**Supernatural does not belong to me, nor do any of it's charaters**

Don't we all love the influences of high school...

The girls were both just finishing their separate reports as Sam, Dean and Castiel walked up the stairs to the library, the delicious smell of bacon cheeseburgers wafting just ahead of their entrance. Castiel carried two plates and set them in front of the girls, sometimes Morgan forgot the angel didn't eat since he never seemed bothered by watching them devour food, and each brother pulled a can of soda from their jacket pockets after setting their full beers on the empty table. For as many restaurants as she'd eaten in over the months with them, expanding her pallet's limited experiences, Morgan was convinced Dean made the best burgers and offered a tightlipped, full-mouth smile across the table to her oldest brother.

"So, how you gettin' t'school tomorrow?" Dean asked, after setting the second half of his burger down and taking a long sip from his beer.

Morgan couldn't help a tiny, hopeful grin over her soda can, shifting her gaze between Sam and Dean, unsure who was the deciding vote, "Can I, uh, take the Mustang?"

They smirked identically at each other before settling their eyes simultaneously on her and Sam nodded, "Be careful."

"I will," she beamed at him, "I have practice tomorrow."

"What are you practicing?" Castiel interjected.

"Cheerleading," Dean and Claire scoffed together, both met with a glare from Morgan and Sam.

"I'm familiar with the activity," he nodded and Morgan looked at him with surprise, "though I don't think you fit the stereotype normally associated."

"That's okay," Sam told Castiel and smiled encouragingly at his sister, "stereotypes don't mean anything."

"He's right," Dean nodded, "by hair stereotypes Sam's a woman."

Sam shot Dean an unamused scowl, but couldn't help a smirk as everyone chuckled.

"How do you know what cheerleading is?" Morgan couldn't help asking the angel.

"I know about most things," Castiel informed her, "I just do not always understand the human motivations or thoughts about everything. Are you enjoying school, Morgan?" Castiel asked pointedly.

"Yeah, it's cool," she nodded, "different, but I like it."

"What's y'r'favorite class so far?" Sam asked setting his beer down after a long sip.

"History," Claire crooned and Morgan whipped her head at the blonde with an incredulous gaze in her wide eyes.

"What are you studying in history?" Castiel asked, oblivious to the confused looks the comment had garnered from Sam and Dean.

"Mr. Kirk," Claire mumbled through a stifled laugh and Morgan backhanded her on the arm.

"Holy crap, shut up," she urged through a bitter giggled at Claire, making the older girl fall into a fit of laughter.

"I'm not familiar with him," Castiel stated, "When is he from?"

Claire and Morgan glanced at the angel and then at each other before both dissolved into a giggling mess. Sam and Dean looked at each other, shaking their heads with amusement and Castiel looked completely lost.

"Uh, oh," Dean smirked at his blushing sister, "somebody got a hot for teacher thing goin' on?"

"Oh, you're one t'talk," Morgan scoffed lightly, satisfied when she saw a little color rise on his cheeks as he smirked admittingly.

"What's this?" Sam sat forward with a grin.

"Dean hit on my chemistry teacher this morning," Morgan informed the table, glad she wasn't the only one getting called out.

"You didn't!" Sam stared wide-eyed from Morgan to Dean.

"I didn't!" Dean protested.

"Smile wink combo?" the younger brother asked Morgan.

"Whole package," she assured him with a sly grin at their oldest brother.

"Damn it Dean," Sam sighed.

"Least she's age appropriate," Dean tried to look seriously at Morgan.

"All I said was he's a good looking older guy," she threw a sideways glance at Claire before looking back at Dean.

"How old we talkin'?" Dean asked, unable to help a smirk.

"I don't know," his sister shrugged, "like y'r'age-ish."

"So, dinosaur?" he offered.

"Precisely," Morgan nodded at him with a smile.

"Well," Dean tapped Sam on the shoulder and nodded towards their sister, "while I was flirting with Miss Ellet, I learned she's never seen anyone do a lab faster than her."

Sam grinned proudly without an ounce of astonishment on his face, "Doesn't surprise me," inclining his head at his brother, "So you admit you were flirting?"

"I might'a winked," Dean shrugged in admittance.

