The day went by without much more drama. I had to assure Iris I was fine a dozen times before she eventually believed me, but Kentin would not be convinced that I wasn't hiding my true feelings of pain and embarrassment. It made me smile when his eyes had gone huge and his chin had quivered, but he promised to defend me from anyone who tried to pick on me at lunch. Kentin hadn't been able to go through with his promise though because Dajan and his teammates decided to eat lunch with us, so anyone who had planned to tease me backed off. Dajan and I even traded phone numbers so he could text me if the basketball club ever needed any help.

After classes were over, I walked to the student council room while wondering what Nathaniel was planning on talking to me about. I knocked lightly on the door and I heard the scrape of a chair. Soon the door opened and Nathaniel smiled down at me.

"Thank you for coming, Opal. Come on in." I stepped in and Nathaniel closed the door behind me but stayed near the door. I leaned against one of the desks in the room and faced him.

"So, why did you want to meet?" I asked, feeling a little weird that the door was closed and it was just the two of us. Nathaniel studied me silently for what felt like minutes but was probably only a few seconds. I felt the urge to fidget nervously but I made myself meet his gaze with a questioning one of my own. Suddenly he leaned against the doorframe and sighed.

"Opal, you really aren't going to tell me who is responsible for what happened today?" I inwardly groaned. I had hoped that he would let it go. Apparently not, I thought tiredly.

"No. There's no reason for you to know."

"And if they had tried to hurt you physically you wouldn't tell me about that either, would you?" His tone had turned harder as if he wasn't really asking a question. I paused for a moment but then slowly I shook my head.

"I can take care of myself," I said, slowly but firmly. Nathaniel's eyes narrowed and he took a step towards me.

"That's your reason? I thought I was your friend. Why are you keeping this from me?"

"I've only known you for a week!" I said and then instantly regretted it. His eyes shone with hurt and a flash of guilt went through me. "I'm sorry, Nathaniel. I do consider you a friend but... The way I was raised..." I looked around uneasily, wondering how to explain without giving away anything. I sighed and met his golden gaze. "Nathaniel, I have always looked after myself. I don't expect other people to help me and I don't really know how to accept help from others. I don't want to cause you any problems. So, just let it go, okay?"

It felt strange to admit something like this to someone I was still getting to know, and a guy at that. I met Nathaniel's golden eyes and tried to plead with my eyes that he just let this go. Nathaniel's narrowed eyes slowly relaxed and a small frown turned his lips down. With a shake of his head, he sighed and walked over to his desk and sat down.

"Opal... I have heard rumors, lots of rumors about who put these pictures up and about what happened in the cafeteria on Tuesday." I sucked in a breath, not wanting to be the cause of anger between him and his sister. Nathaniel put his elbows on the desk, interlaced his fingers and rested his chin on them, looking at me steadily. "I really don't want to believe these rumors, Opal. But, I NEED you to tell me if it's true. Has my sister been the one bullying you?"

I folded my arms across my stomach and looked away from him. What am I supposed to say? I didn't want to lie to him, he'd probably see right through it and be hurt that I tried, but I didn't want to tell him the truth either since it would cause problems between Amber and him. I looked over at him cautiously and his position hadn't changed in the least.

"If I said yes, IF... then what would you do?" I asked, hearing the misery and hesitance in my voice. This is so typical of you, Opal. Why do I always ruin things for the people I am around? I thought to myself as my throat tightened with restrained emotion.

He stayed in that same position for a second and then his eyes closed and he let out a long breath through his nose. Unclasping his hands he rubbed his forehead, leaning back in his chair. He looked up at the ceiling and stayed like that for a while before looking over at me again.

"I'll have to talk to her. She's gotten out of hand and I can't ignore it anymore. I'm sorry Opal," he said and he sounded tired like he had resigned himself to a horrible fate. Guilt washed through me and I took a hesitant step forward, wanting more than anything to fix this situation somehow.

"You don't have to apologize, Nathaniel. I can take care of myself, really. What happened with Amber doesn't bother me at all. Plus, I have people who stood up for me. I don't think Amber will do anything like this again," I said, watching his expression and hoping that the tired look in his eyes would go away. Nathaniel shook his head but smiled and relaxed into a normal seated position.

"There was another reason why I asked you to come to visit with me, too." I blinked, surprised the subject had changed so easily but I decided to just go with it.

