Strings Attached

Chapter 90

"Castiel?" a man's voice says from behind him as he's leaving the school.

He walks quicker and pretends he didn't hear it. He's done talking to people. He's done looking at people. He's done acknowledging the existence of people. He's just done with people.

"Hey, Castiel, wait up!" the man says, jogging to catch up to Castiel.

Seeing that he has no way to politely duck out of this conversation, he decides to walk and talk, and maybe Gabriel can tell him to get lost. He turns to the man next to him only to realize that he knows him, and his friend that's with him. It's Harry and that other kid from earlier.

"Hi?" Castiel says awkwardly. What are they doing here now? Crowley clearly isn't picking on them at the moment; they're both here. What do they want now, if not help?

"I just wanted to thank you for earlier," Harry tells him.

"Oh, no problem," Castiel replies. It really isn't a problem. Well, not one that he isn't used to. He's been picked on by Crowley enough that he's practically numb to it.

"No, really," the other kid insists. "Not a lot of people would have stepped in like you did."

"Ed is right," Harry agrees. "You're awesome."

"Thanks?"

"Hey, Castiel!" Gabriel calls, walking up to him with Sam by his side. "Come on, some of us want to go home soon."

"Sorry," Castiel apologizes, though he'd much rather thank him for showing up and saving him. He's sure Gabriel knew he needed it.

"Let's go," Gabriel commands.

"Wait a second," Sam interrupts, his eyes on Harry and Ed. "Aren't you guys the Ghostfacers?"

The two beam with pride when he asks that.

"Yes, we are!" Harry announces.

"Do you watch our show?" Ed asks.

Sam nods. "Yeah. Me and my brother watch it all the time."

"Do you like it?" Harry asks hopefully.

"Yeah, it's great," Sam tells them. "Do you guys make it up, or are you looking for actual monsters?"

"It's all real," Ed says proudly.

"Wow," Sam replies. "That's amazing."

"Thanks," Harry says. "I'm glad we could show you how to protect yourselves."

"I'm glad you could, too," Sam replies, though it's obvious he's just humoring them.

"Well, it was nice talking to you," Gabriel tells them, though he clearly doesn't mean it. "But we've got to go. Bye."

~~

After two weeks of his song climbing the charts, Castiel gives up on being normal. He makes his way to guidance, Dean by his side because Castiel himself doesn't have the heart to tell people to leave him alone. When they get to the guidance office, Dean leaves to go to class, and Castiel is stuck awkwardly sitting in silence as he waits for the guidance counselor to show up.

He looks around at the posters on the wall, showing inspirational quotes on colorful papers. There are also some that people may consider helpful, though Castiel would never have a need for, such as birth control and drugs.

"Hi!" a man in rainbow suspenders greets him as he leaves his little room and enters the big guidance waiting area that the author can't describe. "I'm Mr. Zanna, but you can call me Sully if you want. And what's your name?"

"Castiel," he replies. "Castiel Novak."

"Oh, hi, Castiel!" Sully says with a big smile. "Come in!" He and Castiel walk into his smaller office, and Sully shuts the door before taking a seat and gesturing for him to do the same. "So, what can I do for you, Castiel?"

"Um..." What can he do? Castiel probably should have thought this through, because he doesn't know what he's asking Sully to do for him.

"How about you just explain what's going on?" Sully suggests.

"Uh, sure." He tells Sully about how he doesn't have a single moment alone because he's always being swarmed by "fans," and makes sure to add that it's made him late to class before just as incentive to do something about it.

"Oh, yeah, that's a problem," Sully agrees. "I'm not sure how much I can do for you, though. Hmm... Would it help if you did your work somewhere outside the classroom? Maybe in the office?"

"It wouldn't work for gym," Castiel tells him.

"Oh, right," Sully agrees. "Um... Would you be opposed to doing gym online? It's more writing that physical, but it counts."

"I would love that," Castiel answers immediately. He doesn't want to have to do gym, and he has nothing against writing.

"Great. Then you can do that, and you can do your work from the office. Just remember to ask for help if you need it, 'kay?" Sully gives him a kind smile.

"Thanks," Castiel says gratefully.

And that's what he does for that week, but even that doesn't help completely. He's still being mobbed by people in the hallways, so he returns to Sully's office. Sully smiles when he sees the boy.

"Hey, Castiel! How're things working out for you?"

"Not so good," Castiel replies. He explains his predicament to the counselor, who listens with interest until he finishes.

"Oh, yeah, that's not good," Sully agrees. "I don't think there's much else I can do for you, though."

"Could I just stay home and do my work there?" Castiel asks hopefully. It wasn't his idea; Dean mentioned it earlier. "I could have a friend bring my work to class and get it for me."

"Technically, I can't endorse that," Sully tells him. "But I also can't stop it. But if you want to go down that route, you could do all your classes online. You'd have to restart, so you'd have to do about two days' worth of it every day, but if you're willing to put in the extra work..."

Castiel nods. "Definitely," he agrees. "Thanks."

And this is why it's awesome being famous around school. He doesn't even have to go anymore.