AUTHOR'S NOTES: Two things—first, Ms. Volpe is a real person and one of my favorite English teachers from high school.

Second, I would like to say that the medical info later in the chapter is from Google.

Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Spring came before Dean knew it and to his surprise, he found himself happy that his life had returned to normality.

Well, his father was still gone sometimes for days or weeks at a time, but instead of hunting trips, the absences were because of NIS undercover assignments.

Sam was doing even better in school than before and was helping Kelly keep up with her own homework while the girl in rehab for the injuries to her back. Dean had been surprised that his little brother was so interested in her, but at the same time, he was glad of it. Sam had never had a real friend before, so Dean was happy his brother was finally being more social than before.

Even Dean was getting good grades in his classes—though Sam would always be the nerd in the family.

And then, of course, there was Corey.

Dean had been good with girls ever since he was 8 years old, but there was something about Cordelia Adler that he really liked. She was funny and smart and had a great laugh. They would sometimes go grab a burger or pizza after school or go to the library after getting Sam from school.

But there always seemed to be something bothering her. Dean had picked up on it when he'd first met Corey and after a while, he figured that she was just self-conscious about the rash on her cheeks. It didn't seem to be anything contagious, though, and Dean could never understand why Corey didn't have more friends.

Heading to his locker the first day back from Spring Break, Dean was surprised when he didn't see Corey coming up as usual. Maybe she was out sick. She had looked tired before the break, after all.

Deciding maybe he'd stop by her house after school, Dean packed up what books he needed for his first few classes and started down the hallway when he saw a young girl running right at him, not looking where she was going. Unable to get out of the way, Dean was surprised when the girl went right through him, making him feel like he'd just been doused with ice water.

Looking around but seeing no sign of the ghost, Dean decided to skip his first class and headed to the library but stopped when he realized that asking the school librarians about any suspicious deaths might not be the best idea. But he could check the public library later and see if there was anything on the history of the school.

The prospect of working his own hunt filled Dean with an excitement that he hadn't had in months and he found himself unable to concentrate that day in class, making notes for himself on what all he needed to do to find out about that dead girl.

"Mr. Winchester," his English teacher, Ms. Volpe, said, waiting until Dean glanced up. "Care to share with the rest of the class what's more interesting than the reading assignment?"

"Nothing," Dean replied, quickly, trying pushing his notes back into his binder before the teacher came to look at them.

But Ms. Volpe was quicker and after a quick glance at the notes, she said, sharply, "See me after school, Mr. Winchester. Now put it away."

Dean hesitated, but said, "Ms. Volpe, I need to pick my brother up after—" But seeing his teacher's look, Dean just nodded, dismally.

Sitting out on the curb in the unseasonably warm spring weather, Sam scanned the street for his brother. He hadn't heard otherwise, so he figured that Dean was probably late getting there.

It was nice that the middle school and elementary schools were within walking distance of each other. And since Sam's school got out half an hour later than Dean's, Dean could walk over, meet his brother, and they could both take the same school bus home if they didn't feel like walking back to the house.

For Sam, being away from all the supernatural stuff was freeing in a way he'd never felt before. No more moving around, no more being cooped up in the house when he wasn't in school. Next year, Sam even had hopes of joining the school's soccer team.

Pulling out his homework, Sam figured he might as well get a jump on his assignments, if only so he could rub it in when Dean finally showed up.

"So you like ghost stories, huh?" Ms. Volpe asked Dean when he came by her classroom after the dismissal bell rang.

Dean breathed a mental sigh of relief but decided to play it cool. "Yeah, they're okay. I like monster stories, too."

Ms. Volpe smiled and leaned back in her chair, giving the 13-year-old boy a warm smile. "You know this school has it's share of ghost stories, Dean. In fact…" Standing and going to the bookshelves along the back wall, she pulled a book out and handed it to Dean.

Dean glanced through the book and gave his teacher a polite smile. "Can I borrow this for a bit?" he asked, trying not to sound too eager.

But Ms. Volpe seemed delighted that she'd finally found something Dean Winchester was passionate about. For the past few months, she'd noticed that he'd seemed bored in class and had been wondering how to regain his attention. "Just bring it back when you're done."

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"Been waiting long, Sammy?" Dean asked when he finally found his brother inside the school, putting his books back in his backpack.

"Long enough that I got all my homework done," Sam replied with a smile as he and Dean finally headed home.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, Sammy," Dean said, sincerely. "My English teacher held me after school." Sensing that his brother was going to start in on the questions, Dean quickly tried to run through possible cover stories. Until now, detention would have worked.

"So where's Corey?" Sam asked after a while.

Grateful that Sammy wasn't asking about Dean's delay, Dean shrugged. "I don't know. She wasn't at school today."

Sam was quiet for a while and as he and Dean came to an intersection, he asked, "Is Corey your girlfriend?"

"She's my friend," Dean corrected.

With a smile, Sam asked, "Does it bother you that your only friend is a girl?"

Dean didn't rise to the bait, even though Sam had a point. Dean hadn't made any other friends at school except for Corey and possibly Casey who seemed to like him. But thinking of his little brother, Dean grinned and asked, "I don't know, Sammy. Does it bother you at all?"

Sam blushed a bit and didn't meet his brother's eyes.

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At home that evening, Dean finished up his homework quickly after getting Sam dinner and started to read the book Ms. Volpe had given him.

The book had been published by a former student and Dean studied each of the pictures trying to find the girl he'd seen.

