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The first thing that Castiel noticed when he woke up in the morning was the suffocating tightness around his chest. His still seep muddled brain couldn’t quite figure out what was causing the pain, only that he needed to get whatever the offending thing was off of his body. His hands traveled to his chest to try and remove whatever it wa-
Oh shit.
How could he be so careless? Leaving his binder on while he was sleeping was not only super fucking dangerous but it also meant that he couldn’t wear it today or risk serious health problems. Great.
Castiel sat up slowly, wincing a bit as his aching chest protested any movement he made. He carefully unwound the Ace bandages praying that nothing had been permanently damaged. He breathed a sigh of relief when the bandages were finally off, leaving him to feel as if he could actually breathe again. Castiel opened the dresser near his bed and discreetly placed the Ace wrap under a pile of socks. Once he was satisfied with his hiding place, he shuffled to his closet to find something suitable to wear to school. He usually tried to wear baggy clothing but today he would have to layer it for fear of his classmates asking questions he really didn’t want to answer. He put on a white undershirt, a plain navy blue t-shirt and a short tan coat just to be safe. He pulled on a pair of pants twice his size and looked over himself in the mirror.
He looked down at his chest and scrunched up his nose. He had stopped believing in god long ago, when his prayers wondering why he was born into the role of a girl went unanswered. He thought back to when he was just a toddler clasping his hands in prayer by his bedside asking god and all of the angels if they were simply testing him, trying to see how long he could make it as a girl. Wondering when they were finally going to let him live in the body he wanted to, the body he knew he was meant to be in.
He shook his head trying to chase those thoughts away. He really didn’t need this right before school. He rushed to finish the rest of his routine and hurried downstairs to the living room. His older sister Anna was waiting for him in the kitchen nursing a cup of coffee and talking animatedly to his brother Balthazar. His other siblings must have already gone to work, he guessed. He had three older brothers. Michael and Lucifer were the eldest, both brothers being 26 years old. Castiel found the fact that they were twins ironic because they were such complete opposites what with Lucifer being hot-headed and brash while Michael was cold and calculating.
Gabriel was 23 and usually hung around the kitchen trying out new recipes for the bakery he dreamed of opening one day. He didn't have a job at the moment (none of them except Michael did) because they hadn't really had a need for one. Their father had built hundreds of court houses and law offices across the country, and when he died of a heart attack when Castiel was only 11 years old, he left them enough money for all 6 of them to be set for a good number of years. But Michael had decided that it was his duty to continue his fathers work, so he moved out and bought a condo in Seattle only visiting his siblings on holidays and special occasions.
Lucifer was out of the house most of the time and only came home to sleep and even then he didn't always make his way back for a while after a particularly wild party of drinking and god knows what else.
"Come on," Anna chuckled, herding her two younger brothers out the door." We're gonna be late if you two slowpokes don't pick up the pace!"
"Alright, alright. Don't get your panties in a bunch," Balthazar muttered under his breath. He took hold of Castiel's arm and hurried them both along to the car. The two boys scurried inside Anna's car which was just big enough to fit all three of them and their school gear. She quickly drove down their regular school route, ignoring almost every stop sign on the way.
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Castiel flittered through his first few classes, not really paying attention. He usually tried to avoid answering/asking questions in class because the teachers never used his real name when they spoke to him.
"Yes ma'am, that's correct!"
"Cassandra do you have your homework?"
Not to mention the dreaded-
"Boys on this side, girls on that side!"
He really hated that one.
It eventually came time for lunch, so Castiel grabbed his things and headed off to the cafeteria. He usually sat with a boy whom he considered to be his best friend, Sam Winchester. Sam was a year younger than him and also a tad shorter, with a shaggy brown mop of hair and wide hazel eyes. He was, admittedly, Castiel's only close friend. Sam just accepted him for who he was, even more than that he genuinely didn't seem to care that Castiel had been born with so called "lady parts".
"Hey, Novak! Why don't you come sit by me, sweetheart?", Alistair Cruce shouted from his table in the corner of the cafeteria, his rag tag group of troublemakers sat around him.
Castiel froze, books gripped even tighter to his chest.
"N-no, thank you, I'm fine.", he muttered out.
Alistair rose from his spot and sauntered towards the nervous boy. As he approached Castiel he reached his arm out behind the smaller boy and pulled him close so that they were standing chest to chest.
"Excuse me?"
"I said no thank you, Alistair", said Castiel as he tilted his head to look up at the offending teen.