A/N: O-M-Freakin-G! This chapter was SO hard to write. Not to mention all my teachers decided the week before spring break was a GREAT time to dump twenty MORE pounds of homework in our backpacks. (Not that I'm bitter or anything. *eye roll*)

New thing: Starting now, I'm going to give dates at the beginning of each chapter. This refers to the date the chapter takes place. It's mostly for my personal benefit so that I can keep track of what goes when and where goes who and how goes why.

Anyway! Thanks to all the faves and follows you have all given this story! It makes me so happy to see them!

Shout outs:

ahowell1993 - I TOTALLY ship Spencer & Maeve, however, they won't be going to homecoming together. Sorry. It's just too soon. Spencer isn't that confident outside his own friend group just yet. BUT don't forget... There's still prom to look forward to. *wink, wink*

WriterNicole - If I ever need help hacking things I'll make sure to ask you.

CriminalOutsider'sGirl14 -Thank you so much for the encouragement and for reviewing every chapter. Each of the main seven will get exactly the same amount of chapters. I can't wait to see what I have in store too!

Mossnose173 - Your ideas were great. I wasn't quite sure how to incorporate Savannah in to this story line, (Honestly, I kinda forgot about her until the most recent episodes. *nervous laugh*) but introducing her during homecoming is a great idea. I can't promise everyone's homecoming will be that great though...

JuliaBC - Thanks! Yes. Kate will show up a few more times. I'm just not really sure of her character yet. One season isn't really enough to get a good grasp on characterization, but I'm still working on her. If you know any good character studies about her, let me know. I would love to get to know her better.

Etlorah - Thanks for the corrections, I think I got them all. Going back through the chapter, I understand what you mean. I do change directions pretty rapidly. If I figure out a good way to fix it, I may go back and rewrite it later. This chapter will probably be really choppy too. Sorry.

Guest - Kate is... difficult. I really liked her in the show and she will get her own chapter in here sooner or later. Same with Blake. (Elle, however...) But I'm getting off topic... Kate will definitely be at homecoming and I hoping to give her a small part in the mystery too.

Chapter time! Everyone give a warm round of applause to Aaron Hotchner! *wink*

Enjoy!

Date: Wednesday, 9/2/2015

All this stress was going to give Aaron premature gray hairs. The cast list for Pirates of Penzance came out today and it was stressing him out so much that he was not paying attention to his civics class.

"Mr. Hotchner? Mr. Hotchner. Aaron. Are you alright with this?" Strauss demanded.

Aaron blinked and shook his head. "I'm sorry. What?"

Strauss sighed. "Will you lead the government team in the October debate?"

"Yes. Of course."

"Good. Mr. Foyet, you will argue that the lawyer should be required to defend an obviously guilty party. Mr. Hotchner will take the position that a lawyer should not have to. Any questions?"

The class shook their heads and Strauss continued, "The debate will take place in four weeks. Beginning tomorrow, I will give you every Thursday class period as in-class work days. Use them to your advantage."

A kid in the back raised his hand. "Will parents and friends be able to watch?"

"Yes. The debate will take place on school grounds and any students who want to watch the debate will be excused from their sixth hour class."

A whisper of excitement went around the classroom. Aaron had expected this though. Strauss always gave permission for students to watch the debates - it helped inflate her ego.

Aaron glanced at his watch, 8:57. Three minutes until the bell. Next he had Anatomy and Calculus.

The bell rang soon enough. As he made his way to Anatomy, he thought about running over to auditorium, but quickly decided that there was not enough time to get there and back. Aaron turned in the direction of his next class and ran straight into another kid. Papers went flying and the boy fell to the ground.

Aaron took a step back in surprise, but immediately felt bad. He reached out a hand to help the kid up. The boy grabbed it and Aaron pulled the kid to his feet. The senior looked him over for injuries and quickly came to the conclusion that the kid was lost. No freshman walked the senior halls unless they were lost, doing a dare, or had a death wish.

"What are you doing here, kid?" Hotch asked, concerned.

The boy frowned. "My name's Jack. Not kid. And I'm looking for my sister."

