ASAP. Hahahahaha.

I know, I know. Keep the pitchforks and torches to yourselves. I'm super late.

BUT... I have my own laptop now! Hopefully stories will actually be updated now...

And hey, first update of the year, right?

Too many excuses. I just hope you enjoy!


CASTIEL POV

Better late than never.

My ass.

The parking lot was empty. Of people, that is. There were quite a few cars near the entrance, then gradually thinning out as they got closer to the road. I parked my cycle and walked inside, scuffing my shoes on the empty hallway floor and walked up to the roof, like usual.

Grabbing a ciggie from my pocket, I sat down with my back to the wall. I took a drag from it after lighting it, only to have it taken out of my mouth by someone behind me.

Turning around, I was greeted by the sight of my little blonde neighbor crushing my cigarette beneath her small foot.

"What the actual fuck, blondie?" I seethed. "Those things cost real fucking money, but it's not like you would know."

Chelsea looked up. "They're terrible for you, you know," she said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Why do you think I use 'em?" I growled, standing up.

"Where are we, anyway?"

I went to the edge and told her to follow me. Obviously, this view would impress her. That is, if she wasn't afraid of heights.

She looked out at the whole city. Her eyes were wide, but as soon as she looked down, she backed away.

"Yeah... No." The girl looked a bit green.

Smirking, I said, "It's just a little falling matter, ironing board."

Chelsea crossed her arms over her chest, as she always did when I pointed out her "situation."

"You're so... Ugh!" She growled. "Why are you up here?"

I shrugged. "Class is boring. Smoking," I glared at the remains of my ciggie, then continued. "is not. Why are you here?"

"I guess this is a bit better than a bathroom break." She replied, glancing at the edge of the building and backing away a bit more.

"I'll take that as a compliment," I answered and took out another cigarette.

She looked at me strangely as I lit it. "You are an idiot."

I took a long drag and smirked. "That's ok, 'cause so are you."

"Quoting Kurt Cobain will not change the fact that you are an idiot."

Raising my eyebrows, I was just about to answer when she started towards the door. "Where're you goin'?" I asked.

"A bathroom break doesn't last forever." She promptly left, leaving me alone with my cigarette.

I sat back down with my back to the wall, and took a drag.


CHELSEA POV

"Ms. Rothry, why on earth do you smell like cigarettes?"

"I-I can explain!"

My teacher nodded expectantly. "Please do so."

"I just picked up a cigarette from one of the stairs that go to the roof and threw it away! I swear that's all I did!"

He sighed. "Fine. You are dismissed."

I gathered my stuff and hurried to my next class. The second bell was about to ring...

I made it in just as the bell rang. The teacher gave me a disapproving glare before starting the class.

This was followed by a whole period's worth of mind-numbing lessons and homework. My anxiety about... well, everything, was itching at the back of my mind.

What if the teacher didn't believe me?

What if I fail this class?

What if, what if, what if...

It just got worse as the day continued.

What if everyone finds out about my parents?

What if Nathaniel blames me for his getting in trouble?

What if I have a breakdown in front of everyone?

I hadn't seen Nathaniel since I gave him the cat. He obviously hasn't made any efforts to see me...

No. He's probably just busy... right?

Thoughts kept nagging at me, pulling me deeper into their clutches.

By the end of the school day, I was on the verge of a breakdown. What if's were crowding my head.

I was scared and I felt so, so, so small. I needed to get home.

Closing my locker, I started for the doors. To get out of this place was my goal at the moment.

"Oof!"

I fell down onto my backside and rubbed my head before looking up.

"Are you okay?" A hand appeared in front of me. Kids moved around us, hurrying to get outside and out of the stuffy building that is school.

I took it and stood up. And who else could it be?

"I-I'm fine. R-really!" I'm stuttering.

Nathaniel smiled with relief. "It was my fault... I wasn't looking where I was going..."

Shaking my head, I answered, "Don't w-worry ab-bout it."

Don't stare at him. Don't stare at his hair. Don't stare at his stomach. Don't stare at his megahot face. Don't stare at him...

My inner monologue didn't work and I was soon given a confused glance from the boy.

"Something on my face?"

My cheeks flared up. "N-no..."

He looked at me curiously. "Ok. I gotta go, I'll see you around?"

"Y-yeah." He started to move away from me before I remembered what I was going to ask him. "Wait... N-Nathaniel?"

Turning around, he said, "What?"

"I... Amber told me th-that you got in trouble for the cat I gave you a-and... Um... Are y-you okay?" My cheeks got getting hotter by the second, and I could tell my ears were burning too. I swear to God, I cannot for the life of me keep my cool around this guy.

His face darkened a bit. "I'm fine," after plastering a smile back on his face, he adds, "Thanks for asking though."

The Student Body President then hurried off to his second home.

I was so glad that was over with.

Quickly, I left the school, barely managing not to collide with anyone else.

I see Castiel about to leave on his cycle. Flashes of that night when I heard him sing flitted through my mind. I shrugged them away, musing about my conversation with Mr. Perfect.

Mentally facepalming myself, I started home.


Everyone was in the courtyard, relishing the sunny day. I sat beneath a tree, looking for a familiar face.

Of course, the only person I recognized was the Wicked Witch and her (unfortunately ground-locked) monkeys. She had a strangely proud look on her face.

My food was untouched. I haven't really been eating well since I came here, but it's not like I'm not benefitting from it. I'm not usually hungry anyway.

