*Author's Note: I don't own anything from Supernatural. Sevin modern-day high school AU where Sam and Kevin are the same age.*

Growing up, Sam always hated being the new kid. You always got asked the same questions: where are you from, what does your dad do, how do you like it here… but he had been doing this his entire life, he was already used to it. He was starting at another new school, the third one this year. Thankfully, he wasn't starting mid-semester like he usually did. His first day would be the first day back from Christmas Holidays, so he hoped he wouldn't stand out quite as much.

Sam went to the office to pick up his schedule. The secretary was an older woman who hadn't quite figured out how computers worked, by the time she had managed to print it out, he was already late for first period. He thanked the woman before rushing out of the office and looking at his schedule. First period was English, room 208. It didn't take him long to find the classroom.

He knocked gently on the door. The teacher, who was his early forties, opened it, "I'm a new student. Sam Winchester," he told the man.

"Ah, yes. Come in," the teacher motioned. "I'm Mr. Friesen. Class, this is our new student, Sam Winchester. You can sit wherever you'd like." Sam sat in the first available desk, which was at the front corner of the classroom and, thankfully, right by the door. The first day was just an introduction to the class, what materials they'd be covering, what the class rules were, etc. Sam studied his schedule while Mr. Friesen went through the rules. He had English, then P.E./Health, Pre-Calculus math, Physics, and Chemistry. Thankfully, physics and chemistry were in the same room, so he didn't have to worry about being late for yet another class.

"Okay, now that I'm done talking and we still have half the class left, why don't we go around and say our name and one interesting thing that we did over winter break?" Mr. Friesen announced. "Sam, why don't we start with you?"

"Uh… my name is Sam Winchester, and over winter break I, uh…" went hunting for creatures that most people think are myths "went on a road trip with my brother," Sam answered.

"Oh, and where did you go?" Mr. Friesen asked.

Sam hesitated, where didn't they go? With their dad gone for weeks at a time, he and Dean had gone all over; they just had to make sure they were at the place their dad had left them by the time he got back. They had gone to South Dakota to visit Uncle Bobby, to Los Angeles when their dad was on a hunt in Nevada, to Colorado so they could spend Christmas in the snow. "We went skiing in Colorado," Sam replied shortly.

The teacher moved on to the rest of the class. Sam tried not to pay attention, everyone's answer was the same. "I'm Debby and I spent time with my family," "I'm Chris and I went to my grandparents' house…" it was pretty much the same thing over and over. Some people talked about visiting tropical locations like Cuba and Hawaii, but Sam knew that he wouldn't be able to relate to these people. He could be friendly, but it was pointless to try and make friends, he'd just be leaving soon anyway. Since he was constantly switching schools, he just tried to learn as much in each class as he could, often working ahead in the curriculum so he wouldn't be missing anything on the final exam, at whichever school he ended up at. Dean and his dad didn't know, but Sam was planning on going to college. He needed to get out of the "family business" and live a normal life. He was tired of having to lie about what his dad does to people who don't deserve to be lied to.

Finally, the bell rang and Sam hurried out of the classroom, avoiding eye contact with everyone. His next class was gym, and while he wasn't athletic in the traditional sense, he hoped there would be less conversation than in the previous class. He didn't have gym clothes, and thankfully, most of his classmates didn't either. Everyone sat along the wall, waiting for the teacher to come in and tell them what they would be doing. The gym teacher introduced herself and droned on for a little while about motivation and how you "have to put in an effort" to do well in her class before saying that they'd be playing a friendly game of dodge ball to start the year off. She split the class into two teams and lined the balls up along the center line.

Sam could handle dodge ball. Although he looked awkward and uncoordinated, no thanks to a recent growth spurt, looks were deceiving. Yes, his limbs looked like they were too long for his body, and yes, he was tall and gangly, but he was constantly dodging the objects Dean threw at him to help "keep his reflexes sharp."

The teacher blew the whistle and the students barreled towards the balls in the center of the gym. Sam made it look like he was going for them, but he let the boy directly across from him get them. The boy sneered at Sam, and Sam knew that the boy thought he was an easy target. The teacher blew the whistle again to signal the start of play and the boy whipped the ball as hard as he could, aiming directly for Sam. Sam casually stepped out of the way of the ball. He could have easily caught it, but he wanted to make the boy angry. Every time the boy caught a ball, he would aim for Sam, who would step out of the way like it was nothing. He laughed as his opponent's face reddened. Sam could see the frustration growing as he dodged ball after ball. Finally, Sam decided to end it. The next ball the boy threw, Sam caught with one hand.

