Author's Note: I had so much fun working on The Breakfast Club and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days that I decided to do another Morgan/Reid story based on a movie I loved. The first one that came to mind was A Cinderella Story, so this is loosely based on the plot of it.

Spencer
Spencer Reid's life was far from 'perfect', no matter what your standards for 'perfect' may be. His father had walked out on he and his mother when he was only ten years old, despite his mother begging to take Spencer with him. His father chose to leave him with a sick mother and never do so much as send a letter. Because of this, Spencer had to grow up incredibly fast: he'd work any job he could get so he could help his mother pay the bills or get groceries or buy himself clothes from the local thrift shops. There weren't many people in his life that he could truly trust or believe in, because he'd had one too many experiences with classmates faking genuity and pretending they liked him to either get something out of him or gain his trust just to bully him. The one person he could always depend on was his neighbor he'd grown up with, Jennifer Jareau, or JJ as she preferred to be called. JJ definitely had better options, considering she was the captain of the soccer team, but Spencer was glad that she was one person who never turned her back on him.

He was highly intelligent, and this constantly made him a target for bullying. He'd been given the option to skip several grades, but opted to skip one and stay where he 'belonged', as to not put a bigger target on his back. One thing he did do in his spare time was launch a website to tutor anyone in his school who was having trouble. He started out doing it for free, but when parents found out that a website was behind their children suddenly having good grades, they wanted to pay him to thank him. Not wanting to accept money, he'd set up a 'pay what you will' option, and this was what he'd call his 'official' job, though he still took odd jobs wherever he could get them both to fill his time and make money for the family.

One morning, there was a honking outside of his house. Spencer's head snapped up and he sighed, realizing he'd fallen asleep at his desk after typing up the notes for his, for lack of a better word, students. Last night, he'd done some dog walking, babysitting, and lawn work to make some money, then came home late to work on the notes. He ran a hand over his face and blinked a few times before reaching out for his phone, checking for messages and adjusting his glasses.

Hey, Spence. I'm right outside. Are you going to grace the world with your presence today or what?

He sighed, shaking his head.

Just need to get dressed. I'll be down in five minutes.

He clicked the screen on his computer and saw a note from one of the students.

Hey, Brainsof187 (he really hated that he'd let JJ pick out his screen name) Thanks again for all of your help. Mom's proud to see me getting A's in math again. I think all of that extra help has been making a difference. You're a life saver. - Blackhawk

Anonymity had been one of Spencer's conditions for helping out his fellow students, both for his safety and their privacy. Nobody assumed it was him, mainly because everyone thought he was a technophobe and terrified of all technology, considering his flip phone in the smartphone age. One student in particular, Blackhawk, had been getting a lot of individual help, and lately, the two of them had gotten to talking on a more personal level. Talking to Blackhawk made him feel normal for a change: he didn't talk to him like he was a genius, but just another human being, and that felt good.

He quickly typed his response, sending it off before getting dressed.

Spencer ran downstairs, walking to his mother's room and knocking on her door.

"Mom, I'm leaving for school. Do you need me to get anything on the way home?"

She groaned. "No, thank you, I have a lecture to prepare for this afternoon and shouldn't be disturbed."

He bit his lip, nodding. "I'll leave you to it." He picked up his backpack off of a chair in the living room, putting it on his shoulder. "I love you, Mom." He heard her soft snoring and shook his head, walking out to JJ's car and getting in.

"How's Mom doing this morning?" JJ asked, reaching over and fixing his hair.

"It's a bad day," he put plainly, buckling his seatbelt. "She has to prepare a lecture."

"Didn't she stop teaching last semester?"

He nodded. "Exactly. I'm going to take the bus home after school, I need to get home and get my tutoring done, then I have a private session with one of the students I'm tutoring, and then I'm mowing Ms. Cavanaugh's lawn, so even if I wanted to, I couldn't wait for you to finish with student council."

"Are you sure you don't want a ride? I could drive you home and still make it back in plenty of time."

"I'm fine," he insisted.

She shrugged. "If you insist." She started the car, putting down the top and driving.

"Are you making anything from this private lesson?" she asked, turning to him.

"Eyes on the road," he reminded. "And yes. Another 'their parents found out and insist on paying me' situation."

"That's not so bad. You print up a few fliers, stick them around school, and you've got a pretty good business."

"Well, yeah. plus everyone thinks it's a teacher behind it, so that saves me an ass kicking or two at school."

