Chapter 2
…~)o(~…
Two hours felt like months Castiel, it had been only fifteen minutes since he entered the room and regretted having Algebra in the morning; everything seemed calm but he felt awkward and uncomfortable inside despite his confident outward appearance.
Mrs. Latsaw speaking incessantly about quadratic functions and inequalities.
"Identify the vertex of y equals x to the power of two plus sixteen x plus sixty-four. Alright, somebody give me an answer to that." she looked around the room and every single student turned to Castiel which made him feel even more uncomfortable, he guessed Dean was starring at him too.
"Mr. Novak?" Mrs. Latsaw raised her brow.
"Yes. A equals one, b equals sixteen and c equals sixty four. X equals negative b over negative two times A which equals negative sixteen over negative two times one, the result is eight, therefore, x equals negative eight. Y equals negative eight to the power of two plus sixteen times negative eight plus sixty-four, y equals zero. The vertex points are negative eight and zero." the entire class stared at him confused and mouth agape.
"Very nicely done, Mr. Novak." he nodded and hid a little in his seat. Mrs. Latsaw wrote more algebra problems on the promethean board but every time it came to have an answer, the students kept turning to Castiel until eventually.
"I do not believe it fair for the rest of the class to not have an opportunity to answer as well, Mrs. Latsaw."
"I agree with you, Mr. Novak. Someone else besides Mr. Novak, please." all the students looked around to see who would answer. "Anyone? Even if you are not sure the answer is right." no one dared to raise their hand and kept looking around. "Alright, I shall start picking names." the students seemed intimidated. "very well then, M-" Dean raised his hand.
"Yes, Mr. Winchester."
"A equals two, b equals negative four, c equals negative two. X equals negative b over negative two a which equals negative one times negative four over negative two times two, the result is one. X equals negative one. Y equals two times negative one to the power of two minus four times negative one minus two, the result is four. The vertex points are negative one and four."
Mrs. Latsaw raised an eyebrow impressed. "That is correct, Mr. Winchester." the class began to softly whisper. A smile formed on Castiel's lips feeling proud of the boy sitting behind him.
"Silence!" she said in a sharp tone, "Now, let us continue with the class." Dean smirked being proud of himself; he wasn't exactly a genius but he was not witless and he had good grades though he wasn't the class salutatorian; he was among the smart students. The class ended two long hours later, Castiel felt relieved and ran out of the room before his mates and headed to his next class.
When it was lunch hour at noon, Dean, along with Pamela and Ash, headed to the lunchroom where their friends usually waited for them. The lunchroom had the resemblance of a Starbucks, only bigger; their table was in a corner and it was larger than the rest, and apparently, only people invited to that table could sit there; it wasn't that Dean or his friends had placed that rule over it, it had been the rest of the students themselves for simple jealousy; if one could not be considered one of the Winchesters', Novak's, or Harvelle's closest friends, then no one, absolutely no one else could or else you'd be picked on. People who had done so were gifted with a red card in their locker and the student body had the freedom to do as they pleased to make that person's life miserable. The football (American football) team were no exception.
"Hey, Dean-o!" Gabriel said with a mischievous smirk as the other boy sat down.
"Hey, Gabe." he knew the Trickster was up to something.
"So…how's your day been?" he smiled wide, his hazel eyes twinkling with fake innocence.
"Alright, what are you up to, Gabe?" Dean raised his eyebrows.
"Me? Wha- can't I care about the well being of my best friend?" he exaggerated his hurt expression.
"I suppose. But I know you are up to something."
"I am not, Dean, I was simply asking how you've been today but if you don't want to believe I care, then fine!" he pouted
"Alright, fine." he rolled his eyes, "It's been alright."
"See, was that so hard? Now tell me," he took out a bag of skittles and a Twix and began eating the chocolate first, "Have you seen my baby bro today?"
"Castiel? Uh, I have Algebra class with him. Why?" he took a bite of his burger and focused on the pile of fries instead of looking at Gabriel.
"So I heard. So, um, how was it?" Dean gave him a confused look.
"What? Algebra?"
"The kiss, you idiot." Dean blushed embarrassed.
"Um, wh- who told you about that?"
"No one." Gabriel smirked, "I was on the third floor looking down to plan my next, most awesome prank and I saw it all."
"Oh." Dean looked uncomfortable.
"Relax, I'm not going to tell anyone you stole my baby bro's first kiss." he winked at Dean who was now pale and speechless.
"Oh shit. Gabe, I- I- it was seriously an accident, that shouldn't count, it shouldn't- I mean, it was an accident!" Gabriel laughed.
"Hey, it WAS an accident BUT," he put his index finger up, "but that IS still considered a kiss. Oh and by the way, he's eating with us today." he smiled wickedly.
"Dude, no! This is going to be so awkward…"
"Relax, Dean-o. I'm sure he realises it was an accident."
"Uh yeah." his friends were distracted in their own conversations. Jo was flirting with Ash, Pamela was texting and grinning wide, Becky was incessantly talking about some slash fan fiction while Chuck listened.
"Hello, Gabriel." said a low and rough voice. Gabriel smiled and Dean turned to find a beautiful, deep-blue eyed boy standing next to him. "Hello, Dean." he turned to see the older boy.
"Hey, Castiel." Gabriel motioned him to sit down, Castiel walked over to the side of Gabriel and sat next to him.
"So Cassie," smirked Gabriel and the younger boy instantly suspected the mischief beneath it. "How was your morning?"
