A Cinderfella Story
-"Sam! SAM! "- Castiel shouted over to Sam, running in a frenzy through the school hallway. He finally reached the big mass of body that was Sam and held his shoulders for support.
-"Cas what's wrong?"- Sam immediately switched into "mother hen" mode as he tried to see Castiel's face, which was slung down as he was trying to catch his breath from running.
-"He, He likes me!"- Castiel finally spoke as he smiled brightly at Sam.
-"Dude, Jessica just announced that he wants to rendezvous Angelboy after the pep rally. I think we've covered that."- Sam immediately deflated from his worried stance and went back to being pissy.
-"No, no ,no, he likes me! He liked Cas, not Angelboy! We talked and, and he was really nice, and I gave him a cigarette and he told me I'm not Dinerboy and then, then he said I'm the only person he'd been honest with a-and-"
-"Dude, stop!"- Sam took his friend's shoulders and shook him roughly.
-"You're not making any sense here, just start from the beginning."- Sam tried to sound serious but he couldn't help the smile that blossomed on his face. His bestfriend, Cas was excited, ecstatic about something! He hadn't seen him this happy since, well before the accident.
He prayed there wouldn't be another screw up this time.
-/-
They walked towards the football field where said pep rally was supposed to be held.
-"Ah, Cas?"- Sam cut Castiel in his ongoing ramblings about Dean, their supposed rendezvous, what should he wear, and if he should shave, etc.
-"Yes, Sam?"- He even managed to sound irked at being cut mid sppech.
-"Aren't those your step-sisters sitting with those bitches?"- Sam rarely used crude language. He thought he had the right to in this situation. Castiel second this.
He looked over to where Sam nodded his head and indeed saw Meg and Ruby sitting opposite Lisa, Anna and Jo.
They had some papers drawled between them and Meg shook a paper in her hand, explaining something heatedly.
Lisa caught them starring ( they weren't really being subtle about it ( Castiel had opened his mouth and squinched his eyes together in effort to see better ( he really needed to get new glasses))) and send Castiel the nastiest glare he thought anyone could muster.
-"Well that was unnecessary."- Castiel mumbled to himself as he and Sam made their way away from Lisa and company.
Sam took the job of talking now, but Castiel couldn't concentrate.
All of his good mood suddenly vanished to be replaced with something...
Something he thought he'd forgotten.
The kind of dread that creeps up on you before something really bad happens.
He tried to brush that thought out of his mind and switch his attention to Sam and the upcoming pep rally, but the feeling he couldn't erase.
-/-
He and Sam choose to stand in the back between the crowd, while the football team were seated neatly on the rows of chairs in front of the little stage they'd set up.
He could only see the top of Dean's head, who was seated in the first row, his father behind him.
Dean wanted to see him after the pep rally.
He felt giddy just thinking about it.
If only this thing would start and be over with.
And with that thought the principal of the school stood up on the stage and the crowd went roaring in applause.
A nudge from Sam reminded him to join in, if only briefly.
Yeah, he wasn't really fond of authority.
-"Hello and Good Day students! In honor of our football team and the big game on Friday the next I would like to give space to out cheerleading team!"- Another roar of applause some cat-calls.
He and Sam didn't clap this time.
Not for Lisa and rest of irrelevant bitches.
Still they came hopping on to the stage, cheering and smiling looking like bunnies on steroids.
They did some crappy dance that made his eyes hurt until the football coach stood, Bobby before the microphone.
-"Who we gon' beat?"-Bobby yelled across the crowd.
-"The Demons!"- Everyone yelled back the name of the opposing team.
-"And when we gon' beat 'em?"-
-"Friday!"-
-"And who's gon' lead us to victory?"-
-"Dean!"-
-"Good, good. Now, I'm gonna leave the stage to the cheerleading team for uh, a performance to raise our spirits!"- He said somewhat awkwardly.
Lisa came up stage again and took the microphone.
-"Ahem, ahem, calm down now boys."- She said laughing, resulting in even more whistles and shout outs.
-"She did that on purpose!"- Sam angry-whispered to Castiel.
-"Noted."- Castiel replied grimly.
-"Ahem, Once upon a time there was a brave cowboy."-
Enter on stage : Meg, her shot blond hair stylized upwards, sporting the full cowboy get up, earning laughter and cheers from the crowd.
Castiel felt something was off.
-"He spent his time hunting and protecting the town's citizens to come back to his beautiful, hot, sexy, girlfriend."-
-"But he still wasn't happy."- Anna and Jo, raised up two signs that spelled 'AWWW' making the crowd react in same.
-"He prayed every night for an angel. Maybe he could answer his prayers."- Enter on stage: Ruby, her black hair tied in a bun, sporting a suit and wings.
No, no, this definitely wasn't good.
-"One night the smelly cowboy ditches his super hot, sexy and bendy girlfriend and goes to meet said angel."-
-"I-Is it really you?"- Meg said in a mock manly voice lowering her cowboy hat in the process.
-"Yes, Dean."- Ruby replied in a gravely voice, her facial expression unmoving, earning a guffaw of laughter from the crowd.
No, no, no, no.
-"Not only did Dean, the cowboy live a double life but he had a secret relationship too. One consisting of email's with a certain Angelboy."-
-"Lets get out of here."- He felt the tug of Sam's arm but he flung him back.
He stood unmoving watching the nightmare unravel itself before his eyes.
-"I've been thinkin' about you all day, angel. You're the only reason I manage to get through. No one gets me like you do. I can't wait ti'll I get to meet you, and go to Princeton together. I can't wait to leave this place."- Meg read several chat log lines he remembered having received from Dean.
The crowd went wild with clapping and sick laughter.
-"Oh, Owen, I want to tell you who I am, but I'm scared. I'm scared that you won't like what you see. PS: I've never had a real kiss before."-
Another eruption of Awww's.
