"You're joking, right?" Meg demanded, rounding on Ruby. She looked… smug. The bitch looked smug. "My fucking brother? This is the guy you've been freaking out about? My fucking washed up big brother?"

"Careful who you call washed up, Meg," Alistair warned in a low voice. He squeezed Ruby tighter to his body. She giggled and leaned up against him in a way that most people wouldn't consider decent. Meg felt like gagging.

"You've got fucked up taste in guys if you think he's hot," she said.

Ruby rolled her eyes, the smugness not going away. "I don't care what's on the outside—it's the inside that counts."

"What, inside his pocket? Because that's all you really care about, isn't it?"

Ruby giggled again. "That's just a bonus."

Alistair reached into his back pocket with his free hand and produced a Ziploc bag. It wasn't hard to guess what was inside. Meg ground her teeth together and crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly at a crossroads.

"Now will you calm down and shut up?" Alistair said, his voice oily. "You're killing the mood." Ruby snorted and sat down against the shed where Meg had been sitting moments ago. Alistair followed suit, crouching down beside her and pulling a joint out of the bag. Meg could have turned into a wisp of smoke for all they cared.

She clenched her jaw and raised her chin a fraction of an inch. The sun continued to beat down on the top of her head and her dark clothing continued to soak in every hot particle in the air within five feet of her. She felt like hundreds of eyes were trained on her, waiting for her to make a decision. Stay or go? It was the beginning of fifth period. She could still make US History. They had a paper coming up. If she set her mind to it she could pull a solid C+ or maybe, if she was really lucky, a B-. She didn't have to sit out in this heat, watching her brother and Ruby suck face and get high. She didn't have to deal with the experience of coming down off her own high. The day could still turn out okay.

Alistair pulled out a lighter and glanced up at Meg. She hadn't moved.

"So you going to stand there all day or what?" he drawled, holding the end of the joint over the light. Ruby stared at the flame in fascination, her eyes bright in anticipation.

Now or never. Meg looked down at them, and up toward the school. Her body was already tensing, getting ready to begin the lonely walk over there.

"Come on," Ruby said thickly. She held up the joint to Meg, her eyes rolling back in her head. She looked like she was in heaven.

Ruby would probably make life hell for Meg if she left. Alistair would be even worse, and she couldn't get away from him at home. She couldn't always be on guard from her father and her brother. He eyed her darkly, his colorless eyes darting from the joint to her and back again. He thought he knew what she was going to do. She could see it in his eyes. He was convinced she was going to leave. From the curl in his lip and the hardness in his gaze, she saw he wanted her to. He wanted to put her through hell. She bet he thought that kind of thing was fun.

Steeling herself, Meg crossed her legs and sat down across from the couple, accepting the joint. She glanced as Alistair as she put it between her lips, inhaling long and deep. He looked disappointed.

She let the familiar buzzing in her head wrap around her thoughts and smother them. She let go of anything that wasn't here and now—the history paper, college, her deadbeat dad, all of it. She just paid attention to the feel of her troubles floating away alongside the smoke that poured out her nose and mouth.


"So what do you guys have planned for tonight?" Becky asked brightly, clutching her books to her chest too tightly. She worried if she wasn't holding on to something, she would fall to pieces. She was standing in line for lunch with two of the most popular kids in the freshman class. After a year of people barely speaking to her, she had every right to feel like she would fall apart.

"Rehearsal," Sam and Jess said at the same time. They looked at each other, and Becky saw Jess's cheeks turn a nice shade of pink. She smiled at them.

"That's so cool! I love it when people say things at the same time. Oh, and finish each other's sentences. Do you guys ever do that?"

Sam chucked and rubbed the back of his neck, glancing at Jess. "Uh, not really."

"Oh, that's okay." They were approaching the front of the lunch line. Reluctantly, Becky swung her bag around and shoved her books back inside. She would need free hands to carry her tray to whatever table Sam and Jess were sitting at. The thought still made her tingle with excitement. This was actually happening.

"After you," Sam said when the got to the front of the line. For one shining moment, Becky thought that he was talking to her. She beamed and was about to thank him when Jess smiled at him and moved ahead. Sam followed close behind her, leaving Becky to take up the rear. That was fine. She liked being in the back. That way, she didn't have to stand around awkwardly and wait for them to finish getting their food. She could follow them immediately to their table.

"So what are you getting?" she asked, standing on tiptoe to be closer to Sam's ear. It was loud in the cafeteria, and conversation was impossible unless you were shouting or right up in somebody's personal space. Becky didn't mind the excuse to get closer to Sam.