"An' you did that smile," Morgan reminded him, feeling less upset about the altercation after having a good laugh with everyone about it, taking a little pleasure in Dean's pink ears.

"What smile?" he narrowed his eyes with a small grin.

"The one you usually flash just before a waitress drops her number on the table," Morgan's statement caused Sam and Claire to each put a tight fist next to their shocked smiles before breaking into laughter.

"I'm sorry," Castiel interjected from the end of the table and they all looked at him as if they'd just remembered he was there, "I didn't quite follow. What are you learning in history?"

A moment of silence was followed by boisterous laughter from the four while the angel simply looked annoyed and confused.


Morgan found herself engrossed in her history text book before falling asleep, reclined on her bed in the quiet bunker, trying to keep her mind from all the concerns and excitements she had for homecoming the following week. Realizing it was much later than she thought and feeling the sudden urge to pee, she closed the large book and slipped to her door, pulling it open silently. When the bunker was this quiet, Morgan hated to disturb the peace, perhaps an old instinct from sneaking to the kitchen when her Mother was asleep to pilfer any food she could find.

"I thought you agreed with me?" she heard Dean's hushed voice from Sam's partially open bedroom door, pressing her back against the wall to listen to the conversation in the next room.

"About the F-bomb, yeah, we've warned her enough," Sam told him in a similarly low tone, Morgan strained to hear them, "but when Cas showed up all she wanted was an explanation."

"Well I didn't think she needed to get called out in front of everyone about those scars," Dean replied.

"But did you need to flip out?" Sam asked.

Morgan heard Dean make a groaning sound in exasperation and felt a pang of guilt knowing she caused it, "Sam, she just keeps pushin' my buttons and I'm reactin' on instinct."

"Dad's instinct," the younger brother scoffed.

"Sometimes, yeah," Dean said gruffly, "y'know if Dad was here she never would'a had a chance to join that team, hell she wouldn't even've been given the option to go to a real school and you know it."

"And if I hadn't convinced you of both those things she wouldn't be either," Sam challenged.

"I'm hardly convinced," Dean growled, "but, ugh, damn it when she gets all happy and excited about somethin', how am I s'posed to say no?"

"I know," Sam chuckled.

"Oh I know you do," Dean scoffed.

"What's that s'posed to mean?" Sam questioned lightheartedly.

"I'm just surprised you can still stand up straight while being wrapped around that tiny finger," Morgan could nearly see the smile on Dean's face as he spoke.

"I'm not-" Sam started, but chuckled briefly, "yeah, okay, maybe a little."

"So somebody's gotta be the hardass," Dean resolved.

"But you're not Dad," Sam reminded, "when we were kids and I questioned his orders, you'd explain them to me when you could, you knew all I wanted was t'know why. So, why're you gettin' all Corporal Winchester on her?"

"I don't know," Dean sighed, "when we were kids, I don't know, Sam, I got it, while I never had the brain damage to go toe t'toe with him like you, I knew where you were comin' from, but now it's like I'm startin' to understand why Dad got so frustrated at you f'r'just arguing every stupid little thing."

"I guess you are old enough to be her dad," Sam chuckled.

"Shut up," Dean growled, but Morgan heard the amusement in his voice.

"Could you try t'ease up a little?" Sam pled, "Just try 'n remember what it was like t'be sixteen."

"Best if I don't think about that," Dean scoffed, "I'm already worried 'bout all these boys who seem to be giving her attention."

"Okay," Sam conceded, "but she's smart, Dean."

"She's brilliant," Dean corrected, "but she has no experience with other kids, especially boys, I walk outta the principal's office this mornin' and right fuckin' in front'a me that Bryan kid's layin' it on, 'n I hear she had lunch with the football team her first fuckin' day, Sam, I seriously don't know what t'do, I just want her to be happy, but she's so innocent, and so pretty, I just want to do anything I can to keep her from gettin' hurt."

"We're in the same boat, Dean," Sam assured him, "but we talk t'her, make sure she understands what could happen, but we can't restrict her based on other kids."

"How 'bout I restrict her based on her attitude?" Dean growled and Morgan's stomach twisted, she also had to pee badly, but resolved herself to hear as much of their conversation as she could.

