Well here is the next chapter for my loyal readers! I'm so glad to have so many of you following my little series; you have all be so great! This whole story is all about family moments in my mind, but first we must deal with Alex's school problems. And I know lots of you want her to come clean to JJ or Emily about it, but I think ultimately she is a Prentiss, and she wants to deal with it on her own! So I hope you like where I decided to go with it!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! -J
Chapter 2
Emily left Sunday morning with plans to meet Rossi at the airport to board a first-class flight to Texas, where they would spend the rest of the day preparing for the inmate interview they were doing the next day.
Alex, who had been woken by the profiler before she left for the airport, had plans to spend the day finishing up the last of her homework and hanging out with JJ, but not before going online to check a few things first. Taking a seat at her desk, the teen turned on her computer, leaning back as she waited patiently for the machine to load up. After Alex had seen Chelsea the previous day, the teen couldn't help but feel anxious, knowing that the senior girl was likely to use this new knowledge about Alex's family against her. The brunette spent most of the night tossing and turning, contemplating the things that Chelsea could do to her at school.
Letting out a yawn, Alex leaned forward, clicking on her Internet icon and bringing up her facebook page. As soon as she logged on, a red notification popped up, indicating she had a message, her stomach dropping in dread, knowing exactly who it would be from. The teen's suspicions were confirmed as she opened the notification, finding a mass message sent from Chelsea reading "I can't wait to tell you all what I found out. You'll never believe it. Find me Monday."
Chelsea had been sending these messages at least once a week, always sure to forward them to Alex, so the brunette would dread going to school. The messages usually resulted in lame rumors that Chelsea would make up, but Alex knew exactly what the blonde planned to tell everyone at school the next day. Sighing in frustration, Alex closed the message, just as her cell phone began to ring, Spencer's name popping up on the screen.
"Hey Spence," Alex greeted, sounding down.
"Did you see?" Spencer asked, skipping the greeting.
"Yeah I saw," Alex replied, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice. "And I know exactly what it's about."
"You do?"
"Yep," Alex said. "I saw Chelsea at the mall yesterday and I was with Emily and JJ. They were holding hands, and I'm pretty sure she saw them kiss, so I'm assuming Chelsea's preparing to tell the whole school that my mom is gay. Like I even care."
"Don't you though?" Spencer asked. "Care I mean."
"I'm not ashamed of Emily and JJ Spence."
"I know that Lex," Spencer assured her. "But I also know that Chelsea isn't going to make this easy on you."
"Yeah well I don't care what she thinks," Alex replied, glad her friend couldn't see her face, knowing Spencer would see through this lie. "I can handle it."
"Alex maybe it's time you tell your mom," Spencer suggested gently. "I know you don't want to but don't you think she should know about this?"
"No," Alex answered quickly. "Please Spencer, I don't want to tell her. She'll make me go to Dean Hackett and then it'll be a huge mess. I'll be fine I promise. I'll just avoid Chelsea tomorrow."
"How are you going to do that?" Spencer demanded. "She has gym right before us and you have rehearsal tomorrow."
"I'll think of something."
"Alex…" Spencer began, just as there was a short knock on Alex's door before JJ walked in.
"Hey Lex…oh sorry I didn't realize you were on the phone," the blonde said as she came in.
"Hey no it's okay," Alex assured her. "Spence I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah okay," Spencer sighed. "See you then."
"Sorry," JJ said guiltily, moving to sit on Alex's bed with Sergio.
"Oh no it's fine," Alex replied. "Spencer just had a question about some homework. What are you up to today?"
"Well I'm feeling pretty lazy," JJ admitted. "I was thinking we could have a pajama day. Just lay around and watch some movies or something?"
"That sounds great," Alex said, exiting her Internet browser and putting her computer to sleep. "I've got a few math problems I still need to do, but I can do that while we watch. You wanna go downstairs or stay in here?"
"I'm pretty comfy here," the blonde laughed, shuffling over in the bed so Alex could get in beside her. "I hope you know we're not watching Beauty and the Beast again."
"Okay," Alex replied with a laugh. "We can watch whatever you want."
CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM
Alex had expected Chelsea to seek her out Monday morning, but the young brunette had managed to avoid the senior, changing her normal route through the halls in hopes of not having to see Chelsea at all.
Spending the previous day lying around with JJ, Alex had been incredibly tempted to tell her mother's girlfriend what had been going on at school, but had ultimately chickened out.
Walking through the school hallways, Alex could sense other students watching her; could hear the whispers already spreading around her, but the teen kept her chin up, refusing to let them see that it was bothering her.
"So you were right about that message," Spencer said when she walked into their English class with Zoey and Olivia.
"Yeah I know," Alex replied from her normal seat. "I've seen people talking."
"Can you please let me hit this girl?" Olivia said, sitting in her spot across from Alex. "Maybe that'll shut her up."
"No," Alex replied, shaking her head. "We are going to keep ignoring her just like I've been doing this whole time."
"Spencer said you plan on avoiding her today?" Zoey asked.
"I'm going to go to gym late so I don't have to see her," Alex explained.
"What about rehearsal?" Zoey asked.
"I'll deal," Alex shrugs as the rest of the class began to file in, ending their conversation.
CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM
With Rossi and Emily away, the rest of the BAU team spent the day doing paperwork, Reid and Morgan working quietly in the bullpen, while Hotch, Garcia and JJ worked in their respective offices. As JJ finished with what felt like her thousandth file of the day, the media liaison noted the time, struck with a sudden idea. Packing up a few files, the blonde made her way to Hotch's office, knocking before letting herself in.
"Hey JJ, what can I do for you?" Hotch asked as JJ entered the office.
"Actually I was wondering if it would be okay if I ducked out of here a little early," JJ explained. "Alex has rehearsal after school today and I was hoping to pick her up, and maybe get a little sneak peak. I'll take some files home with me."
"Of course, get out of here," Hotch replied. "And no need to take work home. Emily and Rossi are probably going to be stuck in Texas another night. Just go home and spend some time with Alex."
"Thanks Hotch," JJ smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow."
JJ made the drive to the school, happy to see that Alex would still have another half hour of rehearsal before she finished up. Finding the auditorium, JJ entered quietly, taking a seat at the back where she knew she wouldn't be noticed. Alex was currently standing centre stage, surrounded by the other students, and JJ watched with a smile as the teen recited her lines.
The students were working on the scene where Dorothy first arrives in Oz, dropping the house on the wicked witch, so the stage was full, as they practiced a scene that was normally performed with ease. Alex, who had been enduring snide comments from Chelsea throughout the whole rehearsal, was off her game though and it wasn't long before she messed up, forgetting her line.
"Alright stop," Mrs. Greer called out from where she stood in front of the stage. "Can someone get Miss Campbell a script please?"
JJ watched as another student brought a rather defeated looking Alex, a copy of the script, the teen immediately turning to their current scene and reading through her lines. As everyone waited for Alex to learn her lines, JJ noticed groups of students beginning to whisper, looking pointedly at Alex and laughing. JJ then saw a tall blonde approach Alex, whispering something to her, looking unkind; Alex taking a step back, and keeping her attention on her script as Zoey came up beside her.
"Are we ready to start again?" Mrs. Greer asked, sounding impatient.
"Yes," Alex replied, handing her script to Zoey before returning to the centre of the stage.
JJ wasn't sure what had just happened, but she knew it couldn't be good, and it was clear that Alex was bothered by something, as she continued to stutter her way through the rest of the scene.
"Alright everyone let's call it a day," Mrs. Greer eventually called, some 25 minutes later. "Alexandra, a word please."
The tall blonde that JJ had noticed earlier laughed, walking off the stage giddily, as everyone else began to leave the auditorium, Zoey hanging back to wait for Alex. Alex approached her teacher, nodding as the woman talked to her, the teen looking slightly sad. After a few minutes Mrs. Greer patted Alex on the shoulder, before walking away; Alex heading over to Zoey who had been waiting in the seats. Zoey and Alex headed towards the back where JJ was sitting, talking quietly until Zoey eventually noticed the blonde waiting at the back, nodding her head towards JJ.