Aaron raised an eyebrow at the kid's - Jack's - attitude. "Your sister have a name?"

"Haley Brooks." Aaron eyes widened in mild surprise. "You know her?" Jack asked.

Hotch blinked, regaining his normal mask of indifference. "Yeah. We're doing drama together. I didn't know she had a brother though."

Jack shrugged. "This is my first year, so…."

"I guessed as much," said the senior with a smirk.

"Hey! I'll have you know-"

"Jack!" exclaimed a female voice from behind Aaron. "What are you doing here?"

The senior turned to see Haley quickly approaching. "Some of the boys here wouldn't think twice about robbing you blind."

Jack immediately took a step back from Aaron, eyeing him suspiciously. Haley sighed. "Not Aaron. He's a good guy." Jack relaxed a little but kept his distance.

Aaron tried hard not to blush at the praise. He cleared his throat. "I believe Jack was looking for you."

Jack's demeanor quickly changed. He went from hostile to relaxed in a second. "Right! I'm going to Henry's house after school so don't wait up for me after practice."

Haley nodded and Jack ran off. She let out a breath of a sigh and shook her head. "I don't know what I'm going to do with him."

Aaron shrugged. "If it's any consolation, I haven't figured it out yet either."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You got a brother?"

"Yeah. The infamous sophomore, Sean Hotchner," he proclaimed to the hall.

Haley laughed and checked her watch. "Goodness! We're going to be late!" She turned away and headed towards her next class. Before she was out of sight, she turned and called, "I'll see you later, Aaron!"

Hotch waved back. When he turned back towards the direction of his Anatomy class, his face was twisted in the happiest smile it had ever held. And no matter how hard he tried, Aaron couldn't wipe it off.

Suddenly a brilliant idea flashed across Aaron's mind. Jack would be the perfect candidate for Gideon's empathy project. Not to mention, it would be the perfect excuse to spend time around Haley.

Hotch mentally patted himself on the back. Now he just had to figure this new development into his, as Penelope called it, "so busy you'd need twelve different highlighters to figure it all out" schedule.

Aaron was the model of focus throughout Anatomy and Calculus. He did not even bat an eyelash when Foyet tried to catch his attention during Anatomy. He could not afford distractions right now. He had a test in both classes on Friday. He hated when the teachers ganged up like that - no matter how inadvertently. He should be fine in Calc, but he was not as sure in Anatomy. Maybe he would ask Spencer for some memory techniques.

Hotch worried about the genius. He worried about all his friends. Even Dave. Although the boy was older, he could make some seriously stupid decisions when the situation called for smart ones. Aaron sometimes wondered why the group had picked him as their de-facto leader.

Before Aaron could delve too deeply into that subject, a sudden weight dropped onto his shoulder and a familiar voice cackled next to his ear. Hotch rolled his eyes. He didn't even need to turn his head to know it was Dave. Thank goodness Penelope's cupcakes had worked.

Dave raised his eyebrow cockily. "That locker isn't going anywhere, Aaron."

Hotch blinked. He had not realized that he had been trying to bore a hole in his locker with his glare. He let out an embarrassed chuckle. "Yeah. Right."

Dave's eyebrows only rose higher. "You know if you keep standing here, you'll miss lunch and Penelope will come hunt you down."

"Yeah. Right," was Aaron's only response.

Dave's expression changed from one of amusement to one of concern. "Aaron?" Dave placed a hand on his fellow senior's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Aaron shook his head, finally pulling himself out of his thoughts. "I'm good. Just got a lot on my mind."

Hotch could see that Dave didn't buy it. "Really, Dave. I'm fine."

Thankfully, the other senior let the subject drop. "Whatever. Let's get to lunch."

The boys walked into the bustling school cafeteria. The lunch attendants were serving ground something-or-other and both seniors were glad that they brought their own lunches for once. Spencer and Derek were not so lucky.

The entire table stared at the juniors' lunch in horrified fascination. Emily poked Spencer's with a fork and everyone watched with rapt attention.

"I think it's still alive," JJ whispered in awe and trepidation.

"They chopped it up, fried it, and chopped it again. And it's still moving," Penelope said, eyes wide. "Let's try Derek's."

