Notes: Luke is the name standing in for Lucifer, because who in the twenty-first century would name their kid Lucifer? Really? Sorry if some of the characters *cough, cough, angels and demons, cough, cough* are a bit OOC. If they're like that, it's because I didn't want a high school student to literally be Satan. And he was supposed to be nicer when he was a kid anyway. Also, there are no elements of the supernatural in this, except for some mentions of religions. But no real demons, angels, or monsters. In later chapters, there will be some mentions of child abuse(not too much, just a bit), so don't read if it's a trigger for you. I welcome all reviews, as this is my first published fanfiction.

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or any associated characters, events, etc.

Chapter 1

Castiel Novak was the most popular kid at the high school in Lawrence, Kansas. Even more popular than his oldest brothers, the twins, Michael and Luke, were before they graduated. And they had been insanely popular. Castiel, or Cas, as his friends called him, was the captain of the football team, even though he was still only a junior, he was one of the smarter kids in his grade(Not the smartest, however. He had more important things to worry about than studying. Like football practice.), and he was definitely the hottest kid in the school.

His hair was short and ruffled. It was inky black, and looked so soft, like it was made from the down of a raven's wing. He generally wore dark jeans with dark shirts, with no designs on them. His eyes were huge, and were as blue and as sparkling as sapphires. When he gave one of his rare grins, it would take anyone's breath away, and not just the girl's. He kept an air of calm that was almost never disturbed. Most people had never seen him angry, not even on the football field.

Dean Winchester, however, was the butt of half the jokes in the school. He was in the same year as Cas, though Castiel had never even noticed him, and was short, skinny, and nervous. He stuttered when he talked. His hands were often moving, clicking pens rapidly, tapping pencils on desks, or just tapping the desks themselves. He looked like he was scared of everything. He was very smart, mostly because he tried to focus in class to avoid getting in trouble, not because he really felt a passion to learn anything. He was also somewhat handsome, with short, dirty-blond hair that stuck up in messy, medium-sized spikes, that were similar to a hedgehog, and jade green eyes that shone more often with sadness than anything else. He always ducked his head and tried not to draw attention to himself, hiding his face in books and drawing pads.

The only time Dean seemed relaxed was when he was drawing, and even then it was more like he was just letting his anxiety loose into the world rather than actually calming down. Sometimes he'd draw normal things. Two boys playing in a yard while their parents watched; a crib with a baby in it, and a little angel figurine sitting beside it. Normally he drew strange things. A burning body, with no features; a house made of ashes; and eyes. Eyes that had no color in them, only black, as though the pupil had filled the whole thing; eyes that were tinted with a blood red; and eyes that seemed to glow with the color yellow. And sometimes, every now and then, he drew a woman with blond hair and a sweet, kind smile. He always tore her drawings up before someone else saw them. They hurt too much.

They met accidentally just before the first class on a Thursday, bumping into each other in the hallway. Dean hurried to pick up the books they had both dropped.

"I-I'm s-sorry. It w-It was an ac-accident. It won't-It won't ha-happen again." The boy quickly grabbed the scattered papers and handed Castiel his, then hurriedly turned to leave.

A boy on the football team, Uriel, shoved him up against a locker. He had seen what happened but hadn't heard why the boy had said. "Hey! You don't just bump into Castiel Novak and then run off." He growled in a threatening tone.

Cas gave him a look. "He apologized, Uriel. You can let him go." He noticed that farther down the hallway, another member of the football team, a very talented freshman named Sam, had started coming towards them as quickly as he could. There were multiple people in his way, however, watching the confrontation, so he wasn't very fast.

Uriel let the boy go. He gave the two burly football players a terrified look and practically ran to get away. Sam managed to reach the group right then.

"What happened?" He demanded.

Cas shrugged. "A kid bumped into me. Uriel overreacted a bit. All that happened was my books fell. No harm done." He started walking to his first class, which was in the opposite direction that the boy went.

In Mr. Singer's history class, Castiel had his thoughts drifting to the boy that bumped into him. Why had he looked so scared? Before Uriel pinned him to the wall that is. Not after. Uriel was huge. Almost anyone would be scared after he threatened them. And why had he looked, well, broken? Like his mind and his body were trying to get away from each other. At least, that's the only way Cas could describe it. The kid just looked depressed. Really depressed.

"Mr. Novak, have you heard a word I said this entire class?"

Cas looked up in surprise as their teacher addressed him. His mind rushed to come up with some sort of reply. "Yes, sir, I believe that you said 'Good morning' when you walked in." He replied with a perfectly straight face. The whole class laughed, and Castiel allowed himself a small, nearly invisible smile of triumph.

Mr. Singer clenched his jaw and raised an eyebrow. "Well, I guess you proved me wrong, haven't ya?" He said sarcastically. "Pay attention, or next time I'll give ya a detention."

