Chapter One.
"Stop it. Anael, let go of my tie."
"I told you not to call me that. My name is Anna."
Cas looked at his cousin gravely, his deep blue eyes focused on her pale hands still knotted in his tie. "And I told you not to touch my tie."
She let go with a sigh of dismissal and jumped down onto the bed, knocking Cas' bible to the other side of the frame. At that moment, he didn't really care to tell her off. He was much too nervous to think about her at that moment. He turned to the small mirror across from his bed and watched his reflection. He looked the same as he always had. Pale skin, shocking blue eyes but overall dishevelled, his brown hair was nothing more than a mess and his clothes looked ruffled, as if he had slept in them over night. This is as good as it's going to get. With a sigh, he bent to pick up his reliable trench coat and shrugged it on.
"Please tell me you aren't going to wear that to school. You want to make a good impression, don't you?"
Cas didn't speak as he watched her, the two of them were so different that it was almost painful. While he preferred the same clothes, same routine, same people, Anna preferred to live dangerously and rebel against her father's rules. She wore the uniform to her new school but the skirt was precariously short. Even though he didn't know much about the outside world, Cas wasn't sure that nuns would approve of that.
"I find hypocrisy to be irritating. Surely the nuns at St –"
"Oh please. That's different. I'm stuck in a place filled with religiously boring girls who do nothing more than gossip like 12 year olds, eat and then pray, I'm there to spice things up. You're heading to a proper school, with normal people. Try to fit in, huh."
Cas opened his mouth to retort but merely stood there with his mouth open. He had to admit, she did have a point. But Cas wasn't going to change himself, he was too afraid. Silently, he lifted his copy of the bible and placed it on his wonky book shelf filled with religious text bound in old leather. Cas took in a whiff before turning and looking round his bare room.
"I don't know how to do that."
As the two of them headed downstairs, Cas felt the temperature drop immensely. The smell of burning toast wafted through the air as his feet thumped down the wooden, ornate staircase. Cas had always found his home to be far too… formal. One of those places where you felt you could never truly feel at peace. Even the wallpaper made one feel uncomfortable, the blood-red shade reminded mixed with the dark wood and oil paintings almost gave the sense that Dracula would pop out from a corner. If such a beast existed that is.
Anna pushed past Cas as they entered into the kitchen, the only remotely modern room in the house. Balthazaar, Cas' eldest brother, sat at the island next to a pot of freshly brewed coffee. His head instantly snapped up as he heard his brother creak in.
"Really Castiel? You're going dressed like that?"
"You've never complained about the way I've dressed before," he replied in his husky voice.
"Yeah, but that's because you've never been around kids your own age before."
"I'm sure there will be some who are younger that-"
He stopped himself and walked to the kettle, flicking on the switch before searching for some tea. "Did you finish the Bergamot," he sighed.
"No, I hate that stuff. You know that," sighed the other brother before he turned back to his newspaper.
"Hey, where's dad?" asked Anna as she pushed her skirt lover down her waist. "Did he leave already?"
"The church needed his help. Guess you guys will have to get to school yourselves."
Cas pretended not to listen but in fact, he was happy to hear the news. He liked being around "normal" people – as Anna had so quaintly put it – and he liked to walk. Maybe he'd meet some kids from his school, make friends.
"Meg called," sighed a voice from behind him. Cas turned to see Michael, his other brother, standing next to him, leaning his muscular frame against the counter top. Cas immediately backed away, there was something about his brother that made him feel inferior, as if he was not worthy of his company. It may have been because the two of them were so different. Michael was clean cut, his hair always smooth, his clothes always spotless and there was Cas, looking like a hobo in a tie.
"Wh…what did she want?"
"She said she wants to meet you."
Cas slammed the cabinet shut, the kettle whistling loudly beside him. "Well, I don't want to see her."
Cas had picked up his satchel and stormed out of the house without a second thought. He was too mad, too ashamed. How dare Michael just say her name with such ease? It was wrong of him to do so!
He walked down the street, trying to remember where about the school was. He didn't think Lawrence High would be hard to find, he'd just have to look for teenagers walking to class. Cas had abandoned the idea of driving the car Michael had bought him for his seventeenth; it would be stupid of him just to take it. Plus, the air was brisk and chill, waking Cas up from his stupor. Above him, the sky had begun to cloud over, thick and heavy things rolling across like they were about to burst. He hitched his satchel and continued to walk, lowering his head and raising the collar of his coat.