"What can I help you with?" I asked eagerly.

"Ah... actually..." Nathaniel said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Have you by chance met Castiel?" Nathaniel's voice sounded strained and I felt one eyebrow arch up in confusion.

"Yes, I have a class with him. Why?" Nathaniel sighed and looked me right in the eye.

"Castiel needs to sign an absentee note for school records and the principal told me to do it, but Castiel and I don't exactly... get along." Nathaniel's tone turned dark and I wondered what had happened between the two to generate such animosity. "I know this is a huge favor to ask you, but do you think you could ask him to sign it for me? He hasn't had time to hate you yet, so I thought you'd be the best choice."

"You think he'll hate me once he gets to know me?" I asked sadly, thinking to all the times Castiel had seemed disappointed in me. It hadn't really bothered me since I'd never had friends, to begin with, but I had thought we might eventually get on better terms. Nathaniel's eyes widened and he quickly waved his hand in front of his face.

"N-no! I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that Castiel doesn't get along with most people..." he said awkwardly. I regarded him thoughtfully for a minute and then felt myself relax and I smiled, letting out a small chuckle.

"You're funny, Nathaniel," I said, a little surprised that I had said that aloud. Nathaniel's eyebrows arched up in a surprised expression too so I quickly continued. "I'll try, but I really don't think he'd listen to me. I might have offended him," I said, thinking back to that strange look he had given me a few days ago.

"Well, just do your best. Thank you so much, Opal! I owe you one," Nathaniel said, walking around his desk and handing me a slip of paper. "He normally hangs around the school for a couple of hours before going home. I'm sure you'll get a chance to ask him." I took the paper and gave it a quick glance.

"I'll see what I can do," I said nervously. I wanted to do something for Nathaniel since I had inadvertently caused tension between him and his sister, but I hoped that I Castiel wouldn't be annoyed at seeing me.

"Thanks again, Opal. I have a bunch of paperwork to go through today so when he signs it then just bring it back here, okay?"

"Sure thing," I said, squaring my shoulders and making my way to the door, but before I turned the knob I hesitated. Gathering my courage I said over my shoulder, "I finished the book you recommended last week." Peaking back over my shoulder I saw Nathaniel perk up with interest.

"You did? What did you think?" I smiled slightly, glad that the tiredness I had seen in him before seemed to have left him completely now.

"I was skeptical at first," I admitted. "It was a bit slow in the beginning, but when the sister came up from the basement I was dumbfounded and was hooked after that. I still prefer fantasy, but it was a nice change." Nathaniel beamed and leaned forward on his desk.

"Oh, that was a great plot twist! Well, if you ever want another recommendation then just let me know."

"I will. I'll see you later," I said and left, feeling pleased that I was able to make him smile. But then I looked down at the slip of paper and groaned. What had I been thinking? And why did Castiel have to sign this? I thought the parents had to sign these forms. Resigned, I slowly made my way to the courtyard and what I had come to think of as Castiel's tree. Sure enough, he was sitting under the tree with his headphones in.

I made my way slowly to his silent form. He didn't notice my approach and soon I was right beside him. Hesitantly, I looked down at his tranquil face, absorbed in the music, and wondered what he was listening to. He was wearing his red shirt with the band logo again and I slowly squatted down, hugging my knees, to get a closer look at the logo. It was a picture of a gray skull with two wings circling it and it seemed a little familiar to me.

"Hey, what are you staring at?" My eyes jerked up to Castiel who was staring at me angrily. I pulled back, lost my balance and fell gracelessly on my backside. Castiel's expression flickered to amusement for a second before his angry scowl came back.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I was trying to figure out where I have seen that band logo before," I said, gesturing to his shirt and arranging myself into a cross-legged position. Castiel looked shocked and pointed to his shirt.

"You recognize this?" He asked in obvious shock and I nodded slowly.

"You wore that the first day of school. It's been bugging me because I know I've seen it before but I can't remember the band's name." Castiel narrowed his eyes suspiciously and let out a huff.

"There's no way a goody-two-shoes like you listens to rock." My eyes widened and before I could stop myself I found myself giggling. No one had EVER called me 'goody-two-shoes' before, and I actually kind of liked it.

"Actually Kamelot is one of my favorite bands. I always found that rock was the best music to listen to if I was trying to drown out... uh... unpleasant sounds."