He jerked away from the sudden closeness to her, and Becky couldn't hold back a blush. He rubbed the back of his neck again and she watched his eyes search the lunch line. He was looking for Jess, but she was already waiting for them a ways off. There was a sad-looking salad and a bottle of water on her tray. Becky had been thinking about getting a slice of pizza, but suddenly a salad seemed a lot more inviting. No matter how limp the lettuce looked.

"Sandwich, I guess," Sam said. He pulled a couple bucks out of his pocket and grimaced. "Maybe just a bag of chips."

"Do you not have enough money?" she asked, gaping. "Because I've got plenty if you want to borrow some. Really, I don't mind." She pulled a twenty-dollar bill out of her bag and waved it at Sam. He shook his head, waving the money away.

"Thanks but I don't borrow money."

"Oh, that's fine," Becky assured him, pocketing the bill again. "I don't like borrowing from people, either. I don't like owing them, you know?"

"Yeah," he mumbled as he grabbed the biggest bag of Doritos that the cafeteria stocked. Becky did the same. She didn't want to buy a full lunch in front of him. She was too excited to eat much, anyway. She shadowed Sam as they both paid for their food and then they met up with Jess. She smiled brilliantly at Sam, and he smiled back. Becky smiled at no one as they walked to an empty table. Nobody else from their friend group was there, yet. Becky took a seat right across from Sam and Jess, forcing herself to sit still.

Soon, she would be laughing with them. She would know the jokes and the stories. This was it.


Ruby's seat in physics seemed far too noticeable to Gabriel, but that was probably because it was empty. He knew just as well as everyone else that Ruby was at school today. He also knew, just like everyone else, that she was probably somewhere on the school premises getting higher every second. Gabriel rolled his eyes at nothing and listened to Mrs. Mills again. He didn't want to be in the dark completely during this lab.

As she explained the procedures, Gabriel leaned back in his seat. All thoughts about Ruby getting high faded to the back of his mind. He had been right before in saying that physics labs didn't do it for him the same way chem labs did. Physics was too safe. When the teacher began to go down the list of partners, he sat up straight and got ready to move.

"Anna Milton… Gabriel Novak."

That made him want to sit back again and groan. Really? Anna? There was no doubt in his mind that she would be asking him more questions about Castiel. He loved his big brother—he really did—but he did not want to discuss him with a girl from his grade. Especially not the very hot yet very stuck up Anna Milton.

And here he had been hoping to have some fun splashing people with water.

"I've got a table over here," Anna called as soon as Mrs. Mills set them free. Gabriel made a show of dragging himself up out of his chair and shuffling across the classroom to where Anna was situated. She had already gotten their supplies for the lab together. He should have thanked her for that, but Gabriel didn't consider him the polite sort. He didn't thank her.

"I can record if you want to do the tests," she offered, opening her notebook to a blank page.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes at her. On a normal day, Anna would have said that she was going to do the work. Probably because Gabriel was too much of an idiot and he would screw up the whole lab. She was playing nice.

"Why?" he demanded.

Anna opened her mouth to make an excuse and Gabriel crossed his arms. She seemed to reconsider, and then sighed. "Okay. Fine. I wanted to ask you more about Castiel."

Gabriel snorted. "You have no shame."

She ignored his comment, though her cheeks got a little pinker. "Did you mean what you said in the cafeteria this morning?"

"About what?"

"About him not… about him being gay." Her voice dropped down to a whisper, and Gabriel barely heard her over the sound of other students starting their labs.

He didn't respond right away. He was completely positive that Castiel wasn't straight. Even though they had never actually discussed it before, Gabriel just knew. And once, when they were kids, Castiel told him that he had a crush on a star from one of the TV shows that they watched. That star happened to be a man. And the way Castiel looked at other guys… he was definitely not straight.

"Yeah. I meant it."

Her face fell. "Always go for the worst ones or the unavailable ones," she muttered to herself, scratching the tip of her pen against the paper of her notebook. Gabriel blinked, unsure what to do. Was he supposed to comfort her or something? It was her fault for finding his brother attractive.

"Uh… sorry—"

"Forget about it," Anna said sharply, cutting him off. From the look on her face, he followed her orders. "Let's just get this assignment done."

"Fine by me."

They worked in relative silence for a while, only saying anything to each other when they needed to read off a measurement or record a reading. Twice, Gabriel's phone buzzed from his pocket but he refused to answer the text—it was probably Balthazar bitching about how boring history was—until he was out from under Anna's vigilant eye.

They finished the lab halfway through class—well before any other group. Without saying a word, Anna gathered up their supplies and deposited them on Mrs. Mills's desk. Gabriel took the opportunity to whip out his phone. He had been right; it was Balthazar.