But Dean was so lost in reading one particular page, he didn't even notice that his dad was home until he heard him say, "I hope that's assigned reading, Dean."

Dean jumped and looked up at his father, wishing he could hide the book. But after a moment, he sighed and said, "I saw a ghost at school." Seeing that his father was about to say something, Dean held up the book, pointing to a picture. "It was this girl and she ran right through me."

John gave his older son an indulgent look and took the book, skimming over the article. If it was just a basic haunting, there was nothing to worry about as long as no one got hurt. "Look, Dean, I'm not saying I don't believe you, okay?" John said, closing the book and setting it aside. "But I want you to leave this alone, alright, dude? It's not your job anymore. "

"But what if the ghost hurts someone?" Dean argued, making sure Sam wasn't listening. "I can take care of it, Dad."

The part of John Winchester that was still a hunter was bursting with pride, but the part of him that was a father disapproved. Still, perhaps he and Dean could reach a middle ground. "I know you can, Dean," John replied, confidently. "And I'll tell you what: Do a little more research on this, and then we'll see if we need to do something about it."

Dean was surprised at that but nodded in agreement. But there was something that was bothering him just a bit. "What if I need help?"

"All you have to do is ask, Dean," John assured his son. But looking at Dean's hesitant look, John again cursed himself for trying to instill in his sons such a strong independence. Sam and Dean should feel free to come to him for help and advice instead of assuming they had to do everything by themselves.

Ever since she was old enough to know what a Marine was, Kelly had wanted to be one. She wanted to fight battles and defeat bad guys just like her dad and nothing would ever get in her way.

Kelly had never been one for acting like a girl. Sure, her mom tried to get her to wear skirts and dresses, but Kelly didn't go for that much. She liked to run around and climb trees and play as hard as any of the boys in school. She did like school, though, but tried not to act too much like a nerd. A tomboy girl like herself had a reputation to maintain, right?

But then Sam Winchester had come into her life and Kelly suddenly found herself feeling more like a girl than she'd ever felt in her life. She didn't always feel that she had to be tough and brave. She could just be herself—right down to being a geeky bookworm—and Sam didn't mind.

With exception to Maddie Tyler, Kelly didn't have many friends and so it was nice to talk to Sam about things.

Now if only she could stop blushing whenever she saw Sam now that she was back at school.

It was another week before Dean saw Casey at school again and he had to admit it certainly looked like she'd been sick or worse.

Although Dean didn't exactly feel great himself. He'd been staying up as late as his father would let him get away with trying to find out about his school's ghost issue.

But Dean put his problems aside as he saw how bad Corey looked. She looked thin and the rash on her cheeks and nose looked more pronounced than usual. Her head was wrapped with a scarf and most startling was the fact that Corey was actually in a wheelchair.

"It looks worse than it is," Corey assured Dean as he followed her to her own locker. "My parents and doctors just made a big fuss over nothing."

"How long have you been sick?" Dean asked, not meaning for it to sound so direct. But to his surprise, Corey looked almost relived at the question.

"Couple years," Corey replied, grabbing her books.

Dean felt a sick twisting in his stomach and asked, "So… what is it?" He couldn't think of what he really wanted to ask.

Corey knew what Dean was thinking and quickly replied, "It's not cancer, Dean." After a moment, she sighed. "It's called lupus. I was out sick because I had a superbad flare last week and ended up in the hospital."

Unsure of what to say, Dean could only reply with, "That sucks."

"Yeah, it does," Corey agreed with a grim smile and a nod.

The two skipped their first few classes, instead going to a secluded corner of the library.

Dean had a pile of questions, but he was having a hard time thinking of the best way to ask them.

But Corey was patient and answered most of Dean's questions with the clinical calmness of a doctor.

She explained that the rash was a common symptom of her illness, usually becoming worse if the disease was flaring up.

When Dean asked Corey why she couldn't walk, Corey gave him a reassuring smile. "It's just for a day or two," she replied, shrugging. "This recent lupus flare caused inflammation of the sac around my heart and my knees and ankles were in really bad shape. My doctors said I could come back to school today, but I couldn't do anything strenuous. They didn't even want me walking or going up and down stairs."

It was a little overwhelming to Dean and he finally asked, "What about… your hair?" When he'd first seen the scarf, he'd wondered if the hair loss was from cancer treatments.

Corey self-consciously touched the scarf and felt herself blush with embarrassment. "About 7 or 8 months ago, my hair started falling out. It just got worse and worse. Mom and Dad thought the wig might make me look more normal, but…" Corey took a moment, watching Dean's face as he took everything in. She was grateful that he wasn't running for the hills now that he knew her big secret.

"So… what happens when you get a flare?" Dean wanted to know.

"Well, I get really tired," Corey explained, trying to hide the fact that she wanted to hug Dean for being so great about this. "My joints hurt a lot. My face gets really bad and sometimes the rash covers my scalp. That's why I've got the scarf. Lupus is an autoimmune disease, so when it flares, it's like my body starts attacking itself."

"Anything I can do to help?" Dean asked, even though he wasn't sure what he could possibly do.

Corey just shook her head since she didn't trust herself to speak without her voice cracking. She was just so touched that Dean wanted to help and beyond grateful to finally have a true friend.

A/N: Corey's illness is a new one for me to write so if anyone knows someone with Lupus, don't hesitate to let me know what I might have messed up or what details I should know.

Next chapter: Sam and Gibbs talk, Dean hunts a ghost, and John realizes that he knows next to nothing about really being a father.