Castiel brings Claire to school the next day, but Anna refuses to go with him on account of the whole thing with Ash. Dean drives, probably because he wants to go talk to the budding athletes at the school. They chat throughout the ride, and he learns about his reputation at the school, courtesy of Claire.

He's apparently well respected, especially by the less popular people for rising from his status as the most hated kid in school to who he is today. Most people love his music, though that could be because they feel they have a special attachment because they go to his alma matter. Not everyone follows his every move, but there are more diehard fans here than most places. He's pretty popular here, which makes this a lot easier.

He spots Ash in the same place he found the boy last time, talking to the same kid — Ramiel, Azazel's brother, Castiel recalls. Ash hands him a couple pieces of paper, and whatever dialogue is said is lost in the distance, but it doesn't take long for Ramiel to walk away.

Castiel quickly walks over to Ash, and they share a brief friendly greeting.

"What was up with that kid today?" Castiel asks.

"Ramiel?" Ash guesses. "I did his algebra homework and he's leaving me alone."

For now, at least, Castiel finishes mentally. It was a rare occasion a he'd get that free pass like that from the jocks when he was in high school, but it did happen occasionally, and it would rarely last past second block.

"Hope it didn't take too long," Castiel replies.

"No, it was pretty easy," Ash assures him. "I do it pretty much every day. Keeps my math skills sharp."

"I'd say that's nice, but it's really not," Castiel replies.

Ash just shrugs. "You get used to it."

"Don't I know it," Castiel mutters, half under his breath. He hands Ash a bag with his new laptop in it. "Just pretend this is completely normal and you and I are good friends. I've heard it works wonders for your reputation, and don't look but Ramiel is watching right now, so let's hope for the best."

Ash grins. "Thanks, man. And I'll try not to let anyone break this one."

"Hopefully, you won't have to worry about that," Castiel replies. "Text me how things go. I'm hoping things'll get a little better for you."

"Here's hoping," Ash agrees. "I gotta get to class, but I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah, definitely. See ya."

They share a fist bump before Castiel returns to the impala, where Dean is unsurprisingly talking to members of some sports team, but Castiel doesn't see which one on the jersey.

Castiel leans against the impala to wait for Dean to drive them home. He's not surprised when three girls come up to him, cellphones out, presumably for a selfie.

"Are you Castiel Novak?" one of them asks, brushing her dark hair out of her face.

He gives them a kind smile, because he knows that otherwise he'll seem unapproachable and that won't look good for him. "I am."

"Can we get a picture?" she asks.

"Of course," he replies politely. They take a selfie, and it's hard to tell that he's the celebrity, because she looks like she could be  a supermodel. "Thanks, Cas," she says like they're best friends.

He inwardly cringes at the nickname. Only Dean gets to call him that. He's said that multiple times in interviews, and anyone in the Castiel Novak fandom, whether they've seen the interviews or not, knows that he's not Cas; he's Castiel. If she's trying to come off as a huge fan, she's failing miserably.

But obviously, he can't say that, so instead, he just says, "No problem."

The rest of the girls take selfies with him, and they continue talking to him afterwards as if they don't have a class to get to and he doesn't have a home to get to.

"So is Taylor Swift as fake as she sounds?" one girl asks as if completely confident she is.

"Uh, no, not really," Castiel replies awkwardly. "She's, you know, she's Taylor. Does things the Taylor way. She's pretty cool."

"So you're Team Taylor?" another girl asks. "So Katy Perry's a bitch, right?"

"I don't — I don't really know," Castiel admits. "I don't think I've ever actually spoken to her, so..."

"But you're friends with Taylor Swift," she says. "So you're anti-Katy Perry, right?"

"Um... No?" Castiel says uncertainly. "That's not really how this works. I just haven't, like, met her before."

"But you guys go to the same awards shows all the time," the first girl reminds him.

"Well, yeah, so I've seen her around before. I just haven't met her," he explains.

"How does that work?"

Castiel gives her a confused look. How is this not self explanatory?

"I've never acknowledged her existence, and she's never acknowledged mine."

"Because you don't like her?" the third girl asks.

"No, I've never met her, so I haven't been able to form an opinion on her."

"And you haven't met her because she doesn't like you?" the second girl finishes.

"N—" Castiel pauses. Well... "I don't know. Maybe. I don't think so, though. I think it's just a matter of bad timing." And the fact that she and Taylor swift hate each other, and he's not getting in the middle of that cat fight.

"Do you at least hate Kimye?" the first girl asks.

"Kimye?" Castiel repeats, confused, before he realizes aloud, "Kim and Kanye. Uh, no, not really. I mean, from what I've heard, I probably should, but again, we've never really met, so I don't really know."

"What've you heard?" The first girl asks excitedly.

"Um... stuff," Castiel says vaguely.

"Like what?"

"Stuff that I'm not comfortable talking about."

"That bad?" the third girl asks.

"No, it's just private things that I don't want to talk about for my friends' sake." It seems most of his celebrity friends don't like those two — or Kanye West, at least. Kim Kardashian stays out of it a bit more.

"But you always side against Kimye, right?"

"I don't take sides," Castiel replies. "It's kind of my motto."