"Yes, sir." Cas agreed, nodding seriously. Then he leaned back in his chair a bit as Mr. Singer continued talking about some war that happened years ago. Cas never got in trouble, not really. As long as he kept his grades above-average and didn't break too many rules, the teachers didn't care so much whether or not he paid attention while they talked. As long as he got the work done.

While Castiel was at his locker after the second period, his girlfriend Meg came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. "Hey, Clarence." She said flirtatiously. It was the name of an angel from a movie or something. Personally, he didn't get why she was comparing him to an angel, but whatever.

"Meg." He said, gracing her with a small smile. He took out the books he needed for his english class and spanish, and put away his his history and geometry books. Then he turned around and kissed her passionately, quickly checking to see if any teachers were nearby. There was a strict rule against public displays of affection, or as the teachers called it, 'PDA'.

She grinned after they pulled apart. "See ya later, angel." She said, walking off towards her next class with a smile.

Cas rolled his eyes and headed off towards his english class.

Mr. Crowley, the english teacher, was in a bad mood. He was often in a bad mood, but this was a really bad mood. And to make it worse, he was going to assign a group project at the end of class. Which meant he'd assign the partners. He never picked good partners. He went out of his way to mismatch partners when he was in a bad mood. Stick the nerd with the bully, sort of thing. As soon as the class entered the classroom, a heavy sense of dread filled the air.

Cas made it through half of class without drawing attention to himself. Good. It was always worse when you drew attention to yourself. There was a rapid clicking sound from the back of the room, but Cas didn't dare turn to see what it was.

Halfway through class, Mr. Crowley found a victim. "Mr. Winchester," He started in a soft tone that was much more terrifying than when other teachers raised their voices. Along with his accent, it made him sound like some British James Bond villain. "If you don't stop clicking that pen, this instant," His voice turned to a snarl. "I will personally ensure that you have detention for the rest of the school year."

The whole class turned to see who he was talking to. It was the boy from earlier that day. His hands shook slightly as he shoved the pen in his bag, avoiding the teacher's gaze. "Y-y-yes, sir." He whispered nervously.

Castiel felt a pang of pity. If this kid got scared bumping into people in the hallway, being singled out by Mr. Crowley must have felt like being in a nightmare that he couldn't wake up from. The school-wide nickname for Crowley was the King of Hell. And boy, did he earn it.

As the class continued to look at the poor kid, Cas noticed he boy's hands were now shaking furiously. Maybe he had an anxiety issue? That was probably it.

Crowley gave the boy a glare for a few minutes longer, then went on to explain the project. As he handed out a paper with the guidelines, he started to speak. "You'll be paired up, and I'll do the pairing up, by the way, and you have to work together to make a video of an act of a Shakespearean play. Not just a scene, an act. You can get siblings and other friends to help you, but I expect you to have the main speaking roles. If you mess up the lines in any way," He added, now looking straight at the boy who had bumped into Cas and clicked the pen. "Points will be deducted. It's the lines that matter, not the ability to act." The boy looked completely dismayed. Castiel was starting to wonder if he should send flowers to this kids funeral. It was definitely going to be soon. His stutter seemed uncontrollable, and Cas doubted that anyone wanted to be paired with him. "These groups are permanent. No going back. What I say is final. Once I assign all the partners, you'll have five minutes before the end of class to talk about the project. By the way, It's due a month from tomorrow." The teacher warned.

Crowley walked over to his computer so he could enter the pairs. "Right. Now then." The teacher glanced up at the class. Alistair, you'll be with Uriel." Both boys sent silent death glares at each other. "Kevin Tran," Crowley spat out that last name. Kevin was a boy he couldn't stand. "You'll be with Richard Roman." Ooh. Ouch. Kevin wouldn't last a week. He was a small, nerdy kid, and Richard, or 'Dick' as he liked to be called(A surprisingly accurate nickname), was the worst, most ruthless bully in the school. "Dean Winchester," Crowley said, smiling cruelly at the boy who with the stutter. "You'll be with Castiel Novak."

Cas's heart stopped beating. He kept his face cool and impassive like always, giving the boy, Dean, an emotionless glance. On the inside he was freaking out. He knew this project was the most important one of the semester, and now his grade was tied to a kid with the worst stutter he had ever heard being able to recite Shakespeare perfectly.

Dean paled, and gave him a panicked look. Then he took a deep breath and clenched fists, closing his eyes in an effort to calm himself. His arms started shaking, so he folded them against his chest. Cas felt bad for him, but worse for himself. His mom expected all the Novak children to be perfect, even if they had a difficult partner on a project. Getting a B- would most likely result in him being grounded for a month. This assignment was going to get him killed.

Cas didn't really listen as Mr. Crowley named the other pairs. He was too busy trying to think of a Shakespearean play that had two parts with decent speaking roles, to make Crowley happy, but not parts too long, because Dean wouldn't be able to do it well, and he'd, no, they'd, fail. And then his mom would kill him. It was times like these that he really missed his dad. Dad wasn't nearly as uptight.