"No need," said Derek. "Ain't no way that stuff's going anywhere near my face, man."

Emily grinned maliciously and stabbed some meat onto the fork. "Open up Derek. The mystery meat airplane is coming in for a landing."

Derek's eyes widened in panic. "Uh-uh. No way!" He tried batting her hand away, but she changed directions and dropped the ground up meat into spencer's open mouth. She lifted his chin and snapped his mouth shut. Everyone froze.

Spencer's reaction was priceless. His eyes were wide in surprise and if Emily wasn't holding his chin up, Aaron was sure it would be on the table.

Slowly the boy's face twisted into an expression of intense disgust. His nose and brows wrinkled in distaste. He gulped down the offending food and rapidly licked his lips, trying to dispel the foul flavor.

He turned to Emily. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"

Suddenly, Dave started to laugh. Then Derek and JJ joined in. And then Emily and Penelope soon after. Aaron took a second glance at Spencer's grossed out expression, and had to chuckle as well.

Spencer, however, did not seem to find the humor in the situation. He tried to get everyone to cease their giggles, but after several failed attempts, he resorted to pouting, which only resulted in another round of laughter.

Aaron came down from his fit of giggles first but he still smiled. He looked around at his laughing friends and sighed happily. This was just what he needed right now. All the stress from his grades, home life, and college prep was going to his head. Maybe his friends were right - he did need to chill out once in awhile.

After lunch, Hotch had English 4 with Dave. He wanted to check out the cast list for drama again, but reluctantly decided that he didn't have time. If Dave noticed his mental debate he didn't say anything.

They went to class and took their seats. Dave slouched in his chair with a groan.

"Ugh. I hate walking around so much," the senior complained.

Aaron rolled his eyes. "Dave, we only walked up one flight of stairs and about ten feet."

"I know! They should put in escalators."

"You want to pay for that?"

"Psh. I don't pay taxes."

"Lost your job again?"

Dave glared at Aaron with mock annoyance. "No."

Hotch easily saw through the lie. "Where you planning on working next?"

Dave just shrugged. "I don't know. My parents are gonna stop paying for my gas if I don't find another soon though." He dropped his head onto his desk.

Aaron shot him a sympathetic frown. He knew how important Dave's car was to him. Thankfully Hotch never had to go through any of that. As soon as he was able he got a job at the nearest supermarket and had been working there ever since. "I think the theater on 46th is hiring."

Dave's head shot up. "Really?"

Aaron nodded. "Yeah. I was trying to get Sean to get a job a few weeks ago and that popped up. I don't know if-"

"Thanks Aaron!" Dave interrupted. "I'm gonna check that out as soon as I get home."

Aaron simply shook his head in amusement. Knowing Dave, he would forget it as soon as the next bell rang.

The seniors walked into the gym and found Derek waiting for them. Students were milling about practicing different sports and attempting various activities. Most of the boys were trying stupid stunts to impress the few girls. Usually the class was bigger - Aaron guessed that most of the girls were in the smaller gym across the hall with the gymnastic equipment and cheerleading mats.

They reached Derek and the younger boy turned to them with a mildly confused expression.

"I'm assuming that 'free gym' means we get to do whatever we want?" Derek asked.

Hotch nodded affirmatively.

"Everything except sit around," Dave added.

The boys looked around the gym. They saw a basketball game in progress as well as several small wrestling matches. The wrestlers were on mats and Coach Scott was supervising, but nevertheless none of the boys were interested. They spotted several guys fooling around with different weight sets.

"How long do you think it'll be before they drop one on their foot?" Dave asked Derek cockily.

"At least twice before the hour's up," Derek responded.

Aaron rolled his eyes at his friends antics. Then he noticed the junior eyeing the basketball game. Apparently, Dave did too.

The senior grinned. "Interested in basketball are we, Derek?"

Startled, Derek instantly turned his attention back to them. "What? I-"

"Quit it, Dave," chided Hotch. He spoke to Derek, "Do you want to play?"

Derek looked unsure. "I don't know. Coach Scott brought it up before, but…."