She frowned. "I thought that stopped."

"It never really stops," he pointed out. "It just temporarily pauses and then kicks back in."

"Do you need me to talk to people again?"

He quickly shook his head. "I can put up with it, really. It's nothing I haven't experienced plenty of times before." She opened her mouth again. "Focus on the road, JJ. I'm a nerd, believe me, I'm used to it."

"You're not a nerd-"

"The dictionary defines 'nerd' as 'a foolish or contemptible person who lacks social skills or is boringly studious.'. I live in my textbooks, I have little to no social skills, and I'm pretty low on the ladder. I've accepted it, and you should too."

She sighed. "But you shouldn't. You're smart and you've been working since you were ten and you're graduating a year early to head off to college. That's not nerdy to me."

He smiled. "I appreciate the gesture, but I know I am, and I'm okay with it."

When they arrived at school, JJ pulled into her parking spot, parking and putting the top up.

"Are we still up for meeting for lunch today?" she asked, grabbing her backpack from the backseat and getting out.

He nodded. "I'll be there." He got out of the car, looking over at her. "...Does that skirt pass the fingertip test?"

"Spence!"

He put up his hands. "I don't want you in any trouble."

She rolled her eyes, putting her hands against her side and motioning toward her hand. "See? Past the fingertips, Dad."

He smiled to himself, adjusting his backpack on his shoulder. "Good." He saw JJ's best friend Emily walking over to the car and waved to her before walking inside.

Emily looked after him, eyebrows raised. "Jesus, you've known him how long and you can't influence his wardrobe just a little bit? I know you love thrifting as much as the next girl but come on."

JJ shrugged, tucking her hair behind her ear. "It's his choice. I keep trying to introduce him to the color purple, or any color that isn't found on a college professor, but he doesn't listen. I think I'll have to tag along on the next trip."

"Please do and save his poor soul? He's too small to face anymore ridicule. I'll even pay if need be. Mom's credit card won't mind."

She smiled. "We'll see."

Derek

Derek Morgan parked his car in the school lot, getting out and grabbing his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder. He looked around the lot and realized that several people were staring at him. It was something he should be used to by now, considering his popularity, but it never quite felt right. When he lost his dad, he stuck to himself and never really made it a mission in life to make himself known. Before high school, he'd been the exact opposite of popular: he was small, scrawny, and would get his ass handed to him every day. Luckily for him, he hit a growth spurt and started going to the gym, which resulted in him being over 6 feet and muscular, and not a day went by where he wasn't thankful for that miracle. With his new body, he'd decided to get into sports to maintain it, and it turned out he had a natural knack for them. He quickly became a valued member of the team and gained captain status in nearly everything he tried.

Unfortunately, with the athletics came a need to keep his grades up to stay on the teams. He was fine in most subjects, but math had always kicked his ass, and when it would bring him down, he'd end up in a downward spiral in all of his schoolwork. Unlike athletics, academics never came easy to him, and he'd tried all of the methods to keep his grades up, except for cheating. He knew his mother would smack him into next week if she found out that her son was a cheater.

Someone above, probably his father, was looking out for him, because when he was about to give up and quit the teams, he saw a neon flyer hanging in the hallway advertising homework help after school on a website. All he had to do was create an alias, take the step-by-step lessons that made everything clear, and when necessary, ask the instructor for some help. When things would get too stressful for him, he'd message the instructor and get individual attention on the things that were troubling him. It turned out that his instructor, whoever it may be, was actually pretty interesting. There were some nights where, after the lessons, the two of them would just message each other back and forth for hours, losing track of time and talking about anything: sports, school, movies, music, you name it. The only downside was that the instructor cared about anonymity for the students and himself, so he didn't know who it could be.

An arm slung around his shoulder and he smiled, patting its owner's hand. "Hey, sweetness."

"Hey yourself, Baby Girl," he said, leaning over and kissing her cheek. "How's my princess doing today?"

She smirked, popping her bubblegum bubble and chewing. "Fantastic. You never texted me back last night. Are we still on for shopping after school?"

He clicked his tongue, exhaling.

"Oh, please don't tell me you forgot! I need my perfect Adonis there when I go shopping so I can try and make my asshat of an ex-boyfriend totally jealous with some killer new outfits."

He sighed. "I can always make time for you. Is Hotch in too or is it just me?"

