"Aaron? Hello, are you with us, Mr. Hotchner?"
A tall, muscular, dark haired boy lifted his head and stared at his teacher, "yes, sir. I was just calculating the problem."
"And what answer did you get?" the teacher asked, walking back to the board.
Aaron stared at his paper with random numbers scribbled on it. He tried to get the answer, but he got lost, "I don't know, sir," Aaron shrugged.
The teacher let a breath out through his barely parted lips and shook his head, "Get your head off the field and in the classroom, Mr. Hotchner."
Aaron glared at his teacher before dropping it to look at his paper again.
"Does anyone have the answer?" the teacher looked around the room before resting his eyes on the only raised hand, "Ah, yes, Mr. Reid?"
"Negative 8 over 3," a young man with neatly gelled light brown hair and large glasses answered.
"Correct, as always Spencer," the teacher smiled at the boy before turning back to the board.
Aaron shot a look over at Spencer and glared at him. He was younger than everyone in their senior class but so much smarter it was infuriating. Aaron hated him.
"Psst, Hotch!" Aaron turned at the whisper and locked eyes with a dark skinned boy with a clean shaven head and hint of stubble. He tossed a piece of paper at him.
"Mr. Morgan! You better not be passing notes in my class!" the teacher boomed.
"No sir. I was just giving Aaron my study notes to help him better understand the material," the young man replied.
The teacher's face softened, "ah, well yes. Thank you, Derek."
Derek smiled and winked at Aaron before turning back to his notebook.
Aaron picked up the note and unfolded it. It read, "Bleachers at 3:30. Little Punk is gonna learn a lesson."
Hotch smirked at the note and looked up at his friend. Derek looked back at him and grinned mischievously.
"You ready, Em?" Derek leaned up against a locker next to a raven haired, pale-skinned girl wearing a mini skirt and a blouse that revealed her cleavage.
The girl turned and smiled at Derek, "I'm not sure if we should, Derek. He is just a kid after all," she mock-pouted and ran a finger up and down Derek's muscular arm teasingly.
Derek chuckled, "Come on, Emily. He showed up Hotch in class today and made him look like an idiot."
"He is an idiot," Emily scoffed as she turned back to her locker.
"Don't be like that. I know your break-up was messy but he's still my best friend," Derek placed a hand on his chest defensively.
Emily huffed and turned back to Derek. He stared back at her with his deep brown eyes.
"We can't so this without you," Derek pleaded as he tucked a strand of Emily's hair gently behind her ear.
Emily sighed, "Alright, fine. I'll go find him," she said, defeated, as she slammed her locker shut.
"He's—" Derek started.
"In the library as always," Emily rolled her eyes as she began to walk away.
"Remember, 3:30!" Derek called after her.
Emily walked into the library and scanned for the mousy young boy with his nose buried in a large book. She found him, intently reading an Encyclopedia. She rolled her eyes and made her way over to him.
"Hey, Spencer," Emily said flirtatiously as she leaned over the table Spencer was seated at.
Spencer lowered the book and looked up at Emily, who had a smile on her face and with her chest nearly popping out of her shirt.
"Hello, Emily," Spencer smiled, keeping eye contact.
"So Spencer… I think you're really cute," Emily started as she ran her index finger down Spencer's skinny arm, "Let's say we meet behind the bleachers at 3:30 so I can show you just how much I like you," Emily winked as she ran her finger down Spencer's sweater-vest clad chest.
Spencer gulped and stared at the pretty girl in front of him. With his mouth agape, Spencer slowly nodded.
"Great, see you there," Emily smiled as she turned to walk away.
As Emily disappeared, Spencer shook his head and closed the book he had been reading. He couldn't believe what had just happened. Emily Prentiss was the prettiest, most sought-after girl in the school. There was no way an 18 year old knock out would be interested in an awkward 14 year old such as Spencer.
Spencer looked down at his watch and noticed it was 3:15. He got up and quickly re-shelved the encyclopedia. He ran out of the library and into the restroom. He stood in front of the mirror and smoothed down his hair, making sure it was kempt. After smoothing out the wrinkles in his shirt, Spencer nodded at his reflection and left the bathroom.
Aaron and Derek stood under the bleachers with Emily and the rest of the football team. It had been Derek's idea to put this whole thing together but he was closely supported by everyone else. Nobody in the senior class liked Spencer Reid. He was only 14 but he showed everyone up at everything except for sports. It was time he learned his lesson.
At exactly 3:30, Spencer emerged from the other side of the bleachers and began looking around for Emily. He froze in place as he saw Derek, Aaron and other members of the football team smirking back at him. Spencer turned on his heals to leave but collided with a large football player. An entire string of them had him caged in.
