Castiel sighed deeply as he examined himself in the bathroom mirror. He told himself the night before that he was going to attempt to look good on his first day of his Senior year to start the Semester off with a bang. But that idea immediately was flushed down the toilet when he forgot to set his alarm and woke up 30 minutes late. He hoped to God that this morning wasn't some sort of foreshadowing of what the rest of the year was going to be like. As he finished brushing his teeth he heard a soft knock at the door. He glanced at himself one last time shrugging his shoulders, and opening the door to his brother Gabriel sucking on a lollipop.
"Hey kiddo', you ready?" he asked. Castiel nodded his head glumly, feeling his stomach turn upside down nervously.
"Chin up bro, seriously, it's your last year of high school! You should be fucking pumped right now!" Castiel responded by rolling his eyes, not wanting to admit that his brother had a point. He wanted this year to be good for him. He wanted to go to parties, hang out late with his friends, and maybe even have a few relationships. Castiel smirked at the thought and looked back up at his brother,
"Yeah, you're right, this year shouldn't be that bad." He said trying to re-assure himself. Gabriel patted his brothers shoulder roughly and grinned,
"That's the spirit. Now, get your ass in gear or we're going to be late."
Gabriel was a year older than Castiel, but because he spent most of his junior year goofing off and skipping school every other day, he had to stay back to make up for his credits.
Castiel, on the other hand, had pretty decent grades. He'd never failed a class in his life and he couldn't help feeling a little sense of pride at that.
As he headed down stairs he ran into his younger sister Anna, who had her book bag swung over her shoulder and cell phone in her hand texting away. Castiel put his hand in her fiery red hair and ruffled it up a bit. She immediately swatted him away and glared at him, he laughed and stuck out his tongue teasingly. She rolled her eyes and smiled, pushing him playfully. Anna and Castiel had always been close. Castiel was the only one, aside from his parents, who had learned sign language to be able to communicate with her easier. Anna was born deaf and it had been a struggle for her and the family, but over the years they had all learned to cope with her disability. Despite her not being able to hear, though, she was actually fairly popular. She had a decent amount of friends and got along with pretty much anyone.
Castiel, while not the most popular in his school, wasn't what people would consider 'un-popular' either. He didn't mind. He had his group of close friends that he spent most of his time with and that was really all he needed. He didn't have any enemies, as far as he knew, and he got along with everyone else just fine. He just hoped to the heavens that it stayed that way.
The car ride to school was quiet. Gabriel glanced over at his brother from the drivers seat and raised his brow,
"Castiel, I swear to God if you don't shut the fuck up I'm going to pull this car over and make you walk." He said sarcastically. Castiel rolled his eyes,
"Oh no, walking a whole block to school, the horror!" He said putting his hand to his chest in mock terror. Gabriel chuckled and shook his head,
"I take that back. I liked it when you weren't talking….Smart ass." He pulled up to the school and parked in his usual spot. Castiel sighed, bracing himself and opened the door, bid his brother goodbye and slung his bag over his shoulder. He looked around the filled lot to see if he could spot any of his friends. When he didn't, he figured they must already be inside. He started walking to the entrance but stopped short when he noticed a shiny black '67 Chevy Impala parked in the second to last spot. He admired the sleek vehicle in awe. Cars weren't necessarily his forte, but he knew a beauty when he saw one. He hadn't ever seen the car before and wondered who's it could be.
As if on queue, the door opened and a tall lean figure stepped out of the vehicle and slammed the door shut. Castiel jumped startled and looked up to meet a pair of unfamiliar bright green eyes.
The stranger was wearing a denim button down shirt over a white Tee. His hair was gelled neatly to where it sort of spiked up in the front. He had a strong set jaw and the longest eyelashes Cas had ever seen on a guy. Whoever this guy was, he was stunning. The stranger was now looking back at Castiel. He cocked his head to the side as if wondering why he was being stared at and Castiel immediately broke out of his trance. He felt his face heat up and he immediately tore his eyes away from the confused stranger and hurried into the building.
When he got inside he shook his head at his own stupidity and had to stop himself from slamming his face into the wall. The day had only just started and so far he had managed to wake up late, get harassed by his older brother (which wasn't really out of the norm) and then have an incredibly awkward encounter with the new guy. Great. He snorted bitterly at himself for his bad luck and continued down the crowded hallway. He heard shrieks and giggles as friends reunited after a long summer apart and saw people comparing tans and recounting the events and parties that took place over the break.
He was almost at his locker when he was tackled into to the wall. He yelped as he felt arms wrap tightly around his waist nearly cutting off his circulation.
"Oh my God I missed you so fucking much!" His best friend, Jo squealed happily. He sighed, relieved that he wasn't getting mugged like he originally thought, and returned the hug with a laugh,
"I would say the same, but I'm pretty sure you're cutting off the blood flow to my brain so I don't know how well that will work out." She rolled her eyes and pulling back from the hug and shook her head,
"Still as sarcastic as ever I see." She chuckled. Cas shrugged and opened his locker throwing his bag inside,
"Where is everyone else?" He asked slamming his locker shut and turning back to face her.
"Well, Pam went to the office to work out something about her schedule, and I have no clue in hell as to where Chuck and Ash are."
