Oh? Huh, guess it explains why none of you guys look alike."
As lunch came to a close, Cas finished his PB&J sandwich, and folded up the bag to throw away. He stood up as the bell rang. "Thank you for letting us eat lunch with you." Dean grinned. "No problem. It was actually pretty fun." Cas smiled a bit. "Yes... it was." Maybe this school year wouldn't be so bad after all.