Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds, or any of the other companies/books/anything else you may recognize. Big shock there, I know.
Chapter One – Meeting
I walked away from the apartment I share with my two best friends and unlocked my mom's old Honda Prelude she gave me when I turned sixteen. I climbed in the driver's seat and set off for Barnes and Nobel. I love my friends to death, but I can never just sit and read when they're around, so I've made the bookstore my place to come and relax.
I pushed open the glass door; welcomed by the sound of the bells chiming in the doorway and the smell of new books. It was a slow day today, so Michael, my friend who mans the café, came over to greet me.
"Come my dear, you're castle awaits you!" he announced with a smile, walking over to me. He looped his arm through mine and led me to the back of the store; my usual reading spot. I sat down in my favorite oversized, brown leather chair. It was placed by the castle display in the children's section, so whenever I came here I was greeted by laughter, which never failed to put a smile on my face.
Michael sat down next to me, effectively squishing me between him and the chair.
"Hey, watch it!" I laughed, elbowing him in the ribs. He shied away from me with a smile, and I was able to turn sideways; putting my legs in his lap and leaning on the armrest.
"I brought you a present!" he said as soon as I pulled my copy of The Empty Planet out of my bag.
"What?" I asked him excitedly, leaning towards him. He reached into his inside coat pocket, retrieving a worn copy of The Shadow of the Wind. "Oh my gosh! You found a copy!" I exclaimed, grabbing the small treasure, "Where'd you find this? I've been searching for a copy since I was fifteen!"
"A magician never reveals his secrets," he smirked, winking at me.
"Thank you so much, I know how hard this must have been to track down," I gave him a quick hug and buried my nose in my new book; letting him get back to work.
My eyes flew over the pages, and in thirty minutes, I had the book read and I reached into my bag; retrieving The Empty Planet. That's part of the reason I never read at my apartment; it freaks my friends out. Apparently, they weren't the only ones who noticed.
"You read that pretty fast," a voice said. I rolled my eyes and looked up, prepared to mouth off to whomever this guy was. I'd had enough people make fun of my intelligence. But my sarcastic response left me as soon as I saw his face.
His deep hazel eyes were kind, genuine. Not mocking like I had expected. Shaggy blonde hair fell across his forehead, and he had his hands stuffed in the pockets of his khaki slacks. He was tall and lanky, and I'm sure he has a closet full of sweater vests that match the one he was wearing. He looked up from his shoes, eyes meeting mine, and gave me a small smile and wave before looking back down at his feet. He was shy, awkward, but in and unbelievingly endearing kind of way. I smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, I guess so. It freaks my friends out, so I come here to read."
"I can understand that," he replied as he sat down in the chair across from me.
"What do you mean?" I questioned, sitting up straight and leaning towards him.
"I read pretty fast too, my coworkers give me a hard time about it, sometimes," the looked up at me again and I could see the intelligence in his eyes. But there was more; pain and hurt. He had seen too much, been through too much, for his young age. "What's your name, by the way?" he asked, pulling me back to reality. It was so easy to get lost in his gaze…
"Amanda," I replied, "but my friends call me Leigh, my middle name. I mean you can call me Amanda, I guess; if you want to. That's what my family calls me. I don't really have a preference," I babbled, blushing. Why'd he have this effect on me? I barely know him and he has me babbling like and idiot.
"Amanda Leigh," he smiled at me. I loved the way my name sounded on his voice, "I'm Spencer Reid, but my friends call me Reid. Call me either, I don't really have a preference," he grinned at me. I could tell he was mocking me, but I liked it. It was cute, not condescending. I laughed.
"Spencer," I repeated, reaching to shake his hand. A faint bolt of electricity shot up my arm s soon as he touched me, leaving my hand tingling even after he pulled his hand away. I just sat there, staring like an idiot. 'Say something, anything!' I thought, mentally slapping myself for my own stupidity. 'Quit staring at him! I don't care how attractive he may be, he's never going to talk to you again if the thinks you're mentally unstable!'
His phone buzzed, breaking me out of my trance. He talked briefly to whoever had called, the closed his phone with a loud snap.
"That was my boss," he said, a little awkward again, "I need to go…work," he told me, standing up. I panicked. I wanted to see him again and I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.
"Wait! You wanna go get some coffee sometime, or something? I mean I know we just met and all, but I'd sorta like to get to know you better, maybe? So I thought…" I snapped my mouth shut before I could embarrass myself any further. I could tell my face was bright red, curse my pale skin. I was so busy mentally yelling at myself for my own stupidity, I almost missed his response.
"Sure, I'd love to," he smiled, his eyes lighting up a bit. He started to turn away, but I called him back.
"Wait, I don't have your number," he just smiled.
"Check your book," I looked down at The Empty Planet and laughed as I pulled a small business card from the pages. He was already gone by the time I looked up. 'Wow,' I thought to myself, 'Dr. Reid, you're smarter that you let on,' I guess I was too, though, even though I won't officially earn my PhD until the end of the month. I sighed, smiling as I settled back against my chair. Michael appeared from behind a bookshelf.
"Aw, my little Leigh Leigh's gotten herself a boyfriend!" he grinned at me, but it didn't reach his eyes like usual. I was too happy to think anything of it. I turned bright red, again.
"He's not my boyfriend, I just met him!"
"Oh please, you were falling all over yourself! I've never seen your face so red."
"Well the last time I had a date I was fifteen. Cut me some slack, I'm not used to this. And really, it's not even a date. We're just going to get coffee, I'm sure he doesn't think anything of it."
"Sure. I saw the way he was looking at you," he said, suddenly serious. He sat down across from me, his heavy gaze making me uncomfortable.
"Psh," I scoffed, trying to lighten the mood, "He didn't look at me any special way, no one's ever looked at me like that, and he's no exception. Special looks are for those people with extreme beauty, supermodel figures, and perfect hair," I replied, heavy on the sarcasm. Even though he though I was joking, I knew it was true. No one looked twice at me, even though all I wanted was to be visible.