Chapter Text
"And only if you defeat the boss with this sword do you get to access an extra level."
Castiel had no idea what Charlie was talking about. She must have discovered a new video game over the weekend. Occasionally, he played too, but Charlie was on a whole different level. She was simply a nerd. But not the kind with glasses who withdrew from others. With her fiery red hair, she always stood out and had no problem interacting with other people. Those were things Castiel loved about her. She wasn't his best friend for no reason. But when she started talking about Middle-earth or Tatooine, he automatically tuned out.
He leaned back in his chair. It was Monday morning, and a new week of school lay ahead. He did well in school, even though he didn't have to put in much effort. But still, at 16, he could think of better things to do than sit in this stuffy classroom. As their teacher entered the room and asked everyone to be quiet, Charlie fell silent next to him. Their teacher wrote the topic for the class on the board, and they took out their books. "You all read Chapter 6 over the weekend. Who would like to summarize what happened?"
Before anyone could be chosen, the door to the classroom opened. A boy their age stood in the doorway. His dark blond hair was slightly gelled up. He wore an oversized leather jacket over a dark shirt and faded jeans. Castiel had never seen him before. Lawrence wasn't a big town, and everyone pretty much knew everyone. How had he not noticed this boy before? Their teacher paused and looked at the boy.
"You must be Dean." The boy nodded.
"You're late," she remarked.
Dean? Castiel had never heard that name in town either.
"Couldn't find the room," Dean replied.
He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Their teacher shook her head but said nothing about it. Instead, she turned to the class.
"This is Dean Winchester. He'll be joining our school from today. I hope you all give him a warm welcome."
"Would you like to tell us something about yourself?"
"Not really." He sounded bored, uncom mon for a student at a new school. Shouldn't he be nervous?
"Where are your books?"
It was only now that Castiel noticed Dean didn't have any books with him. In fact, he had nothing at all. No bag, no backpack, not even a pen?
"Didn't get any," Dean replied curtly. Castiel was sure he saw a smile flicker across his face for a fraction of a second.
"You'll have to pick them up. Today, you can look at someone else's book. There's a seat free next to Castiel."
When Dean followed the teacher's outstretched finger with his gaze, it was the first time his eyes met Castiel's. They were shining green. Even from this distance, Castiel could see the light reflecting in them. He had never seen such green eyes before. He couldn't help but stare at the other boy. And Dean stared right back. Did they even blink? The teacher cleared her throat, and he snapped out of his trance.
"Dean, please take a seat."
After a moment's hesitation, Dean moved and slid into the chair next to him. "Hi" Castiel tried not to look into his eyes, to avoid the risk of staring like an idiot again. "Hi, I'm Castiel," he unnecessarily introduced himself. On his other side, Charlie stretched to get a look at Dean.
"I'm Charlie." Dean nodded.
"Hi."
"Are you new here?" Dean nodded again.
"Yeah, we arrived two days ago."
"I'm glad to see you making connections," the teacher interrupted. "But please save that for your breaks."
Dean just rolled his eyes, earning a chuckle from both Charlie and Castiel. But before they could be reprimanded again, he pushed his book over so Dean could look into it too. Then he focused back on the lesson. At least as much as possible. They were kept so busy that there was no opportunity for conversation. Only his gaze kept drifting back to Dean. But Dean wasn't really paying attention to the lesson. Most of the time, he was looking out the window whenever Castiel glanced at him.
"I expect all of you to write a summary of the chapter by the next class," the teacher ended the lesson. Immediately, the rustling of books being packed into backpacks could be heard. But Dean didn't have that task.
"What's next for you?" Charlie asked Dean.
"History," he replied in a suffering tone.
"Me too. Shall I show you where it is?" Charlie and he grabbed their bags and then the three of them went out into the school corridor.
"Yes, that would be nice," Dean accepted the offer with a charming smile.
"Great. On the way, we'll pick up your books." Charlie started pushing him down the hallway. But Dean turned back to him one more time.
"Do you have history now too?"
Castiel, who hadn't expected to be part of the conversation, shook his head. "No, I have math."
