AN: Hey! Soooooooo yeah this is Jenna's outing with Emily. I really hope I depicted Emily's character well, if not, please tell me! Anyway, here's chapter 17!
Chapter 17
I woke up early Saturday morning just as the sun was rising. I sat up in my bed for a few minutes before venturing to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Retreating back into my room, I grabbed my half-empty pack of cigarettes and climbed out onto the fire escape.
It was a peaceful sight, how the sun rested on the tops of the buildings. The sky was still tinted a dark blue from the previous night, but became lighter by the minute. Orange and pink strips beamed from the sun, creating an interesting hue of colors. I was entirely content, which seldom occurred. I wasn't trapped with the neglectful assholes I lived with for so many years, my anxiety was low, and I drowned my sorrows in coffee and cigarettes. My ideal morning.
Two cigarettes later, I slipped back through my window and headed for the shower to wipe off the nicotine scent I loved, but couldn't have Spencer detect. I was out ten minutes later, and changed into sweats. The clock read 7:45, and Emily wasn't picking me up until 1:00, so I had ample time to laze around. I made the spontaneous decision to blow dry my hair and then ran it over with a flat iron, something I rarely did but probably should get in the habit of. My hair was long to begin with, waist length actually, but when straight it fell to my hips.
I finished The Nurse soon after and discussed it with Spencer, who apparently read it while I was in the shower. I didn't know he spoke Russian, let alone read it. I guess there were a lot of things I didn't know.
I spent the next three hours reading and chatting with Spencer over coffee. Conversation didn't come easy to either of us, but we found common ground. I let him ramble on with numerous facts and statistics, even though I already knew half of them and the rest I tuned out. I then understood why Spencer had such trouble maintaining friendships. Because of his advanced intelligence, he had difficulty finding common interests with others. Not to mention that even his humor consisted of science and math. Plus he went on tangents at the drop of a hat. But hey, he couldn't really help it.
Around 12pm I was off to my room to finish getting ready. After staring at my closet for twenty minutes, I pulled out a sleeveless black A-line dress with a scoop neck. I ditched the tights idea and went with bare legs, and slid on my black and white oxfords. I threw on my glasses and debated tucking my dirty blonde hair behind my ears, then boycotted it seconds later. It made me look like dumbo.
I slipped out of my bedroom with fifteen minutes to spare to grab a quick cup of coffee before Emily picked me up. I was greeted by a tiresome Spencer and a full pot of coffee.
"You look like you've been hit by a truck" I giggled while pouring the bitter liquid into a polka dot mug I forgot I packed away.
"I never understood that saying. When a person gets hit by a truck they're typically covered in cuts, bruises and debris, not to mention blood. Last time I checked I am not critically injured." Spencer rattled out. I was about to open my mouth when I was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"It's probably Emily, I'll go grab my bag" I informed Spencer, motioning him to answer the door. I returned less than a minute later with my maroon leather satchel and met Emily in the living room. She was wearing black jeans and a quarter sleeved grey v-neck, accompanied by black leather booties with slight heal.
"Hey you look cute" She told me while scanning my appearance. "Ready?" She asked with a smile. "mhm!" I squeaked. We said our informal goodbye's to Spencer and headed out the door. "Spencer tells me you're a sci-fi fan, how do you feel about seeing The Invasion?" Emily said while we approached her grey chevy cruze. "That'd be awesome! I've seen the other film adaptations and read the book numerous times, but it's one of those stories that never get old." I climbed into the four door vehicle. "Agreed" Emily replied, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot. There was an incredibly awkward silence between the two of us for half the duration of the car ride. About seven minutes into the drive, Emily spoke up.
"So I hear you're an amazing dancer, take AP art classes, and participate in musicals. How is it being someone so artistically inclined and living with a walking statistic?" We both chuckled out loud while I fished for an answer. I thought for a moment, and then put my thoughts into words.
"Well, it's interesting. Every time I bring up anything that includes creativity he basically breaks it down into facts. A lot of what he says is genuinely fascinating, and makes for good conversation, but he takes things very literally. I don't think he knows what to do with me to be honest. He's fairly clueless. But he's I don't mind living with him, I actually like it." I responded while we exited the car and headed towards the movie theater. "Yup, that definitely sounds like Spencer." Emily laughed, and I laughed in return.
Emily bought our tickets and ordered popcorn for the two of us, but I didn't plan on eating it. Processed foods didn't sit well with me, and the calories were through the roof. Plus we were going to lunch after the movie and I didn't want to fill up on junk. We slipped into the specific theater about a minute before the movie started, so the small talk was put on hold.
