Chapter 1 : Long black road
It felt as if he was driving in circles. Castiel was lost. Not just existentially, but also geographically.
"Cassssie…we're gonna be late!" said Anna, scrunching up her nose. She was slouching in the passenger seat, practically scowling at him. It was clear that the 12 year old was not very pleased with her big brother.
"O, I hadn't noticed." He made sure to add extra sarcasm, for effect. "You can blame Naomi for making me you personal chauffeur."
He knew he shouldn't take out his frustration on Anna. It wasn't her fault that their step-mother bought him a car under false pretenses. He thought the vehicle was to celebrate his last year of high school. Boy was he wrong.
He should have been suspicious from the moment he received the brand new SUV. But Castiel knows nothing anything about cars, so he had no idea that it cost a small fortune. All he saw was a shiny ticket to freedom. Freedom, the one thing he so desperately craved.
It wasn't until this morning that he saw the gesture for what it was, a well thought out ploy.
Naomi had made sure that Anna was in the room when she hinted how nice it would be if Anna's big brother could take her to school. He was about to say no, when he noticed the puppy dog expression on his little sister's face as she curled one of her pigtails around her finger. He couldn't say no to her, that's what Naomi was bargaining on. Naomi hated being associated with the Novak children, despite once claiming that they were her "precious angels." (Castiel blames copious amounts of alcohol for that comment.)
In any case, that is how he ended up in this mess. Silently cursing himself for taking directions from a 12 year old. After what felt like hours, he swallowed his pride and phoned his step-monster, sorry step-mother, for advice.
"Yes, Naomi I did go left. What do you mean my left or your left? There is only ONE left side!"
He took a deep breath. After about 5 minutes, she gratuitously, as if, informed him that he had in fact taken several wrong turns.
Luckily, Anna's anger subsided once they reached the school. She proved this by giving Castiel a big hug.
"Hope you find the way to your school, Cassie." She said as she rushed towards her friends.
He sat there for a moment, mentally preparing himself for the place he was headed. High school: the place dreams go to die. "At least my day can't get any worse," he thought as he started the engine.
NA: I also posted this on AO3 (Archive of our own), impala4maggie