Disclaimer: I own nothing.

High School AU. Specific changes to plot: 1) It's set in the present, even though Sam and Dean were actually teenagers in the late nineties 2) Sam and Dean are two and a half years apart, but Dean got held back and Sam skipped a grade to make them both 11th graders. 3) Mary died in the fire caused by Azazel, but John didn't start hunting because of it, he just held the secret of his wife's death with him, telling no one. 4) After the fire, they went to stay with John's cousin in California until they found somewhere else to live, but ended up staying in California in the end. 5) Madison Owens is not a werewolf.

Also, sections in italics are flashbacks.

Rated T for a lot of severe language and some sexual references.

Dean Winchester woke up to his radio alarm, which this morning decided to play a song by Lady Gaga.

"Are you fucking serious?" he muttered, slamming his hand down on the snooze. Why did I even set my alarm anyway? he wondered. He realized he had forgotten to turn it off from Sunday morning, when he got up to work on the car so he could be somewhere by eleven. He plopped his head back down, prepared to fall back asleep. Just then there was a knock at his door. "Go away," he grumbled.

"I'll take that as an invitation," said Sam, opening the door. "Shit, I thought you were already up. You know school starts in like fifteen minutes, right?"

"Huh?"

"Damn it, Dean, remember, you can't flunk any more classes. You need to get up."

"Ah, shit," Dean said, putting a pillow over his head at the thought. He had forgotten that it was the first day of the new school year. His dad had a bitch-fit when he found out that Dean failed enough of his classes to get held back, saying something about how Sam had managed to skip a grade and Dean had never gotten an A in anything.

"I got a B in woodshop," he had reminded his dad, but he just rolled his eyes.

"If you get below a C in another class, the Impala's gone, you hear?"

"Whoa, dad, you can't take Baby away."

"Oh yes I can. She was mine in the first place, remember? No more fails."

Dean had sighed and agreed to it.

Now, back in the present, Dean was wondering why he needed to finish high school anyway. He was probably going to end up as a mechanic, since he knew so much about cars. He didn't need high school for that, did he?

"Dean, if you don't get up, I'll do it."

"No you won't."

"Will too," Sam insisted. When Dean didn't get up, Sam jumped onto the bed, tackled Dean, and started giving him a noogie. Sam used to do this to wake Dean up when they were younger, but he hadn't done it in years. It was eternally irritating to Dean that somehow his baby brother was taller than him, which was why he could get away with it in the first place. The guy was a fucking Sasquatch, honestly. Luckily, Dean was still stronger than Sam and was able to flip him over in about a second and start noogieing him instead. Actually, Dean admitted that he got Sam faster than usual. "Alright, alright, I give up. But you're awake now, right?"

Dean rolled his eyes, but Sam was right, the tussle had woken him up. He got dressed in some ripped jeans and a Black Sabbath tee shirt and was down the stairs about three minutes after he'd been woken up. Sam was sitting at the table eating Cocoa Puffs, already almost done.

"You going to eat?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, sure," Dean muttered, grabbing a root beer out of the fridge, along with a left over burger. He started eating the burger cold.

"That's your breakfast?"

"What are you, my mom? Get your own life," he said with his mouth full.

Sam just shook his head and drank the last of his milk. "Let's go man, we're gonna be late."

"Yeah, whatever," Dean muttered, popping open the root beer before getting in the car. They got to the school and Dean was a little humiliated as he remembered that he and Sam were officially in the same grade. Dean looked over at Sam to make fun of him for being a geek, but he actually looked so tired he was going to fall over. "Dude, did you already stay up studying all night? It's the first day."

"Yup, that's it," Sam said. Then Jessica Moore approached them.

"Sam, you look exhausted, you okay?" she asked, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Dean walked away before things got too graphic. He took his schedule out of his pocket, frowning at it. Chemistry first hour. Chemistry was the class he got the worst grade in. He got, like, a 26% or something. He just didn't get science at all. Maybe Sammy would help him. Then he had Algebra II, English 11, American History, PE, and—

What the hell, Home Ec.? How did he get Home Ec.? Dean couldn't cook for shit. Well, there wasn't much he could do about it now.