She scoffed. "Yeah, like he can detach himself from Haley Brooks long enough to give us the time of day, let alone make plans with us." She patted his shoulder. "It's just you and me, cowboy."

He laughed to himself, walking toward the school with her. "I can't wait."

"Me either. I'm kind of the perfect beard, no? Adorable blonde with a great personality and amazing fashion sense, what more could you want in one?"

He reached over, cupping a hand over her mouth. "Excuse you."

She bit her lip before moving her hand, lowering her voice. "Secret beard," she whispered, and he nodded.

"There we go. Shall we go to Physics and hate our lives for the next hour?"

She saluted him. "We shall."

Spencer

Spencer took a seat in his German class, waving slightly to Emily as he took out his notebook and set it on his desk. It was odd to have the seat next to her, considering the two of them had barely talked despite the fact that she was JJ's closest friend. Sometimes, he swore that JJ purposely told her to take that seat so she could keep an eye on him when she wasn't around. Whatever the case may be, he was somewhat relieved to have a familiar face who actually liked him in the classroom.

"Do anything fun this weekend?" Emily asked, twirling her pen between her fingers.

He thought to himself. "Mowed two lawns, helped my neighbor with some yardwork, had four private tutoring sessions, and did the grocery shopping."

She raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever heard of relaxing? It's what most of us do on weekends."

He shrugged slightly. "Relaxing doesn't help mom pay the bills."

"Good point." She motioned toward his notebook. "Seriously, I don't know why you bother. You retain all of this so easily."

"I don't know, even though I memorize it, I enjoy note taking."

She gave him a smile. "It's a good thing JJ warned me about you before we met."

He scoffed. "Gee, thanks. Why did you take German, anyway?"

"My mom worked in Germany for eight months a few years back. I figured why not have a refresher course instead of starting something new. Besides, coming into the school year a week late thanks to her assignment from the summer taking too long to wrap up, my options were German or French, and everyone knows all the idiot jocks take French because they think it'll turn girls on and make them drop their panties."

He scrunched up his nose. "Thanks."

She winked. "Anytime."

When their teacher walked in, she started putting up slides for notes they'd need. The way their class worked, they took their notes, and when they were completed, they'd work through exercises. She would walk around, tapping on the desks of the students who needed to write their notes down, and observing when everyone would finish. Because she knew Spencer was quick with his notes and absorbing the material, he usually had a sort of 'free pass' for talking in class.

Emily sighed to herself, looking up and writing. "Think I can borrow your notebook at lunch to be sure I got everything?"

He nodded. "No problem." He put the cap on his pen, setting it down. "What about you, anything fun this weekend?"

"Oh, you bet. I slept in, then JJ insisted on dragging me to some party the soccer team was having, where I only knew her so I was the awkward person following someone around all night. It was great."

He looked at her, curious. "Sarcasm?"

"You bet." She winked at him, smirking. "Then Sunday was spent in my room, listening to music." The teacher walked by and tapped her desk and she sighed. "Translation, Sonntag habe ich in meinem Zimmer verbracht, Musik hören." She glanced up at the teacher. "Acceptable?"

"Ja."

When the teacher went to the front of the class, she turned to Spencer. "One of few times it's actually going to help me in life to be fluent in German."

He laughed softly, shaking his head and taking out another notebook, flipping it open and writing.

"Don't tell me… lesson plan?"

He nodded. "I think there may be teacher-student confidentiality, but what I can say is that I have one student who's working very hard to get their grades up, so I've been working with them more often."

"Their and them, not even a gender?"

He pointed his pen at her. "I told you. Confidentiality."

After they finished their class work, they had a few minutes left before the bell rang, so their teacher allowed them to talk quietly.

"So, JJ told me that Halloween is your favorite holiday," Emily said, putting her things into her backpack.

He nodded, adjusting his glasses and exhaling. "Yeah, but I'm working this year." He put out his hand, counting out the odd jobs he was doing. "Yardwork, tutoring, building a website for a start-up company, and then another tutoring session." He shrugged. "I can just hand out candy to the neighborhood kids while I get those done."

"You'll give up your favorite holiday to work? Hardly seems fair."

He looked up at her, lowering her voice. "In case you haven't noticed? My life isn't fair. I'm constantly bullied and have little to no success in life. If JJ hadn't 'taken me under her wing', I'd be back to my head in toilets and my body in trash cans."

"...It was that bad?"

"Sometimes that bad. Sometimes worse." He shrugged it off. "I'm used to it."

