Author's Note: Finally, I've actually managed to write a (sort of) short chapter for once! I'm kind of proud of myself for actually finding a part to leave off early (but don't worry, there will be plenty of more long chapters to come in the future). But anyway, thank you all for the nice reviews and follows/favorites! You guys are awesome for all of the kind and inspirational feedback I've been getting from this story. Now, my embarrassing gushing aside, carry on reading the newest chapter!

Dean didn't like how his stomach started doing summersaults as he waited patiently for Castiel, who was watching with a disbelieved look on his face, to answer. But after standing there for a few minutes with nothing responding to him but dead silence while all hell broke loose around them, Dean sighed and just plopped down into the seat anyway, "Oookay, somebody's not too talkative."

"What are you doing, Dean?" Cas asked bluntly, finally recovering his lost voice. Yea…what am I doing again?

Dean tried to push down his growing anxiety and shrugged casually, "Nothing much other than just sitting here and thinking of all the ways I could slit everyone's throats if they don't pipe the fuck down."

Cas looked like he was trying his absolute hardest not to smile (much to Dean's disappointment since he liked the way the boy's blue eyes lit up when he showed his perfect white teeth…because, you know, Dean likes dental hygiene and lively eyes. Of course, it has nothing to do with the beautiful boy sitting at the desk beside him. No, not at all…) as he attempted say in his most serious voice, "Dean, I thought I had made myself clear about the subject concerning our friendship earlier in the hallway."

"Oh you made yourself clear, Cas. Crystal even," Dean assured him before shrugging carelessly and adding, "I just don't care."

Castiel's eyebrows shot up at his statement and his lips betrayed him by letting a small hopeful smile grace his angelic face. But in just a mere millisecond, the smile was gone and his newly hardened eyes matched his now cold expression, "We really shouldn't be speaking anymore, Dean."

"Why not, Cas?" Dean asked the question that's been on his mind ever since he had walked away from him in the hallway earlier, "So what if I found out about your big bad secret? Yea, you did lie to me and I'm still kinda pissed about it, but that's in the past now. I still think you're pretty cool and I was sort of hoping we could be…friends." Friends? Oh you're hilarious, Dean.

"But—"

"There's no buts about it, Castiel." Dean interrupted in a forceful tone, "Seriously, why the hell does you swallowing some pills mean that we can't hang out anymore?"

"Because all it does is point out that you're still popular and I'm still just a freak." Cas snapped, tearing his eyes off of Dean to stare hard at the floor with a tight, wounded expression. He waited patiently with a tense and stiff posture for him to respond, as if he was afraid Dean would suddenly realize that he was right and turn his back on him forever. Yea, like Dean could ever do that even if he tried.

"You're not a freak, Cas," Dean told him strongly once he found his voice, "You're just…very, very peculiar."

And finally, it was that statement that suddenly brought a smile to the boy's face. But it wasn't any of his shy smiles that he'd given Dean countless of times or the forgiving and understanding smile he'd given Dean at the lunchroom today; it was a huge glowing smile that showed all over his face like Dean had never even seen before.

Dean couldn't help but grin back as he opened his mouth to hopefully keep that beautiful smile intact but he was cut off by the bell ringing and the classroom door busting open. Every student suddenly stopped what they were doing to stare at the person standing in the doorway. It was a newly middle aged man—Dean guesses maybe late twenties or very early thirties—that had crazy matted brown hair that stuck up every which way like he had ran a hand through it too many times and thick black framed glasses. He straightened his posture as he cleared his throat and tried to smooth down his hair before marching to the teacher's desk with his head held high, though Dean could plainly recognize a hangover when he saw one.

"Everyone, please be seated." The man ordered in a strong tone and the very confused students did as they were told, all looking at him with the same bewildered expression that read like 'this shameful mess couldn't possibly be the highly respected published author and sharp teacher, right?'

