Dear Readers, Thank you so much for your kind reviews! As long as you are enjoying it I will happily keep posting, although sadly I'm much too busy to post regularly. Thanks to banan () for pointing out my mistakes, I would not have seen them, so good eye! Please keep reviewing, as I love your input and ideas!
DISCLAIMER: Need I state the obvious and say I do not own Dean, Sam, the impala or any characters you recognize.
The next morning Noel rose groggily from an unsatisfactory sleep. It was four am before she had gotten any shut-eye, and even then it was the kind of restless sleep you get when something pressing is on your mind. She plodded down the stairs and glared obnoxiously at her coffee machine. She had given up caffeine as a new years resolution, but was seriously starting to regret that momentary lack of judgement. Yawning loudly, Noel grabbed a bagel and put some water on the stove to boil. Tea was always the answer.
After a rushed breakfast, a scalding hot shower and a review of her daily schedule, she was good to go. Last night she had decided that the only way she would ever get a good nights sleep would be to solve that Winchester mystery. An innocent chat with the two boys seemed like a good place to start.
The sun was low in the sky as she drove to the school, and the air was crisp. The morning dew glistened on the grass, making her feel like she was driving through beds of diamonds. Had Noel known that she would still be driving to school within her thirties when she was a teenager, she wouldn't have believed it. All being said, she still loved her job. She felt like she knew every student in the school inside and out, with the exception of two obviously. Smiling slightly with the prospect of today's schedule, Noel slid into her reserved parking spot and unfastened her seat belt.
"Sorry for the interruption, could Dean Winchester please report to the office" came over the school PA system.
Noel sat patiently in her chair, waiting for Dean to arrive. She had decided to confront him about the fight yesterday, and hope that he would open up and really talk to her. There was just something off about that family.
The door swung open and the teen strut in, settling into a comfortable chair before looking up and fixating his eyes on her.
"This had better be important, Mr. Joel's Science lecture was just riveting." he mock complained, grinning widely.
"Sorry to take you out of your class, but we need to talk" Noel apologized, completely missing his sarcasm.
Dean's smirk remained in place as he spoke, "You missed me already? It's been what, 24 hours since you last pulled me from class to talk?"
Noel flushed. She hadn't really thought about how strange it would be for the boys to be summoned to her office on a near-daily basis.
"It's about that fight I witnessed in the parking lot after school yesterday." She delivered this line well rehearsed. Dean's smile faded only slightly.
"Right. What about it?" he challenged.
Noel was taken aback. She thought he would be shocked and worried to hear that there was a faculty present during his little demonstration of violence. Instead he remained composed as if he were blatantly unaware of his wrongdoing. Or he just didn't care.
His smirk grew wider at her loss of words.
"Well it's against school rules, you could be suspended or expelled!" She finally managed.
" Oh no, really?" he asked eyes wide with apparent shock. But Noel didn't fail to notice the amusement on his face. He was playing with her. Well she'd show him she wasn't bullshitting.
" Really" she replied firmly, " Or I could just call your father."
He sighed loudly; as if this whole issue was just a minor inconvenience is his otherwise smooth day.
" Listen Noel, if you want to call my father, go right ahead. He won't pick up though, he never does." He stated unruffled.
"Then I'll call your mother!" She cried. It was an empty threat. She had no number listed for another parent.
Pain flashed in his eyes, before he masked it under a sad half-smile.
"They've found a way to talk to the dead already? How ingenious." He said.
Noel felt awful. She had assumed that the whole no-mother-listed thing was just another item on the long list of missing information for these two. She never thought that the woman would be dead. Despite her initial shock, Noel added this small tidbit of information to her mental profile on the Winchester boys.
"I'm sorry." She said, meaning it.
He shrugged, "No biggie. It was a long time ago." But his eyes retained the ghost of the pain for the rest of their brief conversation.
"So what do we do Dean?" Noel questioned wearily.
Dean seemed to ponder he question for a minute or two.
" Expel me if you like, but I'd rather you didn't. I like to keep an eye on my brother, which would be hard if I didn't go to this school. Besides you have to admit those guys had it coming, they're assholes." He smirked, and somehow she knew that he was mentally picturing the encounter in which one boy left with a broken nose.
"That's not really the point Dean, this can't go unpunished." She explained.
Dean sighed.
"Ok, so what happens now?" he questioned.
Noel didn't know she was going to say this before she did. Despite Dean's under-average grades he was excellent at sports.
"You do a little bit of volunteer work." She smiled pleased with herself.
There was a boy in grade 11 who was a straight-A honour student, but no good at football, Chaplin High's main sport. He was constantly getting teased and bullied by the jocks. If she assigned Dean to coach him in football, not only would the jocks have less of a reason to bully him, but Dean might learn some stuff as well. Hanging out with one of the smartest kids in school had to help somehow.
Dean raised one eyebrow as a slow self-satisfied smile crept across Noel's face. He knew somehow that he would not like what she had to say.