Strings Attached

Chapter 88

As of the next day, Castiel is a celebrity in his first block class, but otherwise, no one know who he is. He has a feeling his classmates just wanted to know what was going on, so they searched up the song. Somehow, they found out about it, and now he's back to being the famous kid he was after the incident with Hendrickson for that one class. He hopes it will blow over just as quick.

It's not until a week later that he really gets recognized for this. It starts when some girl he doesn't know comes up to him and Dean as they're walking to their first class.

"Castiel Novak?" she asks.

"Yes..." he replies hesitantly. He came to the conclusion a long time ago that it's never a good thing when someone wants to know if that's him. His name is a disgrace in this school.

"Are you the one that sings that song?" she asks.

"What song?" Castiel asks, feigning cluelessness in case he's not the one she's thinking of.

"'Playing with Fire,'" she clarifies. "You sang that one?"

Castiel nods slowly. "Uh huh..."

"It's awesome!" she tells him. "You're so good!"

"Thanks?" He isn't quite sure what to do right now. He has no idea who this person is, so talking to her is strange to him.

Noticing Castiel's discomfort, Dean steps in to save the day. "It's nice talk to you, but we've got to get to class now."

"Alright, bye! See you later!"

Dean drags Castiel away from her quickly, much to his relief. He definitely does not want to talk to her. That's not the only person to try to talk to him, though, and Dean has to pull Castiel away every time an overly friendly person comes up to him.

They finally make it to class, and by this point, Dean is just pissed. Castiel can sort of understand it; he isn't able to hide how uncomfortable these people are making him feel. Even so, Dean seems a bit too annoyed by them, and his attitude is clear to everyone. He's likely what wards everyone away during their first class.

"God, these people are so annoying," Dean mutters.

"Do you think they realize I'm still the same person I was a week ago?" Castiel asks softly.

"I don't think they care," Dean replies. "I think they just care who you'll be a year from now. Everyone wants to hop on train Castiel Novak before it leaves the station."

"Can train Castiel Novak just leave the station now?" he asks hopelessly.

"Give it a couple months," Dean replies. "Maybe you can be homeschooled next year."

"Or that online school thing," Castiel continues. "But that's a lot of work," he adds with a frown.

"Well, if this singing thing works out, you could just drop out," Dean suggests.

"Can't," Castiel replies. "You have to be eighteen."

"I like how you just happen to know that off the top of your head," Dean laughs.

"Well, this isn't the first time I've wanted to drop out," Castiel tells him. Unfortunately, South Dakota changed the age to eighteen from sixteen a few years back, so he has more than the one month he would have had until he could drop out.

"Oh," is Dean's only response. After a pause in the conversation, he asks, "Are you still talking to that girl on Twitter?"

Castiel had told him about that when it happened, though it was more him being amazed that someone acknowledged him than talking about their conversation.

"Yeah," Castiel confirms. "We're actually becoming pretty good friends. I just wish I knew online friendships were a thing a couple years ago. It might have saved me a lot of trouble."

"Well, better late than never," Dean replies.

~~

The walk from his second block to the band room isn't very long. It's maybe a minute of walking on a good day. So how did he run into so many people, and why do they all have to stop to talk to him? By the time he finally makes it to the band room, he must have spoken to ten different people, which is amazing considering not long ago, a lot of people didn't even know his face, and his name was used as an insult. 

Castiel doesn't dare start to play guitar now. He's too afraid someone will hear it, and he is done with talking to people for the day. He may be willing to talk to his friends, but he's so socially awkward with people he doesn't know. He doesn't want to have to talk to anyone right now. Or ever. 

Dean's head peeks in the room and looks around, his eyes finally landing on Castiel as he grins and steps inside. He walks over to his boyfriend and gives him a quick kiss. "How'd I know I'd find you here?" 

"I'm sure it has nothing to do with me fear of people," Castiel jokes. 

"No, definitely not," Dean agrees. "Are they still bugging you?"

Castiel shrugs. "They're still trying to be my 'bestie,'" he says, repeating the word people keep calling him. "But it looks like they're bugging you more than me."

"They're bugging me because they're bugging you," Dean replies. "Don't they know that I'm the only one that gets to bug you?"

Castiel chuckles. "If you consider this 'bugging me,' I hope you never stop."

"Good," Dean replies. "Because I have no plans to stop."