The man ignored their shocked stares as he picked up one of the dry board markers (revealing his terribly unsteady and shaky hands) and wrote his name on the board, "Hello, Class, and welcome to AP English. My name is Mr. Shurley and I'll be your teacher for the year." His voice was groggy and tired, like he had just gotten out of bed and was just going through the motions until he could finally go back home. Dean liked him already.

You see, teachers that don't give a shit seem to understand how students actually feel. They know that most of the students won't listen to their constant ramblings and accept that—not like the stuck up pushy teachers that just love to hear themselves fucking talk.

"Any questions so far?"

Pure silence answer him, causing Mr. Shurley to let out a long sigh, "Anyway, since this classroom is full of people from different grades, you guys barely know each other, right?" Dean and most of the other student knew where this was heading so no one even dared to reply. It only took one idiot freshmen to nod his head to make Mr. Shurley smile and continue (much to everyone's dismay), "That's what I thought. Now, I know this is just the first day of school but I think it's better to just get this project out of the way. So, I expect for everyone to find a partner, preferably someone you don't know much about, and begin starting a two hundred word essay on your partner's past, family, likes, dislikes, and something that you had misjudged about them. You only have two weeks to complete this, so it would be wise to meet your partner somewhere else other than on school grounds to finish it." The teacher then sighed and sluggishly moved towards the door, "Now, everyone pick a partner and get started while I get myself a well needed cup of hot coffee."

As soon as Mr. Shurley went out of the room and shut the door, the classroom went into a frenzy. Everyone raced to their ideal partners and instantly started messing around instead of beginning on the paper like they were supposed to. Dean swept his gaze around the room and recognized most of the faces, but he would never even recall their names in a million years. A soft feminine voice tore him out of his thoughts, "E-Excuse me, Dean?"

His head jerked back around and he found himself staring at a pretty blonde girl with big stormy eyes and an even bigger rack. He couldn't help but break out his signature smirk, thinking about how he hadn't gotten laid in almost a week ever since that end of the summer party Bela Talbot threw, "What can I do for you, Sweetheart?"

She smiled, her cheeks turned a very slight shade of pink, "Um…yea, I was just wondering if you maybe wanted to be my partner…?"

He thought she was hotter than hell and knew he could probably get into her pants a couple times if he agrees, but then a picture of deep ocean blue eyes and a damn dirty trench coat found its way into his subconscious and he found himself saying, "Sorry, but I already have a partner."

Her face fell, making it obvious that he wasn't the only one who was shocked that he turned down a chance to possibly get laid, "Oh…I-I'm sorry. I guess I'll just go and find somebody else. I-It was nice talking to you."

The girl tried to walk away but Dean stopped her and gave her a lazy smile, "Hey now, I can't leave you empty handed, can I? Here, to make it up to you, why don't we go out this Saturday night? Completely my treat."

Her smile reappeared and she was practically bouncing now (making it hard for Dean to focus on her eyes instead of her breasts), "That sounds amazing." She then took out a piece of paper and scribbled some numbers down before handing it to him, "Here's my cellphone number. Text me later about our plans, okay?"

"Definitely, Miss…?"

"Jessica," She supplied and stuck out her hand, "Jessica Moore. But most people just call me Jess."

Dean grinned and kissed the back of her hand, "Then until we meet again, Jess."

She beamed at him and said goodbye before scurrying back to her group of girlfriends, probably about to babble excitedly about her plans with the elusive and infamous Dean Winchester that most likely won't even remember her name the morning when he wakes up next to her. Jess cut a small glance at Dean and he winked at her, causing her to blush furiously and duck her head.

Now fully satisfied with proving how much he loves women and how totally not gay he was, Dean turned back around in his seat and found Castiel still sitting at his desk with his eyes glued to his book, though Dean's almost certain he was watching him out of the corner of his eye. Dean knew Castiel noticed that he was staring blatantly at him but he never looked up from that damn book.