"Yeah," Sam conceded, "she's a bit like both her brothers and her old man, not t'mention Claire hasn't exactly helped with the feisty attitude display lately."

"If Dad was here, that girl wouldn't be able t'sit down half the time the way she's been actin'," Dean said confidently.

"You're right," Sam agreed, "but y'r'not Dad. An' she's not a bad kid, Dean, you know that."

"Of course she's not," the oldest scoffed indignantly and Morgan couldn't help a small smile in her wave of confused emotions.

"We've given her a lot of leeway because she'd never had it," Sam stated, "I'm not sayin' we don't pull back on the reigns a bit, but let's try to remember she's findin' her feet as much as we are, hell more considerin' neither of us just decided to dive into a whole new life experience. Cut her some slack, 'n yes I will step up a bit on the hardass side."

"Yeah," Dean scoffed, "sure, she'll hit'cha with that pouty face 'n y'r'gonna melt like butter."

"Gimme some credit," Sam argued, "I keep her in line, I'm just not as hard on her as you."

"Weakstick," Dean mumbled.

"Y'r'just jealous 'cause I'm her favorite," Sam joked.

"Only 'cause you practically gave her your Mustang," Dean pointed out.

"Easy win," Sam chuckled.

"I swear Sam," Dean growled seriously, "if this car thing goes South I'm gonna kick both y'r'asses."

"I know," the youngest grumbled, "it won't."

Morgan heard the volume on Sam's television increase and their conversation dwindle into small talk, taking the opportunity to quietly slip down the hall towards the bathroom. Hardly any of their words had been surprising, she and Dean had certainly butted heads more than a few times recently, almost always over something meaningless that simply escalated due to their mutual quick tempered reaction. Sam had mediated a lot of these arguments, often getting them both to agree the debate itself was pointless and they'd perhaps responded too volitively.

But the constant comments she kept hearing people make about her naivety was starting to get under her skin. Morgan had fended for herself her entire life, longer than she could even remember, she was not unaware of the ways of the world even if she didn't have the most extensive knowledge of pop culture. Her Mother had drilled it into her that everyone had malicious intentions, no one could be trusted, but her brothers and even Claire had proven that wasn't true. Morgan knew she had to be warry of the kids at school, but after all the evil she'd survived, she simply wasn't that concerned.


Morgan parked the Mustang in the back of the parking lot and saw Heather and Kelly on their way into the school. They called to her, waving excitedly, and despite being unsure of both girls, Morgan did want them to like her, they were after all her teammates.

"Oh, my God, is it true?" Heather squealed, "Patrick McKellen asked you to homecoming?!"

"I knew he would!" Kelly reminded Morgan pointedly.

"Yeah," Morgan offered them an unsure smile, "I still don't know if I can go though."

Both girls looked completely shocked, stopping dead at the bottom of the stairs.

"But didn't you say yes?" Kelly's question sounded more like an accusation and Morgan wanted to snap that he'd hardly asked.

"I didn't know what to say," she admitted, forcing the bitterness out of her tone, "but I doubt my brothers are gonna let me go with a date."

Heather brightened immediately, "But we're all gonna be there! Me, Kelly and Christy are getting ready at my house before meeting up with the boys for the dance, you should come over!"

"Yeah!" Kelly agreed excitedly, "Just tell them you're going with the girls, I mean you have to be there!"

Morgan considered this as they walked through the front doors together and towards their first classes. Realistically, she knew both Sam and Dean would be a lot less adverse to her going to a dance with a group of girls, Sam might even encourage it considering how supportive he'd been in getting Dean to agree to cheerleading. Despite trying to convince herself it wasn't a lie, simply withholding the whole truth, Morgan was very aware neither brother would share that opinion.

She slipped out of her English class after the bell just before Kelly and made her way to the three hundred wing alone, returning the salutations she received from students she only barely recognized. Bryan was walking up from the opposite side of the hall when she reached their classroom and she smiled at him as he approached.

"Hey," she said brightly, but he only offered a weak smile and slipped in the room with other students, Morgan followed feeling a pang of sadness at the slight.