"JJ what are you doing here?" Alex asked, looking nervous when they finally approached where she had been sitting.
"I thought I'd pick you up today," JJ replied with a smile. "I wanted to surprise you."
"My mom's probably waiting," Zoey said. "I'll see you tomorrow Lex. Bye JJ."
"How long have you been here?" Alex asked once Zoey was out of earshot, leading JJ out into the hall and towards the nearest exit.
"About half an hour," JJ replied, noticing that Alex immediately began picking her nails, realizing what JJ must have witnessed.
"I didn't have a very good rehearsal today," Alex confessed quietly.
"Aw you were fine," JJ disagreed. "Everyone has off days. Are you okay though?"
"Oh yeah, I'm fine," Alex lied, as the pair got in the car. "Can we get pizza for dinner?" She asked, desperate to change the subject.
"Yeah sure," JJ replied with a sigh, knowing that the teen was lying. "Whatever you want hun."
CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM
After dinner, Alex had excused herself, claiming to have a ton of homework to do. As the teen headed upstairs to her bedroom, JJ grabbed a book from Emily's shelf before parking herself on the couch, Sergio immediately hopping up to sit with the blonde.
"Hey Serg," JJ smiled, scratching the kitten behind the ear, earning a happy purr. "You have any idea what's going on with our girl up there? She's definitely keeping something from us," JJ said, as Sergio walked around in a circle before curling up on the blonde's lap. "Well you don't seem too concerned."
Trying not to worry herself too much, and waiting for Emily to call, JJ opened up the book in hopes of distracting herself. It was just over an hour, and 3 chapters later that JJ's phone finally began to ring, Emily's picture popping up on the screen.
"Hey Em," JJ greeted, putting her book down, and stroking the black kitten that was still sitting on her lap.
"Hey Pretty Girl," Emily replied, the smile evident in her voice. "You miss me yet?"
"I do," JJ smiled. "How are things going there?"
"Slow," Emily said. "There was a lot more to go through than we originally thought, but we're learning a lot. We should be done tomorrow afternoon."
"Well that's good," JJ replied, her thoughts drifting to Alex and how to bring up the topic to Emily.
"How were things at the office today?"
"Oh you know, business as usual," JJ explained. "Lots of paperwork."
"You okay?" Emily asked, noticing that the blonde's tone had changed.
"Yeah," JJ sighed. "I just…I think we were right about there being something going on with Alex."
"What do you mean?" Emily asked.
"I went to pick her up from school today, and I thought I would watch a bit of her rehearsal," JJ explained. "She was really flustered and she kept screwing up her lines and when she did the other kids were all whispering and laughing. And there was some girl; who I'm assuming is that Chelsea, who whispered something to her, Alex looked really bothered."
"Did you ask her about it?"
"Yes, and she said she was fine," JJ replied. "And she had her Prentiss face on all through dinner."
"Her Prentiss face?" Emily asked confusedly.
"The walls were up and she's trying to act like she's fine, but I can see it in her eyes that she's not," JJ explained.
"Where is she now?" Emily asked with a sigh.
"Doing homework in her room."
"Well do you think I should call her and talk to her about it?" Emily asked, sounding unsure.
"I'm just worried that she'll be mad that I told you," JJ said, sounding apprehensive. "I mean we don't even really know what's going on, although it seems pretty clear that she's being bullied by this girl in some way."
"Well I'm assuming she's probably embarrassed that you saw what happened, and if she's anything like me, she just needs some alone time," Emily reasoned. "I'll be home early tomorrow night, why don't we sit her down then and figure this whole thing out."
"That sounds like a good idea," JJ agreed. "We can't let her keep going on like this."
"I agree," Emily replied. "Alright well I should call her to at least say goodnight. Can I call you back in a little while?"
"I would love that," JJ said.
"Wonderful. I will talk to you soon Pretty Girl," Emily said.
"Looking forward to it," JJ replied before hanging up with a smile.
CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM
Alex had remained in her room the rest of the night, only coming out to say goodnight to JJ and to grab Sergio. The teen was quiet through breakfast the next morning and had opted to take the bus, wanting to avoid having to discuss what JJ saw at rehearsal the day before.