"Kamelot, huh? They're okay, they use a lot of dubstep though. Not really pure rock," Castiel said, still looking suspicious. I was desperately searching through my memories and finally, the name clicked.

"Winged Skull! Of course! Sheesh, I can't believe I forgot that. They do Heartless, right? That one was my favorite," I said with a smile, looking to the side and humming the tune of the chorus quietly for a second.

Castiel looked at me with awe and I felt myself blush slightly. I wished I could say 'See? Goody-two-shoes can like rock music too,' but I didn't want to sound conceited. He smirked at me but it was obvious I had his attention.

"Well, what do you know, you weren't lying. So, was that all you came over here for?"

"Oh, well, actually no." I glanced at the slip of paper in my hand. "I noticed you weren't in History on Wednesday. Were you sick?"

"You noticed huh?" Castiel asked with a mischievous smirk and I felt a flush come to my cheeks. I cleared my throat and looked up at the leaves of the tree, not sure how to respond and I heard Castiel chuckled. "No, I wasn't sick. I just skipped." My eyes widened and I turned my eyes back to him.

"You skipped? For no reason? Your parents let you do that?" I asked incredulously. A shadow fell over his face and he looked away.

"What parents? I'm legally independent. My parents both work overseas and only come home once every six months if that. I've been on my own since I was fourteen." I watched him and felt a little bit of myself want to reach out to him, to tell him that being alone wasn't the worst option in the world, but I quickly shoved it back.

"Do you not like being on your own?" I asked carefully, not wanting him to get mad. He scoffed and gave me a superior grin.

"What are you, 5? Everyone knows that being alone is better than having parents around to nag you." I leaned back, looking towards the greenhouse in thought. "So was THAT why you came over? To find out my life story? Because that's all you'll get out of me, goody-two-shoes," Castiel said putting his hands behind his neck in a leisurely posture.

"Actually, since you missed a day apparently there's an absentee form that needs to be signed." Castiel sat up so abruptly that I jerked back, startled. He fixed me with his steel-grey eyes and I felt a bead of sweat run down my back.

"That idiot Nathaniel put you up to this, didn't he?" he asked with iron in his voice. My mouth opened and shut mutely from the shock.

What on earth had happened between these two?!? I wondered in shock as the same animosity that Nathaniel had shown was reflected in Castiel's expression.

"Tell Nathaniel to be a man and get me to sign it himself, and not to involve someone else," Castiel said, jamming his earbuds in and turning away from me emphatically. I stood up slowly, amazed at the reaction I had just gotten, and headed back to Nathaniel, still in shock.

"Nathaniel?" He looked up from a pile of paperwork as I opened the door.

"Did he sign it?" he asked hopefully. I gave him an 'are you crazy' look and he chuckled. "That bad, huh?"

"He said to tell you to be a man and ask him yourself," I said, standing in front of Nathaniel's desk holding the slip of paper out towards him. He looked at it thoughtfully and then glanced up at me.

"Do you think you could ask him one more time? Tell him a real man takes responsibility for his actions?" Nathaniel asked with a small pout. I blinked, momentarily stunned at how cute he looked before stomping down on that thought while simultaneously stepping back quickly and bumping into a desk.

"What, what did I do?" Nathaniel asked, starting to get up from his seat.

"It's nothing! I'm fine, I'll go try again!" I said, dashing out of the student council room. What did I just think? I'm losing my head from being away from Father for just a few weeks, there is no WAY I can let myself have... feelings.... For a guy, I thought to myself while shuddering.

I slowed to a walk as I got outside and groaned. What am I doing? Castiel is going to bite my head off for this! I thought in quiet despair. I looked back and forth between the door and the maple tree, wondering what I should do. After a few seconds to calm myself down, I slowly exhaled and turned towards Castiel. I had told Nathaniel I would try and that was what I was going to do. Cautiously, I walked over to Castiel sitting under the tree. He looked up at me with annoyance.

"What are you doing back here? Couldn't stand up to the president?" he asked. An image of Nathaniel's pout flashed behind my eyes and I shook my head.

"No! Well... actually yah, I guess. I just... needed to not be around him for a minute," I said while glancing back at the school. To my surprise, Castiel grinned at that and bent one of his knees, propping his arm against it as he regarded me with interest.

"So he gets under your skin too, huh?"

