Chapter 2

A week later...

The shrill beeping of the alarm clock woke JJ up at the ungodly hour of 6am on the first day of school. JJ slammed her hand on the snooze button and flopped back down on the bed, not wanting to get up yet. She'd been having a really good dream about the brunette from CSI NY and she didn't want to wake up.

Reluctantly, JJ dragged herself out of bed and headed for her bathroom, glad once again that she had inherited Lisa's old room that had its own bathroom. It meant that JJ never had to worry about taking too long in the shower.

JJ showered and got dressed in the outfit she'd picked out the night before: black jeans that hugged her curves quite lovingly, a white tank top and a black blouse with only the last three buttons done. JJ finished the look with her black ankle boots and her black denim jacket. All in all, JJ looked hot and she knew it.

JJ walked into the kitchen and sat down just as her mom slid a plate of pancakes in front of her. It was her mother's first day of school tradition to make chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. JJ smiled, knowing she was going to miss this when she went off to college but determined to enjoy it while she could.

"Thanks mom. Looks great."

"You're welcome dear. Orange juice or milk?"

"Um...juice definitely. Thanks." JJ had learned long ago that there was no arguing with her mom on the first day of school. Normally, JJ would get her own breakfast but on the first day of school, her mom went into June Cleaver mode and insisted on doing everything. JJ was happy to let her.

JJ sent a quick text to Alex and Olivia to see if they still wanted a ride to school. Olivia had been strangely absent all weekend from the group, Alex had made the excuse that Olivia had a family thing to deal with so JJ hadn't pushed but now, she was curious.

JJ got a text from Alex saying she'd like a ride, and one from Olivia saying she had it covered but thanks anyway. JJ frowned, she hoped things were ok with her friends' relationship. It would really suck if they were breaking up.

JJ finished her pancakes and turned to her brother, "hey squirt, if you want a ride you better shake a leg I am out of here in less than five minutes."

"Ok, let me get by book bag."

JJ nodded as she watched him leave. She felt her father's gaze on her and she turned to face him, "what?"

Daniel Jareau sighed at his daughter, "JJ, I know you're a senior now and being seen with your freshman brother isn't the cool thing to do but, could you try to be nice to him?"

JJ smiled, "Dad, relax ok? Mark's my little brother, no one is going to mess with him. And I promise to be nice to him at school."

"That's all I ask."

JJ grinned, she liked that her father was as involved as he was, it made her feel loved. JJ would've said more but Mark came back into the room and said, "all set JJ."

"Ok, then we're out of here. Bye mom, Bye dad, see you later!" JJ gave her parents a kiss on the cheek then walked out the back door, keys in hand as she headed to her car.

Mark repeated the gesture with his mom but only tapped his dad's shoulder in goodbye, feeling it wasn't manly to kiss his dad goodbye at his age.

Daniel just smiled, a little sad to know his little boy was growing up.

Mark hopped into the front seat but was barely buckled in when JJ turned to him, "Uh uh, nope. Sorry kid you get the back seat. Scoot! I still gotta pick up Alex."

"Can't I ride in front until we get to her house?"

JJ thought about that, "Ok fine but when we get there you get in the back."

"Deal." Mark smiled, he had a huge crush on Alex and he would do anything he had to just to see her. He knew she was gay and that he didn't stand a shot but that didn't mean he wanted her to think he was just JJ's little brother.

JJ shook her head, smiling. She knew Mark was crushing on Alex and that Alex even knew about it. It was harmless and even Olivia teased Alex about it sometimes, she thought it was cute while Alex kept saying it was almost incestuous considering that she and JJ were almost like sisters.

JJ pulled out of the driveway and turned left, heading to Alex's house to pick her up. JJ let herself get lost in her feeling that something big was going to happen. Mark was content to sit quietly, his nerves over starting high school doing a good job of keeping him silent.

Olivia Benson was not in a good mood. Normally, she rode to school with Alex and JJ, gossiping about everything but that wasn't an option today. Emily had arrived late Friday night and that had put an end to Olivia's plans for the last weekend of summer break.

Olivia knew it was too soon to introduce Emily to the group. She first had to make sure Emily was single and interested. Olivia was sitting on her bed staring into space at 7am remembering the conversation shed had with Emily Saturday afternoon.

"So, Em, how was your flight?" Olivia asked, trying to work her way up to asking her cousin about any girlfriends she might have.

Emily smiled at her cousin, Olivia was like the sister she'd never had despite there being no actual blood link between them. Olivia's aunt had married Emily's uncle. They were cousins by marriage but due to the circumstances of her childhood, Emily had come to think of Olivia like a sister.

