Introduction

"Sam, why don't you tell us about yourself? What do you like to do in your free time?"

As the teacher spoke, 16 year old Sam Winchester surveyed the classroom nervously. This was the third high school (or was it the fourth?) that he had enrolled in that year. Staring idly back at him were a handful of stoners, some preppy looking girls, some keeners up in the front row, and three of big guys lurking in the back like gorillas.

Sam gulped, wondering how in hell he could be so nervous when this was the third (or fourth?) time he'd done this all year. He spoke after an awkwardly long pause.

"Uh, I'm Sam… and I like… reading…" he spoke with pauses, unsure of himself, and immediately wishing he could change his choice of words. The gorillas in the back snickered and the preppy girls rolled their eyes.

Great, the first words out of his mouth already got him a label, a practical target on his back. Sure, Sam could and would stand his ground in a fight – the tall lanky boy was starting to fill out with a fair amount of muscle – but he hoped that he wouldn't have to.

"Take your seat, Sam, thank you," the teacher smiled as she gestured to the only open seat – right in front of the biggest gorilla in the class.

Sam sighed and went to his seat, setting down his books on the desk and sitting down. He slumped forward and propped up his head by resting his chin in his right hand. The boy tried to focus on the English lesson being taught but the goon behind him kept kicking the back of his chair.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Kick. Kick. Kick.

The young Winchester turned and shot a glare at the kid behind him, who feigned shock and said in a loud whisper:

"What're you gonna do about it, nerd?"

Sam let out an angry huff and turned back around. He could hear the goon talking to his other goon "friends" behind his back saying things like "get a haircut" and "what a loser", and various mocking voices of his awkward introduction.

By the end of class, Sam was bubbling with anger and frustration. When the bell rang to signal the end of first period, the boy was the first one up and out of his seat, headed for the door. To Sam's misfortune, the three hulking boys that had tormented him all period were blocking the way out of the room. The teacher had gone out of the room as well. The shaggy-haired boy closed his eyes for a moment and le out another huff.

"Move," the word was meant to come out with some force behind it, but Sam's voice came out small and shy. He swallowed as the bigger kids laughed and sniggered away at him, then spoke again.

"Move."

Sam must have glared with some fire in his eyes, and the slightly-less-hulking boys started to back off. They were more sensible than their supposed leader.

"Come on man, back off, it's his first day," said one of them.

The leader scoffed.

"Leave him to me, then."

He stepped forward, swinging a fist, but he was slow and Sam dodged it by ducking out of the way. He brought his own fist up and hit the bigger boy square in the jaw. He staggered, and Sam smirked. His brother Dean would be proud.

He must've gotten a little stuck on that thought because a fist colliding with his nose, giving a crack, snapped Sam out of it. Hot blood rushed down his face and Sam straightened himself back up, looking the gorilla of a kid in the eye, sizing him up for another punch.

"BOYS!" came the shrill cry of the English teacher from the hallway, just outside the door. How much she had seen, they didn't know, but the bigger boy fled the scene.

Sam stood alone at the front of the class, clutching his throbbing nose with one hand as blood dripped into it.

"Sam, why did he attack you?" asked the teacher with a concerned not in her voice.

"Told him to move…" came Sam's muffled reply from behind his hand.

The teacher clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Go to the nurse's office, do you know where that is?"

Sam nodded, as he had seen it on his way into the school that morning. The bell rang to signal the start of second period as Sam walked into the clean, white nurse's office. He felt a little guilty for leaving drops of blood down the hall on his way there. The nurse had Sam call his emergency contact as he would have to go to the hospital, since it had been about ten minutes and the bleeding hadn't stopped.

Sam opted for calling Dean rather than his father, knowing that Dad would be angry with him, like he always seemed to be.

Luckily, Dad was busy off investigating something, so Dean came to pick up his brother on his own in their car. Sam was feeling pretty lightheaded at this point, and he absently wondered how hard that kid must've clocked him.

"Sammy," came Dean's baffled voice. "The hell happened?"

"Fight… I got him though, right in the jaw," Sam replied as he slid into the shotgun side of the Impala.

"Well, I have some good news for you little brother, we'll be done here in about a week…"

"A week!?"

Dean shook his head as he drove. "You can skip out on school, man, don't worry. Oh, and try not to bleed too much on the car."

Dean was right and in a few days, the Winchesters were out of that town and headed onto another one. Wherever Dad went, they went… Hunting was the family business after all, and monsters were hiding everywhere. The younger brother wished for a different life, and had no idea what life really had in store for him. Not one.