Once Emily had calmed herself down, she took a deep breath, walking down the stairs and peeking out the door. She saw Rossi was still at his desk and turned to everyone else. "I think it's time for an adventure."

"What are you talking about?" Derek asked.

She pointed out to the hallway. "If my calculations are correct, my buddy Dave out there is going to get up and go for a walk in about ten minutes. He'll round the trophy case, get a drink of water, check his reflection in a fire extinguisher door, then whistle to himself while he makes his way back to his desk. That gives us time to run to my locker and back."

JJ looked up at her. "What's in your locker?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out. Anyone else in? Unless, of course, you want to stay glued to these seats, then by all means, stay right here."

They all looked around at each other, before getting up, one by one. They stood by the door, waiting to hear footsteps, Spencer in the back, just in case they were coming toward the library to check in on them. Emily heard some cursing, followed by walking down the hallway, away from them. She poked her head out of the door and checked to see him walking down the hall, right on time. She held the door open and motioned for everyone to follow her.

"How do you know where Rossi is?" JJ asked, right behind her.

She smirked. "I don't."

"But didn't you just say – how do you know when he'll come back?"

"Yet again, I don't." She turned around to face her. "Being bad feels good, doesn't it?"

JJ rolled her eyes, following.

Spencer turned to Derek. "What's the point of going to Prentiss' locker?" he asked, Derek not making eye contact with him. He ran his hand along the wall, busying himself with the count of bumps and grooves, just in case he wasn't going to get an answer.

"It beats me."

"This is just, it's stupid. Why are we risking getting caught and ending up here another Saturday?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"So, then, what are we doing?"

Derek kept staring forward. "If you ask me one more question and risk getting us caught, I'm beating the shit out of you, kid."

Spencer immediately shrunk back, biting his lip and looking down at his feet, mumbling a sorry. He wasn't sure what he'd done to offend him, but he wished he could take it back.

They made it to Emily's locker and she warned everyone to step back. Garcia stayed a few steps behind them, not sure if she'd been invited on this outing or not, but needing to get out of the library. Derek took notice of the permanent marker on the lockers above, warning not to open hers.

"You enjoy destroying school property, don't you?"

She eyed him, then saw where his focus was. "Oh, what a shame. However will they get Sharpie off? It's practically lead paint." She opened her locker, bending down and looking through. "I know it's in here somewhere."

JJ peeked over. "What?"

She held up a hand to silence her, before reaching in the locker above and taking out a bag, removing several bags from inside it before revealing a small baggy. "Perfect!"

Spencer sniffed before his eyes went wide. "…That's drugs."

"Come on, Emily, put it back," Derek snapped.

She stuffed it into her back pocket, ignoring them.

"Drugs. That girl has marijuana in her locker," Spencer mumbled, looking at the others in disbelief. "…That was marijuana."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Shut up, kid."

He eyed Garcia. "…Do you approve of this behavior?"

She looked at him before giving him a shrug. She made sure Spencer turned to walk away before bending down, taking the combination lock off of Emily's locker and stowing it away in her bag. Kleptomania wasn't her proudest trait, but it was something she started when she had nothing better to do, considering the lack of attention from her hippie parents.

"We're going to go through the science labs, then we'll have a quick shortcut to the library," Emily explained.

"You'd better be right," Derek warned. "If we're caught by Rossi, it's all your fault."

"What did they say?" Spencer whispered to JJ. "Where is she taking us?"

Garcia trailed behind them, careful to keep her distance.

Rounding a corner, Emily looked down and saw Rossi walking the opposite way. "Shit!" she muttered to herself, running down the hall, everyone following. Garcia saw it best to stay still, because she knew they'd be running right back. They ran down the hallways, doing their best not to get caught by Rossi. All of them skidded to a halt when they spotted him down another hallway, running in the opposite direction. None of them were sure if their running could be heard, but in that moment, they could only hope not. Another hallway led them to him getting a drink out of a water fountain, and this unknown game of cat and mouse was making all of them nervous.

"Hold up, we have to go through the cafeteria," Emily warned them, pointing in the opposite direction, knowing that they were running toward the gym and it was locked up on weekends.

Derek shook his head. "No way, we're headed to the gymnasium, it's quicker."

"You don't know what you're talking about, we need to go upstairs-"

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Derek snapped.

Garcia made a squeaking noise, warning them to keep the arguing down.

"We're done listening to you," Derek continued, "we're going this way. You go where you want." Spencer was the first to follow after him, then JJ, and finally Garcia, motioning for Emily to follow.

Making it to the gym, as Emily had predicted, they noticed the hallway locked up. Emily groaned, shaking the gate. "Damnit! Great idea, moron."

"Fuck you!" Derek snapped.

"Oh, fuck you!" JJ responded. "You should've listened to Emily."

"We're dead," Spencer deduced.

Emily took a deep breath, swallowing. "No, I'm just dead."

"What do you mean?"

