Author's Note: Hey guys! So this is my first ever fanfic. I have really big hopes and plans for this story, so I will be editing/updating this story *hopefully* pretty frequently. I've been wanting to write one for a couple of months now, but I just recently started to develop a plot that I thought was worthy of writing about. I sincerely hope that I can make this a story worth reading, and I greatly appreciate any feedback/reviews/comments. Thank you! :)

~Befreenow

Castiel awoke in a state of daze, looking over to his simple alarm clock that read 6:30 a.m. Ugh. He thought. He was supposed to be at school in an hour. He pulled his sheets closer to himself, reveling in the warmth that his bed brought him. He didn't want to go to school today, or any day for that matter. Today was different, though, he would be attending a new school today.

He pushed the sheets off almost hesitantly, not wanting to venture outside the haven of his blankets. Castiel sighed, rubbing his eyes and taking in the new view around him. It startled him at first. It had been only a day since they moved in, and he hadn't quite gotten accustomed to the new layout that presented itself to him.

The walls of his room were a light tawny brown, and the boxes with all of his belongings he hadn't yet unpacked lay in a corner. His room looked simple, and he liked it that way. He had an ebony colored computer desk, barren except for the laptop that was rested atop it. Directly to the right of his desk was his bookshelf with nothing but his favorite collection of plays scattered amongst its shelves. Shakespeare was one of his favorite authors. The tragedy of human kind, and the way that human will always bound itself to succeed even though failure was closing upon it always intrigued him. He was human, of course, but he never allowed himself to actually partake in the everyday human activities… such as friends. No, people were finicky and he knew how easily they would turn on you, given the chance.

He sat upright in his bed, glancing at the bathroom. He did have his own bathroom now, which was a plus. He padded to his bathroom sleepily, gazing at himself in the mirror with a new sense of fear. The realization hit him that he was going to a new school today. He knew this, he had thought about it when he had first awoken, but now it was hitting him. Icy hands gripped his stomach, twisting it until he thought he would vomit. Castiel wasn't what anyone would call popular, or even social for that matter. At his old school he was ridiculed for being different, and therefore cast aside like he didn't exist. It didn't bother him that much, not after what had happened. Castiel shook his head, trying to focus on the problem right now. You have school in almost an hour, he chastised himself, get yourself together, Castiel.

He looked into the mirror, appraising himself. He had a mess of thick raven hair, sticking up on all sides from his tossing in his sleep. He grimaced, wondering how he was going to tame the beast that was his hair. His complexion was a soft peachy pale, clear of any of the monstrosities that are pimples for now. He had a strong jawline that squared his face, giving it a soft but manly outline, which he had thankfully inherited from his father. His deep sapphire-blue eyes roamed his figure, picking out every detail his eyes found unsatisfactory. Which was, well, everything about himself if he was honest. He had never been the fascination of someone's eye, as far as he could tell. He had never even had a friend, much less a lover, which he presumed most people found very odd considering he was a junior in high school. He tried not to let that put him off more, considering he would be introduced to complete strangers today…Oh come on, Castiel, no one is going to want to be friends with you. I mean look at you. You probably haven't spoken to anyone outside your family since-"Stop it," Castiel commanded his train of thought with a gruff voice, coming out way too loud in the quiet of his bathroom this early in the morning. Castiel ran his hands through his hair roughly, which did not help the bed-head he was sporting.

"How am I supposed to get ready if I can't even see myself looking decent?" He growled at his reflection. He finally decided to just try and gel his hair into an upward swoop as best he could, carefully making sure most of the random spikes in his hair were smoothed down. He then adorned a pair of dark blue jeans and pulled on a plain navy t-shirt. After another round of anxiety hit him when he checked his mirror yet again, he decided to pull on a red plaid sweatshirt over his navy shirt, hoping to go for a classier look rather than an Ididntreallytrytoohardtoday look. At least he was color coordinated? His lips pulled up into a cynical grin and he let out a small laugh. Yeah, this is going to be fun.