She glanced over at him a few times after they took their seats, but Bryan was giving his full attention to his chemistry text book and a minute before the bell rang Patrick took his seat, blocking her view.

"Hey," Patrick grinned, flipping open his notebook with thick fingers.

"Hi," Morgan responded quietly as Miss Ellet started passing out lab instructions.

He leaned close when the pretty, young teacher turned to the supply closet, "I can't stop thinkin' about how hot y'r'gonna look next weekend," Morgan blushed at his words and the seductive smile, offering what she knew was a terribly insecure grin and eagerly focused her attention on the lab guide.

Morgan successfully concentrated on the experiment for most of the class period, only responding to Patrick about the work they were doing, but he didn't seem to mind the blushing smiles he earned with non-class related comments. Bryan was one of the first out of the room when the bell rang.

"Lunch?" Patrick asked while shoving his notebook into his bag.

"I, uh," Morgan's mind raced for an excuse, "hafta ask Mr. Kirk about somethin' f'r'history, but I'll pro'lly see'ya in there."

"Sounds good," he nodded satisfactorily and she walked the opposite way as him away from the classroom and slipped into the girls' bathroom as soon as he rounded the corner.

Her stomach growled as she sighed with relief, avoiding lunch seemed the only plausible option if she didn't want to sit with the football team, it wasn't the team she minded so much and hoped Sam didn't need any help on his math. Bryan's face kept floating in her mind, the weak smile he'd forced at her was so unlike his usual expression her stomach twisted a little with concern over what it meant. She wanted to confront him in the lunch room and ask why he hadn't said hi back to her, but didn't want to deal with Patrick's guaranteed scowls from the other side of the cafeteria. Finally, it occurred to Morgan that maybe Bryan had heard Patrick had invited her to homecoming and wished she could explain to him that she hadn't known what to say. She really wished Bryan had asked her first, knowing it wouldn't change whether she could go or not, but the idea of telling him her brothers wouldn't let her go seemed far less nerve wracking than Patrick. Maybe Kelly and Heather's idea was worth a try.

Morgan's stomach was painfully empty by the time she walked into Mr. Kirk's class. He was wearing a button down with a dark blue, striped tie and black slacks, Morgan's favorite time of day was quickly becoming the hour she got to watch him pace in front of the class, spouting information in his deep, smooth voice. Too soon, the bell rang and students flooded into the halls on their way to the final class of the day.

"Hey, girl," Gina called from across the hall before Morgan walked into the gymnasium.

"Hey," Morgan brightened at her tall friend.

"You weren't in lunch today," Gina inclined her head questioningly, "was gonna see if you wanted to eat with us."

Morgan's stomach ached with the reminder of her missed lunch, but brightened a little at the belated invitation, "I didn't know we had the same lunch period."

"Yeah well," Gina laughed, "if you weren't surrounded by boys all the time you might," Morgan felt her face flush as she grimaced apologetically, "I'm kidding, I just noticed yesterday," the tall girl giggled, "you should find me tomorrow though."

"Definitely," Morgan smiled with relief and followed Gina into the locker room.

Mrs. Olin was her usual, less than chipper self, as she wheeled a bin of basketballs in from a storage room and split the class into three teams of five and one of four before instructing them to the baskets. Morgan noticed the gym teacher seemed to prefer sitting in her office with the door open while class was going on, occasionally yelling at a student who was being too loud or if she caught something out of the few feet of view she had into the large gymnasium.

Shannon was already in the gym pulling mats onto the floor when Morgan's class was leaving after the final bell. Unsure what she was supposed to wear, she'd just stayed in her gym clothes and sneakers.

"Hey, want some help?" she offered the captain.

"Yeah, thanks," Shannon smiled, pointing to the last mat folded in the storage room.

Members of the squad started filtering in as Morgan and Shannon situated the mats in the middle of the floor. The gym doors opened when a few more cheerleaders slipped in and walked immediately to the locker room, but Morgan noticed a woman follow them in wearing yoga pants and a zip-up hoody, her hair in a high, bouncing ponytail and the same white tennis shoes the team wore. Shannon brightened at her when the last yellow and blue mat slapped into place on the hardwood.