Emily's parents worked for the State Department which meant a lot of traveling around the world. Usually, Emily went with them but when she could get away with it, she'd convince her parents to let her spend her summer vacations with her Uncle Jason and her Aunt Marina.

It was during the summers that she would hang out with her cousin Olivia, who often spent her summers with her Aunt Marina while her mother worked. The two little girls had bonded over their workaholic mothers and grown closer than sisters.

When Olivia had confessed to Emily that she was gay, Emily knew Olivia expected her to be angry or disgusted but Emily had shocked her by confessing the same secret. Emily knew that Olivia had only ever had one girlfriend, Alex Cabot but Emily had never met the girl.

Emily, on the other hand, had never found a girl she liked enough to stay with for more than a week or two. "The flight was fine. There was a very cute flight attendant that kept smiling at me but she wasn't my type."

Olivia grinned, "lemme guess...was she a brunette or a red head?" Olivia was very aware that Emily preferred blonds.

Emily turned away, blushing at how well her cousin knew her, "um...red head. But enough about that, when am I finally going to meet the infamous Alex Cabot that has my cousin so whipped?"

"Hey, I am not whipped, I'm...in love. There's a difference. As for meeting Alex, I dunno...I gotta make sure you're not gonna go crushing on her when you see her. She's a blue eyed blonde after all." Olivia said, only half kidding. She knew Emily would never do anything to get between her and Alex but she also knew that blue eyed blonds were Emily's weakness.

Emily frowned, "Liv, c'mon you know me better than that. I would never try to steal your girl. Besides, is it my fault were so alike we even have the same taste in girls?" The teasing note in Emily's voice did the trick to ease the tension.

When the laughter died down, Olivia said, "well now that that's settled, I think it's only fair to tell you that I think we should wait until school starts before you meet the group. Alex can probably swing by here later to hang for a bit but the others might be a bit much."

"Wait, the others? How many are we talking about here?" Emily asked, a little concerned.

Olivia pretended to count in her head, "Um...well there's like 15 of us. We're all friends."

"15? Are you serious? When did you become such a social butterfly?" Emily had only ever seen the loner side of Olivia that she showed during their summer breaks together.

"Um...about the time we moved here and I stopped spending my summers at Aunt Marina's I guess. I met Alex and JJ and it just grew from there."

"Who's JJ?"

Olivia smiled, "JJ's like the leader of the group. Smart, funny, hot, and a born leader."

"Oh...so is JJ a guy or a girl?"

"Oh, most definitely a girl. In fact," Olivia turned and picked up her wallet where she had a picture of the whole gang. She took out the wallet sized photo and handed it to Emily, her finger positioned right next to JJ's smiling face, "that's JJ right there."

Emily looked at the image of a blonde with sparkling blue eyes and a smile that made Emily wish she knew what had caused it...and how to see it again in person. "She's cute, Liv." Emily downplayed her reaction to JJ, knowing that Olivia would never let her near her friend if she thought Emily was interested. Emily knew her reputation of being a player would make Olivia nervous. Emily spotted another hot blonde and changed the subject, "Is this Alex over here?"

Olivia knew Emily was more affected by JJ's picture than she let on but she didn't push the issue. Instead she leaned closer and saw Emily was indeed pointing to Alex, who was standing in front of Olivia with the brunette's arms wrapped around her.

"Yep that's Alex." Olivia decided to 'introduce' Emily to the rest of the gang in the picture. She pointed to each person as she identified them. "This hot stud here is Morgan and standing in front of him is Garcia...long story with those two, though they aren't actually dating. Um, next to them are Elliot and his girlfriend Kathy. That's Fin and his girlfriend Jordan. That's Brian and his girlfriend Casey. JJ you know, that scrawny looking guy is Spence and believe it or not that hot chick with him is his girlfriend Elle, then Munch and Kim and on the end there is me and Alex."

Emily looked at her cousin's group of friends and smiled. They all looked happy and they looked like nice people. She could tell that they had accepted Liv's sexuality and her relationship with Alex by the way no one seemed to care that Liv was holding Alex. It gave Emily hope that they might accept her as well.

"They look nice...and damn Liv all your female friends are hot...I'm surprised you can stand it."

Liv laughed, "it's actually not that hard Em. We're all almost like family and besides, I have Alex and I am so not the type to stray, you know that." Olivia thought about revealing that JJ was the only other gay one in the group but decided that there were some things that weren't Olivia's place to reveal.

Emily thought about that and decided that she wasn't going to mess with Liv's friends. She'd play the good girl and be nice and just try to get them to accept her so that her senior year wasn't a total drag and also so that Liv wouldn't feel like she had to pick between her friends and her cousin.

