After practice, Coach gave me a polo that had the school's name on it, the swim team logo, and manager on the back. I accepted it willingly. I had a feeling I might like the job after all. I left the Aquatic Center and started to make my way to the front of the school. Where I would meet Gabriel and wait for Raph to pick us up.

"Castiel!" I could hear Jo's voice. I was going to turn to her, but she swung her arm around my shoulders before I could. She giggled and pulled me into an embrace. She smelled like chlorine, and her hair was still damp.

"Hi!" I hugged her back, not too tight. "I'm sorry coach got mad at you..."

"Awh, it's no big deal... It was worth it." She nudged at my arm. I smiled bashfully.  Jo was real sweet. I really liked her. She could be the best friend I  always dreamed of having. Someone who would be there for me, and not complain because of my phobia. We walked together, laughing and talking about random things. Once we reached the main school building, I grabbed the door handle and pulled it open.

"Hey! Wait up, Baby in a Trenchcoat!" Dean's voice appeared. I quickly turned to him. My eyes weren't lying. He was running up to Jo and I, with his shirt put on halfway, basketball shorts, sandals, and his athletics bag bouncing around as he tried to catch up.

"Hello Dean." I spoke softly, as soon as he was in front of us.

"Hey Cap." Jo remarked. Her smile still bright. I smiled too, but kept it small.

"I don't know if you were going home already, but I was hoping we could uh, hang out more." Dean said, shrugging his shoulder. Jo looked at me with a surprised face. I returned the look.

"Uh, my brother picks me up after school... so I was going to the front of the building..." I responded, cautiously.

"Oh.. uhm... right. My bad." Dean's tone already started to sound awkward. The three of us stood there silently for a moment.

"Well... I'm going to go now so--"

"No! Wait!" Dean cut me off. He reached into his bag and pulled out a pen. Then he grabbed my arm. I wanted to pull it back, because no one really touches me; but for some reason, I allowed him. He picked up my coat sleeve and clicked the pen. He wrote on my arm. As soon as he finished, I regained power of myself and pulled my arm away.

"That's my number..." He scoffed. "Call me or something."

"O-Oh... okay..." I replied quickly. He smiled and ran off, shouting out 'Bye Baby in a Trenchcoat'. I came to learn how to just accept that nickname. I stared at him as he left.

Then to my attention, Jo grabbed me and turned me around. Her face was full of excitement and awe. "Nooooo way! Dean Winchester, the team Captain, junior, best swimmer slash most popular guy at school gave you his phone number?!" She said rather quickly, and she squealed out loud.

"So...?" I asked, honestly not caring. She gasped like she what I said truly hurt her.

"Did you not hear what I just said?!" She yelled. "YOU are the first freshman I know to EVER get thee, Dean Winchester's, phone number. EVER. " I picked up my sleeve and stared at the number. "I soooo badly want to enter that into my phone...." She whimpered. I stared at the number.

(956) 881-1970 ....

"I don't even know if I should call him..." I asked, meaning it to be rhetorical. I felt Jo smack my arm. It hurt, but I knew she was messing around.

"Of course you do! You don't want him sad now, right? He's expecting your call!" Jo persisted. I never seen her so interested and hyper before. It was new, and kinda terrifying.

"But...."

"No buts!" She snapped. "I have to go now. Promise me you'll call him!" She said as she started to back away.

"Jo... I don't think I--"

"PROMISE!" She kept insisting. I sighed, realizing there was no way I was going to win this.

"Okay, I promise...."  I said, facing facts and giving up. She screamed lightly.

"Thank you!! Bye Castiel, see you tomorrow!" She waved goodbye and ran off. I waved back and watched her leave too. What the hell did I just get myself into?  Me? Calling a boy two years older than me? Raphael wouldn't allow that...  

Hours after Raphael picked Gabriel and I up from school, I was ready to take a bath. No, I don't shower... And my baths are special. Raphael makes a bunch of bubbles and it sits in the tub. I sit in it and just play with the suds. I always have.

"How was school today?" Raphael asked as he was scrubbing my hair with soap. He always washed my hair. He said it was a guilty pleasure, and that he liked styling my hair into weird looks. He'd sit on the toilet seat, his sleeves rolled up during the whole process. Never minding that he could get his clothes wet.

"I was terrified," I replied, throwing the suds up in the air. "I ran into the bathroom and cried half of the day."

"Castiel..." Raph sighed. "You need to be in class. It's important to have  good attendance."  I shrugged, putting the bubbles against my face. They stuck to my cheeks, making me look like I had a beard.

"Look Raph!" I turned to him. He laughed, as he put bubbles on my eyebrows to match the bubble beard.

"There. Now you look like Santa Claus." Raph chuckled. I giggled and lifted my arms up, pretending to ride a sled.

