Quick A/N: Thank you so much for reading, favoriting, and reviewing! I've read suggestions and such, and I'm sorry for the initially confusing point of views! I've updated previous chapters and from now on there will be a name at the beginning of each chapter that refers to the point of view.

Thank you all so much for reading so far, please keep reviewing or suggesting! Enjoy the chapter.

Emily

The bell rang signaling the end of first period. While Emily wasn't ecstatic about learning about boring American history and was far more interested in European and Ancient history, she believed that the class would be easy enough. Everyone was quickly shuffling about, leaving the classroom while new students came in. Emily shoved her folder into her backpack, and looked for Reid, who was already gone. So was JJ. Somewhat disappointed, she made her way to the door. To her surprise, Reid stood expectantly waiting at the door.

"I hope you don't mind, but I was hoping I could walk to second period with you." He said, his hands resting on his bag strap. "I looked at your schedule on your desk and couldn't help but notice that we have almost all the same classes."

"Almost?" She asked. "Which are different?"

"Well I noticed that you're taking Global Studies instead of a language which is certainly interesting. The only way to take that course is if you've completely filled the language credit. I'm finishing my final year of AP Spanish Literature so I can take it next year." He explained, before locking eye contact with a different blonde who was walking up to them. "That reminds me. Penelope, along with my other friends Derek and Aaron all have AP Chemistry this period, so you can meet them, if you'd like."

"Yeah, of course! If they're anything like you, I should be just fine." He smiled slightly before turning to the blonde next to them waiting expectantly.

"Oh yeah, this is Penelope Garcia." He nodded slightly towards her before he began walking down the hall and the two girls followed suit.

"Hi! Like Reid said, I'm the fabulous and fantastical Penelope." She grinned and waved, the bracelets on her wrists clinking together as she did so. The girl had curly blonde hair dyed and teased every which way, with a part of it held up by a feathery clip. She had thick framed glasses, large dangly earrings, and other jewelry on her neck, wrists, and fingers. Bright red lipstick defined her pout, and she was wearing a dress with three different patterns on it. Calling Penelope eccentric was an understatement.

"Hi, I'm Emily. Emily Prentiss. I just moved here from Europe."

"You don't have an accent? Did you practice English a lot or…?" Emily chuckled softly.

"No, I was born here in America. My mother is a U.S. ambassador, so that meant moving all over Europe. English was what I learned growing up." She explained as Penelope nodded.

"Ohhhh, but of course. Maybe that's why Reid talked to you in the first place. Just a few days ago he was talking about all of the different ambassadors that we currently have. He probably recognized your name to some extent." She hypothesized, before Spencer looked back at them.

"Actually, it's because I recognized your name on the Mensa Honor Society databases. I was browsing them last year, and I recall your score being 145? Anyway, would you like to eat lunch with us?" He asked, unconsciously changing the topic. She simply nodded. She was intrigued by this boy and what else he was mentally capable of.

Soon they reached the Chemistry room. Reid stopped in the doorway for a moment before focusing his eyes on a lab table where two boys sat, one lanky and dressed in dark colors and the other wearing a letterman jacket. He and Penelope walked over, and Emily followed. Spencer sat down and began unpacking, before looking up.

"Oh right. Aaron, Derek, this is Emily Prentiss. She's new and I invited her to sit with us for lunch." He said before going back to his bag.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Aaron, this is Derek." Said the tall and pale boy, gesturing to the well built football player, who had darker skin. She waved and sat down next to Penelope. The two boys continued their conversation on the likelihood of success of certain plays in football. She could tell Aaron was firm but concise with his arguments while Derek would contradict him in an effort to rile him up slightly. Her focus on their argument wavered when she looked around the class.

At the lab table across from theirs, there sat JJ. She nodded absentmindedly as another boy in a letterman jacket kept talking to her and shoving her shoulder playfully. She subconsciously played with a piece of her hair as she tiredly looked at the surface of the desk. Emily almost felt bad for her, she looked so sad. Suddenly, another girl at the table called JJ's name to get her attention, and just like that, she looked happier than ever. Was Emily even supposed to notice that?

Chemistry class droned on and on until it was time to fill out a worksheet for the beginning of the year. Reid had finished it long before everyone else and was reading a Ray Bradbury book from the school library. Emily set her pen down before feeling a soft tap on her shoulder.

"Hey Em, why don't you come to the bathroom with me?" Penelope suggested as she got up from her stool.

