"Hurry up, Sammy! I'm not going to be late because of you!" Dean yelled up the stairs. A minute later, Sam bounded down the stairs, glaring at Dean.
"I'm 14 now; we go to the same school. Don't call me Sammy."
"Okay, Sammy, good luck with that," Dean retorted, smirking as he grabbed his backpack and walked past his father, passed out on the living room couch, and out the front door, Sam following behind him. He walked over to his Impala and unlocked the driver side door, climbing in and leaning over to unlock the passenger side for Sam. Sam climbed in, still glaring at Dean with all his might.
"Your face will get stuck like that, you know," Dean smirked at Sam, putting the car into gear and driving the car toward school. When they arrived, Sam practically leaped out of the car and sprinted into the school, leaving Dean to smile at his retreating frame. Dean grabbed his backpack, locked up the Impala, and walked into the school, surveying the familiar surroundings. The school looked basically the same as it had the last three years he had attended it. The lights illuminated the hallways, displaying the pristine white walls and the old lockers, remnants of graffiti still vaguely visible on their yellow surfaces.
Dean was so busy looking around he didn't notice the boy in front of him until they collided, causing Dean to stumble back a bit and the other boy to fall, his books scattering across the floor.
"Oh, Jeez, Man, I'm so sorry," Dean apologized, extending a hand to the boy. The boy looked up, skeptical, and reluctantly took the offered hand. The boy was tall, with unruly black hair and blue eyes, dressed in a white button up and slacks.
"It's no problem," he replied, bending down to begin picking up his books. Dean stooped to help him.
"I haven't seen you around here before, are you new?" Dean questioned, standing and handing the boy the rest of his books.
"Uh, yeah, we just moved here," the boy accepted his books, adding them to the pile in his arms.
"Oh. Well, I'm Dean. Dean Winchester," Dean smiled at the boy, holding out his hand. The boy shuffled his books around in his arms to free his hand.
"I'm Castiel Novak," he responded, shaking Dean's hand. Dean's eyebrows knitted together slightly.
"Castiel's a pretty rare name. I've never heard of it before"
"Yeah, most haven't," Castiel agreed, offering a weary smile. The bell signaling the beginning of class rang, cutting the conversation short.
"Well, uh, I guess I'll see you around then, Castiel," Dean offered, a questioning look on his face, unsure of whether or not he had pronounced the name properly.
"Yes," Castiel agreed, an encouraging smile on his face, "I shall see you another time, Dean Winchester." Dean offered one last smile before turning from the boy and walking down the hall to his class. He entered the classroom, seating himself comfortably in the middle to avoid drawing attention from the teacher, aware that the front of the room was for the nerds and the back was for the slackers, both drawing large amounts of attention, whereas the middle was mostly ignored.
"Well, looks like we have history together, Short Bus," Dean turned toward the familiar voice to see a slim blonde girl sitting in the seat beside him.
"Oh, how wonderful, Jo. Can't think of a better way to start my day," Dean teased, earning a playful punch in the arm from Jo. The teacher called for the attention of the class, ending their conversation. Dean zoned out, barely hearing the teacher droning on at the front of the classroom, going on about the policies for the year and the grading system and all the other "essential knowledge" that he needed for the class. Dean didn't even notice the bell had rung until he saw people beginning to pack up their bags and leave. Dean grabbed his bag, looking around for Jo, having expected her to wait for him, only to see her walking out the door with an unfamiliar red haired girl. Dean sighed and set off to his next class, alone. Science went much the same as History had, Dean only noticing the bell had rung because people were getting up to leave. He grabbed his things and trudged to the next class, already weary with how boring his classes were.
Dean walked into his art classroom, a class he had only taken because he expected it to be an easy A, and looked around. This classroom wasn't set up like the others. Instead of desks, there were tables along the walls, and art supplies in the back. Dean surveyed the room, trying to decide where to sit when he noticed a familiar head of black hair. He smiled to himself, walked over and sat down.
"Hey, Cas. I guess we have art together?" Dean questioned, shortening the boy's name for fear of mispronouncing it. Even if he had gotten it right before, it was still a mouthful.