Is Ruby in your class?

Gabriel raised his eyebrows. Weird question. He responded: Yeah but she isn't here.

Oh. Gabriel was going to need a little more than that.

Why do you care?

Meg's not here, either

He rolled his eyes at the phone. So?

Idk. Forget about it.

Ok.

Anna came back right then, and Gabriel shoved his phone back into his jeans. They just had to do the post-lab questions and then they were free to go. He scooted his chair closer to Anna and they bent their heads together, neither wanting to stay in class for much longer.


"Do you usually sit with anybody at lunch?" Charlie asked, dragging Castiel over into the lunch line. It was shorter now because they were late—Castiel had wanted to drop his books off in his locker, which was in the opposite direction coming from the anatomy room. Charlie hadn't minded. She was too excited about the prospect of getting Castiel into Dean Winchester's pants. She had never found him attractive—he was too rugged and muscly for her tastes, and he had one appendage too many hanging between the legs—but she was determined to make this work for her new friend.

"Typically I eat quickly and go to the library."

"A man after my own heart," she said with a grin. "Wow… never thought I'd say that. But anywho, you're sitting with me today. We're going to work on battle strategy."

"Battle strategy?" he asked dryly, handing a tray to her and getting one for himself. They grabbed a small amount of food and paid for it. Charlie didn't even pay attention to what she bought. She was busy scanning the cafeteria for Dean and his friends. They had to snag a table from which they could see Dean without him noticing that they were looking. It sounded creepy but it worked.

At least, that's what Charlie told herself.

"Come on, I see a place." She grabbed onto Castiel's wrist and towed him to an empty table on the far side of the cafeteria, by the widows overlooking the football field. They would have a pretty clear view of Dean's table. It was perfect.

"I take it I'm not going to the library today," Castiel sighed as they sat down together.

"Nope. We have more important things to do." She glanced down at her tray for the first time and thanked her subconscious. She got the most beautiful-looking slice of pizza and a bag of baked Lays. Perfect. She looked over at Castiel's lunch. He just got an apple and some water.

"That's all you're eating?" she asked incredulously, taking a big bite of her pizza. The cheese-sauce ration was perfect, but then again the pizza never disappointed here. It was one of the few cafeteria foods that always hit the spot.

"I don't eat much."

"Clearly." She wordlessly put down her pizza and ripped open her bag of chips. Castiel watched, his head cocked to the side, as she pulled his tray over to him and poured half of the chips onto it.

"What are you doing?"

"I am giving you nutrients. Believe me, you don't need to be dieting." She slid the tray back over to him and scanned the cafeteria. "We've got a Winchester at twelve o'clock." Castiel looked up from his lunch and Charlie smiled, patting herself on the back over the perfect seating choice. Dean and Castiel were facing each other directly. If Dean happened to look over at them, he and Castiel would meet eyes. It would be so romantic, Charlie thought to herself, sighing contentedly.

"Why does that matter?" Castiel asked, still staring over at Dean. He and his friends laughed loudly over something, and Jo Harvelle punched Dean lightly in the shoulder.

"We're plotting on how to get you two together."

"We will be together after school. I'm tutoring him."

Charlie threw her hands over her head in exasperation. "I mean together together. You know, boyfriends together. Goodness how have you gotten through high school without me?" She laughed and popped a chip in her mouth. "See, we need to find out if he's into you. And if he is, then we need to get you two together." She winked conspiratorially at Castiel.

"I don't understand what you're saying," he said flatly.

"Oh, Jesus Christ, this is going to be harder than I thought," she muttered to herself, taking another big bite of cheesy goodness.

And then who but Anna Milton appeared out of nowhere, making Charlie choke on her pizza. She didn't even spare Charlie a second glance, and kept those dark green eyes trained solely on Castiel. Charlie allowed herself to take in the sight of Anna leaning across the table, her hair falling gently over her shoulders, and the green neckline of her sweater riding lower than Charlie would have expected. She kept her eyes up, though. No need to scare the girl off.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Anna told Castiel. "I—I didn't mean to come on so strongly."

One glance at Castiel was enough to know he had no clue what she was talking about. He just stared at her, his eyes narrowed and his mouth working as if he was trying to say something, but couldn't find the words.

"It's fine, don't worry about it."

And Anna walked away without another word, crossing the cafeteria to go sit with the other junior girls.

"Um… what was that?" Charlie demanded, watching that beautiful head of red hair sink down into the sea of students.