"Get back to the library," Emily instructed, grabbing the bag out of her pocket and stuffing it into Spencer's. Before any of them could respond, Emily took off down the hallway, making as much noise as she possibly could.

Spencer swallowed, looking around at everyone. "Did she just… save all of us?"

JJ smirked and Derek stood there silently, but nodded. "Come on, kid, let's get back to the library before Rossi busts all of us." He patted Spencer's back, a simple gesture to make up for his behavior earlier.

Derek led the way, and they all made it back to the library, sitting in their seats. Garcia looked around and the mood had definitely changed. None of them were annoyed by Emily anymore. Instead, they were happy, almost relieved that they were in her company today.

Emily didn't think before she did it, she just made noise: rattling lockers and locks, ripping down posters, and singing at the top of her lungs. She had to distract Rossi and get him out of their way so they could make it back safely. She may have only known them for a few hours, but she had a heart. All of them weren't going to get busted for something that was her idea. She finally picked the lock to get into the gym, playing a round of basketball with herself, which was mainly bouncing the basketball against the walls and floor.

"Prentiss!" Rossi snapped, slamming the door against the wall. "What are you doing?"

She bounced the ball a few times, ignoring him.

"Get out, Prentiss," he warned, pointing to the door. "Out. It's over."

"Don't you at least want to know why I'm here?" she asked, spinning the ball on her fingers.

"Out!"

"I'm going to try out for a scholarship," she explained, dribbling a few times.

"Give me the ball, Prentiss." He held out his hands. "Give me the ball."

She faked him out a few times before giving up, squatting down and rolling the ball to him, walking past him to collect her shoes and jacket as he kicked the ball away.

Rossi followed her to the library, pushing her every few steps. When they finally made it inside, he found everyone still seated at their tables.

"Get your stuff, you're leaving."

She stumbled when Rossi pushed her again – she was pretty sure that was assault on a minor, but she knew arguing with him would only lead to him bullying her even more. Instead she reached on her table, grabbing her bag.

"Little Ms. Wise Ass over here decided to take a trip to the gymnasium. I'm sorry to inform you she'll no longer be joining you in the library."

"Wah," she said dramatically, pouting.

"Is everything a joke to you? That fire alarm you pulled on Friday, that was funny. What if it was your family or your home, or even your dope was on fire?"

If it was my family, I wouldn't give a shit, much like they don't give a shit about me. If it was my home, well fuck those possessions, they're not even mine. "My dope? Oh that's impossible, sir. It's in Reid's underwear."

Spencer's eyes went wide, immediately shaking his head.

Derek laughed to himself, but unfortunately, Rossi caught it.

"Do you think she's funny? Do you think that's cute?" Derek gave him a shrug and looked at the table. "Let me tell you, just look at her. She's nothing. You want to see something that's actually laughable? Go visit Emily Prentiss in about five years, then you'll see how funny she is."

Emily bit down on her cheek, wishing he'd just stop.

"What's the matter, Emily?" he asked, facing her eye-to-eye. "Are you going to cry at the harsh reality?" When there was no answer, she grabbed his arm. "Let's go."

"Keep your fucking hands off of me," she snapped, standing up. "I expected better manners from a grown ass man." She pushed over everything in her past on her walk out, because lashing out was better than showing him any sign of weakness and crying.

Everyone turned to look at each other, because they finally realized that Emily wasn't a bad person, she was just being bullied and needed to act out for survival.

He walked to a supply closet, holding open the door. Emily groaned, walking in and sitting on one of the spare desks.

"That's the last time you make me look like a fool in front of anybody, Prentiss. Do you hear me?" he snapped, slamming the door behind him. "I make good money and I have a great home, and I'm not about to throw all of that away on a little shit like you."

Emily stayed silent, pulling her knees to her chest.

"But someday? When you're out of here, and you've forgotten this place, and everyone's forgotten about you, and you're strung out on something because your life is completely worthless? I'm going to be there. Oh yes, I'll be there, and I'll finally do what I've wanted to do since you set foot in this school two years ago, starting to make my life a living hell."

Emily turned to look at him, pure disgust and shock written on her face. "Are you threatening me?"

"What are you going to do? Tell your rich mommy to get you a lawyer? That is if she can stop being in a business meeting long enough to give a shit about your life. Even then, do you really think anyone is going to want to believe you? Look at your track record and look at mine. I win." He pulled off his jacket. "Why don't you show me how tough you are right now? Get on your feet and I'll give you a free swing."

She knew it was a trap. It was tempting, oh was it tempting, but the second she laid a finger on Rossi, she knew that he'd report it, she'd be expelled and on her way to some form of prison or community service, if her mother cared enough to help her get it. He kept trying to egg her on, but she wasn't going to do it. She knew better.

He faked a swing at her and she flinched. "Just like I thought. You're spineless." Walking out, he closed the door behind him and locked it. Now she was positive that move was illegal, and whether her mom wanted to hear it or not, she was going to.