He looked at Charlie, who was tugging at Dean's sleeve. But Dean didn't seem to mind.
"See you at break."
"Yeah. Come on, Dean. We still need to get the books."
Now Dean let himself be dragged through the halls by her. Castiel watched them go. Charlie would surely show Dean the whole school, whether he wanted it or not. Thinking about how she dragged him through the halls and told him everything she knew about the school made him grin. Dean was in for a long tour during the day. Whether he liked it or not. Charlie Bradbury wasn't easily shaken off.
During break, he sat outside in the schoolyard, at one of the large wooden tables. The usual suspects were with him. Gabriel was his older brother. But since he had to repeat a year, they were in the same grade. Gabriel was a bit crazy and liked to play pranks or do other silly things. But he was a good soul. Unlike Castiel's other brother at the school. Lucifer. He was two grades above them and known as the school bully. Of course, he didn't sit with them but stood with his buddys from his grade.
Then there was Garth. Garth was... Garth. There wasn't much to explain. The guy was just a phenomenon. Next to Garth sat Ash and Jo. They were siblings. Jo was a grade below them, but she spent most of her time with them. She had blonde curls, looked like an angel, and was a cheerleader. But if you got to know her better, you quickly realized she was quite mischievous. Just like her brother. Ash looked like a madman with his mullet, but he was actually a genius. Especially when it came to computers. Then there was Crowley. His real name was Fergus, but nobody called him that. If someone made that mistake, they quickly regretted it. Crowley was strange and had even stranger friends whom no one had ever met. But somehow, he was still their friend. That was much better than having him as an enemy. They had all grown up together and knew each other inside
As his gaze wandered across the schoolyard, he saw Charlie. Behind her, she was dragging a Dean loaded with books. Castiel had almost forgotten about him. He looked a bit worn out, probaly from the ‘Bradbury welcome toure'.
"Hi," he greeted the two as they arrived at their table.
"Hi," Charlie replied.
Before Dean could even say anything, she clapped her hands and addressed the group.
"This is Dean. He's new at school. I offered him to eat with us." And so began the grand introduction.
Dean let his stack of books fall onto the table and followed Charlie's explanations. When she finally introduced everyone, Castiel was sure Dean hadn't remembered a single name.
"Uh... yeah, hi," Dean said, putting a hand on his neck.
"Now sit down," Charlie instructed, almost pushing him onto the bench.
This caused him to bump his shoulder against Castiel's. Apologetically, he smiled at him and then sat down properly. Immediately, he was bombarded with questions. Everyone wanted to know where Dean was from, why he had moved shortly after the school year started, and everything else you could learn about a person.
Dean answered the questions briefly. He had moved with his father and little brother. Before that, he had traveled a lot around the country. His mother was dead. Not much more information came out. While everyone else ate their packed lunches Dean played with a lose string of his T-shirt. Castiel held out one of his sandwiches when he heard Dean's stomach growl.
"Here."
"No, no, I'm not hungry," Dean waved it off. But his stomach, growling again, seemed to disagree. Castiel still held the sandwich out to him.
"I don't want to hear your stomach growling the whole break. Eat. I have way too much anyway."
Dean hesitated for a moment, then took the sandwich.
"Thanks."
He took a bite with relish. When he ate, at least he had some peace from the questions. Instead, he now asked one himself.
"Is there still a chance to join the football team now? I know it's October, but..."
"Just talk to the coach. He's a bit peculiar, but always very fair if you're polite," Ash replied.
"Coach Ketch?"
"Yeah, exactly."
"I have PE with him after the break. Where do I have to go for that again?" He loo ked at Charlie questioningly. She rolled her eyes and began with a much too complicated set of directions.
"I have PE too. I'll take you," Castiel finally interrupted her when he saw Dean's confused expression.
"Thanks."
The break was, as always, over much too quickly. When the bell rang, he got up and grabbed his backpack. Dean tried to pick up the books again. The stack swayed dangerously, and before everything landed on the ground, Castiel took some books from him.
"Thanks."
"No problem. But you should maybe take a bagback tomorrow."
He led Dean across the schoolyard. How did he even get the idea to come to school without anything?