"Seriously, am I that hideous?" Dean mocked, grinning teasingly at him after ten whole minutes of Castiel avoiding his gaze.

"Who said you were hideous?" Cas asked, finally lifting up his gaze to stare at Dean intently. He kept his eyes on Dean with a serious and curious expression for a long time before he finally just shrugged and concluded, "You don't look hideous to me, Dean. Whoever had informed you of that assumption must need their eyes checked or is just trying to lower your self-esteem by telling you false observations."

Dean rolled his eyes, though he found himself practically beaming on the inside that Cas thought he wasn't completely hideous (it's not a total compliment but he'll take anything he can get), "Gee, anymore talk like that and you'll have to buy me new underwear."

Castiel narrowed his eyes and cocked his head, opening his mouth to respond but Dean beat him to it.

"So, Cas," Dean began as casual sounding as he could, "When should we get started on this stupid thing?"

The boy stared at him in confusion for a moment with a furrowed brow before he finally asked, "Your statement does not make any sense to me, Dean."

Dean rolled his eyes but felt himself starting to smile, "I'm asking you to be my partner, Einstein. But apparently I was being too subtle."

Castiel's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He closed his mouth soon after and just continued to watch him with a bewildered expression for a few more seconds before he opened his mouth again, this time words coming out, "B-But…why?"

Dean cleared his throat and shrugged, "Why not?"

His answer didn't seem to satisfy Cas because he just continued to stare at him before he finally said softly, "But, Dean…I'm nobody."

Dean's heart sunk at his words and he suddenly had the need to tell him how completely wrong he was. How he was sort of cool and smart and funny and nice and amazing and just perfect…but he knew Cas wouldn't take any of his words seriously, no matter how true they really were.

So instead he let a small smile form onto his lips and hesitantly replied, "Well, deep down…I'm nobody, too." Cas stared at him with an unrecognizable glint in his eyes for a moment before he reluctantly started to smile back at him. He doesn't remember how long they stayed like that; all he recalls is hearing the bell ring after a long while, causing the two boys to finally break out of their trance.

Dean looked down and started to gather up his stuff to go to his last period when he felt a slender hand grab his wrist. He lifted his head up and found it was just Castiel who was watching him with a slightly anxious expression, as if he was afraid that Dean would be angry at Cas for touching him. Oh, if he only knew.

"I um…" Cas started quietly before retracting his hand from Dean to write something on a small piece of paper. He then slowly put it on top of Dean's stuff and avoided his gaze as he said shyly, "I'm busy most days because of my tutoring sessions and extracurricular after school activities, but I'm free today after four o'clock. W-We could meet up somewhere and start working."

"Be at my house at seven o'clock, okay?" Dean told him before adding, "I would like for us to start earlier but that stupid bitch of a principal is making me stay after school for three hours everyday for the next couple weeks."

Cas stiffened at his last statement and went quiet for a few moments before finally replying, "Yes, that is most unfortunate. Naomi can go quite over-board at times." He then looked to the clock and swallowed hard before picking up his things and heading toward the door, "I have to go to Band practice now. It was nice speaking to you again, Dean."

Dean nodded and started heading out of the room also, "You too, Cas. Remember, my house at seven, alright?"

Cas threw a glance at him over his shoulder, "Um…perhaps our meeting could be set earlier today if Ms. Tapping would reconsider your punishment."

Dean sighed, "I wouldn't hold your breath on it. Naomi's sort of a hard ass and won't give a fuck if I have other plans; even if they really are academic."

Cas nodded and pursed his lips together, "Well…maybe someone can convince her otherwise"

He snorted, "Yea, that'll be the day." Dean then did a half-hearted salute to him and finally started to make his way to his last class, Gym. He didn't remember that Cas had laid a tiny piece of paper on his books until he was halfway to his destination. Dean looked down and his heart almost stopped beating when he saw a phone number written in the same perfect handwriting that the note Dean had found in his room one month earlier was. Then the realization suddenly hit him like a bag of bricks.