"Um, well, I suppose in a way..." I said, knowing we weren't talking about the same thing but not wanting to go into detail either. "Anyways, he asked me to tell you that a man takes responsibility for his actions. Look, I don't want you to get into trouble, so could you..."

"Responsibility! He just wants me to get expelled," Castiel growled angrily.

"What?" I asked in surprise. Castiel pointed to the slip of paper.

"I sign that and dear ol' Nate is going to try to convince the Principal that I am a delinquent and shouldn't be a part of this school anymore."

"Really?" I asked, frowning at the paper. I didn't think that Nathaniel was that kind of person, but was it possible? It was obvious that he didn't have kind feelings towards Castiel. Suddenly the paper was snatched out of my hand and I blinked, looking up to see that Castiel had stood up and was gripping the paper in his hand so hard it was getting crumpled.

"Give me that. I'm going to go settle this," Castiel snarled and stormed towards the school. I watched him go wordlessly, mulling over the things he had just said. Then I looked up at the tree and sighed.

"Why is there so much hate in the world? Why can't everyone just be happy?" I asked the maple tree. A small breeze caused the leaves to rustle and I smiled. "Yah, I guess that would be pretty unrealistic."

I turned towards the school to get my backpack and head for home. As I opened the school doors, however, I heard someone say, "...send a girl to do your dirty work?" and a bang. I sprinted into the hall and saw Castiel gripping Nathaniel's shirt and pressing him against the lockers lining the wall.

Time seemed to slow down as I saw Castiel's one arm begin to let go of Nathaniel's shirt, clenching tighter into a fist. Hardly without thought, I ran up to the two boys and inserted myself in front of Nathaniel. I raised my arm naturally and caught Castiel's fist in my own open palm, trapping it in my hand. Castiel's eyes flew open and he tried to move back but I held fast to his fist, bringing my other hand up to grab his wrist and keep him there so I could meet his eyes straight on.

"Castiel, this is not the answer. If anyone finds out you hit him you really could be expelled," I said calmly and firmly. Castiel scoffed and I could feel his hand and arm tighten under my grip.

"No one is here. You gonna rat on me, Opal?" He tugged his hand but I refused to let go.

"No. But I'm not going to let you hit him either. Violence is never the answer, Castiel."

Castiel met my eyes and we looked at each other for a while. As I met his eyes it was like I could feel all the anger and frustration from him flowing out of his steely grey eyes. Still, I refused to look away. When Father hit me his eyes had always been flashing like black pools of hate, but as I looked at Castiel I was surprised to see an emotion closer to sadness in them. Silently, I tried to tell him that this wasn't the answer. I felt his fist soften and I let go. He took a step back, not breaking eye contact with me.

Finally, his eyes darted from mine to Nathaniel. I suddenly realized how extremely close I was standing to him. Just before that realization could turn to embarrassment though, to my surprise Castiel's eyes met mine again. He reached out, clamped the arm that I had dropped to my side in his large hand, and pulled me firmly, but not roughly, away from Nathaniel. I stumbled slightly at the unexpected tug and looked up to see that Castiel's eyes were glaring in full silver force at Nathaniel's own gold ones.

"I'll sign your stupid notice. Next time don't send a random person to ask for you," he growled.

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to respond, but Castiel turned away and began swiftly marching down the hall while pulling me along with him. I glanced back at Nathaniel who had taken a step as if to follow us but I waved a hand, trying to tell him not to since I didn't think these two should be together at the moment. 

Nathaniel clamped his mouth shut and shoved a hand into his jeans pocket. He looked at the ground then raised his head to meet my gaze and mouthed what I assumed was, "I'm sorry" at me just as Castiel whisked around a corner in the hallway, dragging me with him.

Castiel continued leading me down the hall without speaking and I marveled at how his hand, even though it was holding onto me firmly, didn't make me feel panicky. I was about to speak up when I saw my locker flash past us, but a moment later Castiel came to an abrupt halt and released my arm. Without warning, he turned to face me, grabbed my upper arms, and firmly turned me so that my back was to the light blue lockers along the wall.

"Stay," he demanded in a clipped voice, letting go of my arms and turning away while rubbing a hand through his red hair roughly. 

I blinked mutely, confused as to what Castiel wanted with me, but I decided it would be better to do as he said instead of risking getting him angry again. Castiel paced back and forth in front of me for a few seconds before finally facing me and pointing an accusing finger in my face.

