Sam sat in the passenger seat of his brother's beloved Impala, listening as Dean lightly hummed Metallica. Sam watched the scenery as they drove by, observing all the different varieties of trees; oaks, yews, willows, maple. Sam tried to keep his mind off the day ahead of him and continued to name all the trees they passed. Today was his first day of school, again, and was slightly nervous how it would turn out. His brother seemed to be fully aware of this.

"Sammy, it'll be fine. Everyone will love your geeky self."

Sam said nothing as he continued to look out the window. In most cases he didn't feel this anxious about being the new kid in school. He has transferred to different schools so many times he didn't have time to feel intimidated.

The intended school was Ash Grove High School. They had traveled 140 miles to get to Missouri, and it was a bitch. They had stayed a small, rundown motel, and now, here they were, heading to some ungodly school in some ungodly town.

They continued down the road in silence for the next few minutes, Sam being grateful it lasted as long as it had.

"You nervous?"

That didn't last as long as he had hoped.

"Dean, I'll be fine. Stop worrying." Sam suppressed a sigh as he started counting the billboard signs along the road. There were many.

In his peripheral vision, he watched as Dean threw a glance his way. He inwardly sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Dean, I'm fine" Sam said, emphasizing each word carefully.

"Yeah, well I don't believe you, man. You look so tense. You're sure nothing's wrong?"

Sam started counting to ten. He made it to four.

"Dean, I'm fine! Will you get off my back?" Sam paused before starting up again, calm and collected. "Please?" Dean shot Sam another glance.

"All right, but if anything happens-" Dean stopped, holding his thumb and pinky out and pulling it to his ear, holding it up as a phone.

"Dean, I know the drill. Anything happens I call you. I got it." Sam felt Dean's gaze on him. He looked back. "I promise" Sam added hesitantly. Dean nodded, turning his gaze back on the road and started humming lightly once again.

Sam felt relieved as the stress left him, at least partly. He hated promising to Dean; nearly every promise he has made lately has been broken, intentionally or not. He stole a quick glance at Dean. He looked at peace, no signs of paranoia or spitefulness evident on his face. But yet, he never was an open book, was he?

Sam kept his gaze ahead of them as they pulled into Ash Grove High School. It was going to be a long day…he could tell. He heaved one more sigh and got out of the Impala, dragging his backpack along with him. He heard Dean shout him words of encouragement. Sam waved back at him without completely turning around as he walked into the school.

Externally, the school looked mediocre, having a rather pleasant environment surrounding the campus. It felt good outside and he thought all his fears were for not. However, the experience didn't last. He walked into the school, utterly distraught. It seemed as though all the zoo animals came in and rampaged over everything, leaving nothing untouched.

Slight exaggeration, but that's beside the point. Sam hesitated at the entrance, not sure what to do or where to go. Lots of people were gathered as he entered the foyer; some were taking a long drag on their cigarettes, while others played with fire in more than dangerous ways, while one or two even went so far as to cut themselves repeatedly, the blood dripping down their wrists and in between their fingers. Sam tensed, he had never attended a school even close to this level. The walls were covered with dirt and blood, as were the floors. Sam considered someone purposefully throwing all that crap on the wall to tell the new kids "Come at your own risk." Sam shivered.

Sam felt disgusted. What he dictated as teachers walked along in the foyer, not making any move to stop any of them. He felt the sudden urge to walk out the door, back outside, and into an open space. He felt claustrophpbic, though the foyer extended to quite a large extent.

A few of the kids looked up and saw Sam, and other eyes followed, their gaze landing on the kid. He grew tense, and slowly walked forward, avoiding the smokers and emo kids. He kept up his poker face very well; not breaking the ice with some major screw-up of his, which he was quite frequent of doing.

He walked toward the closest adult he could find, just praying on surviving the rest of the day. The adult happened to be the principal. He caught sight of Sam and lead him into his office.

"Hello, Sam. I'm glad you have decided to come. My name's Mr. Chlowski." The man's words sounded forced, as if he felt the urge to leave Sam to fend for himself.

"Nice to meet you, sir. I'm glad to be here" Sam said, also slightly forced, the lie easily passing his lips as he shook Mr. Chlowski's hand.

Mr. Chlowski sat back down and searched his desk for what Sam believed to be his school schedule.

As the principal busied himself he took the time to look around the small office. It definitely didn't pass the test he silently gave the office. However, if you compared the office with the foyer then the office would definitely be the preferred area, though it was at least 1/4 it's size. Unlike the foyer, the office was not covered with any blood, which was a good sign. Sam turned his head back to the desk, waiting for the principal to find whatever he was looking for.

The principal reappeared from under his desk to retrieve a manilla folder. He handed it to Sam across the desk rather harshly, sliding it into Sam's hands. Sam looked through it swiftly; it contained his school schedule, the names of all the teachers and what they taught, and, of course, a map of the campus. He looked over the map, trying to locate where he was at the moment.

"That should be everything you need. The teachers will give all the supplies you will need for that particular class" he said, rushing his words, slurring them together. He sounded slightly intoxicated.

Sam gave him a warm smile. "Thank you, sir. I appreciate it."

Sam began walking back toward the door, preparing himself for the ordeal ahead.

"Oh, and one more thing before you go." Sam turned around, just enough to make eye contact with him. "Try to be careful. The students here can be rather...unpleasant, if you know what I mean."

Somehow, even if the man was trying to warn him about the school's occupants, he felt Mr. Chlowski didn't mean one bit of it. He didn't care what happened to Sam. He sensed that as long as the money kept coming, then he was good to go. Sam felt disheartened at the thought. If the principal was this bad, then how bad were the teachers? Better yet, what about the students?

Sam gave a sad smile, "I'll do my best, sir", he said before heading back to the door. He opened it, sliding out of the office, and arrived back in the foyer.

Most of the kids had already left and went to class. Four students still lounged around in the foyer, getting nose piercings and tattoos. Sam shook his head with pity. He got the map out of his manilla folder and looked for the room titled "foyer." Once he found that, he looked at his schedule. First period class was English Honors. He looked back at his map, found the English room, Room 102, and headed in the general direction of the room. He had done this too many times to get lost. Just follow the map.