Composure
Summary: Lia is a senior in high school at only 15, and when she stumbles across Doctor Spencer Reid she realizes they share more than just a similar mind, they share DNA. With her mother's own demons progressing, calm and collected Lia grows up much faster than planned, while uncovering new aspects of her life.
Chapter 1
The crisp October air brushes against my cheeks as I make my way along the concrete sidewalk, blades of grass peaking through its cracks. It is exactly 2:13 in the afternoon; I have spent the past seven hours confined by my high schools walls. It being a Friday means no track practice, which I'm relieved over because who wants to run 4 miles with a cold? My mind still buzzing with thoughts of molecular bonds and quantum theory, I approached the stone walkway leading up to the front door of the home I had lived in for the entirety of my short life. I look to the right of me to see my mother's Volvo still sitting in the driveway.
She hadn't left the house.
I turn my key in the lock and swing into the foyer. I'm greeted by my plump 2 year-old tortuous shell kitty, Penny. "Hi sweet girl" I coo as she makes a high pitched squeak- her substitute for a meow. "Mom? I'm home" I shout into the air, kicking my shoes off and tossing my bag into the living room before making my way up the carpeted staircase. Four steps to the left and I'm standing in the doorway of my mother's room. She's sitting up right against the far wall, eyes closed and jaw slightly open. She lets out a quiet snore. "Mom?" I repeat as I walked towards her.
"mmm" she sighs and drops her head. To her right is a near empty bottle of gin.
"Alright, come on" I take her gently by the arm and hoist her up and lead her to her bed, which she collapses into. "Have you eaten?" I ask, she lets out a weak 'no'. "I'll be back in a few" I promise and head back downstairs into the kitchen, where Penny is waiting.
The first thing I do is wipe down the counter top, second I wash my hands. Feed Penny a few treats. I go to the bread box, take out a loaf of white bread. Take out the peanut butter from the cabinet, the jelly from the fridge. Smear an even amount of the peanut spread on one piece of bread, jelly on the other. Put the sandwich on a paper plate, cut it into even fourths, and repeat the action so there are two PB&J's in front of me. I trap one sandwich in a layer of cellophane. Grab two glasses from the dishwasher, pour orange juice in one and water in the other. I pick up the wrapped plate with my left hand and the water with my right. I carefully walk the thirteen steps up and into my mother's room.
"Mom, come on you have to eat" I say, holding the plate in above her. She groans and covers her face with a pillow. "Mom," I nudge her, but she just pulls the covers over her head. I let out a long sigh and leave the cellophane covered plate on her nightstand, along with the glass of water. I go back downstairs, grab my sandwich and my glass, bring it over to the suede recliner and plop myself diagonal to the television. I place the orange juice and plate on the coffee table next to me and bend over, reaching into my back pack and pulling out a Physics textbook and two folders. I crack the text book with my right hand a quarter of a sandwich in my right, then begin the 6 worksheets that correspond with the text. Penny watches from a two foot radius, curling up and taking periodic naps. I skim the chapter in a matter of minutes and continue onto the questions, which only takes me the better half of fifteen minutes. I move onto to making up any work I have missed while absent; consisting of an AP psych paper, an AP stats packet, a physics packet, an English reading, and a history DBQ. I worked well into the evening, taking brakes periodically to go to the bathroom and make a cup of coffee. Just as the sun begins to dip below the horizon, my mother emerges from her bedroom and makes her way down the stairs.
"Hey mom" I pipe up and cross over into the kitchen.
"hey sweetie" she replies and pecks my forehead, breath still streaked with liquor. "How was school?" she asks, opening the refrigerator and pulling out three Chinese food containers.
"It was alright, nothing special" I answer while grabbing two paper plates from the cabinet.
"Any plans for tonight?" her lips mouth.
"Nothing tonight, but tomorrow Ethan and I are sitting in on a lecture at Georgetown" I inform her, Ethan being my gay counterpart and best friend of five years. "A unit from the FBI is going to be speaking about the analysis of behavior in sociopaths and serial offenders" I rattle on as I empty a serving of vegetable lo mien onto the plate in front of me.
"Sounds interesting" she replies, eating chicken and broccoli from the carton. I can tell she isn't exactly present.
Minutes filled with silence pass as the two of us chew.
"How was practice?" she pipes up.
"We have Fridays off" I remind her, she gulps.
"Oh, that's right. Sorry" she takes a bite of chicken. My eyes scan the floor and stop at Penny's food dish, which I fill and replace her water.
"I'm beat, I'll be in my room if you need me" I sigh, "love you" I say as I head for the stairs
"Love you too" she shouts after me.
Upon entering my bedroom, I am greeted by Penny laying three feet from the doorway. She stretches out, arches her back, and then leans into me as I scratch her chin. "Come on sweet girl" I coo and pat the end of my bed. Penny jumps up and slips under my comforter, where she then curls up drifts off to sleep. I sit upright against my headboard and stuff a pillow behind my back, settling in with Isaac Asimov's The Naked Sun. I then move on to read his entire Foundation series, and finish in a matter of two hours. Although it is only nine at night, I cover myself in a mountain of blankets and close my eyes in hope of sleep.