"I think about half the team is over there," Aaron said, glancing at the players' faces. "I know some of them. We could introduce you."

Derek paused and that was all Dave needed. He grabbed the junior's arm and pulled him towards the game. "I'm tired of just standing around. Let's play already."

Aaron sighed, but followed anyway.

The boys had a good time playing basketball. Derek was surprisingly good. He kept trying to play it down but Dave wouldn't let him. The guy had this thing about stating things exactly how they were. Aaron had found that to be one of Dave's greatest qualities: no matter what, he would set you straight. He didn't mince words and, when it came to his friends, he could be honest to a fault.

As the guys exited the boys locker rooms, for just a second, Aaron thought he saw Emily disappear around the corner towards the library. He shook his head. That probably wasn't her. Emily didn't have any reason to be near the gym this hour.

"Hey, Aaron, have you checked the cast list for drama yet?" asked Dave once the boys took their seats in Behavior.

Hotch sighed in defeat. "No. Haven't had time."

"Aaron Hotchner? Not having time for something? Unheard of," said a voice that the boys instantly recognized as JJ's. Without their notice, she and Penelope had managed to sneak their way into the classroom.

The senior groaned. "Just because-"

Aaron was saved from having to argue with the blonde by the bell. Spencer and Emily slipped into their desks just in time. Gideon began class where they left off on Tuesday.

At the sound of the last bell, Aaron made a beeline for his locker. He packed up his stuff in rapid time and was off to the auditorium within minutes.

By the time he arrived, there was a small crowd hovering around the bulletin board next to the doors. Aaron made his way over and quickly skimmed the list. The characters were listed in order of importance, so he started at the bottom, automatically assuming he would get a lesser part since he had no real acting experience. When he didn't see his name down there, he moved to the middle of the page. Still nothing. He got to the third name from the top and found his name.

Pirate King: Aaron Hotchner

Aaron couldn't believe it. He got the third most important part. He glanced down at the name after his and was shocked - but for a completely different reason.

Major-General Stanley: George Foyet

Of course Foyet would get that part. The two parts that actually had some conflict between them just had to go to them. Hotch shook his head ruefully.

He heard a small squeal of excitement to his left. He glanced over and saw Haley grinning from ear to ear.

"I got it!" she said exuberantly. "I get to play Mabel!"

Aaron smiled at her. "Congrats!"

"Yeah. Good job, Hals," said a voice behind them. Haley spun around with an angry expression.

"Don't call me that, George," she said harshly.

"Awh. C'mon, Ha-" Foyet tried to say.

"No. We broke up months ago. Leave me alone," she spat.

Foyet took a step back and anger contorted his features. "Waht? So you can spend time with this loser?" He gestured to Aaron. "Haley, it was just a mistake-"

"A mistake? A MISTAKE?" Haley was yelling now. "You cheated on me George!"

Before Foyet could make another attempt to speak, Haley snatched up her backpack and marched angrily into the auditorium. Aaron frowned at Foyet and then followed Haley inside.

He debated whether to approach her. He didn't like seeing her upset, but, on the other hand, he didn't want her to think he was just trying to comfort her so she would like him. Maybe he was overthinking this whole thing. Aaron steeled his nerves and walked down to where she sat.

"Haley?" he asked putting as much concern as possible into his tone.

She glanced up angrily, but when she realized it was him her expression softened. "Hi, Aaron."

He cleared his throat nervously. "C-Can I sit with you?"

Haley shot him a sad smile but nodded.

"Thanks." He took the seat on the end of the row. Haley's stuff sat on the chair between them.

He was about to speak again but at that moment, Mr. Rain decided to begin.

"Hello students. It's script day. When I call your name come up and get your scripts…."

Aaron's question would just have to wait.

A/N: And there's that. No new people this chapter. Except for Jack, but he's special.

Okay, I sorta rushed this in order to finish. Like I said at the beginning, I've been super busy and I think I'm getting sick. Yippee! So this probably isn't my best work but all the important parts are in there... I think.

I also apologize in advance for any and all complaints against Hotch's role in the play. Everything is the way it is for a reason!

Next time: The Second Date - JJ