Castiel felt something twist violently inside him.
-"But our angel also had a secret. He was no holiness at all. But a geek, a loser, a servant boy."- She spoke as Ruby entered the stage in the diner uniforms clamping down on a cake, making the boys stand up and choke on laughter.
Finally she turned her eyes towards him. Her cold, cruel look.
-"And who you may ask is this imposter? Give it up for the pretend Angel, Castiel Novak."- She said smiling cheekily, gesturing widely towards him. A crowd of heads turned towards him laughing even harder, pointing, and shouting in union 'Dinerboy! Dinerboy!'. He stood stoically through it all, taking in the humiliation.
He spotted Dean twisting his head towards him. His face turned incredibly pained, and that is what broke him. He fought through the crowd and away from them finally letting the tears he held tremble through his eyes.
-/-
He slammed the door to his room and slid down to the floor.
Why, why did he let himself be so stupid?
He knew better than this.
He knew better than to trust people.
He wasn't like this.
He sobbed loudly, cradling his head between his knees.
Sam had offered to stay with him, to help him, anything, but he loved Sam too much to put him through this.
This was his own mess, his own fucking mistake.
Sam didn't need to see this.
He didn't need to see his best friend brake down like this.
He felt such despair.
But most of all the felt shame.
He felt ashamed that he let himself trust another person, believe in them.
He felt ashamed that Sam, and Gabe, and Ellen, and Balthazar, all know just how much of a failure he is.
How he failed them, as he failed himself.
-"Move away Cassie."- He heard his uncle voice behind the door and felt him trying to push him away.
-"Get away."- He said, his voice ragged and coughed slightly.
-"You got a letter! From Princeton!"- He stood up away from the door, if not to see the letter, than just to shut that sing-song voice of Lucifer.
The door opened with a crack and a grinning Lucifer handed him a letter.
He quickly snatched it from his hands not in the mood to play games.
He opened it with trembling fingers to read:
'We are sorry to inform You that Your application to Princeton University has been rejected.'
-"Well, what does it say?"- Lucifer asked earnestly.
-"I didn't get in."- He deadpanned.
Everything, absolutely everything he ever worked for, ever lived for had been took from him.
-"Oh, no, oh I'm so sorry Castiel. But look on the bright side, you have a job in the diner for the rest of your life! "- Lucifer said enthusiastically.
They said Castiel's glare could kill.
He wished it could.
He honest to God wished that his uncle would drop dead at this moment.
-"I'm gonna leave you to freshen up now. Wouldn't want to add puffy eyes to that awful complexion of yours."- He said smiling slyly and left the room.
Again Castiel was left crushed.
He rarely ever let himself cry.
Once a year was enough for him.
But today, he didn't care.
It didn't matter.
All dignity that he had left was robbed from him in this single day.
So he threw himself over his bed and cried himself to sleep.
-/-
Shattering...
Trembling...
A crash.
A boom.
A voice.
'Get out!'
'Get out now!'
No...
No.
No!
Castiel awoke with a startle.
His breath heaved and he felt the cold sweat pooling on his skin.
He hadn't had one of these nightmares in a long time.
He quickly pulled on his glasses and switched to look at his bedside clock.
03:34 AM
No wonder. He didn't even remember how he fell asleep. He didn't feel rested at all.
More like he just ran a marathon.
Through hell.
He quietly made his way to his bathroom and splashed his face and arms with water.
Chancing a look at himself he saw how bad he really looked.
His eyes rimmed red, deep purple circles under his eyes, stubble looking ragged, hair looking like someone tugged on it too tight.
He washed his face again hoping to erase the memories that were left there.
Returning to his room, he reached under his bed for his pack of cigarettes.
He propped himself on the bed and promptly lighted one up.
He held his head between his hands in the silence of the night when he remembered something.
He flickered the bedside lamp on and rummaged under the bed once again.
This time pulling out a big beige box.
He crossed his legs on the floor and opened the box.
Inside was his childhood.
The best years of his life.
He pulled out the first things he set eyes on.
A framed photograph of 5 year-old him and his dad.
His heart clenched at the memories.
He brushed a thumb over his dad's smiling face.
His favorite book was there too.
Fantastic Mr. Fox.
He laughed sadly as he flickered through the pages revealing his childish scribbles he left there.
And beneath was one big and heavy book.
He Cinderella in both hands and looked over it.
It looked beautiful.
Leather bound and hardcover.
The book's title adorned by twirls of color and movement.
He took the cigarette out of his mouth and stubbed it out on the cover, making sure to burn some of the artwork away.
He then threw it against the opposite wall with a growl.
That book hadn't brought anything but bad luck to him.
It was evil wrapped up with a bow.
He was through with childish things.
He flopped back on the bed, preparing himself for an uneasy rest, leaving his once most precious possessions scattered on the floor.
So this is what happened, I wrote the 5th chapter and I went to get eye surgery, after that I got sick, after that my best friend moved away, and after that, it was my birthday!
Specifically yesterday was my birthday.
Also this chapter has none fluff. NONE.
I cant write if there's not some fluff to look forward too.
So basically I just listed a bunch of excuses to you, as to why this is so so late.
BUT, I promise you next chapter ( final chapter ) will be much much longer and it will be the epitome of FLUFF!
I apologize to anyone who was kept waiting, I promise you the next chapter is gonna be up much much sooner than this, because I have it all pretty planned out. :D
So Im sorry Im gonna leave you with so much angst but it was the only logical placement of events.
So if anyone has any questions, recommendations, and what not feel free to say so.
Can I just thank everybody that's been reviewing, you have no idea how much it all means to me. I can only hope to not disappoint you in my writing.
Reviews keep the author going. :D