When the other boy realized he was out, he motioned to a few of his buddies that were on the same team, undoubtedly telling them to get Sam out. This was the first ball Sam had in his hand all day, and as a ball came sailing his way, he sidestepped it with ease and threw the ball in his hand at the person who tried to get him, hitting him square in the chest. It didn't take long before Sam was the only player left on his side, while they were still five players (all of which looked like jocks) on the other team. Most of the balls were sitting along the back wall of Sam's side; only two of the players on the opposite team had a ball. The two players with balls in their hands looked at each other, and counted to three, planning to throw the balls at the same time, so Sam would be hit by one of them. One was coming at Sam from his right, the other from his left. Unfortunately, they weren't so good at timing, because the one on Sam's left came in much earlier than the one on his right. He caught both of the balls with ease, chuckling to himself at the looks of surprise on the other teams' faces. He didn't hold onto the balls for very long before he aimed them at two of the remaining three, hitting one in the leg, and the other on the back.

Now it was down to one. Sam's opponent picked up the balls Sam had used to take out the other two and stared Sam down, like he was challenging him. He knew the boy wouldn't throw until Sam was "armed" so he picked up two balls and stood facing his rival. Sam stood and waited, not moving. Finally, the other boy threw both balls in his hands, one after the other, at Sam. Without dropping the balls he was holding, Sam caught one after the other in the crook of his arms. The boy dropped to his knees on the other side in a display that Sam thought was overly dramatic- it's only dodge ball, after all. The students that were on his team cheered as the balls were set up for another round. Sam knew that this time, everyone on the opposing team would be gunning for him.

The bell rang halfway through the second game, to Sam's relief. It's not that he was worried about being out, he just didn't want to draw that much attention to himself. His competitive side had come out, especially with his new classmates staring him down the way they had.

Sam's math class was in room 304, which was on the second floor of the building. He hurried there, hoping to get a seat in the back of the class. Sam was one of the first people there, so he tucked himself into a desk in the back corner of the classroom. He was desperately hoping this teacher wouldn't make everyone introduce themselves. Sam watched as the other students filed into the classroom. Based on the looks he'd gotten in his previous classes, he could tell that these kids were the kind that had been together since Kindergarten.

The math teacher was a tall, bald man with bright blue glasses. As soon as the bell signalling the start of class, he passed around the class outline. "Hello, class. Here is an outline of the topics we'll be covering this semester. Today we're going to go through the classroom rules and what we'll be studying, and then we'll be playing a game or two to get to know each other. Questions?" The teacher, Mr. McKay, announced as he walked toward the front of the class.

Sam groaned inwardly. Why did every teacher feel the need to make their class "get to know" each other? And why did every teacher have to go through class rules? Every class had the same set of rules, the only one that was different was whether or not you could eat in class. The rest were always the same: no cell phones, no talking, no disruptions. Sam wondered what kind of "game" the teacher wanted to play to get to know the students.

"Okay… so now that we're finished with all of the boring, mandatory stuff, let's get to the fun part. We're going to go around and you're going to say your names and three facts about yourself. Two will be the truth, one will be a lie, and the class as a whole has to guess the lie," Mr. McKay explained. Sam hoped that he would start on the other side of the classroom and that they wouldn't have enough time to get to him. "Let's start with… this row." He pointed to the row Sam was sitting in. Sam had no idea what he was going to say, most of the "truths" that he could think of would sound like a lie to everyone else.

"Uhh… I'm… uh, I'm Kevin Tran," the boy sitting in the first desk muttered shyly. "Uh… I have a cat named Moo. My favourite flavour of ice cream is chocolate. Uhm, I've never tried coffee."

"Okay… which one do you think is the lie?" Mr. McKay asked the class. The majority of the class guessed that number three was the lie. Internally, Sam disagreed. He didn't say anything, but he guessed that number two was the lie. "So, are they right? Is number three the lie?"

Kevin shook his head and smiled. "No… the lie was actually number two." Sam nodded slightly. He was right. They went through the three other students sitting in front of Sam, and finally, it was Sam's turn. He still wasn't quite sure what he was going to say.

"Alright," Sam started, "I'm Sam Winchester. I've never been out of the country. I love dogs. And I have lived in six different places in the past eight months." Of the few students that had gone, none of them had told the lie first. Sam had been out of the country, even if it was just Canada, it still counted. Just as Sam suspected, everyone guessed that the third statement was a lie, and Sam could see the astonishment on their faces when they found out.

