Prentiss walked back to the table and pulled on Spencer's arm. "Reid, I need to talk to you."

"Alright..." Spencer replied slowly.

"Outside," she said firmly.

He got up. "What? Is Merci okay?"

She looked at the rest of the team and whispered in an emotionless voice. "I think she's been practicing self-mutilation."

Spencer sank back into his seat. "No," he mumbled. "I can't do what I did to my mother. She's able to function normally."

"Avoiding contact is not normal, Reid," Rossi said. "When did you last share a decent length conversation with her?"

"Oh…" he said slowly, as if finally realizing she hadn't said more than few words since that day in the hospital. "But what can I do? She's fifteen."

"Talk to her."

Spencer attempted to talk to Merci the morning after dinner when she came out of her room to pour herself a cup of coffee. "Merci, can we talk?"

"Sure," she mumbled, sitting down and taking a large chocolate muffin off the table. "What's wrong?"

"Can I—may I—should I see your wrists?"

Merci stared at him. "What?"

"Agent Prentiss noticed—something. I just wanted—wanted to make sure you weren't—well—that you weren't hurting."

Merci grabbed her right sleeve and pulled it up. "There's nothing there, Spence."

"You're right-handed," he said suspiciously

Merci quickly moved both her hands under the table. "It's not any of your business, Spence. It's Saturday. Don't you have some college lecture to give?"

"No. I thought maybe we could go see a movie or something."

"I don't like movies."

"We could try a book store," Spencer offered. "Is there anything you want to do?"

"Not really," she said with a shrug. "I would like to get a haircut though. Maybe buy some hair dye."

Spencer stood at the entrance of the salon. Merci had been inside for about an hour. She came out, her hair short, spiky, and blonde with green tips. "Hi."

"Whoa, Merc…That's different."

"That's what I wanted. Colleges don't have dress codes or uniforms. I've been wearing my hair the old way for six years. It's time for me to actually be a teenager. Just with more books."