"Well you shouldn't be."

He shrugged again, looking back at his notebook.

One of their classmates leaned on the desk in front of Emily, crossing his arms.

She eyed him. "Can I help you, Baker?"

"You're talking to Reid? Come on, Prentiss, you can do so much better than the spaz."

She scoffed. "What, like I could talk to you? I'll pass."

"Seriously, you've heard about his mom, haven't you?"

Spencer chewed on his cheek, clicking his pen a few times before brushing it off and writing.

"What about her?" she asked. "The fact that she's around, unlike your mom, who chose the booze over you and your sister? Or that she's got an alarmingly high IQ and raised a kid smart enough to skip grades and go to college early, while you're scraping at the bottom of the barrel? I could keep going. If you'd like."

"Excuse me?"

She smirked. "Lass mich in Ruhe und gehe mit dir selbst spielen." (Leave me alone and go play with yourself)

"...What?"

"Do your homework once in a while and you'll find out." The bell rang and she got up, putting her backpack over her shoulder and turning to Spencer. "Walk me to Chemistry?"

He nodded, putting his bag on and getting up, holding onto his notebook.

They walked out to the hallway, toward Emily's Chemistry class.

"Do you really need me to walk you to Chemistry?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, but I wanted to add insult to injury and show him that you have much more of a chance than he does."

"Well, I appreciate it. Thank you." He smiled slightly before biting his lip. "About what he said, about my mom-"

She put up a hand. "Your family is your own business and nobody elses. I'm not digging into yours, so long as you promise not to dig into mine."

"I promise." He swallowed. "There's a lot of rumors going around about her and I try to neutralize them, but… there's only so much a person can do."

"Let them talk, it makes them feel like they're accomplished something." She turned into a doorway, eyeing him. "If you need to talk, text me or JJ? Don't do that thing you're famous for and crawl back into your shell."

"How do you know-"

"I can read people. Call it a gift. Now promise me."

He nodded, giving her a smile. "Enjoy Chemistry."

"You bet. It's like every day is an episode of some new reality show 'how bad are they going to fuck up?', between tests, assignments, answering questions in class, and experiments. Should be fun." She saluted him. "Until lunch."

He smiled, saluting her back. "See you then. I'll be off enjoying Physics."

"You mean Physics Magic?"

"I wish. The only 'magic' is going to be not injuring my classmates for their levels of stupidity." She laughed and he turned around, walking to his classroom.

At lunch, Spencer surveyed the cafeteria before finding JJ and Emily sitting down at a table together. He walked over, setting his tray down and taking off his backpack, setting it on the seat beside him.

"Good day so far?" JJ asked, picking up a chip and eating it.

He shrugged, putting his lesson plan notebook into his bag and checking his phone.

Emily eyed him and sighed. "You're not still hung up on that prick from German, are you?"

JJ looked between the two. "...What prick from German? What are we talking about?"

Spencer gave Emily a look and shook his head. "It was nothing."

She eyed Emily. "Was it nothing? Why was it worth bringing up?"

Emily put up her hands. "It's not my business and he seems to be doing fine. He texted me once during Chemistry, but that was just to send me a picture of one of the idiots in his class who 'accidentally' stabbed himself with a pencil." She turned to Spencer. "How did he manage that, anyway?"

"I don't even know. One minute, he's asleep and snoring in the seat next to me, the next he suddenly wakes up, has his pencil gripped, and seconds later, it's in his hand. And people say high school isn't interesting." He opened up the foil of his baked potato, cutting it open and putting in his toppings. "Now tell me why she's your best friend but she watches my every move?" he asked, looking at JJ.

She shrugged. "I can't control what she chooses to do."

"Besides, someone needs to be sure that you're not getting your ass kicked."

He mock laughed, mixing up his potato before taking a bite, turning to Emily. "Und du fragst dich, warum ich JJ vorziehe." (And you wonder why I prefer JJ)

JJ looked between them, confused, until Emily laughed and subtly scratched the side of her head with her middle finger.

Someone sat beside JJ, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Spencer looked up and realized it was Will, her boyfriend since freshman year. From what Spencer understood, he'd moved from somewhere in the south in the middle of freshman year with his dad, and after JJ had been put in charge of showing him the ropes of the school, he'd asked her out on a date, and the rest was history.

He leaned over, kissing her cheek. "Good day?"

She smiled, leaning into him. "Better now."

