My Favorite Song

Chapter 10: Strange Days Lead to Regretful Nights

I was nearly shaking as I walked across the courtyard the next day. I had never been so nervous about going to school in my life. Well, not really about GOING to school; more about the problems I'd have. With Castiel. With Nathaniel. With Lysander. I just wasn't ready to face all of them at once. What would I say to them? 'Hey guys, I'm dating all three of you at once and there's nothing you can do about it?' No, I'd have to do something about this. But what? And how? *Ugh, this is gonna be a VERY long day....* With a sigh, I walked through the front doors of the school and started towards my locker.

I had only taken a few steps when suddenly, I froze. The very thing I had least expected to see appeared right before my eyes. Right there.......in front of me.....was Castiel......standing....at his locker....with books in his arm. *O.O What?!* Now that I thought about it, I hadn't seen him at the tree earlier. He closed the locker and took one look at me, then walked away without a word. *Um...ok.* After a few seconds, I snapped out of my daze and continued on towards my locker. Once there, I gathered everything needed and headed off to class. As it turned out, Castiel and I had the same class together, and while I sat at my usual spot in the second row, he sat all the way in the back. As the teacher gave us his daily speech on the history of our nation, I looked back for a moment; just out of curiosity. From the look on his face, I could tell he wasn't taking in any of this, but then again, he didn't seem to care either. He just sat there, staring blankly at his paper. I thought it was a little odd, but I guess that's just typical behavior of him.

Somehow, the rest of my morning classes were also with Castiel. And every time, he would just sit in the back with that blank stare on his face, while I did my best to focus on class. But how could I? I mean, if he felt the same way about coming to school as usual, why did he do it? That same question ran through my mind until I couldn't even think straight anymore. However, by the time that happened, it was already lunchtime. *Thank God.* On the way to the cafeteria, I passed by Castiel, who was putting everything back into his locker. I know he saw me pass by, and yet he pretended like he didn't and just ignored me altogether. Just like this morning. *.....What's going on with him?* I didn't try to speak with him either; I had nothing to say. So, I continued on my way, not even bothering to look at Castiel.

I hadn't gotten much further when Nathaniel spotted me from down the hallway. I smiled and waved. He returned my smile and walked towards me. "Hello Julia. How are you today?" "I'm fine, how are you?" Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Castiel walking down the hallway towards the cafeteria. Of course, I paid no attention to him, whatsoever. Nathaniel replied "I'm doing well, thank you." I just smiled at him. "Well, I should be going now. I'll see you later, Julia." I waited until Castiel vanished around the corner before replying "Ok. See you later." Nathaniel smiled and walked away. I started in the direction of the cafeteria again, but after a few steps, I stopped. *Wait...Castiel went this way. I don't really want to see him right now.* I turned, taking a different route than usual.

As always, I sat right next to Iris during lunch. I tried to enjoy my meal as much as I could, but with her constant talking, I was doomed to annoyance. It's not that I didn't want to listen; I really did, but she talks so much that it just wasn't possible. Out of complete boredom, and for no reason otherwise, I decided to look around the room. (I do that sometimes.) During my little 'search', I spotted Castiel sitting at a table all the way across the room by himself. "Strange, isn't it? He usually doesn't come to school." I nearly jumped. I turned to see Iris smiling at me. "Sorry if I scared you, but you know, you really shouldn't stare at people like that." I hadn't even realized I was staring at Castiel. As far as I knew, I'd only looked at him for a few seconds. "Sorry...." I apologized quietly. "I don't blame you though, he never comes to school...." Iris stared at me, as if she thought I knew something. "I don't know anything, Iris. I have no idea why he's here. Honestly." She just grinned at me. "Uh-huh. Well, I gotta get goin'. Class is gonna start soon." With that, she stood up and left the cafeteria. I sighed and finished what was left of my food and threw the rest away before leaving as well.