"Can you turn it down," Sam snapped, eyes glued to the book in his hands.

"How dare you, Sammy! It's Zeppelin, man! You can't just turn down Zeppelin," Dean reasoned, tapping along on the steering wheel of the Impala.

Sam huffed, looking up from his book and reaching for the volume knob, "Sure you can. Just like this."

Dean gasped in shock as his little brother touched the volume, immediately smacking him upside the back of his head, "Listen, brat. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole." He dodged a retaliation from Sam, who settled for flipping him off. He glanced over at his brother, noting the cover of the book— The Catcher in the Rye. "How do you even read like that in the car? I'd be hurling right now."

Sam smiled, gesturing to the stain on the floorboards, "No worries, Dean. I'm good. It's still just Benny."

Dean grumbled, planning to stop after practice tonight and get more spot remover to get the rest of the stain out. He made a mental note to pick up more air freshener, too.

They pulled into the parking lot, Dean turning toward his usual spot. "So, I'll pick you up in front of the school at 5," he asked his brother, grabbing his jacket from the backseat.

"Yeah, Jess and I are going to hang in the library until you are done with practice," Sam replied, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

Dean made a comment about cute couples that earned him a kick in the shin, cursing as he watched his brother retreat into the building. He made his way to his locker, picking up his books before heading to homeroom. He passed Lisa in the hallway, pulling her to the side for a questionably PG make out session before he heard Benny's voice behind him.

"Damn, brother! Save some for the rest of us," he whistled, clapping his friend on the back.

"Fuck off, Benny," Dean fired back, "You wish you had a chance with Lisa." She chuckled, pulling him in for one more kiss before stepping back.

"You're lucky you have a chance with me, Deanie baby," she grinned, turning on her heel.

Benny made retching sounds, doubling over for good measure, just to be punched in dick by his best friend. He dropped to the ground as Dean smirked at him, "That's for Baby. Later, Lafitte."

"Eat a dick, Dean," he gasped in return.

Dean slumped into the seat of his homeroom, checking his phone while waiting for the morning announcements. School policy was "zero tolerance" on cellphones, but Fitzgerald was a total pushover. The drama teacher, Crowley, was another story entirely. If he caught you on your phone in class, he would post an embarrassing update on any social media apps he could find.

Scrolling through his notifications, he saw that he had an email from Novak. He quickly pulled it up, wondering if he was in trouble for not printing his assignment.

From: Castiel Novak castfromthepast83

To: Dean Winchester allidoiswinchester44

Date: September 14th, 2020, 8:37 AM

Subject: Alternative Assignments

Mailed by:

Good morning, Dean

I received your email and wanted to let you know that emailing your assignment is just fine. You don't have to worry about printing them out. I hope you had a great weekend, and I can't wait to see what you've submitted!

See you later,

Castiel N.

Huh. That was pretty cool of him and would definitely save him some of the trouble of trying to get more ink for the printer. He scrolled back up to the top, noting the email address. That definitely wasn't his faculty issue email that he had sent the assignment to. Of course, he would pick something dorky.

The day passed by uneventfully, and finally Dean was heading to his last class of the day. Cas always made for an interesting period, managing to hold his attention better than any of the others. As he rounded the corner into the classroom, he froze, immediately noting the absence of his messy-haired teacher. Instead, sitting at his desk was none other than his brother, Michael Novak. Shit.

Michael regarded him coldly, and Dean hurried to his seat. When the bell rang, he promptly cleared his throat, effectively silencing the room, "My brother has asked me to sit in for your class today. He had a personal situation and was forced to take the day off. He has asked that you spend the class period working on the chapter discussion questions listed in your textbook. Silently." He glared at all of them before writing the required question numbers on the board, "They are due at the end of class, understood?"

"Yes, sir," the class murmured, shuffling their belongings about to get to work on their assignment. Dean sighed, working on the boring ass questions and wondering what happened with his usual teacher.

At the end of class, they all turned in their assignments before shuffling out the door. Dean stood, slinging his bag over his shoulder and heading for the door.

"Winchester."

Dean froze, turning to face Michael, "Yes, sir?"

"My brother wanted me to give you this," he stated with obvious boredom, producing an envelope from his pocket. "Why are you being given alternative assignments? Do you think you're better than your peers because you can throw a ball?"

Dean stiffened, clenching his jaw in anger, "No, sir. I just do what he asks me to do."

"Don't go thinking you're special, Winchester. In His eyes we are all the same," he spat, shoving the envelope toward Dean.

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," Dean muttered, taking the envelope. He stuffed it into his backpack, speeding away from the classroom and the colossal ass clown that was Michael Novak.

Later after practice, and after they had eaten dinner, Dean opened his bag to look at the envelope. "Leave it to that dick to open a sealed envelope," Dean swore, unfolding the paper inside. In Castiel's handwriting, there were the details of his next assignment, due Monday. He would be writing a personal essay about the most important person in his life.

He sat back in his desk chair, mulling over the details and considering his options for the most important person in his life. He thought of his brother immediately, having practically raised him since their mother had died. His heart ached as he thought about his mother, and bit back the anger toward his dad as he remembered that once again, he wasn't here to help take care of his brother.

Dean didn't mind taking care of Sammy, but he wished that he could have more freedom to do the things he wanted without having to worry about his brother. He made sure Sam was fed, that he did his homework, and that he had everything his nerdy ass could want all while their father sent a check from across the country at his job site.

Dean stared at the picture of him and his mother from when he was 3, and he swallowed hard to prevent the tears from falling. God, he missed her. With one last glance at his upcoming assignment, he stood, shutting off his desk lamp, "That's a problem for another day."