Cas gave him a smile. "It appears we do. Would you like to sit with me?" Dean blinked, slightly stunned at having been invited to do something he planned on doing anyway.
"Uh, sure. Yeah, that's why I came over here," Dean chuckled, taking the seat across from Cas. A silence followed as Cas unloaded his backpack. "So, uh, what other classes do you have?" Dean tried to make conversation.
Cas looked up at Dean and blinked. "Well, I have science first, and then Latin, art third, obviously, history next, then English and math after lunch," he recited, looking up as if trying to remember.
"Nice. I think we have English together. Latin, huh? That's pretty impressive," Dean complimented, trying to be friendly.
"Oh, no, not really. I just have a thing for languages, I suppose. Many of them have Latin roots, and I find it fascinating to see where they all began," he smiled at Dean. Dean smiled back, about to respond, only to be cut off by the teacher beginning to speak at the front of the class. Cas turned in his seat to face the front of the class, and Dean just stared at the back of Cas' head until the bell rang.
"See you later, Dean," Cas smiled at Dean, breaking him out of his reverie.
Dean looked around, only to see people leaving again. Man, he really needed to stop zoning out in class. It was only the first day and he was already ignoring the teachers.
"Uh, yeah. See you around, Cas," Dean smiled back as Cas turned and walked out the door. Dean got up and forced himself to continue walking to his math class, only to spend the whole time staring at the clock, counting down the minutes until class ended and lunch began.
Dean practically ran to the cafeteria, extremely glad to have a break from classes and be able to eat. He was so focused on loading his tray with food that he didn't notice the two girls approaching him until one of them spoke.
"Slow down there, hotshot, or you'll turn into a fatass," Jo joined him in line, followed by the same red haired girl from before. They both grabbed trays and began loading them with food.
"I would tell you the same thing, but it's already too late for you," Dean laughed at the look on Jo's face as they paid and walked over to a table to sit down.
"Dean, this is Anna. Anna, Dean," Jo introduced the red haired girl after they were settled in at the table. "Anna was kind enough to talk to me this morning while somebody zoned out and completely ignored me the entire class," Jo gave Dean a pointed look. Anna smiled up at Dean.
"It's nice to meet you," her eyes sparkled as she said it, and she tilted her head to the left a bit.
"Yeah, you too," Dean smiled back at her. "Thanks for entertaining this one," he motioned toward Jo, "so I didn't have to deal with her horrible rants."
"Dean Winchester, you know my rants are anything but horrible," Jo chimed in.
"No complaints here. I find her rants rather entertaining," Anna joked, smiling again. Dean looked down at his food, and the girls were forgotten, soon tied up in their own conversation about girl stuff or whatever it is they were talking about. Dean was too distracted by the mountain of food in front of him to notice. He devoured it, savoring every bite, ending it all with a slice of apple pie, nowhere near as good as diner pie, but, Dean decided, still acceptable, as far as cafeteria food goes. The bell rang just as Dean finished his pie, and he groaned, mad that lunch was already over, but satisfied that he at least got to sit through English with pie in his stomach.
The girls stood up, waved at Dean, and walked off. Dean stalled, not wanting to stand after having eaten so much. He waited a few minutes, and when he realized the cafeteria was almost empty, he resolved himself to getting up and walking to class. He grabbed his backpack and left the cafeteria.
He heard loud voices coming from ahead of him in the hall and he walked toward them, curious as to what was happening. He saw two boys ahead. They appeared to be beating someone up. He walked closer and strained his eyes to see who the victim was and felt his stomach drop when he saw the familiar head of black hair.
"Hey!" he yelled out almost before he knew what he was doing. He took his backpack off and set it down on the floor, walking closer to the group.
"What do you want, Winchester? This doesn't concern you," one of the boys proclaimed as Dean approached.
"Well, you see, the guy down there just happens to be a friend of mine, so I think it does concern me," Dean retorted, offering a smirk. "So, are you going to let him go, or are we going to have a problem?"
"Didn't know you hung out with fags, Winchester," the second boy spoke up, striding over to Dean.