"That's stupid. Everyone takes sides," the second girl says. "All the celebrities have sides. We have sides. Everyone does."

"You guys don't know the people you're talking about," Castiel tells them. "The ones you probably love are usually the ones to stay away from." Anyone involved in the celebrity drama is usually at fault in some way. It's why Castiel tries to stay out of all of it.

"Like who?"

"Just people," Castiel replies vaguely. "Doesn't really matter who. If you like their work, you should support it anyway."

None of the girls seem happy about this, but they seem to have figured out that Castiel isn't name dropping — something they would have already known if they had payed attention to his celebrity life — and move on.

"What about Bela Talbot?" the first girl asks. "Do you like her?"

"I have no idea who that is," Castiel replies.

She scoffs. "Seriously?"

"This is my serious face, yes."

"Her song 'Lucky Rabbit's Foot' has been all over the radio."

"And?" Castiel asks. "Has she won any awards? Worked with any other artists? Done anything else that I could have noticed?"

"Well, no..."

"Then there's no way I would've heard of her," Castiel replies. "So I don't like her and I don't not like her." Realizing that that may have come off as a bit cold, he adds, "Is it a good song, though? Should I look it up?"

The second girl nods. "Definitely. She's really good. Not as good as you, though."

Castiel gives her a fake smile for that obvious afterthought. "Alright, I'll look it up when I get home." Except probably not, but they don't have to know that.

Another girl walks over to them, seeming hesitant to approach them but doing so nonetheless. She stands back, obviously wanting to wait for the other girls to leave before she interrupts.

He's sick of their gossip, fake fangirling, and failed attempts at friendship, though, and would like to talk to her instead. He doesn't know if she's any better, but she can't be much worse, right?

He looks at her pointedly and gives her a smile. She glances at the other girls nervously, then takes a few steps towards him.

When her arm brushes the brunette's, she looks over with a look of disgust. "Wait your turn," she snaps.

The shyer girl looks down at the ground and backs away. "Sorry."

Castiel can tell by her voice that she's deaf, and he carefully hides any reaction to this observation. He knows that would make him look bad. Wow, he never quite realized how often he has to modify his first reaction for reputation's sake.

"Rude," one of the other girls mutters.

Castiel glances at his watch as if the time is relevant when he tells them, "Actually, the bell's gonna ring in a few minutes. You guys should get to class."

"And leave you here?"

"I've got Dean," he replies with a careless shrug, but he doubts they even know he has a boyfriend with how little attention they obviously pay him. "You guys go. I'm sure I'll see you again soon." Hopefully not, though.

While none of the girls are happy about this, they reluctantly agree, leaving Castiel alone with the deaf girl.

He taps her arm to get her attention again, so she can read his lips when he says, "Hey there."

The girl glances at the people he essentially just told to get lost before saying, "You didn't have to do that."

"I'm actually glad you gave me the chance to do that," Castiel replies. "Celebrity gossip is not my thing." He holds out a hand. "My name's Castiel."

"I know," she replies, shaking his hand anyway, but keeping her gaze on his face in case he speaks. "I'm Eileen."

"Hey Eileen, nice to meet you."

"You too," she replies. "I won't pretend I've heard your music and I'm a big fan because I obviously haven't, but I wanted to thank you."

"For what?" he asks, puzzled. What has he done with his life to help her in any way?

"Everyone talks about you," she tells him. "I only catch snip its, but I've heard what high school was like for you, and it's nice to see proof that it's possible to rise above that."

He can't help but find it funny that this is considered rising above it when in reality, he lives the same life that he used to live but on a larger scale. He still has all those people who hate him, mostly from social media but some in real life, too. He's had some celebrities take passes at him, and he's ignored it the same way he ignored Crowley and his friends.

The thing about being famous is that no one ever grows up. Those childish antics you'd get chewed out for as a kid are treasured as a celebrity. Gossip and starting fights is now the norm, and you never know when one of your "friends" is going to stab you in the back.

And that will never change, because the second you decide to stop, you're no longer important; you're no longer relevant. The only way to avoid it is not to fall into the trap of the celebrity boxing ring in the first place, partially because people treasure how you're so pure, but mostly because everyone's waiting for you to slip up; to prove that you're not as nice as you act. One mistake can take you out of the game for good.

But he can't say that, so instead, he says, "Yeah, there's always hope. It gets better, I promise."

She starts to say something, but the school bell rings at the same time that her watch vibrates audibly. It's a cool system, really. She glances down at it, then says, "I have to go, but it was nice meeting you."

"You too," he replies, but she's already turning away, so she probably didn't get the chance to read his lips.

Dean shoos his fan club away and stands next to Castiel, putting an arm around his shoulders. "Whatcha looking at?"

"The school," Castiel replies.

"Okay, why are you looking at the school?"

Castiel looks up at him when he answers, "Just remembering when we went here."

"Seems like just yesterday," Dean adds.

"Hard to believe it's been six years," Castiel agrees.

He looks back at the school again. He doesn't have a reason to come back here again, and it's Anna's last year, so he probably never will. This could be the last time he ever sees this place, and honestly, he wouldn't have it another way.