Back to the Queen Bitch. Everything about her today seemed suspicious. I mean, this is the first time I've seen her, but whatever.

She got even more smug (if that's possible) and glanced oh-so-inconspicuously at me before getting up onto a table. Amber teetered haphazardly before addressing the student body.

"Sorry to disturb your lunch, everyone." She called out, a sickly sweet grin on her face. "I just have some news I think you should know!"

By then, everyone was looking at her, listening intently. Amber was their source for gossip, aside from Peggy, of course.

Speaking of Peggy, now I saw the Sweet Amoris girls on the other side of the yard. Funny how I hadn't noticed them before.

"It just seems that a certain new girl has been withholding some information from everyone." Even as she said it, everyone's eyes turned to me. I watched in horror as Amber obliviously continued. "You wanna know why Chelsea moved here? You wanna know why she's living with her aunt?"

She wasn't going to. It's all just another nightmare. I'm going to wake up and none of this will have happened.

"Chelsea Rothry is an ORPHAN!"

Amber's triumphant smile beamed out across all the students. They were staring at me, boring holes into me. My head was spinning.

Not happening, not happening.

I got up and ran inside, straight to the bathrooms. They were empty, of course, because everyone was listening to Amber's speech. She was probably going on about how I don't know what it's like to be normal or some crap.

I locked myself in a stall and began to cry. Everything just came out. My mom, my dad, my "new start" here. All gone. So I cried, like the idiot I am.

I had at least 10 minutes to myself (which I spent in a puddle of misery) until someone knocked on the stall door.

"Chelsea? Are you okay?"

It was Peggy.

After a few seconds passed without me answering, she continued. "Do you want to talk?"

Knowing the girl, she would probably record me and put it in a story for all of those who weren't there in the courtyard to hear it firsthand.

"I won't record you," She said, speaking my thoughts.

I wiped my eyes and nose (in vain) and stood up. I had nothing else to do.

After I had unlocked the door, Peggy went inside the small stall, looking surprisingly sober and mature.

"You okay?"

For once, I was glad I had sat by this girl on the first day of school. It seemed like she was the only one who cared.

I thought about her question. "No, I'm not."

Peggy nodded. "Let's get out of here."

"Seriously?" She didn't strike me as the type to skip classes.

After the dark haired girl nodded, I stood up and squeezed out of the stall. I reeled back when I saw myself in the mirror, but after a splash of cold water and reapplied mascara, I looked at least semi-presentable.

We left the bathroom. The halls were empty... I guessed the bell had already rung, probably while I was wallowing in my own self pity.

That day, I found out that Peggy is actually a really cool person behind all her microphones and notebooks. She knows the area well, and took me to a quaint little café that served really good pie. Really good pie. Oh, yeah. Peggy. Well, she knew exactly what I needed, which was to get away from people and, to be honest, have pie.

For at least twenty minutes, we didn't speak. Most of this time was spent by Peggy scribbling down stuff in one of her notebooks (she swore it wasn't about me) and me rubbing my temples in a vain attempt to make my growing headache recede.

The café, aptly named "Café Chaud," was practically empty save for a cute old couple sitting a booth on the other side of the room. Our orders were brought to us relatively quickly, and along with my seriously amazing apple pie I had the coffee the restaurant was named for.

Well, it was hot, that's for sure. Peggy had some black tea and a muffin (not pie, for some reason) which she nibbled on in between furious bouts of hurried writing.

Eventually, after she had finished her muffin and was close to done with her tea that was probably cold by now (my coffee was), she put away her notebook.

"You wanna talk?" She asked hopefully. "I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to..." Back to her own rambling self, she continued on and on.

Before she could talk her mouth off, I stopped her, "I don't think I'm ready yet." She looked crestfallen, so I continued, "But I do feel a lot better. Thank you, Peggy."

Immediately her face brightened. Her ability to switch between moods so fast was amazing. "Oh, I knew you'd like it! The chef reads all of my articles!" With that, she turned to look back at the kitchen, and upon seeing the head chef, was given a smile and small wave, which she returned.

The atmosphere was so peaceful here, I almost forgot the reason I came. But it was there, at the back of my mind.

A waiter came to take our plates and regrettably unfinished cups and replaced them with a check, which we both ignored, as we fell into another silence.

"Amber's a bitch." Peggy blurted out, and almost immediately her eyes widened and right before she was about to apologize for her language, I cut her off.

"It's true, though!" The girl visibly relaxed as soon as I finished.

She looked up at me. "Ready to go somewhere else?"

We were going to another place? I voiced my concerns to her.

"Oh come on! The day is young!" She got up from her seat and put a twenty dollar bill on the table with the check. "Let's go!"

I sighed and decided to humor her, for at least a little while longer. "Where?"

Her smile was menacing as we left the café.


Haha, really bad ending, I know... It's better than nothing, right? Honestly, Peggy is SO underrated. It's not fair, because she (besides Violette) is one of my favorite characters! So... This happened? I don't know... I thought it was cute.

How about you? Little less boy drama cool? Don't worry, we'll have MORE than enough next chapter!

R&R! Pwease?

Tune in next time to *reads smudged ink on hand* Barn to Heart Mu!

Happiness and French Fries,

Chels

P.S. Tell me, more singing from Cas? Or some Nat stuff that may or may not include cats? Both? Comment!