Cas had just given him his phone number.

Meaning that he wants Dean to call him.

And Dean can now talk to Cas any time he wants.

Holy shit.

After he had shoved down his extremely girly giddiness at the certain aspect of calling Castiel and getting to hear his voice any time he wants now, Dean took the piece of paper and shoved it down deep into his pocket. And he isn't even embarrassed to admit that he practically floated on cloud nine the rest of the way to class.

He made it to the Gym with a few minutes to spare until the bell rings. Pleasantly enough, Benny and Lisa were in there with him. Unpleasantly enough, Gabriel and Anna Milton were in there, too.

"Hey, Stranger. Long time no see." Benny drawled out in his Louisiana accent as soon as he saw Dean making his way towards them.

Dean rolled his eyes and grinned, "Dude, I just saw you at Bobby's Garage Shop last week."

"Hey, Dean." Lisa greeted, smiling.

At the sight of her, Dean broke out into a dead run and swooped her up in a big bear hug, swinging her around in the air effortlessly, "And how's my favorite girl?"

She laughed as she started to bang her fists lightly on his chest, "Dean, let me go!"

"Sorry, I forgot. Mr. Pre-Med student is gonna get jealous." Dean teased as he reluctantly released her onto the ground.

Lisa rolled her eyes but couldn't keep the huge smile off her face at the mentioning of her new boyfriend, "David is a sweet guy, Dean. He's good to me."

"I bet he's not better than me in the sack, right?" At the look of Lisa's bright red guilty face, Dean knew his answer and started to grin proudly.

"Has Ben finally takin' a likin' to him?" Benny asked her, causing Lisa's smile to drop. Ben is Lisa's eight year old little brother. Lisa used to be a party girl that got wasted every weekend but ever since both of her parents had suddenly died in a car crash a little over seven months ago, she had become Ben's legal guardian and sobered up as she took on a whole lot of responsibility. When Lisa started to date Dean, Ben had taken an extra liking to him instantly and practically worshipped the ground he walked on. But ever since they had finally decided to call it quits for good a few months ago after dating on and off for four years, Ben tries to chase off every guy that comes in a five foot radius of his big sister.

Lisa shrugged as she tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear, "He doesn't blatantly glare at him every time he's at the house anymore."

"I can talk to him about it if you want." Dean offered, knowing Ben would probably listen to him.

Lisa smiled her famous grin that always made Dean's heart melt, "Thanks, Dean. That would be great."

Dean liked Lisa. A lot. She gave him everything he could ever possibly want: stability, warm encouragement, a second place to call home, a loving and loyal girlfriend that always laughed at his stupid jokes that nobody else appreciated…but it just never clicked. Sure, their relationship was nice and all…but he wanted something that felt right, and that something just wasn't with Lisa. No matter how much he wanted her to be, Lisa wasn't the right girl for him and Dean had finally accepted that. He had broken it off with her and thankfully, they both said no hard feelings and still remained close friends. Now, she's dating an aspiring future doctor named David and Dean…well, Dean still hasn't found his own perfect happy ending yet. Maybe he never will. He doesn't know for sure anymore considering that he's dated and/or slept with almost every girl in this whole school and still hasn't found anyone of them particularly special.

He heard Benny starting to tease Lisa about something that had happen during fourth period as his mind started to drift off yet again to Castiel, his stomach instantly tightening at the thought of seeing him again today. As if the two Miltons had heard his thoughts, Anna and Gabriel's gaze suddenly snap to him as they started to talk to each other in harsh whispers. They looked like they were arguing about something, but Dean wasn't close enough to make out their words. He then saw the two finally stop fighting to glare at him, causing Dean to quickly shift his gaze back to his friends.