"This is the last time you show any of us up, Reid," Derek spat at the young boy.
"Emily," Spencer turned to the girl with a pleading look in his eyes.
Emily just rolled her eyes and walked away.
"Emily, where are you going?" Derek called after her.
"I did my part. The rest is your fun," Emily waved over her shoulder as she walked away.
Derek shook his head and turned back to Spencer, "Okay boys, let's show Spencer here who is really in charge."
Two boys behind Spencer grabbed him and held onto him tightly as the group made their way to the flag pole across the courtyard.
Spencer struggled but it was no use; the football players were much larger and stronger than him.
Aaron stood off to the side as his fellow teammates stripped the younger boy naked and tied him to the flag pole. Tears were streaming down Spencer's face as the players took turns pinching him and kicking dirt at him. Aaron stepped back even farther.
"Hotch, aren't you gonna join?" Derek asked as he held a pebble in his hand, aiming to throw it at Spencer.
Aaron looked at the vulnerable boy in front of him. Images of a younger version of himself swam through Aaron's mind. Aaron quickly shook his head, dismissing the images of himself being tormented by his father from his mind.
"Dude, come on," Derek urged, placing a rock in his friend's hand, "you wanted this. You said yourself you were tired of this punk showing you up in class."
Aaron stared down at the rock in his hand then looked up at Spencer. The young boy was staring at him, tears glimmering in his eyes along with a pleading look. He couldn't do it. Aaron shook his head and dropped the rock before running off the school grounds, making his way home.
Derek stared after his friend and shook his head. He continued to torment the young genius along with his teammates until they got bored.
"Come on, guys," Derek called to his teammates as he began to walk off.
The rest of the team followed him, leaving Spencer tied to the flag pole.
Spencer stood there for what seemed like forever, watching as the sun slowly moved in the sky. Spencer guessed it was now around 5 o'clock by the position of the sun. He fought with the restraints around his wrists and tried to break free but it was no use.
Defeated, Spencer slumped against the pole and stared at the ground. Spencer felt himself begin to drift off into sleep when he felt hands brush against his own.
Spencer jumped, "Who's there?" he asked frantically.
Suddenly, he felt himself being released from his restraints. He turned quickly to find Aaron Hotchner staring back at him.
Spencer stared at the taller boy for a moment before he heard him clear his throat, "Uh, here's your clothes," Aaron held up the boy's underpants, slacks, shirt and sweater vest.
"Thanks," Spencer said, grabbing the clothes from Aaron and quickly pulling them on.
The two stood in silence for a while before Aaron finally spoke up again, "I'm sorry for letting my friends do that to you."
Spencer looked up at him, "Why didn't you join them? You hate me as much as they do."
Aaron stared down at his feet and shook his head, "I- uh… what they did to you… reminded me… of how my father treated me when I was younger," Aaron shifted uncomfortably.
Spencer held Aaron's gaze. He could tell he was being sincere and extremely uncomfortable with sharing such a private detail of his life to someone he didn't exactly like.
"I still should have stopped them," Aaron shook his head.
Spencer just stared at him. He wanted to accept his apology but he just couldn't. Those boys—Aaron's friends—inflicted physical and emotional pain upon him. He could never forgive Aaron for just letting it happen.
Aaron seemed to understand what Spencer was thinking, "I don't expect you to accept my apology. I just want you to know how sorry I am. Come on, we should get you home."
Spencer followed Aaron as he walked him to his pickup. Aaron got in the driver's seat and looked at Spencer through the window, "well, get in," he called to him.
Spencer quickly got in the pickup and buckled up. Aaron started the vehicle and drove down the street. Spencer watched Aaron make all the right turns to his house.
"How do you know where I live?" he asked as they pulled up to his house.
"My older brother used to babysit you," Aaron explained as he turned off the vehicle and got out.
"What are you doing?" Spencer asked as he got out of the truck.
"Making sure you're okay. This is my fault, I need to see this through," Aaron explained as he walked up to Spencer's front door.
Spencer shook his head and followed after him, "So who's your older brother?" he asked curiously; he had his fair share of babysitters after his father left.
"Well, half-brother. David," Aaron shrugged as he opened the door.
Spencer nodded; he remembered David. He had been one of his favorites.
"Where's your mom?" Aaron asked as they walked in the house.
Spencer listened and heard a crash in his mother's room. He sighed and ran his hand along his face. His mother was having an episode and wouldn't even notice his absence.
Aaron nodded; Dave had told him all about Spencer's mom.
"You gonna be ok?" Aaron asked Spencer.
Spencer shook his head, "just go. I'll be fine."
Aaron stared at Spencer for a moment before nodding and walking out of the house.
He got in his pickup and drove off to his own house, but his mind was still with Spencer.