"Who I do or do not hang out with is my business, and not yours," Dean replied smoothly, not taking his eyes off the boy. "So I repeat myself. Are you going to leave him alone, or are we going to have a problem?" Dean stood a little taller, trying to seem intimidating. He knew he could take them if he needed to, he just preferred not to get into a fight on the first day of school. The two boys looked at each other, and then reluctantly began to walk away.
"Have it your way, Winchester," the first boy said as he backed away. "You and your boyfriend have fun, now," he shot Dean a sick smile and retreated down the hall, the other boy in tow. Dean walked over to Cas and kneeled down beside him.
"Hey, are you okay?" Dean looked Cas over. He could see a bruise forming on the left side of Cas' jaw, but other than that he appeared okay. Cas looked down at the floor, refusing to meet Dean's eyes.
"Yes, I'm fine," he confirmed, obviously uncomfortable.
"Uh, you wanna go to the nurse? That jaw would probably feel better with some ice on it," Dean offered, trying to ease the tension.
"No, it's fine. I'll just put ice on it when I get home," Cas still refused to meet Dean's eyes.
"If you say so," Dean conceded, "Uh, I think we have English together now, don't we?" he asked, attempting to ease Cas' discomfort with a subtle subject change.
Cas paused a moment before responding. "Yes, I believe we do."
"Well, then, you think we should get going?"
Cas met Dean's eyes for the first time since Dean had found him. There was a confusion buried in their blue depths. "You don't have to pretend you're okay with this, Dean."
"What are you talking about?" Dean asked, his eyes now mirroring Cas' confused ones.
"I've been through this before; I know how it is. You don't have to pretend to like me, and you don't have to pretend to be my friend. I know how being friends with the school fag can ruin your reputation. I've been through it at every other school I've been to. I'm completely capable of handling it myself, I don't need you to pretend you're okay with it," Cas spoke with venom in his voice.
"Whoa, Man, I don't know what gave you the impression that I was pretending, but I'm not. I don't give a shit about who you choose to date, that's your own business. I just saw you were in trouble and decided to try and help. That's all," Dean tried to reassure Cas, suddenly aware of how intimidating he could be.
Cas seemed to relax a bit, and he looked up at Dean. "Are you sure you don't care?"
"Of course not, Man. That's none of my business. I was just trying to help a friend out," Dean gave Cas a small smile, trying to convince him his words were the truth. "Now, you think we should head to English?" Dean tried again.
Cas actually managed a small smile in return. "Yes, okay. We are probably late already; we shouldn't postpone any longer."
And, of course, Cas was right. By the time they arrived to class, everyone was already seated and the teacher was speaking at the front of the room. Everyone turned their heads to stare at the pair as they entered. They both walked in as quickly as possible and sat in the last two available seats.
"Thanks for showing up, boys," the teacher announced as they sat down. "May I ask your names?"
"Dean Winchester," Dean offered.
"I'm Castiel Novak," Dean heard Cas say from the back of the classroom.
"Ah, I see. Well, do try to be punctual tomorrow, boys, yes?" the teacher asked, giving each boy a pointed stare. Dean nodded and imagined Cas was probably doing the same thing. "Well, since you boys were late," the teacher continued, "you missed my announcement. Instead of boring you with the same drill of rules and regulations, as I'm sure you're all rather tired of it by now, I am going to assign a project. You are to split up into pairs. You're assignment is to get to know your partner, which, I'm sorry to report, requires you to actually interact with them. Spend time together, in and out of school. Then, I want you to choose which character from Lord of the Flies you think you relate to most. Since I'm sure you all did the summer reading, this should be no problem. Your partner will then choose which character he or she thinks you relate to the most. You each will create a poster displaying both choices and the reasoning behind them. When you are done, you will each present your posters to the class. I'm giving a generous two weeks to complete this project, so I don't want any complaints about getting homework on the first day of class. So, go, now. Partner up," the teacher waved his hand at the class and returned to the chair behind his desk as the students began to stand and move about the classroom.
"Uh, hello," Dean heard a small voice behind him and turned to see a rather nervous looking Cas. Dean was a little surprised that someone who had been so intimidating only minutes earlier now appeared so shy. "I was wondering, do you want to partner up?"