But thankfully, the bell finally rang, causing their gym teacher, Gordon Walker, to walk out of his office and tell them to go get changed. Dean used to like Gordon since he was a friend of his dad's and sometimes accompanied them on deer hunting trips, but that all changed when he started to be cruel to Sammy and leer at Jo every time she walked by. But apparently, the guy still hadn't gotten the hint and treated Dean like royalty.

Dean started to walk to the boy's locker room when he was tripped by someone's foot and was sent sailing down to the floor, landing hard flat on his face. Most students started dying laughing as Mr. Walker blew his whistle and shouted, "Gabriel Milton, I don't have any time for your nonsense this year!" Of course, Dean silently scoffed to himself, who else but fucking Gabriel?

"It was an accident, Coach. I promise." He heard Gabriel reply a little too innocently as he attempted to get Dean to his feet. But as he was helping Dean up, Gabe leaned in and said lowly in his ear, "I saw your little prank on my baby brother at lunch today, you arrogant asshole. Just don't think your actions won't go unpunished."

Dean swallowed hard and looked up to see Gabriel smiling sweetly (and a tad bit maliciously) at him as he patted the invisible dirt off of his clothes and started walking towards the locker room. Dean began to follow him but threw one last glance over his shoulder only to find Anna staring at him with a glint of hatred and something that looked oddly like curiosity in her eyes before she finally got swept up into a crowd of girls and disappeared into their own locker room. He let out a long breath that he didn't know he was holding and lowered his gaze as he disappeared into the room to get changed, not letting himself forget about the Milton family that probably won't stop until they have Dean's head on a silver platter.

Thankfully, the period when by and nothing else dangerous nor threatening happened, though Dean knew that wouldn't last for long. Note to self: Stay away from Gabriel and his sick twisted mind full of deadly pranks and elements of torture.

When the school day finally came to an end, Dean found himself heading toward the detention hall, thinking of all of the possible things he could do for the next longest three hours of his life. But after five minutes of sitting down in a random desk and glaring at the walls, Ms. Tapping suddenly walked into the room. Can my day get any worse, Dean mentally groaned in his head as his suffering amplified double with the Wicked Witch of the Bitch was here to watch his lonely imprisonment.

"Dean Winchester," Ms. Tapping said in a clear and somewhat disgruntled tone, "Please step out into the hallway with me for a moment." What could she possibly want from him now? Probably my immortal soul, Dean answered as he slowly got out of his seat and made his way out of the classroom with Ms. Tapping following close at his heels. As soon as she shut the door and put her cold unforgiving eyes on him, Dean couldn't help but think dreadfully, this will be the day I die.

"I'm relieving you of your afternoon detentions." She told him stiffly, making it obvious she wasn't happy about what she saying.

Okay, not what he was expecting.

"E-Excuse me?" He stuttered out, his eyes wide in shock and not really believing what he had just heard.

Ms. Tapping sighed, "My nephew has informed me of his project with you and persuaded me to terminate your afternoon sentencing of detention for the duration of your assignment together."

At first, he didn't know what she was talking about until something clicked in his mind, "You mean Cas?"

"His name is Castiel," She snapped, "There should be no reason to shorten and butcher a perfectly good name with a lazy replacement. And to your question: yes, I am his aunt."

Dean gulped and nodded, "Um…lucky him."

"Yes, I don't want his grades to suffer at the unfortunate luck of being stuck with someone like yourself as a partner."

Dean tried his hardest not to glare at the pompous bitch and put up his most convincing fake smile, "Yes, Ma'am."

She nodded, "He will be allowed to work on the project with you for one hour outside of school only on Tuesdays and Thursdays." She paused before adding, "And Dean?"

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"Castiel better not receive a bad grade on his paper because of your laziness and incompetence or you will be answering to me personally. Is that clear?"

Dean locked his jaw, "Of course, Ms. Tapping."

She smiled, "Good. Now, get off of school grounds this instance."

Dean forced up a smile as he walked towards the door, "Yes, of course. It was an absolute pleasure to see you again, Ma'am."