Sam didn't really pay attention to the rest of the class. He was just hoping it would be lunch soon. He liked school, and he really liked learning new things, but the first day of a new semester was always just rules and class outlines and these stupid "get to know each other" games. He wanted to start the real learning. When the lunch bell finally rang, Sam tried to get out of the classroom as quickly as possible, but he was stuck awkwardly shuffling behind the other students.

He sat at the end of one of the tables in the cafeteria, listening to music loudly enough to drown out all of the background noise. After he finished his lunch, he decided to walk around and explore the school. He eventually sat down in the gym with a bunch of other students and watched the ongoing volleyball game. Sam hated when they stayed in these tiny hick-towns, which unfortunately, was almost every town they moved to.

About five minutes before the bell for fourth period rang, Sam headed down to the basement and took a seat in the physics classroom. As usual, he took a seat in the back corner. "Hey, uh, is anyone sitting here?" a timid voice asked. Sam looked up to see Kevin Tran, the boy from his math class.

"Oh, no, go ahead," Sam answered. The boy mumbled his thanks as he sat down. "You're Kevin, right? I think you're in my math class."

"Uh... yeah. Sam, isn't it?" Kevin responded while he took out his binder and started laying out his pens. When he noticed Sam watching him, he blushed. "Sorry, I'm just… particular about certain things."

"No, don't apologize. I'm the same way," Sam motioned to his notebook and the pens he had lined up beside it. Kevin smiled and seemed to relax a bit. He was short with black hair and dark eyes. Next to him, Sam felt like a giant.

"So, how are you liking it here so far?" Kevin asked. Sam looked at the smaller boy. Most people only asked to be polite, they never actually cared about the answer, but Kevin seemed genuinely curious.

"It's okay," Sam replied. "It's pretty much the same as all of the other small towns I've lived in. Kids who have known each other since kindergarten, over-confident jocks who think that they're gods, teachers who want to 'get to know' their students…" He looked over at Kevin and saw that he was staring at his hands. "Sorry… I've just lived in a lot of towns just like this one." Sam offered as an explanation. To his relief, the teacher walked in at that exact moment.

"I'm Mr. Stoesz," the teacher announced while he dropped his binder onto his desk. "I'm betting that this entire day has just been class after class of rules and getting to know each other, so I have good news, I'm not going to ask you to introduce yourselves." By the reactions of his classmates, Sam could tell he wasn't the only person who hated those stupid "get to know each other" things that teachers always seemed to do. "Instead, you're going to introduce the person beside you. Yup, that's right. We're going to go through the rules and all of that wonderful stuff, then you're going to have some time to talk to your desk mate and you're going to introduce them to the rest of the class."

Sam just wanted this day to be over already. He didn't like talking about himself, he'd much rather learn about physics than talk about himself. However, he was interested in learning more about Kevin. He pretended to follow along as the teacher went through what he needed to go through. "Okay, so I'm going to give you ten minutes to talk to your partner, and after that you're both going to stand up and give the class your partner's name, why they chose to take physics, and what their favourite dessert is. Alright, go."

"So…" Sam turned to Kevin. "Why'd you choose to take physics?" He was genuinely interested in the answer. If he was going to make a friend in this school, Kevin seemed like the best choice, especially compared to the other students he'd met.

"I… uh, I took physics because I want to learn more about the things we don't think about… if that makes sense…" Sam nodded and Kevin continued. "You never think about gravity when something's falling. I mean, you know it's there, but you just think 'Oh my god, that's falling,' not 'gravity is pulling that object back towards Earth' and I think it's important to know about the things around us and why the world works the way it does… so, uh. What about you?"

"I am taking physics because" it might come in handy if I stay in the 'family business' and become a hunter "I don't want to be satisfied with knowing that things are happening, I want to know why they're happening," Sam answered. "What was the other question? Favourite dessert?"

"Yeah. Mine's pretty boring and generic, but I love chocolate chip cookies," Kevin laughed. "Yours?"

"Uh, I don't even know… I don't eat much dessert. Does fruit count as a dessert?" The harder Sam tried to think about it, the harder it was to come up with a dessert. The teacher announced that there was only a minute left. "I seriously can't think of a dessert. I guess I'd go with blueberry muffins? Sure, blueberry muffins." Kevin was still laughing and staring at Sam incredulously. He couldn't believe that it would take that much effort for someone to know what dessert was their favourite.