"Sherri, you're gonna love this girl!" Shannon grabbed Morgan's wrist unexpectedly and pulled her towards the petite woman, "Sherri, Morgan, Morgan, Sherri, Sherri this girl is a complete natural at the toss!"

"Hi, doll," Sherri smiled widely at Morgan, shifting her eyes to her purple sneakers and back to her bright, green eyes, "You excited to be on the team?"

"Yes, ma'am," Morgan nodded at the woman she wasn't quite sure why she was talking to anyway.

"No, no, no," Sherri laughed, shaking her head so hard her oversized sunglasses almost flew off, "everyone calls me Sherri, except Heather who calls me Mom, but I can't get her to stop," she sighed at the end of her giggle and Morgan couldn't tell if she was serious or not.

"Okay," she nodded her understanding, but couldn't bring herself to say the woman's first name.

Her Mother had been brutally insistent upon being referred to as 'ma'am' if not 'Mother' and not that she'd exposed her daughter to many people, especially if she could help it, but the old witch had made sure Morgan knew how to behave politely when she did.

"Sherri's our coach," Shannon informed Morgan, suddenly making it clear why she was in the gymnasium.

"I watch," Sherri conceded, "and give an opinion sometimes, but Shannon is the real mastermind. I'm just here to make sure the ambulance comes if anyone breaks a neck," she laughed, but Shannon shot her a wide-eyed pleading look after catching the color draining from Morgan's face, "I'm totally kidding, doll, I used to cheer in high school and no one ever got hurt, it's just an old joke."

Morgan nodded at her, she didn't appreciate the nickname 'doll' or the reminder of Dean's fear. Her stomach twisted with nerves as she followed along with the team to the stretches Shannon was doing in front of them. She felt a bit better after joining in a few flips across the mats, a few of the girls showing off with elaborate twists midair and Morgan desperately wanted to try their tricks. She was less fond of the dance routine they taught her, but after a few badly timed attempts, managed to synchronize her steps, stomps and claps with the girls on either side. Shannon seemed especially impressed by how quickly Morgan caught on, singling her out twice to extend a dance move and smiled excitedly when the newcomer mimicked her beautifully.

"You have to have had some training," Sherri insisted dumbfounded, "Did your mom put you in gymnastics or dance or-" she trailed off at the dozens of eyes staring widely at her, quietly insisting she stop talking.

"My Mother passed," Morgan felt the tension rise a bit as she addressed Sherri evenly, "but no, I've never done those, I just pick up on things quick," she shrugged modestly, obviously omitting that the trait was born from unrealistic expectations harshly punished when not exceeded.

"Oh, I am so sorry to hear that, doll," Sherri's face crumpled with sympathy and Morgan internally cringed at the nickname again, "That's awful. So it's just you and your daddy?"

"Oh my God, Mom," Heather sighed exasperatedly, "Just, like, stop talking."

Morgan blushed almost the same color as Sherri, she couldn't believe the girl had just spoken to her mother like that and was astonished the woman seemed to be taking the affront compliantly.

"I live with my brothers," she told Sherri, feeling sorry for her and offering a small smile.

"They're both gorgeous!" Kelly told the group loudly and Morgan knew she was a dark shade of pink as her team giggled agreeably, even Bobby, though Travis rolled his eyes.

"Okay," Shannon gained the teams attention after a few moments, "let's get to these lifts, Morgan, you're with Bobby, Rachel and Christy, Travis, Kelly and Brittney, you've got Heather."

They grouped off and followed Shannon's instructions as the few girls not in the towers practiced their steps to the side, waiting for the mats to perform the flip routine. Soon, they'd be doing both parts together and Morgan was sure it was going to look like the videos she'd been watching. On Heather's second toss, she twisted around in the air before landing as usual on her back in her teammates' cradled arms. Morgan turned with a sly smile to Bobby and he grinned encouragingly, whispering to the others that their flyer was going to try her first midair turn and on the next toss twisted herself around, unable to hold back a whooping sound and smiled up at Bobby on her landing.

"Oh my God, you're amazing," he giggled, pulling her into a quick hug and spinning her around, "And you're so tiny! What are you, like seven pounds?"

