When Sam was a baby, Sam and Dean’s mother was killed in a house fire. Ever since, their father, John Winchester, has been searching for the arsonist. He brought his sons with him on his trips to try to track down the arsonist. John is an ex-marine who taught his sons how to fight and how to shoot, in case they ever find the arsonist or need to protect themselves otherwise. Their father was also known to some for helping people along the way who needed help outside the law.
Dean always took better to the training than Sam did, and Sam was relieved when their dad announced they would be settling down in this small town. Now that Dean’s eighteen, he can take care of his younger brother (not like Dean wasn’t doing that already, what with their dad always disappearing) while their dad goes off on his trips. So, absent father, but Sam’s still got the best brother in the world, and now he has a home.
The brothers are fairly new to Kilmen High School, and Sam just wants to fit in and get good grades. That means he’d prefer it if no one knows he can fight and shoot like a marine. Sam thinks if he does well enough in school, maybe he’ll be able to get into Stanford and be able to study law. Maybe his perfect grades will make up for his moving around and missing classes in the past. He has nothing against what his father does, but he wants to operate inside the law and within the public sphere. Big goals for a seventeen-year-old. And, by the way, why does that boy Lucifer keep staring at him?