Olivia and Emily decided that they would spend the weekend relaxing at Liv's house before she met Liv's friends. Alex had stopped by for a few hours on Saturday evening but had to leave to meet the gang for a movie. Liv had been cool about it and told Alex to tell their friends that she had a family issue but that it would be cleared up by Monday.

Olivia was jolted out of her thoughts by her cell phone beeping an incoming text. She picked up the phone and saw that it was JJ asking if she needed a ride. Liv grinned, she so wanted to get a ride but she knew that wasn't the right way to introduce JJ and Emily, so she sent back a text saying she had it covered and started to get ready for school.

Olivia knocked on Emily's door to wake her and found her cousin already dressed and writing in a journal.

Olivia couldn't help but tease her a bit, "dear diary, today is the first day of school and I am wondering if I can play sick to get out of it...right?"

Emily glanced up and smiled, "shut up Liv. I was just killing time until you got your lazy butt in gear."

"Uh huh, well if you're ready to go Mom said she'd drop us off on her way to work."

"Ok, let's go."

Olivia and Emily headed out to Serena Benson's car and got in, soon they were buckled up and heading to school. Olivia had assured her mom that they would grab breakfast at the diner near school before the first bell.

Serena dropped the girls off at the diner and handed Liv some money before she drove off.

Liv turned to Emily, "Well, I hope your refined tastes can handle diner food."'

Liv liked to tease Emily about how she'd been raised. Emily's family had money and so she'd grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth but she never acted like it, which made it easier for Liv and her to be so close.

Emily just laughed as she smacked Liv's shoulder and walked into the diner. Emily picked a booth by the window and Liv agreed.

The girls ordered their breakfast and waited for the waitress to bring it out.

JJ pulled up to Alex's house and honked the horn before turning to Mark, "Ok kid, back seat."

Mark reluctantly gave up the front seat and got out of the car to move to the back when he heard the door opening. He glanced behind him and almost dropped his bag.

Alex Cabot was dressed in a short black skirt and a red blouse with red pumps. She had tossed on a blue denim jacket and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Mark was standing there with his mouth hanging open when Alex reached the car. She took one look at Mark's face and giggled.

"Guess I look okay huh?" Alex said, to JJ since Mark wasn't in any shape to reply.

JJ laughed at her little brother's reaction. "hey Mark, snap out of it and get in the back seat or I'll leave you here to walk to school."

Mark snapped out of his stupor and glared at JJ before he glanced at Alex, "You look really nice Alex." Mark managed to say before he climbed into the back seat and buckled up, trying not to stare as Alex got in the car, her skirt riding up a little at the movement.

Alex smiled her thanks at the compliment before she got in the car. She turned to look at JJ and saw a look in her eyes that told her she was in trouble. "What is that look for?"

JJ shook her head, smiling. Alex may not be totally comfortable with Mark's crush on her but that didn't stop her from tormenting the poor kid. JJ had told Alex Sunday afternoon that she would be driving Mark to school now that he was a freshman and Alex had deliberately chosen an outfit that she knew would stun the boy. "You know what it's for, but we'll talk about it later."

Alex just nodded, knowing that she was going to get an earful about not tormenting Mark just because he has a crush on her. Honestly, she hadn't thought of Mark when she picked out her clothes...she'd been thinking about Olivia's reaction. She hadn't seen her girlfriend at all on Sunday and only for a few hours on Saturday and Alex was missing her. So she was determined to remind Liv of exactly why she was Alex's girlfriend.

JJ pulled away from Alex's house and headed towards the school. There was still plenty of time before first bell and the gang usually met in the parking lot of the school before first bell to chill before the pressures of classes tumbled down on them.

JJ was about two blocks from the school at a red light when Alex looked to her right and saw Liv sitting in the window of Melinda's the diner the gang usually snuck off to for lunch. She was sitting having breakfast with a pretty brunette that Alex recognized as Liv's cousin Emily. Alex had met her Saturday afternoon and she liked the other girl. She decided not to say anything to JJ as the light turned green. She knew Liv was planning her own way to introduce Emily to JJ and the gang. Alex turned to the radio, the music loud enough to prevent any conversation. She was used to JJ drowning out the chatter that usually came from the back seat as Alex and Liv talked about their classes and their friends. Today, there was silence from the back seat and Alex suspected it was mostly because Mark was still trying to recover from her teasing.

JJ let the music wash over her, as her mind wandered to her friend Liv. Something was going on with her and JJ was determined to find out what it was. She would hate to have to deal with a break up in the gang. They were all so close that it would be really hard to separate the relationship from the friendship.