Worried, and unable to keep her mind off Alex, JJ went straight to Garcia's lair when she arrived at work, a plan in mind.
"Garcia, I need your help," JJ said, letting herself in the office, startling the technical analyst whose focus was on a computer game.
"I like knocking," Garcia replied, her hand on her heart.
"Sorry," JJ apologized, as Garcia turned to face the media liaison, seeing the worry written across JJ's face.
"What's going on Buttercup?" Garcia asked.
"I need you to do something for me, and you're not going to like it," JJ replied.
"Ooooookay," Garcia said, raising an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"I need you to log on to Alex's facebook," JJ explained, having decided this morning that she was going to search for answers, suspecting that there was a good chance that if this girl was bothering her she was likely doing so online as well.
"And why do you need me to do that?"
"Because I'm pretty sure she's having problems at school and I need to know if there's anything online," JJ explained. "Because she's Emily's daughter and she won't tell us anything, and I'm worried."
"Say no more," Garcia said, turning to one of her computers and typing away. It took the analyst just over a minute to log on, bringing up Alex's page as JJ took a seat beside her. "Okay what am I looking for?"
"I don't know, messages or something," JJ replied, sounding unsure. "There's some Chelsea girl who I'm pretty sure is the one bothering her."
"Okay," Garcia said, JJ watching as Garcia brought up a new screen revealing Alex's inbox. "Oh no," Garcia whispered, seeing all the messages from Chelsea.
"Are those all from that girl?" JJ asked, moving closer to see the screen better.
"Yes, and apparently this has been going on for like a month," Garcia noted, sounding angry. "Oh what a little witch," she said bringing up one of the older messages that was rather nasty.
"I can't believe this," JJ said. "This girl is awful."
"And it looks like she's sending a lot of the messages to other kids at the school," Garcia pointed out, making JJ even angrier than she already was. "So what are you going to do Mama Jay?"
"I'm going to talk to Alex," JJ said, sounding calmer than she felt. "And then I'm going to destroy this girl."
CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM-CM
Where Monday it had seemed easy to avoid Chelsea, Tuesday morning had been different, as Alex encountered the senior around every corner, constantly laughing and whispering with her friends, looking pointedly at Alex. After yesterday's musical rehearsal, the brunette teen was feeling extra frustrated, sick of the constant whispers and stares that we surrounding her lately.
In an attempt to arrive to her gym class late, Alex hung back in her history class with the excuse of asking her teacher a question, Olivia hanging back to wait for her friend. When she finally arrived to the locker room though, Alex realized that luck was not on her side, as Chelsea and two of her friends were still there, laughing loudly.
"Oh look who it is," Chelsea sneered when she saw Alex walk in. "You seem to be a little late. Avoiding someone?"
"Excuse me," Alex said, ignoring the blonde's comments. "You're standing in front of my locker."
"You seemed a little off at rehearsal yesterday Alex," Chelsea said, not moving from where she was standing. "Something wrong."
"You need to back off," Olivia said from where she was standing behind Alex, the rest of the girls in the class beginning to crowd around, Spencer and Zoey joining Olivia.
"Leave it alone Liv," Alex said, before returning her attention to Chelsea. "I asked you to move."
"Is it because everyone knows about your mom?" Chelsea continued. "Are you embarrassed because she's gay? Or is it because you are too? I bet that's it."
"Grow up," Alex said, shaking her head, the anger beginning to show on her face.
"You are aren't you?" Chelsea laughed. "I'd be careful changing in front of her girls," the blonde called, looking over Alex's shoulder at the group gathered. "She's just like her mom. Just a disgusting little dy-"
Chelsea's next words were cut off by a deafening slap that filled the room with silence, Chelsea holding her cheek in shock, as Alex stood in front of her, breathing deeply, just a surprised by her actions. You could hear a pin drop as the entire class stood, waiting for what would happen next, Alex feeling the sting in her hand, unsure of how she let it come to this. Meeting Chelsea's gaze, it was clear just how angry the senior was, Alex realizing that she was really in trouble now just as a fist collided with her face.