"Castiel? It's almost 7:15, you're going to be late if you don't get down here." His mother chided from the bottom of the stairs, interrupting his thoughts.

"I'm coming, mom." He choked out loud enough for her to hear as he shut his bedroom door with a click and rounding the corner to the stairs.

"There you are! Don't you look so handsome!" She smiled warmly at him, her warmth radiating through her face. She was a beautiful woman. Her locks of golden brown hair flowing just past her shoulders, and her stunning blue eyes shining brightly at him. He had her eyes. "A new day, a new school. I bet you're excited."

"Thrilled," he replied sarcastically, but light-hearted. "I'm not thirteen anymore, you know? I'm almost seventeen, mom," he said giving her a small smile. He didn't want her to know just how upset he was.

"Oh hush, you know you're always going to be my little Cassie," she almost sang. Her voice was soft and loving, holding onto everyone who heard it and embracing them in a motherly hug. He hated it when anyone called him 'Cassie,' but his mom was just trying to lighten the mood. She knew he hated school, but she didn't know why. This was the first time he would be going to a new school, which he figured was lucky. Castiel wasn't exactly sure what his father did, but he knew that everyone else his father worked with had already moved multiple times. Their lack of moving was probably due to the highly religious nature of his family. His mother and father were born and raised in Christian faith by their families, and they would carry their faith through to their deaths, he was sure.

His parents were from Layfette, Georgia, where you were born a Christian. It was a very lovely place, with rolling hills that felt as ancient as the Earth itself. Almost as if the hills could tell you a story of all the things they had seen or heard. His parents were very good people, always donating to the church and those less fortunate. Everyone loved them. His mother always had a heart for taking care of those who needed it, and his father had a solid shoulder that anyone could lean on. Well, that was, except for Castiel. He saw his father sometimes, to say the most. His father was busy. He understood. He had a lot to live up to, growing up in the Novak household.

His elder brother and sister were already off to college. Anna, with her signature burgundy flowing hair and style, was more or less more looked down upon by their father. She had decided to go to Vancouver, aspiring to be an artist. She was a free spirit, if anyone was. Castiel admired the way she knew what she wanted and went after it, with no care about how anyone else felt about it. He wished he could be that free. Anna had acquired this from their mother. Sarah, their mother, wasn't as free spirited now. She was a mother and she had responsibilities, but a glowing look would light her eyes when Anna was brought up. Gabriel was the comedian in his family. When he was in the room, everyone was laughing. Gabriel could even pull some chuckles from their father, Adriel, who was usually a pretty straightforward man, with no room for daydreams or fantasies. Gabriel had decided to go to San Francisco for school, taking some classes to build on his people skills to work on getting a degree in comedy or business. Castiel did not yet know what he wanted to do with his life. He was at a loss when it came to his future, and that made him even more anxious when he thought about school.

"Castiel?" His mother was gazing at him with a concerned look.

His attention snapped back to the present, and his stomach was doing flips. "Y-yeah? Sorry, I'm just tired," he lied. He couldn't fall back asleep now even if he wanted to.

"You should really try to get more sleep." Worry drew her eyebrows together.

"Yeah, yeah," he grinned though. While he was busy daydreaming the two had ended up in the kitchen, his mom throwing things in a lunch pouch. When she handed it to him he was confused. "Mom, you don't have to make my lunch, you know?" He felt guilty that she had been up preparing his lunch, especially since he was very capable of doing so himself.

"I didn't want you to be late, besides, a mom's got to treat her kid sometime." She replied with a grin that tugged at her laugh lines.

"Well… thank you, then," he smiled back, only this time it wasn't forced. That's when he heard the screeching brakes of the big yellow brick of dread now pulled to a stop at the front of his new house. Castiel's gut clenched again, but he had no time to think about his anxiety. He leaned in to give his mom a quick hug, the smell of soft vanilla flowing off of her. Then he ran to the door, snatching his coat from the coat rack as he burst into the cool autumn air.