"This does not affect your morning detention, Mr. Winchester." Ms. Tapping called after him as he quickly left the building, "I want to see you in the detention hall bright and early tomorrow morning!"

Dean rolled his eyes, knowing he wouldn't be able to get off of sentencing completely. He made his way over to the Impala only to find Sam standing impatiently beside it. Oh shit, I forgot about Sammy, Dean realized, knowing that if it wasn't for Castiel and his magnificent ability to control his bitchy aunt, Sam would have waited there for three whole hours before Dean would've finally found him. Yea, that wouldn't have gone over good with the parents.

"Dean, where the hell have you been?" Sam demanded once he finally saw Dean moving towards him, "I've been waiting for, like, ten minutes!"

"Stop your complaining, Princess. I just had to talk to the principal for a few minutes after school." He told him as he unlocked the door and got into the driver's seat.

"What about?" Sam asked as he climbed into the car and buckled in.

Dean shrugged as he started the engine and began to pull out of the parking lot, "Just stuff, that's all."

"Did you get into trouble or anything?"

Dean sighed, "It's no big deal, Sam. Just that Mom or Ellen will be driving you to school for the next couple weeks, okay?"

"Was it because of me?" He asked, furrowing his brow as he gazed sadly at his big brother.

Dean rolled his eyes, "Of course not. You know me; always having trouble with authority and all that other jazz."

Sam nodded and smiled, deciding to change the subject, "So how was your day?"

He started to grin uncontrollably, "It was good. Really good, actually. How about you?"

Sam began to beam, "It was amazing! I met tons of new people and all my teachers love me! Like, one time in sixth period…" Sam prattled on and on about his day and Dean tried his best to listen, but his thoughts always seemed to lead back to Cas and how he had literally saved Dean's life from dying of boredom and getting heavily scolded by his parents. He then remembered that he was supposed to see him again today and desperately tried to convince himself that the butterflies in his stomach probably meant nothing.

As soon as he got home, Dean darted into his bedroom and dug out Castiel's phone number that was wedged deep in his pocket. He typed it into his contacts and started to write him a text message:

To: Cas

From: Dean

Hi, thnks for gettin me off of detention with ur aunt. U can cum here early now if u want –Dean

He hit send and waited anxiously for his reply, hoping Cas didn't just prank him with a fake number and isn't laughing at his expense right now (even though he doubted that was true, a guy can't help but worry). Dean didn't have to wait long though before his cellphone started to buzz:

To: Dean

From: Cas

Hello, Dean. It was no trouble getting Naomi to reconsider your punishment. She takes my studies very seriously so it didn't take much to convince her to let you go. Are you okay with me coming over to your house at five?

Dean instantly typed his reply and hit send:

To: Cas

From: Dean

Five's cool. I'll be here at my house. U remember my address?

Dean waited only a few moments before Castiel replied back:

To: Dean

From: Cas

I remember your address perfectly, Dean. I'll be at your house a five o'clock.

Dean didn't even try to wipe the huge goofy grin off his face as he raced down the stairs to try and act normal for the remaining one hour, thirty-three minutes, and fifty-two seconds. Not that he was counting, of course.

Author's Note: What? Lisa not being a jealous bitchy whore and instead a delightful and kind character? Yea, I haven't seen Lisa being a good person in most fanfics (but it's perfectly okay if you see her that way and sometimes, it's a necessity to the plot) and I decided to do something different since I absolutely adored Lisa and Ben and it killed me what they did to them (not saying because of spoilers). But, my unpopular opinion aside, what did you think of this chapter? It kinda sucked in my head but maybe (and by maybe I mean hopefully) you thought differently and if that's so, please feel free to review (I do feel the need to inform you that next chapter will be much better, too)! Also don't be shy to suggest a certain pairing that you would like to see in here either. As long as it won't affect the outline I have for this story, I'd be happy to add it in here. But until next time, Beautifuls!