Emily

Emily sighed as she rolled out of bed. The alarm clock beeping across the room made her head hurt; especially this early in the morning. She shuffled across the dark room which was dimly lit by the rising sun; it only made her feel more tired. She pushed the switch to the off position and trudged to her dresser to the vague outline of the outfit she laid on top of it the night before. She then quietly walked down the hallway to the bathroom with her clothes in tow to complete the rest of her morning routine.

As she finished brushing her bangs in such a way to make them appear even, she stared at herself in the mirror, noticing every aspect of her appearance. She knew she didn't look her best, but didn't know how to fix it. Agitated and upset, she saw the light coming from the window behind her. She didn't have time to fix whatever wasn't to her liking, it was time to leave for school. Her new school, to make matters worse.

Her mother had recently been reappointed to become a United States' Ambassador, which meant moving- across the ocean. She missed living in the lively corners of Europe, even though there was nothing particularly appealing about it besides the culture as well as the feeling of familiarity. Now, in the nation's capital, she felt like a complete outcast. She begged her mother to enroll her in the district's public school where she felt she could blend in more, as public school population was generally diverse, but her mother insisted on the best. That meant attending Sidwell as a junior. Knowing nobody.

Emily looked at herself in the mirror on the door once more. She quickly put in small hooped earrings before grabbing her backpack and heading downstairs to the front door. She laced her Dr. Martens and shoved her keys into her pocket and walked to school, which was just a few blocks away.

Her mind raced, wondering what was in store for her. She worried about everything as the cool autumn wind pushed against her. Was her outfit ok? Was she pretty enough? Was she too weird? Too quiet? She looked down at her outfit once again. A dark green Dartmouth crewneck layered over a grey turtleneck that was tucked into cuffed baggy jeans held by a belt. She didn't see anything wrong with it, but then again, she could easily be biased as to what was stylish. Upon arriving back in America over the summer, she attempted to make her wardrobe appear more "American," but it was unclear as to whether she succeeded.

Lost in her thoughts, she arrived to school suddenly. She headed inside and the halls were sparse in terms of students. She roamed the halls until she found the Student Services office, and approached the desk inside.

"Hi, um, I'm a new student and am here to pick up my schedule." She said, drumming her fingers on her edge of the counter anxiously.

"What grade are you in, sweetie?" The secretary asked with a Bronx accent, peering up at Emily through her glasses.

"Eleventh." She stated. She looked around as she heard the keyboard clack loudly.

"We only have one new junior this year…" The secretary said absentmindedly as she scrolled through whatever was showing on her screen. "Emily Prentiss?"

"Yeah, that's me." She replied, grabbing the paper that the woman handed to her. She smiled to herself, the paper still warm from the printer. "Thank you!" She added cheerily before leaving. She found a ledge to sit so she could go over her schedule. She had already memorized what hallways housed which subjects, and which way the classroom numbers ascended and descended.

"First period, U.S. History…" She mumbled to herself as her thumb followed her eyes down the paper. Chemistry was second period, followed by Psychology, English Literature, Statistics, and Forensics and Global Studies, almost all Advanced Placement courses. She considered herself to be intelligent.

When she was young she found ways to entertain herself in various ways that often benefitted her educationally. She was well read from Sigmund Freud to George Orwell, and had a sizable bookshelf in her room packed with her favorites. She spoke six languages fluently, which let her escape the dull foreign language classes they offered here. Emily's mother had originally pushed her to learn Spanish, as it would be useful, especially as an Ambassador's daughter, but since then she harbored a love for language and linguistics. Since learning English as her first language, she now fluently spoke Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, and Greek with ease, and was currently working on mastering Mandarin. She kept her impressive repertoire to herself. She was surprised with how much she learned by letting others assume she only spoke English.