The whole class went through their answers and right after Sam and Kevin had introduced each other, the bell rang to signal the end of class. "Wow, perfect timing," the teacher remarked. "I'll see you all tomorrow," he said as the students filed out of class. Sam just sat down and waited for chemistry to start.

"Do you have chemistry next, too?" Kevin asked as Sat down.

"Yeah," Sam chuckled. "One less classroom for me to try to find. You too?"

"Yup… is it okay if I sit here for chem?" Kevin looked away shyly. Sam looked over at Kevin and wondered if he had many friends. In math, Kevin had acted the same way Sam did, he didn't look at anyone or even try to talk to them.

"Definitely! I'd rather sit next to you than some kid who forgets to wear deodorant," Sam joked, trying to lighten the mood. Kevin smiled and just as he was about to respond, a few of the boys who had been in Sam's gym class walked in, including the guy who was way too dramatic about dodge ball and the guy who had originally challenged Sam.

"Hey, Katie. Make the new kind your boyfriend, eh?" one of them practically yelled.

"Yeah, watch out, new kid!" Another chimed in, "He might turn you homo!" The other boys laughed and high-fived, like the kid had come up with a remarkable retort.

Sam glanced at Kevin, who looked like he was trying to hold back tears. "Hey!" Sam interrupted their laughter, "What's your problem?"

"Are you talking to us?" The largest of the four asked. He seemed like he would be the leader in a pack of apes. "We don't have a problem. It's your pal, Katie over here that has the problem. He's an abomination. And he's always staring at my ass, aren't you homo?"

Sam shook his head. Guys like this were one of the reasons he hated small towns. They were usually full of ignorant people who were brainwashed by whatever version of the Bible their parents read them when they were kids. He stood up and faced the group of boys, "I think you are the ones with the problem. Especially based on what I saw in gym class this morning, all four of you lack any kind of hand-eye coordination. Kevin," he placed his hand on the smaller boys hunched shoulders, "is not an abomination. I don't know if he is gay and frankly, it's not my business. If he chooses to tell me, that's his choice, but that won't change the fact that he is a smart, kind person who deserves to be treated with respect." Sam turned to sit down, but before he did he turned back to the leader, "and let's be real for a minute, buddy. The only reason anybody stares at you is to ask themselves how it's possible that someone can be made entirely out of an asshole."

The boys glared at Sam and Kevin, obviously flustered and trying to come up with a good response. Finally one of them spoke, "Well… er, have fun being butt buddies, then." Sam rolled his eyes. He had no patience for guys like that and just ignored them until they finally took a seat at the far end of the classroom.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, his hand still on Kevin's shoulder. Kevin looked up, his eyes meeting Sam's. Sam could see that there were tears lining the edge of the smaller boy's eyes. He nodded, blinking back the tears.

"Yeah," Kevin croaked. "No one's ever stood up for me like that. That was really cool. Thanks, Sam." He cleared his throat. "Now that it's out there, you might as well know for sure, I am gay. The only gay kid in this town, apparently."

Sam smiled. "Thanks for telling me, but you didn't have to. Like I said, you being gay or not being gay has no effect on whether I like you or not. I'm serious. From what I've seen so far, you're one of the coolest guys in this town," Sam was serious, and he wanted Kevin to know that. Although they hadn't talked all that much, he knew that the two of them would be good friends. "So, what kind of movies do you like?" Sam changed the subject, hoping to lighten the mood a little bit.

"I'm not particular, I like almost every kind of movie. I'm a big fan of superhero movies, though. Especially Captain America. What about you?"

"I usually just watch whatever my brother watches, so mostly bad comedies and western movies. I don't think I've ever seen Captain America. The only superhero movies my brother ever watches is Batman," Sam laughed. "I'm kind of behind on movies."

Mr. Stoesz was the chemistry teacher, as well. The bell rang and he took his place in front of the classroom. He handed out the class outlines and started to go over it. Not surprisingly, they would be introducing the person beside them after they went over the rules. While Mr. Stoesz was talking, Sam couldn't stop thinking about Kevin and the kids that bullied him. Kevin was so sure of who he was and what he wanted, that he wasn't going to pretend to be someone different so that he would fit in, and Sam admired that about him. Sam had never even considered his sexuality, and now he was wondering if he was actually straight. He'd had a few girlfriends in the past, but they were usually a result of pressure from Dean. Dean was always bragging about all the girls he got, and made fun of Sam for not trying harder.

Before Sam knew it, Mr. Stoesz was giving the class time to talk to their partners. Like last class, he wanted the students to say their partner's name, why they decided to take chemistry, and their favourite cereal.

