A few days later, Emily takes Violet shopping. She'd meant to days ago but everything got crazy.
Afterwards they sit at a cafe.
"It was pretty boring, actually," Emily says, referring to their interdepartmental meeting at work that day. "Plus, Strauss was in there. Something about that woman's face just makes me wanna…"
She shakes her head, foregoing her comment.
"Anyway. What about you? How was your day?"
"Well," Violet sighs. "Some kid flipped out in the library and knocked over this glass vase. Apparently these two guys were teasing him or something, and he just snapped. And these two girls in my grade are supposed to be best friends but now they hate each other, because of this One Direction-wannabe guy named Taylor. Anyway, today in gym, one of them spiked a volleyball into the other one's head and they started fighting. Like, really going at it. Daughtry, one of the girls, had scratch marks on her face. The gym teacher broke it up and sent them to the principal's office, but apparently Daughtry shoved Alyssa against the wall on the way there, which started another scrap, so they're both suspended."
Emily stares, half horrified and half enthralled.
After a moment, she makes a face. "Daughtry?"
"I know," Violet mirrors the look. "It's…quite an interesting name choice on her parents' part."
Emily exhales and takes a sip of her coffee. "When did school become a place I had to be scared to send you?"
"I dunno," Violet shakes her head slowly. "Somedays I totally stand with homeschoolers."
"Yeah? You want me to be your teacher?" Emily grins.
"No," Violet replies bluntly.
"Hey, come on," Emily frowns. "I taught you every language you know!"
"Yes, and I'm grateful for that," Violet replies. "But I think the amount of time we spend together is right at a healthy level. Plus, how would we, y'know…live?"
"Cash in on those trust funds that my mother has set up, obviously," Emily replies.
"Oh, yeah," Violet murmurs, remembering. "Well, shit. Let's do that."
"Language," Emily gives her a look.
Violet sighs, pulling a new book out of a shopping bag.
"That's the longest you've waited to open a new book," Emily teases. "I thought we'd at least make it to the car."
Violet grins at the teasing, reading the book jacket.
Emily sips her coffee, looking up. She glances around at the little cafe, and outside at the passersby. Suddenly, she sees a familiar face. Her stomach clenches and her breath catches in her chest. She blinks…and he's gone.
"What's wrong?" Violet demands, frowning at her mother.
Emily glances away from her daughter to where she could have sworn she saw him.
"Nothing," she replies, looking back at Violet.
"You lie about as well as I do," Violet raises an eyebrow.
The look is so Emily that Emily has to chuckle. She sees that Violet's danish is mostly finished, but has been abandoned on the plate.
"You ready to go?" she asks, pushing her coffee cup away.
Violet hesitates but decides that her mother's behaviour isn't weird enough to merit more questioning.
"'K," she nods, gathering her shopping bags.
"Anything else? You got everything you need?" Emily asks, as she pulls out of the mall parking lot.
"If you're offering to replace my iPod, I accept," Violet replies, not looking up from her book.
"The iPod you left in your jeans and it went through the wash? No. I'm definitely not."
"The iPod that I forgot in my jeans and you put through the wash," Violet corrects.
"Not working on me, babe," Emily replies.
"I'm nothing if not willing to try," Violet mumbles.
Emily chuckles.
"What do you have for homework?"
"Math," Violet replies. "History. Spanish."
"That still makes no sense to me," Emily shakes her head. "How can a private school offer only two language courses?"
"Who cares," Violet answers. "It's the easiest A-plus I'll ever get."
"Violet," Emily laughs, pushing her playfully from the driver's seat. "What kind of attitude is that?"
"Mom, seriously. You just said it: what kind of private school offers two language courses? They obviously weren't going to let me move here from Paris and take French as a second language. And yet they enforce the second language rule. Is it my fault I come from a long line of multilinguals? No. Let's just take this gift and move on."
Emily considers this and shrugs, nodding. "When you put it like that," she says.
"Oh, I got invited to this stupid dance thing at school," Violet says.
Emily's eyes widen and she looks at Violet happily. "Honey, that's great."
"By Matthew," Violet informs her. "We're just going to hang out. It's not a big deal or anything. Don't start planning some kind of photo op and salon appointment."
"Jeez," Emily replies, making a face. "Cut a mom some slack."
"I'm just saying," Violet says. "You were definitely about to say something along one of those lines. I'm literally going to wear what I'd wear to go to a movie, we're going for an hour for the credit, and we're leaving."
"You get credit for going to a dance?"
"Extra credit," Violet shrugs. "But yeah."
"That's like…"
"Sanctioned school activities? Yes," Violet says for her.
"Pretty much," Emily mumbles, pulling in to their underground parking. "When is it?"
"Friday."
"As in the day after tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
"Honey, you need to work on giving me some notice," Emily tells her.
"Sorry," Violet replies. "It's not a big deal. It's not like I'm excited for it or something."
"Not even a little?" Emily asks.
They get out of the car, gathering bags.
"Not really," Violet replies honestly.
"Come on," Emily encourages, as they head for the doors. "First school dance in the States. You get to hang out with Matthew. You might meet some new friends."
"New friends?" Violet raises her eyebrow. "Like Daughtry and Alyssa?"
Emily frowns, taking this in.
"You're right," she says after a moment. "Maybe just stay in a corner with Matthew."
When Friday comes along, Emily and the BAU are called out to Kansas for a case.
"I'm sorry, baby," Emily tells Violet over the phone. "I don't think I'll be back in time to drive you and Matthew to the dance."
"That's okay," Violet replies. "We can just take a cab or something."
"Not or something," Emily tells her. "Take a cab. I don't want you out walking around."
"Okay," Violet replies.
"Vi?" Emily warns, knowing.
"Okay, Mom," Violet says, annoyed. "I promise. We'll take a cab."
She checks in with Violet every hour, making sure she's alright; that she takes the cab.
The team saves the life of a young boy in Kansas who was kidnapped from a school yard. They found him on a farm, being held by a psychopathic pedophile. Unfortunately the boy had already been abused by the man, but they focus on the fact that the boy is back in the arms of his parents, and didn't end up dead, like the 11 kids before him.
"How's Violet's dance?" JJ asks Emily on the plane.
"The last text I got from her says, 'Just watched four girls indulge in some vodka tampons in the girl's bathroom. So glad we moved to Virginia,'."
She raises an eyebrow at JJ, who just looks disgusted.
"So…I'll be picking her up as soon as we land," Emily adds.
"I think that goes without saying," JJ nods.
Their phones are shut off temporarily while they're in the air, and Emily turns hers back on as soon as the wheels hit the ground, then she goes inside with the rest of the team.
They're greeted by a terrified-looking Penelope, who rushes towards them as soon as they enter the building.
"What's goin' on, mama?" Derek asks, concerned.
"Your phone was off," Penelope says to Emily, her voice sounding scared.
"I just turned it on," Emily says, reaching into her pocket. "What's going on?"
Penelope swallows hard. "There's been a shooting. At Violet's school."