Emily made a gagging noise and JJ elbowed her, smirking.

"Did you come up with our costumes for the dance yet?"

JJ nodded. "Since you knocked down my Rocky Horror idea-"

"I was not going to our school Halloween party in black lingerie and a wig."

She continued, as if uninterrupted. "Sock hop. Me in a polka-dotted skirt and accented top, you in your leather jacket, jeans, and a white t-shirt. It's perfect and we're sure to win the costume contest." She turned to Emily. "What about you, Morticia Addams?"

She mock laughed, shaking her head. "No. I'm going with Harley Quinn, only without the blonde and the face makeup extreme, because that would make me break out and require even more makeup to cover."

JJ nodded, impressed. "What about you, Spence?"

He shrugged, opening up his juice. "What about me?"

"Your costume for the party on Saturday?"

"Oh!" He cleared his throat, leaning over and throwing his tray into the trash barrel before taking out his notebook. "I'm not going."

Her jaw dropped. "What do you mean you're not going?!"

"It's quite simple, really. Dances and things of the such are social events for those who are popular or want to be popular. I'm neither of those things. Not to mention that I barely want to be in the company of these people during the week. Why would I pursue being around them when I don't need to be? Plus I have several jobs set up for Saturday that don't involve possible awkward social situations."

JJ opened her mouth to respond but the bell rang and she sighed, eyeing him. "This isn't over."

"If you say so."

Derek

Derek sat in the back of his math class, looking up at the board and doing his best to take notes and understand the subject. When he would get confused, he starred beside the notes for that specific topic, as a note to himself to ask his tutor about it later.

Penelope set down her pink pen, turning to face him. "So, about the Halloween dance," she started, resting her head against her hand. "Are you opposed to couples costumes?"

"What on earth are you talking about?" he asked, keeping his focus on the board.

"You know, the Halloween dance… the one I've been planning for us to go to for the last month."

He sighed, clicking his mechanical pencil. "I don't know if I'm going. You know they're not really my thing."

"But boy, you've got moves," she told him, smirking, "and I'd like some of those moves to be shared with me."

He smiled slightly, starring his latest notes. "You're not going to let me say no, are you?"

"Definitely not happening. I've earned a night out in the kickass costume I made, and you're going to be on my arm when I have said night out."

He exhaled, looking up at the ceiling, before focusing on the board again. "If I pass the test on Friday, Mom said I can go out this weekend. If I fail, it's me on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and watching Netflix."

"Then you'd better spend some extra time with your tutor, because I need some delicious milk chocolate arm candy."

He laughed to himself. "I'll see what I can do, sweetness."

During his free period, Derek took out his phone, texting his tutor.

I really need a pass on this exam on Friday… any chance you can squeeze me in a couple more times before Friday?

Spencer checked his phone, smiling. I'm definitely available. When do you need me?

Derek clicked his tongue, thinking. I could do every day this week after dinner, so about 6:30, if you're not too busy?

Spencer flipped through his planner, seeing that slot empty all week. Consider it done. I'm available all night all week, so as late as you need me, I'll be there.

Derek breathed a sigh of relief. You are seriously an absolute lifesaver. I was taking notes in class today and completely lost, you have a way of translating things from Math to English.

Spencer covered up his laugh, realizing he was in study hall. It's always good to be fluent in multiple languages.

I'm not so sure you can help me this time. This was like a new Math language.

You're not hopeless. You can always pick up on it when I teach it, and I have faith you can do it.

He smiled. That makes one of us. Thank you.

You need just a little more self-confidence. You always seem to sell yourself short.

Derek looked around the library, wondering if he could find out who he was texting. Unfortunately, since it was study hall, pretty much everyone was on a cell phone hidden by a textbook or in their lap. Do you think maybe we can talk tonight after the session? I get it if you're busy or whatever, but I could really use someone to talk to that doesn't care about high school politics.

Spencer raised an eyebrow, confused, before responding. Sure thing. Everything ok?

Everything's fine. I just need one of our world-famous 'we're done studying, now let's have a deep discussion' moments.

Spencer smirked. Well, consider it scheduled.

After dinner that night, Derek was sure to tell his mother and sisters not to bother him because he was working with his tutor. Once his sisters got in a few inappropriate comments, he rolled his eyes, picking up his backpack and going to his bedroom, closing the door. He took out his notebook and turned on his laptop. Clicking the link for the tutoring site, he logged in, waiting.