"She gave me her cell phone number this morning and told me I was cute," he said, picking up a chip from his tray and examining it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Charlie knit her brows together and looked back at the direction Anna had gone. She had given a guy her number. She was interested in boys, and unless she went both ways that was bad news. Maybe Anna wasn't Charlie's elven princess after all. She didn't want to admit it, but that stung more than she expected. She had been so hopeful about Anna.

College was going to be a whole new ballpark, though. She was going to meet girls who liked girls openly, like Charlie, and she would fall in love and buy a little apartment in some city with the girl of her dreams and they would be happy. No high school drama. No awkward long-distance relationships.

And right now was not the time for grieving what could have been, because Dean Winchester was staring at Castiel from across the cafeteria. Sure, he was trying to be subtle, but Charlie could see his eyes floating over here every few seconds and landing on the boy sitting next to Charlie. He, of course, was oblivious, picking at the skin of his apple. His face was set in a mask of deep concentration. Charlie looked between Dean's wandering eyes and Castiel's head and it was clear as crystal to her. Dean was staring at Castiel like Charlie would stare at a free VIP ticket to Comic Con. There was no doubt in her mind that he was smitten with Castiel.

Maybe things would turn out better for the two of them than they did for her and Anna.

"Don't look now but Dean is staring your way. This is very good news," Charlie whispered, leaning over to Castiel. Of course, his head jerked up at the mention of Dean's name and for one shining moment, just as Charlie predicted, they met eyes from across the cafeteria. Both of them lit up. Dean grinned, one side of his mouth twitching up, and Castiel nodded, his own lips curving into a faint smile. Charlie's eyes darted between them, and yes, she was sure that things would work out.

People not meant to be didn't look at each other like that.


"You know, if it's supposed to be a secret or something you could try to be a little less obvious," Jo said nonchalantly, taking a bite of her sandwich. "I mean, your tongue is practically hanging out of your mouth."

"Yeah, well mind your own business," Dean grumbled, his eyes dropping back to his empty tray. Jo was convinced that she had never in her whole life seen someone eat a meal as fast as Dean could. He scarfed the whole thing down in ten minutes and spent the rest of lunch trying to look at that dark-haired blue-eyed boy without anyone else noticing. Naturally, Jo noticed.

They had gone through most of the period without talking about it, but both of them knew it was coming. Jo needed answers. This was something Dean would never be able to put aside with her. Everybody else had gone to get ready for next period or something, which left them in peace.

"So what's his name?" Jo asked, glancing over her shoulder. She saw the boy sitting next to Charlie again, both of them talking quietly with each other. Well, it looked like Charlie was doing most of the talking. Castiel was just listening closely, his eyes shooting over to Dean every once in a while. At least it was obvious he was into Dean, or this could have been a huge problem.

Dean chuckled, and Jo turned around again, confused. "What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing… it's just that I was asking Sam the same question this morning about a girl he likes."

"Did he tell you her name?"

"Yeah. Jess, I think. They're sitting over there." He jerked his thumb over to a table closer to the lunch line, where Sam was surrounded by his freshman friends. He was sitting next to a girl with beautiful blonde hair that fell in perfect waves. Jo wondered idly if she worked hard to get it like that or if it was natural.

"You know, you're not getting off the hook that easily," she said, smirking at Dean. He didn't look surprised.

"I figured."

"So what is the guy's name?" she repeated. "I've got him in a few of my classes, but I can't remember his name for the life of me."

"Castiel Novak."

"Castiel, really? That's kind of a weird name."

"Well I think it's really cool," Dean shot back, bristling.

Jo held her hands up, laughing. "Okay, okay, down boy. I was just making an observation. Your boyfriend's name is very cool."

"He's not my… boyfriend," he mumbled.

"Yet."

"Yeah, whatever, can we talk about something else?" Dean shifted in his seat, glancing around the room. Jo followed the direction he was looking at and saw Michael and Zachariah sitting down among a group of big jock guys. Some boy named Raphael actually moved so that Michael would have a seat. It was like they treated him like king of the world or something. Scumbag, Jo thought snidely.

"They're not going to hear you from way over there," she assured Dean. "Nobody's gonna hear you but me. You've been putting this conversation off for basically eighteen years, so it's time to let the bisexual cat out of the bag."

Dean grimaced at the word, but he didn't deny it. Jo took that as a good sign.

"Have you known for a long time or is this a relatively new thing?" she prodded.

"Um, I guess I've kinda known for a while," he said quietly.

Jo reached over the table and pinched his arm painfully. Dean shot her an injured look.

"What the hell was that for?"

"Thanking you for the prompt update, asswipe. You could've told me, you know." She leaned back again.

"I was—"

"Ah, ah, no excuses," she said sharply, holding a hand up. "You will answer my questions and not complain."