"Shannon you're so right!" Sherri clapped her hands, "It's like she's been getting tossed her entire life!"

Morgan smirked at the comment, taking a strange, dark humored pleasure in the preciseness of the woman's assumption.

When cheerleading practice ended, she changed with the other girls in the locker room, it was much louder than changing for gym class despite having a little more than half the amount of girls. Shannon and Heather told her to follow them to Sherri's car on their way out so she could get her uniform, her empty stomach sank a little in anticipation. Morgan knew what to expect, she hadn't seen a cheerleading uniform yet that wasn't much shorter than anything she'd ever worn or planned on wearing, but the sport itself seemed enjoyable enough so far to attempt the outfit.

Sherri drove a large black SUV with chrome handles and sports stickers on the back window, as they approached, she hit a button on her keys and the hatch opened. This only seemed to surprise Morgan. The woman rummaged through a large, blue bin in the cargo area full of tops and bottoms of cheerleading uniforms.

"Here we go," Sherri handed a blue pleated skirt to Morgan, continuing to rummage through the mess of blue and yellow uniforms, checking sizes as she went.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, Sherri," Morgan stammered a little at the skirt in her hand, glancing apologetically at the middle-aged woman, "this is an extra small, m'just a small."

She didn't appreciate the condescending grins, Shannon, Heather and her Mom gave her before Sherri shook her head and explained, taking the skirt from Morgan and holding it to her slight waist, "You want these to fit well, a little tight even is better than too big, try it and if it doesn't fit tell Shannon or Heather tomorrow."

"But if it does," Heather smiled, "you better wear it."

"Yeah," Shannon nodded at Morgan's wide-eyed concern, "we all wear our uniforms on Fridays and the football team wears their jerseys, it's like a thing."

"Okay," Morgan found the word falling out of her mouth again as she took the blue and yellow top offered by Sherri.

"You need white tennis shoes," Heather's Mom informed her, "Like what they have."

"Ooh, let's go shopping!" Heather clapped her hands together and bounced a little on her toes.

"I have to pick up your brother from hockey," Sherri told her.

"Shit," Heather sighed, no one saw Morgan's eyes nearly pop out of her head, "Can you drive me home?"

"Yeah, I guess," Shannon shrugged and looked at Morgan, "You in?"

"Yeah, I, uh, I gotta call and let my brothers know," she nodded unconvincingly, pulling her phone from her pocket, seeing a missed text from Sam a half an hour prior- 'Hope you're having a great time' and couldn't help a beaming smile at the message, pressing the call button on his profile while taking a few steps away from the others.

"Hey, Sweetie," he answered quickly, "How was school?"

"Hey Sam," he sweetened her voice a little, "it was good, cheerleading was great."

"Awesome, can't wait to hear about it," she could hear his smile, "so we're thinkin' about dinner soon, got any ideas?"

"Not really," the reminder of missing lunch suddenly helped as she tried to sound slightly whinier since she didn't have the benefit of eye contact, "but, uh, some'a the girls wanted to, well I got my uniform, but I need white shoes, they thought maybe we could, and I thought, but I knew I had to ask, so can I?"

"Can you what?" Sam chuckled.

"Can I go with Shannon and Heather to get shoes for cheerleading?" she asked hopefully.

"How long y'gonna be?" he asked.

"I don'know," she admitted, pulling the phone down and turning to the girls as they said good-bye to Sherri, she waved happily at Morgan before closing her tailgate with a button, "How long will we be?"

"Maybe an hour," Shannon shrugged, "I have homework."

Morgan nodded in agreement, as her stomach was uncomfortably empty, and returned to the phone, "Maybe an hour."

"It's four fifteen now," Sam stated, "be home by six, there's a hundred in the first aid kit in the glove compartment. Do not use the emergency credit card on shoes."

"I won't I promise, thank you, Sam," Morgan said enthusiastically.

"Six o'clock, Morgan," he repeated.

"Yes, sir," she whispered with a smile, "I love you."

"I love you too, kid, have fun 'n drive safe, I'll see you when y'get home," Sam told her and they hung up, Morgan happily congratulated herself on knowing which brother to call for permission.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! Let me know!