His tutor's name popped up a few minutes later. I'm so sorry I'm late. I had to take care of my mother.

He smiled. No sweat, is she doing okay?

Spencer sighed. He didn't really open up to anyone about his mother, and the fact that he had to this person who is practically a complete stranger felt odd, yet right. Yeah, she's sleeping now. What's the subject today?

Derek flipped open his notebook to the page of notes from that day. Okay, so, I know I'm in Math for Dummies essentially, so I'm sorry if this sounds stupid, but how the hell does one remember the quadratic formula?

Spencer laughed softly. You sink it into your brain by reading it about 50 times.

Well, it sucks.

Spencer bit down on his lip. Well, the good news is, I can guarantee you that you will never need to use it after school is over. I've yet to hear a story of a man held at gunpoint who was saved by saying it.

Derek chuckled, shaking his head. That's a relief!

It was nearly a half hour later when Derek finally understood the concept and he apologized to Spencer profusely. Okay, so: negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus 4 ac and all of that is over 2 times a?

Spencer smirked, nodding. You've got it. Now, if you could do problems 4-6 in the book with me, which I believe is the assigned homework, you're done with it for the night!

Well, then what am I waiting for?

The two of them worked through the problems slowly, Spencer sure to let Derek go through it at his own pace. He noticed when he would get an answer right, he would accidentally slam on the Caps Lock key and basically yell at him until he noticed and turned it off, apologizing.

Did you get that extra credit assignment we discussed?

If you mean did I pick it up, yes. If you mean do I understand it, not a chance.

Spencer eyed the clock in his room. We have time. Let's go.

Once they finished all of Derek's math work, and Spencer verified he didn't need help with anything else, the two of them were able to talk.

I'm sure your sisters enjoy the fact you're locking yourself in your room and ignoring them.

He scoffed. Please, I'm not there to comment on their girl talk or jump to conclusions when they talk about boys. They love the fact I'm in my room and ignoring them.

Have you been doing okay lately?

He cleared his throat. You ever have those days where you feel like you're here, but you don't really belong? Like you just sort of exist at school and people acknowledge you, but it's all odd?

Yeah, only every day of my life.

It's a recent development, and I don't really know what to do. I'm kind of lost.

If you'd like, I can draw you a map of the school… you'll find your way in no time.

Derek chuckled. Very funny. But you know what I mean, right?

Probably better than everyone else. I've learned that it's easier to just go through the motions and make it through your days. And remember, there's less than a year left in high school, then we'll both be off to college. Maybe even, shocking I know, we'll meet before then.

Well, maybe we can. Are you going to the Halloween dance?

Spencer flexed his fingers, thinking of his response. I have my friend trying to convince me to go, but I don't think I will. It's really not my thing.

Yeah, it's not mine either, but my friend is refusing to take no for an answer, so I'm sort of stuck.

Luckily, mine is just on a 'this isn't over' trip for now. Hopefully she'll get the hint that I really just don't want to go.

Believe me, I feel your pain. What if I made a deal with you?

...I'm listening. Well, reading.

He smiled. We could always meet up at the dance and spend some time, face-to-face, and when our friends inevitably go off and do whatever it is they do, we can talk?

Spencer's hand stilled over his keys, staring at the screen. Getting to know one of his students on a personal level was one thing, but to actually meet up with them and spend time with them face-to-face was a completely different thing. On top of that, he'd been talking to Blackhawk since last school year, and they'd really bonded, so he already felt like he knew him. They e-mailed, they texted, they always talked for hours after tutoring, so it wasn't the fact that he wouldn't be comfortable. It was the fact that, in an odd way, he had some sort of feelings toward him.

I'm not sure it's a good idea.

Come on, live a little. We could goof on people together, enjoy some punch, do some people-watching…

Spencer exhaled, chewing on his cheek. I'll think about it, does that suffice?

It will for now. Derek eyed the clock in his room, raising his eyebrows. Do you realize it's past midnight and we've been talking for over five hours?

I do now. I suppose we should turn in. Same time tomorrow?

You bet. I have a test to pass if I want to see myself at this dance. I'll text you tomorrow.

I'll be around.

Spencer logged out and sighed, shutting down his computer and putting his books into his bag, walking downstairs to check on his mother. After being sure she had taken her nighttime medications, he went upstairs, changed into his pajamas, and went to bed.

Author's Note 2.0: Thank you to user 10405Jana for correcting my Google Translated German!