"It would probably be better. Or you can carry my books for me," Dean grinned at him.
It wouldn't come to that. What was he, a pack mule?
“And about what do you dream of at night?"
"Pie."
Castiel laughed. Dean was fully aware that the question didn't require an answer. But the ‘pie' came out so quickly from him, it must really come from the bottom of his heart. Who dreams of pie, anyway? When they arrived at the gym, he led Dean to the locker room. Most of the others were already there, busy changing. They put the books on one of the benches. When Castiel reached into his bag to get his sports clothes out, he noticed that Dean was just shifting from one foot to the other.
"You don't have sports clothes with you either, do you?"
Dean shook his head.
"How should I know that I'd have sports on the first day?"
He got a point there. Luckily, Castiel had a second pair of shorts with him. Well, actually, he had just forgotten the old pair from the last class in his bag. He pulled the fresh pair out of his bag and handed them to Dean.
"Then take my shorts. These things have elastic, they should fit you too."
Dean was broader than him, but that should fit. Of course, Dean wasn't broader because he was fat. On the contrary, even under his oversized leather jacket, you could see that he was really good built.
"Thanks, Cas."
Dean smiled and took the shorts, slipping out of his shoes. Cas? No one had ever given him a nickname who wasn't related to him. Even Charlie called him Castiel. After they had changed and Dean was wearing appropriate shorts for sports, they tied their shoes. Dean was wearing boots, but Castiel didn't have spare shoes with him. Then he took off his leather jacket. He could easily keep his T-shirt on, since it was there last periode and really what other options did he have?
"Shall we?" Castiel asked. Dean nodded and followed him into the hall.
Coach Ketch chased them around like a maniac. Castiel wasn't a sports ace, but he wasn't unsporty either. But the coach always made sure that his lungs were burning after just a few minutes. At the end of the class, he was completely sweaty and glad that the lesson was over. At home, he would jump into the shower first thing. Dean, on the other hand, only had a thin film of sweat on his forehead and was breathing completely normally.
"I'll ask the coach about the football team," he explained.
Castiel made his way to the locker room. How can he still be so fit? He was almost finished changing when Dean entered the locker room.
"And? Can you still get in?"
Dean grinned and kicked his shoes off.
"Can do a trial training on Wednesday."
"Cool. Were you on the team at your old school too?"
Dean's face darkened briefly. But just a second later, he put on his cheeky grin again.
"No, wasn't there for long."
Castiel didn't asked for further explanaition. Dean had already answered many questions today, and it hadn't escaped him how uncomfortable it had been for him. After they had both changed, they dragged the books to the parking lot.
"How far do you live away? Do we have to carry the books through the whole city now?"
It's not like Castiel wouldn't do that. But his shower would be preferable.
"You can walk if you want. Or we just put them in the trunk."
Dean walked over to a black classic car. He put the books on the roof and pulled a key out of his pocket.
"Is that yours?"
Castiel looked at the car in amazement. He didn't know anything about cars, but the car looked more than cool. Dean unlocked the trunk and stowed the books away.
"Yeah, officially mine since the weekend. But I have to take my brother with me for that."
Castiel let the books fall from his arms into the trunk as well.
"Why did we carry the books around the whole time anyway? We could have brought them here during the break."
"You voluntarily carried them, it's not like I asked you to."
"I'll remember never to do you a favor again," he said.
Dean leaned against his car, still grinning.
“You underestimate my charme.”
Castiel rolled his eyes.
"See you tomorrow," he said.
"Bye Cas."
On the way home, Castiel pondered. Dean would surely be accepted into the football team. He had performed so well in their sports class. Would he hang out with the jocks then? Probably. But if not, he would surely fit well into their group. Charlie liked him, that was clear. And the others seemed to get along with him too. And himself?
He also found Dean nice. He was a bit too self-assured, but it was rare for Castiel to have such a good conversation with a stranger. As he thought about Dean, his green eyes came to mind again. Never had the eyes of another person fascinated him like that. But then again, he had never met anyone with eyes so deeply green.
He shook his head. What am I thinking?