"What the heck do you think you were doing back there?" he asked, looking as if he wished he could shake me. I rubbed my arm self-consciously and glanced around the empty hallway.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled quietly. He expelled air from his lungs in what sounded like a half sigh and half grunt of exasperation.

"What are you sorry for?" he asked in a demanding tone. 

I blinked, glancing up to see his grey eyes flashing with an emotion I couldn't quite place. It didn't look like anger, but I wasn't sure what the emotion would be called.

"For bothering you about the absentee note...?" I asked cautiously. 

He slapped a hand over his eyes with a grimace so abruptly I jumped a little bit. Blinking once again in confusion I watched as Castiel slumped his head forward before dragging his hand down his face and fixing me with a hard glare.

"Idiot girl," he growled. I bit my lip, feeling bad that I was making Castiel so angry. "I almost hit you!" he snarled quietly. 

Surprise flashed through me and I felt like Castiel calling me an idiot was actually accurate because I could only blink at him, not understanding why this was such a big deal to him. He glared at me angrily, waiting for a response, so I searched for something that I could say.

"I timed it so you wouldn't though," I pointed out, feeling uncertain about what the issue was.

Castiel's angry expression was replaced by a look of disbelief and a surprised laugh escaped him before he shook his head and glowered at me again.

"It doesn't matter if you had it timed, you got in the middle of something you had no business being in the middle of!" he scolded fiercely. 

I winced as his words rang true and I felt a rush of guilt go through me.

"I'm sorry," I repeated. "I didn't want you to get in trouble. And I don't like seeing people get hurt," I admitted honestly, feeling terrible. 

Would it have been better if I just let them fight? I wondered to myself, unconsciously reaching up and rubbing my shoulder where the bruise from Father still hadn't healed completely. Glancing up at Castiel I saw him watching me rub my shoulder and I quickly put my hand down, wishing I could kick myself.

"He deserved it, but I'm sorry if I scared you," Castiel said, mumbling his apology while glancing away from me. 

I cocked my head at that, thinking back and realizing that surprisingly I hadn't felt scared. I wondered why I felt safe when I was around this boy that obviously had a temper problem. I couldn't find a solid answer to that though so I stayed silent. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and then huffed, clenching and unclenching his fist as if he needed to relax the tension from his muscles.

"Anyways, don't do stuff like that again," he ordered gruffly before walking past me towards the side doors of the high school.

I watched him go without saying anything, reflecting on what had happened. Slowly I walked over to my locker and loaded my backpack with everything I would need for the weekend before walking toward the front entrance of the school. As I passed by the open door of the student council room I heard Nathaniel call my name. I stopped, looking over to see him walking over to me quickly.

"Are you okay, Opal? I'm so sorry for getting you mixed up with that guy," he said with obvious concern. I smiled before glancing at his rumpled collar and his tie that was still loose from his earlier encounter with Castiel.

"I'm fine, Nathaniel. Castiel told me not to get in the way next time and apologized for scaring me, that's all," I explained, trying to sound soothing. Nathaniel blinked in surprise.

"Castiel... apologized?" he asked, disbelief evident in his tone of voice and I covered my mouth to try and hide my smile.

"Yes, he did. I was surprised too, to be honest," I admitted. 

Nathaniel shook his head in wonder, reaching up to push his bangs out of his face and glancing down at me with wide eyes. He let his hand and bangs fall back down as his expression turned solemn.

"You didn't have to step in front of me you know, I could have taken care of myself," Nathaniel said seriously and I nodded.

"Honestly, I reacted without really thinking. I'm sorry if I bothered you." 

Nathaniel smiled and shook his head, sticking one of his hands into his jeans pocket.

"It was pretty cool how you stopped his punch, though," he said with a smile and I could feel my cheeks warming up slightly so I quickly looked away.

"Anyone could have done that," I muttered quietly before smiling up at him. "I'd better go, Nathaniel. I'll see you on Monday."

We said goodbye and I walked out into the cheerful sunshine and the sound of cars driving by. With excitement, I thought of the world history paper I had to write, a calculus test to study for, and the new library book I borrowed to read. This weekend would be filled with nothing but the safety of words and numbers. 

It's kind of exhausting having friends, I thought to myself with a sigh and a smile.

A/N This is one of my favorite scenes ever XD I hope you are enjoying the story so far!