"Ho! ho! ho!" I laughed, Raphael joining me. Suddenly, I felt him jerk my arm toward him. "Ow!" I whimpered.

"Castiel, what is this?" He flipped my arm over so I could look at it. It was Dean's number! I swallowed hard. I wiped the bubbles from my face.

"It's uh... a phone number...?" I replied honestly, pulling my arm back slowly, trying to go back to playing with the bubbles.

"Who's phone number?" Raphael crossed his arms. He was starting to get serious. At this point, I'm beyond petrified.

"A boy... On the swim team... The team captain to be exact...." I said, being truthful.

"Why are you getting boy's numbers, and letting them write it on your arm?" He kept questioning, making me feel small.

"He gave it to me Raph, and he grabbed my arm and wrote it. He didn't been give me a chance to say anything..."

Lie.

"You could have told him to stop Castiel. And pulled your arm away or something."

"I didn't know what he was doing at first... And I was confused."

Truth.

"Did you say that it was okay that he wrote on you, instated of getting out a piece of paper Castiel?"

"Y-Yes..."

Lie.

Raphael sighed. He returned to scrubbing my hair. I sat there, silent. I felt so embarrassed that Raph found a boy's phone number on my arm. It was awkward.

"Do you like him?" Raphael asked bluntly. I turned to him, making all the bubbles in the tub shift.

"What?!" I responded, my face redder than ever. I couldn't believe he asked me that question!

"Castiel, I'll love you know matter what. Something like homosexuality doesn't phase me." Raph shrugged. "There are worse things compared to that."

I looked down to the bubbles, playing with my hands. I didn't want to answer; I wasn't so sure myself. I only met him that day.

"I'm waiting Cas ." Raph smirked. "Do you like him?"

I lifted my eyes, and that started to drift to the side. "M-Maybe... I don't k- know..." I stuttered, feeling so awkward. Raphael laughed.

"Only time will tell Castiel. You'll know if you do."  He replied, grabbing a cup of water next to him, so that he could wash off the soap in my hair. He barely even tilted it, so the water wouldn't spill so hard. I continued playing with the bubbles, trying to distract myself from the water being poured on my head. I hated it. I hated water. Ever since that day, I've been so cautious  about it. I don't even drink water. It reminds me of how it filled my throat and how I was choking. I shivered as the thought reappeared in my head.

After my bath, and eating dinner, everyone went to bed. I just kept staring at the faded number on my arm as I layed underneath the thick comforter of my bed. I couldn't decide if I should or not. But then, I remembered I promised Jo. Immediately,  I sat up and faced my drawer. I pulled open one of them and dug through my socks. After a moment of searching, I pulled out a phone. Raph bought it for me weeks ago, saying it was for emergencies.

It was a small, simple phone that had a keyboard in the front and a small screen portraying the time and wallpaper. My heartbeat was racing as I dialed the number onto the phone. I stared at what I was doing for a moment.

Then I pressed Talk.

I put the phone to my ear. I could hear the phone dial, and ring. It rang four times. Each time sending a creepy chill down my spine. I bit my thumb. Asking myself what I was doing. Soon enough, I heard someone pick up.

"Hello?" It was Dean's mellow voice. I swallowed hard, holding back any weird sounds that could possibly come out of my mouth.

"H-Hello... Dean..." I replied, barely above a whisper.

"Uh, yeah? Who's this?" He responded. I felt hurt. How could he not recognize my voice? We just talked today. I didn't answer. I felt bad, and a little brokenhearted.

"Baby in a Trenchcoat?  Is that you?" I added.

Oh my god.

He did remember me.

"Y-Yes... its me..." I said, giving off a sound of disbelief, mixed with a scoff. I covered my mouth as my eyes started to water. I couldn't believe I was doing this. Talking to the team captain at eleven thirty at night.

"Yeah, I figured." I could hear Dean turn over on his bed. "So whatcha doin'?"

"Laying in b-bed..." I answered, still in my whispering tone.

"Haha. Me too. I almost fell asleep until you called." Dean chuckled through the phone. I started to feel hysterical. "I'm so glad you did call."

"R-Really...?"

"Yeah... I think you're pretty cool." Dean sighed happily. "You're.... different."

"Oh..." I smiled stupidly. "Thanks...?" Dean laughed.

"Sorry... not good at the whole compliment thing..."

"I noticed." I happened to giggle. I was silent for a bit. I licked my lips nervously. Wondering if he was still there.

"Hey." I finally heard him say. It made me jump a little.

"Y-yes...?" I answered quickly. He took a bit to respond, he sounded like he was having trouble saying g what he wanted to say. Then, he suddenly spoke up:

"Do you-- want to go out somewhere Friday?"