Lost in her thoughts, the bell startled Emily, and the constant buzz of chatter and shuffling numbed her. She stood up and walked towards the history hall and into the United States' History classroom. She slid into a random desk towards the back and half-watched everyone greet their friends, hearing "good to see you" and "I haven't seen you in forever!" She looked around the room trying to familiarize herself with a dozen or so unknown faces. Her eyes landed on a blonde girl at the opposite side of the room, sporting baggy jeans as well as a soccer jersey that slouched on her slightly. Emily couldn't understand why she was drawn to her. Sure she was pretty, but she didn't even like girls in that way. Maybe she saw the jersey and saw a potential friend, as she had tried out for women's varsity soccer and made the cut over the summer.

The only thing that snapped Emily out of her trance was a sudden tapping on her desk. She looked up to see a scrawny boy with messy, sandy hair, nervously tugging at the strap on his messenger bag. Emily looked up expectantly. Had she already screwed up? The school day hasn't even started.

"Um, I just wanted to let you know you were in the wrong seat." He stated in an awkwardly confident manner. Apologizing profusely as she gathered her things to find the seating chart she didn't know existed, Emily waited for him to slide into what she assumed to be his seat. They stood there for a moment before the boy began to explain.

"Oh this isn't my seat. This is my friend Penelope's. Even then I would've told you this wasn't your seat, especially because your seat happens to be right next to mine."

"How would you know I sit next to you? I'm new, there's no way you could know who I am, or what my name is." Emily questioned.

"Ah, on the contrary." The boy began to walk, and she followed him as he explained. "I know of everyone at school, both their names and faces. I saw the seating chart and quickly noticed a name I hadn't seen before. 'E. Prentiss.' My mother is a cheerleading coach here, so I know you're also the only new student in our grade so there's no way possible that I could confuse you with another new student, even though there isn't any on the list. Because there aren't any new students, like I just explained." He sat in his chair and gestured to the desk next to him. Emily was impressed.

"That was pretty impressive. But why didn't this Penelope just tell me herself?" She asked.

"Penelope is almost always tardy, but only by a minute or so. Teachers at Sidwell know she'll show up, so they just mark her as present." He unbuckled his bag and pulled out a notebook and fountain pen and aligned them parallel on his desk. "Oh, and I'm Spencer Reid by the way, but my friends just call me Reid." Emily just nodded as she spotted a small Tardis pin on the strap of his bag.

"Well Spencer, are you able guess my name then? If you're so good at guessing everything else?" She smiled, unsure if he could successfully identify her.

"Emily." Her eyes went wide.

"How'd you know that?"

"It was just a lucky guess really. It helped me out by recognizing your last name, Prentiss. Your mother, Elizabeth Prentiss, is an ambassador. You seem somewhat plain so I wouldn't have gone with a more unusual name. I actually would have gone with Elizabeth but seeing that that's your mother's name, I went with the second-most popular feminine 'E' name." Emily's jaw simply hung as Spencer continued explaining his methods.

Spencer didn't stop talking until the person beside him and in front of her hit his arm lightly and whispered, "Spence, give it a rest. The bell already rang." Emily turned to see who it was and her eyes went wide. It was the blonde girl that she had been studying earlier. Emily had been so engrossed in her and Reid's conversation that she didn't even realize where she sat. She suddenly began tugging at her collar, feeling uncomfortably hot.

"Sorry JJ. Is Aunt Sandy still letting me come over for dinner after school?" He whispered back. Emily realized she could finally read the print on the back of the jersey. 'Jareau.' Did her first name begin with a J as well then?

"Yeah, of course. Mom is happy to see you 24/7." She chuckled before giving her attention back to the teacher that was reciting welcomes.

The history teacher eventually passed out syllabi, handing a pile to the front of each row. JJ turned around to give the stack to Emily, giving her a somewhat judging stare, before dropping the pile on her desk, missing her open hand. Taken aback, she fumbled with the sheets, eventually passing them behind her. She couldn't figure out what she had done wrong, and why it seemed as though she was pissing off everyone today. Especially this girl she's never spoken to before.