An hour and a half later, the movie came to a disappointing close. "Not exactly what I was expecting..." Emily mentioned as we departed from the theater. "If they amped up the physiological aspect of the story line and if the politics weren't so distasteful the film would have reached the viewers more accurately" I babbled as we jumped into the car. I received an unreadable stare from Emily. "I think you're hanging around Spencer too much" She added. I giggled in response, she was probably right. I did sound more and more like Spencer as the days went on. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.
"So, where to for lunch?" Emily asked as she started the car. A part of me started to panic- I was not a decision maker. I didn't like them, especially when it came to food. I always feared I would choose somewhere terrible and the other person involved would hate it. "Oh, um, you pick" I shot out at warp speed. "I picked the movie, you pick the restaurant" Emily replied. I couldn't. I felt too awkward. "No its okay you can choose" Emily gave me a strange look. "Are you sure?" she asked. "Yeah totally" I smiled, attempting to cover up the awkwardness. "Okay, how about the diner?" I wasn't very familiar with the area yet, but I knew there was only one diner and that one diner was referred to as just 'the diner' opposed to its actual name. "Sounds like a plan" I replied as Emily drove towards the highway.
The car ride was silent for the most part, to my surprise ending not too long after it started. We entered the establishment and were quickly seated into a booth by a rather striking boy, maybe three or four years older than me.
"Good afternoon, my name is Tom and I will be your server. Can I start you ladies off with a drink?" His voice had a positive tone to it, something I hadn't been around in ages. Even when Garcia, the most optimistic person I have ever come across spoke, there was a tinge of sadness to its quality; like you could tell there was some form of turmoil behind it.
"I'd like a coffee" Emily spoke up. Tom's head turned to my direction. "Coffee" I practically squealed. My voice had a tendency to become incredibly high pitched when I got nervous, which was quite embarrassing. "Alright, I'll be back soon" Tom said as he walked into the kitchen. I felt sufficiently awkward.
"I don't know about you but I'm starving" Emily opened her menu and began to peer at the options. I chuckled at her comment and began to do the same. There was soups, salads, burgers, wraps, sandwiches, sides, and of course breakfast foods. It was overwhelming. Food was overwhelming. Eating in a public setting made me paranoid, like everyone was judging me and watching me stuff my face. It was ultimately uncomfortable.
Tom returned with our coffee and asked for our orders. "I'll have a cheeseburger with a side of fries" Emily recited and handed him her menu. "Um, I'll have a bowl of broccoli and cheese soup please" I too handed Tom my menu. "Alright, it'll be right out" Tom retreated back into the kitchen once again.
"That's all you're going to eat?" Emily caught. Apparently I was good at raising suspicion.
"Yeah, small stomach I guess" I looked down and fixed my coffee with four sugars, hoping Emily would just dismiss the issue.
"You're 5'6 and weigh what, 105 pounds soaking wet? You could use more food than that" Emily laughed and so did I, attempting to avoid answering. Emily's expression turned from joking to concerned, well of what I could see since I directed my vision to my lap. It was then that I remembered I was sitting across from an FBI profiler who was probably picking me apart at that very moment. I'm not sure why I thought I would be able to get away with anything when I was surrounded by the best minds in the country. This was most definitely a disadvantage of living with Spencer.
"So, that waiter, do you think he's cute?" Emily leaned in and said in a quite sly tone.
"What, him?" I pointed to Tom waiting on another table. "I mean, uh yeah, um he's okay I guess" I staggered while fidgeting constantly, receiving a cunning smile from Emily.
"You're body language says it all. I feel like a predator saying it but he is one fine looking fellow" Emily sipped her coffee. "Look here he comes" she perked her head in his direction and five seconds later he arrived with our food.
"Here you go ladies, can I get you anything else?"He asked first making eye contact with Emily, and then me. I shook my head and Emily said no, leaving Tom to draw back into the kitchen. We finished up around twenty minutes later, small conversations about school and Star Trek in between. We left Tom a good tip of course, and headed back to the apartment.
"Hey Emily, I have a question" I said during the ride home.
"Alright, shoot" Emily glanced at me, then back at the road.
"Spencer was acting very strange this past week, do you know why?" Emily hesitated answering. I assumed it was because of the case, and I couldn't get it out of Garcia so I figured Emily was my best bet.
"I shouldn't be telling you this, but you'd find out sooner or later. Two teenage girls, just about your age were abducted and one of them turned up dead. They were being held by two boys they went to school with. We saved the other one in time, but Spencer witnessed one of the boys die right in front of him. He was in shock mostly, but it really hit him after we got home."
I stayed silent, letting my answer sink in. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but I wasn't surprised either. I didn't put much more thought into it after that.
We pulled up to the parking lot around 3:45 and said our goodbyes. I thanked Emily for everything and headed on up the seven stories. I strolled in the door and found Spencer brewing a cup of coffee.
"Hey how was it?" He asked looking up. I stood there smiling at him. He looked around the room confused. I walked towards him and wrapped my arms around him torso, and squeezed.