"It's Castiel. It was rather banal." he looked everywhere but Dean and so did the older boy but Gabriel noticed and smirked again.
"Nothing interesting ever happens in your life, little bro. So, you and Dean-o are going to help me with my first prank of the year. This is going to be history."
"Gabriel, I am not going to help you with your asinine tricks."
"Wait, what are you exactly planning?" Dean raised his brow.
"Sorry, Dean-o can't tell you yet or at least here." there was a moment of silence and Gabriel looked from Dean to Castiel and back again. "It's nothing illegal, you guys."
"Okay, I'm in." Gabriel turned to Castiel waiting for an answer.
"I said no, Gabriel. I-"
"You won't get in trouble, I promise and it won't be that bad, really. Pleeeeaseeeee?" he pouted. Castiel sighed and nodded.
Castiel kept quiet for the rest of the time while Gabriel and Dean spent the entire hour talking about things Castiel could not understand but he guessed they were either video games or non educational films that tend to make you stupid, well, at least it worked for his twin. When the bell rang, he grabbed his shoulder bag and walked away before his brother or anyone could talk to him. Dean simply watched him go.
The rest of the day was uneventful for Castiel and he was fine with that, he did not like anything out of the ordinary in his life, he had everything organized and it should remain that way.
"Where is Gabriel?" asked Anna waiting in the car with Castiel.
"Perhaps he is with Dean still."
"I thought Dean had soccer practice after school. I texted him but he won't reply."
"I am certain Gabriel is alright, would you like me to go find him? I have an idea of where he may be."
"Just be careful and hurry, I have cello lessons today."
"I shall try."
"Thanks." She smiled and Castiel walked inside the school again. He had seen Gabriel with Dean after classes had ended but he was not interested in what his brother may be doing. He walked through the building and out to the gym into the locker rooms. As he suspected, Gabriel was still with Dean. All the other team mates had already gone to the field except for Dean.
"Yeah, that was unfortunate, huh?" he heard Gabriel's voice.
"You better not tell anyone about it, you hear?"
"Hey! I'm good at keeping secrets."
"Fine, I-" he stopped when he saw a blue eyed boy standing by the door staring at him. Dean was changing into his practice uniform and soon realised Castiel was staring at his torso, then their eyes met. Gabriel stood there awkwardly waiting for them to finally remember he was in the room too but after two minutes, he could not stand the tension and cleared his throat loud hoping they would hear.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your lovely eye-fuck, guys but, Cassie, we have to go." they turned to look at Gabriel with an expression between embarrassed, horrified and confused; Dean cleared his throat looking at the floor and proceeding to put on his navy soccer jersey. Castiel nodded.
"Anna is waiting for us in the car, she has cello lessons this afternoon, I suggest we hurry."
"Yeah, okay. Bye Dean-o."
"Bye, Gabe, um bye, Castiel." Gabriel gave him a small smile and walked out of the locker room.
"Goodbye, Dean." they shared another long stare before Gabriel came back and pulled him out of there. The twins walked faster towards the entrance and could tell from a distance that Anna was not happy.
"What were you doing, Gabriel? I'm going to be late for my lessons!"
"Sorry, I had something reeeally important to do. It's still a little early, you know."
"Just get in and hope I'm not late, seriously." Gabriel rolled his eyes and kept silent. Castiel sat in the back seat with his shoulder bag on his lap, his mind was distracted with something.
"So, Cassie, what was that about?" Gabriel finally asked.
"What was what about, Gabriel? And it's Castiel."
"You and Dean-o."
"What about Dean?"
"You know…the creepy eye stare you two have."
"What are you talking about, Gabriel? I do not stare at Dean, nor does he."
"You two were practically fucking each other with your eyes in the locker room."
"What?!" he felt a flutter in his stomach and shifted in his seat nervous.
"Do you like Dean, Castiel?" Anna smiled looking throw the rear view mirror.
"What? No, Dean and I are not even friends, Anna. He is your best-friend, Gabriel. I have hardly exchanged a few words with him in my entire life."
"Whatever, Cassie, you could still like him though." Castiel sighed and hoped his silence made his twin stop talking about Dean, he felt awkward and uncomfortable, not only because of what had happened that morning but also that Dean was his brother's best friend.
Castiel hung his blazer on the coat rack in his room, set his shoulder bag on his desk and let himself fall on his bed exhausted. Homework could wait another five minutes. He closed his eyes hoping to relax them, the contacts felt a little uncomfortable and he was still getting used to not wearing his glasses; he felt almost…naked without them but he had remembered how people at school thought he looked better without them, that was a plus.
"Hey, you hungry?" Lucifer leaned against the door frame of Castiel's room with a small smile on his face. Castiel looked up.
"Not very much."
"Well, we ordered pizza if you want to come and have some, or would you like something else?"
"Uh, no, pizza is fine. I shall be there in a moment." Lucifer nodded and walked out of the room closing the door behind him.
Lucifer was not always a bag of dicks, in fact, when he wasn't picking on his younger siblings or fighting with Michael, he spent his time with them playing video games or watching movies, eating junk food, taking them to places and just having fun; he loved to see them smile even if he himself could not. He did care for all of his siblings and Castiel seemed to understand him, whereas his other siblings thought of him an arrogant dick, angry at the world for his father's absence. That was half true, he blamed the rest of humanity for requiring of his father's attention so much that he had to leave them, he never dared to blame his siblings, they were his own blood but everyone else could go to Hell and he wouldn't give a damn.