He and Sam had gotten to school a little later than usual, so he was surprised when he heard the bell while he was looking through his locker.

He half ran to the classroom, busting in with a grin. "It's alright, I'm here, you can start now." Some of the girls in the class giggled, including Lisa. He had been hoping there would be a seat open at the lab table she was at, or maybe Jo or Layla or someone attractive, but the only two open seats were by Bela and some dude in a dorky tan trench coat. Bela was a raging bitch, no matter how hot she was, so Dean would take dorky trench coat over her any day. He sat down next to the guy, who had his head resting on his crossed arms as he drew on the black lab table.

Dean paid little attention when the teacher was giving instructions, saying something about opening their lab books and doing some experiment.

Next time he was paying attention, chatting had started up in the room and the boy next to him was looking at him expectantly. Dean looked up. He had dark hair and a bit of stubble.

"Sorry, I wasn't really paying attention," Dean said. "What're we doing?"

"The experiment on page six," the boy said, his voice husky and low, contrasting his large, innocent blue eyes.

"Okay. Dean," he added, holding a hand out for the boy to shake.

"I'm Castiel," he replied, taking the hand and shaking it more firmly than Dean expected.

"That's a weird name," Dean said.

"It's after an angel called Cassiel," he replied.

"Okay then," Dean muttered. "So, let's do this thing."

Castiel was quiet, only speaking when Dean asked a direct question. Dean realized after sitting with the guy for a bit that he had seen him before, just around school, but they had never talked before.

"So, what grade are you?" Dean asked.

"I'm a senior."

"In Chemistry?"

"I failed it last year."

Dean grinned. "Yeah, me too."

"That isn't something to smile about," he said seriously.

"No, probably not," Dean agreed, "but at least we have it in common."

Castiel shrugged.

Every silence was completely uncomfortable. Dean felt so awkward that he couldn't help but try to make conversation. Also, Castiel looked so sad and lonely. Dean had never seen him walking or sitting with anyone and suddenly Dean felt a little bad. "So what do you do?" Dean asked.

"Do?"

"Yeah, like, for fun?"

Castiel looked at Dean like he'd never been asked that question. "I go to bible study sometimes."

"That's fun?" Dean scoffed.

"Not everything people do is fun. Sometimes you just have to do it."

"But you've got to do something fun." Castiel still had a blank look on his face. "Like, something that makes you smile and laugh."

"Well, I have a twin brother, Gabriel."

"Oh, Gabe Abeel? I know him. He's hilarious."

"Yes, that's him. He's the funny one. Anyway, he has this old car, and sometimes he'll tell me to loosen up and come for a drive, and the two of us would get in the car and go somewhere. I always told him I didn't want to go before we left, but then while we're driving, I kind of start cracking up for no reason."

Dean smiled. "That's cool, man. What kind of car is it?"

"It's a green Road Runner."

"Oh, cool, what year?"

"Um… I'm not sure."

"Well, that's cool. Maybe I'll see it in the lot, especially if it's green."

"Bright green," Castiel added. "You won't miss it. Do you like cars too?"

"Yeah, I love them. I have a '67 Impala myself."

"Oh," Castiel said, nodding, which showed he didn't really know what that meant. Then, a moment later, the bell rang. Dean found that he was actually a little bummed. For some reason he felt like Castiel was this puzzle he couldn't solve, and he was challenging himself to figure it out.

"Where do you sit at lunch?" Dean asked.

Castiel looked at the table. "Usually under the bleachers."

"Under the bleachers?" Dean asked.

"Yeah."

Dean considered for the first time that Castiel literally had no friends. Again, he felt guilty. Not even Gabe took the time of day to hang with his brother at school? Dean hung with Sam, not usually every day, but at least a couple times a week.

"Well, if you want, you can come find me and my brother Sam at lunch in the cafeteria."

Castiel was looking bewildered again, like nobody had ever offered him something like this before. "Okay," he said. Dean had a feeling Castiel wouldn't really come, but he thought it was worth a try.