Sam found out that Kevin's favourite cereal was Cinnamon Toast Crunch, which made Sam feel like a middle-aged mother when he said that his favourite was Honey Bunches of Oats. When the rest of the class was introducing their partners, he also learned the names of the guys from his gym class that picked on Kevin. The head ape was Bryce, and his followers were Dave, Mike, and Ryan. When the final bell rang, Sam couldn't wait to get back to the motel. He shoved all of his stuff into his backpack and said goodbye to Kevin before rushing out of the building.

"Dean?" Sam called when he got back to the motel room. He looked around, but Dean wasn't there. He saw a note on the table. Sammy. I'm working late at the bar tonight. Here's $20 for supper. Sam threw his backpack on his bed and lay down. He grabbed the remote off the side table and turned on the tv. He flicked through the grainy channels, trying to find one that was playing something decent. He settled on a channel that was playing music videos and opened his laptop. He found himself unable to actually focus on anything, his mind kept wandering back to Kevin and the fact that Sam had never actually thought about sexuality. It was something Sam never even thought about.

Sam felt his stomach growl and decided to go to get supper. There weren't many restaurants in this town, and he didn't want to sit somewhere for a long time, so he decided to go to McDonald's. It was close by and the only fast food place. He took the twenty off the table and headed out the door.

When he got to the restaurant, he tried to order something that wouldn't give him a heart attack before he turned 30. This was possibly the slowest McDonald's Sam had ever been to. It seemed like there were no adults working there, it was all high school kids. When he finally got his order, he sat down at the table by the window.

"Oh, hey, Sam," Kevin stopped as he was walking by. Sam looked up and saw Kevin wearing a McDonald's uniform.

"Hey, Kevin, I didn't know you worked here. How long have you worked here?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Kevin laughed. "I've been working here for about two years now, which is why they made me a manager." He pointed at his nametag. It read: Team Leader, Kevin T.

"Oh nice, so you get to boss everyone else around?" Sam joked.

"Yeah, I do. It's pretty nice. So what are you up to this evening?"

"Uh, nothing," Sam took a sip of his drink. "There's really not much to do in this town. What about you? Are you stuck at work all evening?"

"No, actually. I'm off in…" Kevin looked at his watch, "fifteen minutes. Since you're not doing anything, do you want to come over to my house and watch a movie or play video games or something?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," Sam answered. "Maybe we can watch Captain America and you can help me get up to date with popular movies." He chuckled.

"Awesome," Kevin replied. "Did you walk here? I have my car, so I can drive you to my house if you want."

"Cool," Sam grinned. "Yeah, I walked."

"Okay, super," Kevin said. "I'll come out here when I'm off." He smiled at Sam as he turned to go back to the kitchen area.

"Yeah, see you in a bit," Sam mumbled. He played around on his phone while he was waiting for Kevin to get off work. In the four towns they'd lived in prior to this one, he hadn't even bothered trying to make any friends. He was used to bouncing from town to town, never staying in one place for more than a couple months. His dad had told them before he left for his trip that this would be one of the long stays. Maybe it was Sam being optimistic, but for the first time he felt like he might get the chance to stay in one place for an entire semester. Part of him knew that he was being insane, his dad would never let them stay in one place for five months. The only time he'd ever been in one place for that long since his mom died was when his dad left him at Uncle Bobby's, and that was before he was school age. Now here he was, a junior in high school, and somehow, a part of him held on to the hope that he could have a normal life. He kept hoping that his dad would finally kill the thing that killed their mother and they could stop moving all the time.

Sam was wrapped up in thoughts about his father when Kevin came back around the corner, this time in his normal clothes. Every time Sam thought about his dad and the "family business" he could feel himself getting angry. He didn't know how Dean could just accept everything their dad said. His older brother seemed to just go along and accept everything that their dad threw at them. "Hey, Sam. Ready to go?" Kevin interrupted his thoughts.

"Oh, yeah," Sam snapped out of his haze. He got up and followed Kevin out to his car. On the way to Kevin's house, they talked about their classes and teachers. There was something about Kevin that made Sam feel like he could really be himself. He felt like he could tell the smaller boy about everything, including the "family business" and he'd understand. Well, maybe not understand exactly, but he wouldn't just laugh and say that Sam was hallucinating. Other than Dean, Sam had never found it this easy to talk to someone before. He had more issues talking to his dad than he did talking to Kevin. Even though this town was incredibly boring, Sam wanted to stay here.