It had felt like months since Cas had been allowed out of the house. What with all that had happened in the last few months, it made sense but he was glad for the freedom he had now.
"Hey! Hey! Guy with the Trench!"
Cas stopped on the sidewalk, turning to see a bright red car speeding past. A blonde girl with a rather round chest leaned out of the window, his bleached hair flapping behind her. Cas thought she wore too much make – up, her face almost looked orange and her eye lids were an awful shade of blue. She blew him a kiss and he could only muster up the thought that he hated the sight of her fake, red nails when the car drove past, sending sprays of water from a puddle into Cas' face, drenching him in filthy water.
The car beeped twice in the distance and then sped even faster down the road.
"And these are the people you are stuck with Castiel. Just hold out for one more year."
Finally, he found it. After running after the red car, Cas had managed to arrive at the school. And he was early too. It was an old looking building with bricks falling off at sides, the alarm bells were covered in rust and he doubted the inside would be any better. Rain had slowly begun to fall, small droplets splashing on the ground as Cas hurried in after a bunch of kids who looked older than he was.
Inside, a bright fluorescence shocked Cas and he tried to shield his eyes as he rushed to the office as he had been told to when his father had signed him up. He looked around, trying to follow the signs that were plastered onto the walls with peeling wallpaper but nowhere led him to where he needed to go. A wave of students walked past him, or rather, pushed. Cas tried to balance but the amount of bodies tossing him to and from made him feel dizzy, his feet swayed and finally, one push sent him tumbling towards the ground.
He must have been there for five seconds until a voice, deep and rich, called out, "Hey!" A pair of strong arms gripped Cas from the waist and pulled him up gently. "Man, are you alright?"
He turned to see a boy, who must have been a year older than him, look right at him. Cas had to admit that the boy was handsome, his sandy hair suited his refined face and his eyes were green. The greenest Cas had ever seen… After a moment, he realised the boy was looking right at him and Cas was merely staring.
"I'm wet."
The boy laughed, it was just as rich as his voice before. "I can feel that. What happened? Look, never mind. I'm Dean and this is my brother Sammy."
"It's Sam actually," smiled a small boy who must have been younger than Dean by a few years. He had dark brown hair and eyes to match. He smiled and extended a hand for him to shake.
Cas merely stared at it.
"You're supposed to- never mind. Dean, where do I go?"
"Up the hall and to the left," he smiled before ruffling his brother's hair and pushing him lightly in the right direction. Once Sam had blended into the crowd, Dean turned to Castiel. He smiled easily, "And where is it you need to go?"
"The school office. I don't know where it is."
"So you thought you'd try the floor?" He laughed and stepped away, leaving Cas standing alone in the group of people for a moment before turning back, "Are you coming or…"
"Oh, yes. Right."
He took a double take before rushing after the other boy, admiring the leather coat her wore. It suit him, made him look… masculine.
"So what's your name?"
"Castiel."
"No, really," laughed Dean. When Cas didn't reply, his laughter was cut short. "Wait, that's your name?"
"Is there something wrong with it?"
"No, no. That means Angel of Temperance, right?"
"That's Cassiel," he sighed. "But yes, I'm named after an angel."
Dean just nodded, leading Cas down a corridor that seemed to thin out the students. A girl with brunette hair watched Cas as she leaned on her locker, nibbling the end of her pencil.
"Looks like someone has the hots for you."
"She might get led poising," suggested Cas. "And why is she hot? The temperature's perfectly fine."
The other boy stopped instantly, he was about half a head taller than Cas and as Dean looked down at him, he felt awkward. His mouth was opened slightly, then shut, then opened again as if he were a fish. Dean patted Cas' shoulder and smiled again, "I like you man, you got that whole… vibe going on."
They stopped in front of a bright red door with a glass window cut out of it, the words SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION plastered on it in large, black lettering.
"Well, good luck Cas. See ya around." Dean waved and walked away, his footsteps light and easy. Cas wished he was like that, friendly and kind, happy. Or at least, appear happy. But Cas had never lived a life that allowed him to do that, he could only be awkward or recluse. Trapping himself in a world of books and away from human contact. He didn't know how to be happy, he couldn't really remember the last time he had truly smiled and it was all her fault. So that's why Cas watched Dean walk away and into the crowd… or at least, that's what he told himself.