"Of course, your royal highness," Dean said with mock reverence. Jo rolled her eyes.

"You really are an asshole. You know that, right?"

"I live to serve."

"Stop trying to change the topic. You're not getting out of this."

"You were the one calling me an asshole, remember?"

"Whatever," she snapped. "Is this the first guy you've liked?"

Dean nodded.

"Good. Do you want to go out with him?"

"Yeah I guess so."

"Okay." She grinned mischievously. "Do you want to fuck him passionately against a wall?"

Dean turned an alarming shade of red and fixed Jo with a horrified expression. "Wh—Jesus Christ, Jo. Oh my God."

"Answer the question, Winchester," she commanded.

He just turned a darker shade of red and stared down at the table.

"I am going to take that as a yes," she informed him.

Somehow, his face became even redder and Jo couldn't help it anymore. She broke down laughing, and before long, he was laughing along with her.


It was about halfway through lunch when Sam noticed something was off about Becky. Her eyes seemed too bright, she always laughed a little too loud, and she seemed to latch onto every topic of conversation and drag it down until it died. It wasn't long after the rest of the group sat down around her that she was getting weird looks and sidelong glances.

There was a reason she always sat alone.

Sam sent Jess a look that communicated his concern, but she wasn't paying attention to him. She was laughing with one of her friends, Christina, over this TV show that aired on Saturday. Apparently, it must be hilarious, because Becky chimed in, laughing louder than any of them. Sam didn't even know if she watched the show or not.

Things took a turn from bad to worse when Garth showed up.

"Hey guys," he said amiably as he claimed the last free seat at the table. There was a chorus of greetings in response, and he smiled.

"What are you doing here?" Becky demanded. Everybody at the table stared at her. They had tolerated her quirkiness—this was a group of generally nice people—but they didn't like the blatant rudeness she was exhibiting, now. Sam sighed inwardly. This wasn't going to end well, he could tell.

"Eating lunch?" Garth offered, picking up his turkey sandwich and gesturing to it. He wasn't at all put off by her impoliteness. Garth was the most easygoing guy Sam knew. Sometimes he was a bit clueless, but he was a good person.

"No, why are you sitting here?"

"He's our friend, Becky," Christina said, looking at her like she had two heads.

"He works sound and lights for the musical," Jess elaborated. "Sam and I got to know him this year and asked him to sit with us. He's a good friend." She grinned warmly at Garth.

"Aw, thanks Jess," he said, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"He sits here every day?" Becky asked. Sam noticed her voice was getting higher and higher, and she looked panicked. People were glancing at each other out of the corners of their eyes, some trying not to laugh and others seeming genuinely concerned.

"Yeah," Jess said. "What's wrong with that?"

"I—but—he…" Becky trailed off, her face getting red and her breath coming out in shallow gasps. "But this morning—"

"I said he was rude, but I wasn't going to ask him to not sit with us or something," Jess laughed, looking uncomfortable.

"I am sorry about what happened," Garth said sincerely.

"No, this isn't right," Becky breathed, running a hand through her frizzy hair. Sam and Jess met eyes, both unsure how to handle this. "This isn't how this is supposed to be."

"Hey, breathe," Jess said in her most soothing voice. Her face looked strained, but she had no affect on Becky. "It's not that big a deal—"

"Of course it's a big deal!" Becky snapped, and that made people raise their eyebrows.

"Look, Garth is our friend and if you have a problem with that then just say so," Jess said, her voice getting low. Sam had never heard her sound so… dangerous. He shifted uncomfortably along with the rest of the friend group. It was scary how fast Jess could go from concerned, comforting friend to menacing.

"Oh, look at the time. I've got to go get my books for class," Christina said, looking up at the clock on the wall. There was still twenty minutes left in the period, and Sam didn't blame them for wanting to leave. He wanted to get out of there, too. People stood up and escaped, one by one, until it was just Becky, Jess, Sam, and Garth left at the table.

"You should really apologize," Jess said. Her voice was a mix between caring mother and strict teacher.

"I—no!" Becky shouted, indignant. She looked offended.

Jess sighed. "Then we have nothing more to say to you." She stood up with her tray, glancing at Sam and Garth in turn. "Come on, guys." They both stood up, taking their trays with them.

Sam looked apologetically at Becky, but she was too intent on staring at the table to notice. Dejectedly, he swung his backpack over his shoulder and followed Jess and Garth out of the cafeteria.

He didn't notice when a small, plastic thing flew out of the front pocket of his bag and slid right up against Becky's foot. He didn't see when she leaned down, the tears beginning to slide down her face, and picked up the CD she had given him this morning. He didn't see her heart beak into a thousand pieces.