"Hm." he hummed leaning against his locker and crossing his arms over his chest. Jo raised a brow at him and sighed,
"Okay, what's up?" He looked at her confused
"What do you mean?" He asked. Jo rolled her eyes,
"I know you, Cas. You have that look." She crossed her arms in front of her and waited for him to reply. Castiel cursed her ability to read him like a book.
"I don't know." He said finally, "I just really want this year to be awesome and I'm just nervous that it's going to be…not…awesome." he admitted. Jo sighed and linked her arm with his and started leading them down the hall.
"You need to stop worrying so damn much before you turn prematurely grey." He laughed at that and she smiled, "Seriously though, this year is going to be great. We've got to make the best of it. That means, no sweating the small stuff. And yes, I'm talking about you." Cas nodded taking this in and actually felt, in a way, relieved. He had nothing to worry about. He had his friends, and he had easy classes this term. Time would fly by and before he knew it, he would be graduating. He just hoped that everything went smoothly for the rest of his high school year, that's the best he could ask for.
"What class do you have first?" He asked turning back to Jo.
"Geometry." She grimaced, "You?"
"Language Arts." He replied. "You know how much I love my grammar." Jo laughed,
"Cas, I swear, you are such a nerd."
He shrugged, "I do what I do."
The bell rang signaling the start of first period and both friends groaned in unison,
"Great. Off to hell I go!" Jo remarked unenthusiastically, "See ya' later." Cas nodded and headed down the hall to his first class. As he walked in he looked around the room to see Ash sitting in the back gesturing to the seat beside him. Castiel grinned and sat his stuff down at the desk.
"Hey man, are you ready to start the first day of our last year of this hell-hole?" Ash asked excitedly, his country accent thick and his mullet as long as ever. Cas nodded his head and leaned back in his desk crossing his arms,
"After this, we are free men, Ash." He sighed happily,
"Hell yeah we are. College ladies, here I come." Cas chuckled at his friend and turned his gaze to the front of the class room. He let out a gasp as he saw who walked in. It was the new kid from earlier that morning.
As if he had some weird sixth sense as to know when Castiel was staring at him, he immediately turned to meet Castiel's gaze. Castiel quickly turned away and focused on the back of the persons head in front of him. The mystery guy walked up to the teachers desk and knocked on it lightly to get her attention. Ms. Beth looked up and studied him,
"You must be Mr. Dean Winchester, am I right?" He nodded putting his hands in his pockets. "You're new here?" She asked, he nodded once again. "Oh, well welcome." She greeted kindly, "Where are you from?" At that question he looked immediately uncomfortable. He took his hands out of his pockets and started forming his hands into a bunch of different symbols which could probably be mistaken as gang signs by most of the students in the class who were now staring at the new guy intrigued. The teacher studied him confused and he dropped his hands to his sides and frowned, realizing she didn't understand. Castiel stared at the scene taking place before him shocked. Is he deaf? He wondered.
"I'm so sorry dear, I don't know sign language." Ms. Beth informed him. Dean nodded shoving his hands back into his pockets and shrugging as if that didn't surprise him in the least. "Well, um, maybe you could write it down for me." She said smiling and started rummaging through her desk for some paper. Castiel cleared his throat,
"Um, Ms. Beth?" He spoke up not sure of what exactly he was doing. She looked up from her desk and glanced at him,
"Yes, Castiel?"
"I uh, know sign language, my sister is Deaf. Um, he said he just moved here from crossed the state." Dean stared at Castiel shocked. The teacher nodded her head at Castiel, obviously impressed.
"Oh, I see. Well, we're glad to have you, Mr. Winchester. Why don't you have a seat in the back next to Castiel, so if you need anything you can just tell him and he'll pass it on to me." He nodded and made his way to the back of the classroom. There were quiet whispers from mostly the girls, no doubt talking about how mysterious and attractive the new guy was. Castiel rolled his eyes at the thought.
Of course, all the girls are going to be all over him. He thought bitterly shocking himself. Why did it matter to him? He didn't even know the guy. Yeah, sure, he was extremely attractive, there was no doubt about that, but he was most likely very straight and would in no way be into him, So he needed to get that out of his head, and quick.
Castiel's inner turmoil was interrupted by a small tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Dean facing him, giving him a grateful look. He then held his hands up and started moving them to form words,
Thanks for that, my name's Dean.
Castiel smiled despite himself and held his hands up to sign back,
It's nice to meet you, Dean. So, are you deaf? Castiel could have kicked himself. He knew how much it irritated his sister when people asked about her disability. But to his relief, Dean didn't miss a beat.
No, I can't talk. I'm mute. He replied, blushing slightly which Castiel found a tad endearing.
"Oh." Castiel said, out loud this time. Dean smirked, showing off his dimples. "Well, I wouldn't mind being your interpreter…If, you'd like, that is." Castiel offered, feeling his face heat up. Dean smiled again, this time showing off all his teeth,
I'd like that.
Castiel smiled at Dean's reply and nodded.
"Alright then, Castiel Novak, at your service." he held his hand up saluting and Dean chuckled,
Lucky me. Dean signed giving Castiel a sly wink before turning his attention to the front of the room. Castiel leaned back in his chair stunned, trying to calm his pounding heart. He couldn't help but think that maybe it was going to turn out to be an interesting year after all.