"Yeah, sure." Emily replied, slightly caught off guard. Penelope made her way to the front of the room and grabbed the hall pass. Emily packed up her bag up in a hurry, so she wouldn't have to do it when they got back. She focused on her pace as she briskly strode to catch up with Penelope, passing JJ's table on the way to the doorway. She heard hushed mutters begin to exchange as she passed. Heat rose to her cheeks as she juggled the possibility that they may be talking about her, but chose to ignore it regardless as she and Penelope began to walk down the hall.

"You know, Reid is very selective when it comes to who he talks to. You should feel special. He barely speaks with anyone besides Derek, Aaron, or me. Well us, and JJ. But if Reid trusts you already, so do I." Emily couldn't tell what type of emotion Penelope felt when she spoke of JJ. She decided to play dumb.

"Who's JJ?" Emily asked, with possibly too much lilt in her annunciation.

"Oh my god, sincerest apologies!" Penelope exclaimed. "She's Reid's cousin. You may have noticed her in either this period or the last one." Boy, did Emily notice her. "She's the blonde girl in the soccer jersey."

"Ohhhhh." Emily drew out, possibly just a little too long. "Well how come you said her name like that?" She asked as they pushed open the door to the bathroom. Penelope saw all of the stalls unoccupied and sighed as Emily looked at her expectantly.

"Teensy lie. I may not actually have to go to the bathroom, I thought it would just be fun to talk." Penelope admitted and Emily laughed.

"Hey, there are no complaints from me. Chemistry is boring anyway." She huffed as her back slid down the wall and she plopped on the floor.

"Are you hungry by any chance?" Penelope asked the brunette, rifling through her bag.

"How'd you know?" Emily chuckled, as she was handed a granola bar.

"Oh honey, I'm an all-knowing oracle." Penelope grinned as she leaned against the wall. "Now where was I? Oh right, JJ." Her jaw subconsciously clenched when she finally recollected what she was talking about. "JJ's like, top of the food chain in our grade. She's dating a varsity football player, and she's friends with everyone. Almost everyone." She explained as Emily unwrapped the granola bar and began eating it. "She used to be friends with us. Best friends. Since third grade, you would have to use a crow bar to pry us apart from each other, JJ included. But ever since she started dating Will LaMontagne, she won't even spare us a glance, except for Spencer." Penelope got angrier and angrier the more she told Emily about her ex best friend.

"Why didn't she just maintain her friendships with you guys?" Emily wondered. That's what set Penelope off.

"JJ chose not to be our friend anymore. We told her we didn't want her to date Will and she wouldn't listen. She cut the ties, not us." The blonde cleaned her glasses on her shirt to distract herself. Emily could tell she hadn't thought about this entire situation in its entirety for a while.

"I do agree with you, completely, that it wasn't cool of her to cut ties with you; but like, isn't it up to her, um, who she dates?" Emily observed, fumbling her words slightly.

"That's just it!" Penelope seethed. Even though she hadn't even known her for a day, Emily could tell losing her cool was out of character for Penelope. "With anyone else, I would be thrilled for Jayj, but of course it had to be Will out of all people." She sighed and breathed deeply before continuing. "He is not a good person. He's racist, misogynistic, homophobic, every phobic I can think of." Emily quirked an eyebrow, inviting the blonde to explain further.

"Well for starters, Derek is the only black guy on the team. The way Will and his teammates treat him is almost like exile. I always thought it was because they both know that Derek is better than him. Will also has something to say about every girl in school. I think JJ likes to tell herself that their relationship has made that part of him go dormant, but everyone, including her knows that isn't true. I'm positive that JJ only said yes to going to the spring formal with him because she was excited that someone had finally showed interest in her."

Emily was about to respond but they both heard the door fling open with force. The two girls peeked their heads around the side of wall to see who had stomped so angrily to the sink. Two pairs of eyes went wide as they saw the girl of the hour, JJ, grasping the sink with either hand as she looked at herself in the mirror before splashing water on her face to calm down. She jumped up and down, psyching herself up and then taking languid breaths. By now, Penelope was back around the wall and out of sight, typing something on her phone. Emily was too busy watching JJ to pay attention to exactly she was up to.

JJ turned around to exit as quickly as she came before she stopped suddenly, eerily. And for the first time, the pair made eye contact. They were both speechless, Emily expecting not to get caught sitting there, and JJ not expecting the pair of eyes she felt on her to be Emily's. The emotion felt between the two was raw and thick. JJ's lip quivered. Emily's face softened. The only thing she could feel from JJ's stare was pure disgust, directed towards Emily. Caught off guard, she blinked a few times, and as quickly as she appeared, JJ was gone, the bathroom door swinging back and forth.