Dean wondered why he seemed so nervous. "Of course, Cas," Dean smiled at him, "sounds like a plan." Cas' shoulders slumped as he seemed to exhale and relax. He smiled back at Dean and took the seat next to him.
"So, where do you want to start?" Dean asked, looking to Cas for guidance. He had never been too good at this whole school thing. He wasn't stupid, he just didn't feel like the homework was worth his time.
"Well," Cas pondered for a moment. "We can start off with the basics for the duration of class. We could make a list of some basic questions and take turns asking them. That would at least be a start."
Dean nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good. And you can come to my house after school, if you'd like. I can drive you, it's no problem," Dean offered. He realized how thankful he was that Cas was in this class. If he hadn't been, Dean would have been stuck getting to know some other random person, and that was just not his idea of fun. Cas seemed cool. Dean didn't mind getting to know Cas.
"That sounds good, Dean," Cas smiled at him. "So, I suppose we should start on our lists?" Dean nodded, agreeing, and they both pulled out pieces of paper and began scribbling down questions. Dean started with the easy, obvious questions. Favorite color and food, music Cas liked, what he wanted to do after high school, simple stuff like that. After a few minutes of silent scribbling, Cas cleared his throat. Dean looked up at him.
"Are you ready to begin the questioning, Dean, or do you need more time?" Cas smiled at him, making Dean feel at ease.
"Um, no, I'm fine. We can start now," Dean replied.
"Okay, I suppose I shall start. Who is the most important person to you?" Cas asked. Dean suddenly felt like a jerk for having gone for the easy questions. He could tell Cas' were going to be a lot more personal and profound.
"My brother," Dean replied almost instantly. Cas looked at him, seeming to hang on Dean's every word. Cas didn't speak, so Dean continued to explain. "My mother died when we were little. Our father kind of went off the deep end after that, so it's really just been the two of us our whole lives. I look out for him and he looks out for me," Dean finished. Cas was smiling at him, and Dean felt slightly naked at having revealed something so personal. Cas wrote down a few notes on his paper.
"Your turn, then, Dean," Cas was still smiling when he spoke.
"Um, what's your favorite food?" Dean questioned lamely, embarrassed at how shallow his question seemed after Cas'.
Cas chuckled, "Cheeseburgers, actually." Dean laughed at that, genuinely surprised. The rest of the class went on in the same fashion, the two of them taking turns asking questions (Cas' being much deeper than Dean's, obviously). Dean was actually a little disappointed when the bell rang for class to end.
"So, uh, meet me by the front entrance after school and we can drive to my house? I can drive you home when we're done," Dean looked at Cas to make sure he was agreeable.
"Yes, Dean. That is fine with me." He smiled at Dean one last time before gathering his belongings and walking out of the classroom. Dean grabbed his bag and followed suit, finding his metal shop class easily.
Lucky for Dean, metal shop was one class he actually liked. Unlucky for Dean, his metal shop teacher didn't get the 'cool English teacher' memo and was doing more of the rules lecture. Dean zoned out, tired of the 'follow these rules or you'll lose a finger' speech. He simply stared at the clock and counted down the minutes.
When the bell finally rang, Dean bounded out the door and toward the front of the school, surprised to find Cas already waiting for him when he arrived.
"You ready?" he asked, causing Cas to jump slightly and turn to look at Dean.
"Oh. Yes, I am" Cas replied and followed Dean into the parking lot. When they arrived at the Impala, Sam was leaning against the door, waiting.
"Took you long enough," he said as soon as Dean was in earshot.
"Shut up, Sammy," Dean retorted, and then he remembered Cas behind him. "Cas, this is my brother Sammy. Sammy, this is Cas. Cas is gonna come hang out at our place for a bit," Dean introduced the two.
"It's Sam," he held out his hand for Cas to shake. Cas simply smiled and accepted the hand, nodding. Dean climbed into the driver side of the car, laughing as he saw Sam bound for the front door, leaving Cas to sit in the backseat. Dean sent him an apologetic smile in the rearview mirror before he started the car and drove toward home.