JJ pulled into the school parking lot and drove to the corner of the lot that she and her friends had claimed as their own when they'd gotten their cars. JJ pulled in next to Elliot's dark blue Taurus and smiled, glad that the parts El's car needed had come in before school started.

JJ got out and greeted her friends, who were hanging out by Fin's Cayenne. His back hatch was open and they were all either standing nearby or sitting inside the back cargo area. Fin and Jordan were sitting in the middle, holding hands as they joked with their friends.

JJ noticed that the only ones missing were Morgan, Garcia, Brian and Olivia. She knew that Morgan usually gave Garcia and Brian a ride so they would show up pretty soon. Olivia had said she'd find her own way to school so JJ wasn't too worried, though she kept checking her cell just in case Liv texted her that she needed a ride after all. Alex greeted her friends and answered their questions about where Liv was with equal parts honesty and mystery.

Mark stood next to JJ, a little intimidated by his sister's friends. He knew them all and they were a lot of fun to be around but he almost never really got to hang with them. Mark looked at his sisters female friends and tried not to blush. He had a mini crush on all of them. His sister had very hot friends and if he was a little braver, he would make a move. But then he looked at their boyfriends and realized that he'd get pounded into the ground if he even tried.

"So Mark, how's it feel to finally be in high school?" Elle asked, wanting to engage the boy in conversation so he wouldn't feel left out.

Mark looked at Elle and smiled, "feels ok, just another school year." Mark wanted to act like he wasn't nervous as hell and a little intimidated by the bigger building and the increase in students. His junior high school was smaller and less confusing.

"Just another school year? Well you're handling it better than I did. I was so nervous when I started high school I threw up in the girls' bathroom before first bell." Kathy chimed in, surprised at the kid's statement.

Mark smiled, and then relaxed a bit and confessed he was a little nervous. The conversation turned into a mini debate over who had the scariest freshman year experience. The stories ranged from Kathy's story of vomiting in the bathroom to Reid's tale of hiding in the library during lunch to avoid the bullies...until he made friends with JJ over Halloween at a party.

The stories all ended pretty much the same, freshman year was bad but not as bad as it could've been if they hadn't been friends with JJ. JJ for her part had her own freshman story but hers ended with how happy she was to make so many new friends and still keep the ones she grew up with.

By the time the first bell rang, Morgan, Garcia and Brian joined the group, having told their tales of freshman year.

Just before first bell, Mark heard his name being called and he turned towards the sound. He saw his two best friends standing a few cars away, too scared to get any closer to the group of seniors, trying to avoid getting bullied.

Mark grinned and turned to his sister, "Hey um, I'm gonna go hang with Jimmy and Tommy ok?"

"Yeah sure. Have at it and stay out of trouble ok? Everyone in the school knows you're my brother so be good. Also, I'm gonna stick around until 4 waiting for Alex so if you want a ride home then wait here at the car for me got it?"

"Yeah ok. I'll text you if I manage to find a ride but I should be here after last bell. Bye JJ, bye everyone."

The gang said their goodbyes, laughing and smiling at the boy's excitement to see his friends.

"Man, were we ever that young?" Morgan asked.

The gang laughed at the question, knowing that while they didn't look it now, yeah they were probably that young and innocent back when they were freshman.

First bell rang and the gang started to head inside. They had to sit through the Welcome Back/Orientation Assembly that the school held every year. The whole school had to sit in the auditorium and listen to the principal, vice principal and the guidance counselor go on and on about the rules of conduct, any announcements and the same tired speeches about their doors always being open to anyone who wanted to talk about anything.

They tried to be hip and modern but the students only ever saw them as the old guys who ran the school.

As they approached the main doors to the school, JJ grabbed Alex's arm and pulled her aside, "Hey um, is everything ok with you and Liv? I mean she hasn't been around all weekend and then you two don't ride to school together and now, Liv is late for school and still no sign of her and you don't even seem worried so, what's going on?"

Alex sighed, looking around to make sure they were alone, "Relax JJ it's fine. Liv and I are perfect she just had a family thing to deal with this weekend. She told me her mom was going to drive her to school today. Besides, I saw her earlier at Melinda's having breakfast. She'll be here soon."

"Wait, you saw her at the diner? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't think she wanted to be interrupted. Liv likes her alone time at times and I try to respect that ok?"

JJ relented, knowing what it was like to want to be alone sometimes. "Well...ok but promise you'll tell me if anything is wrong?"

"I promise JJ, you'll be the first to know ok?"

"Okay cool. Now, c'mon let's get this assembly over with."

JJ and Alex caught up with the gang just in time to hear Morgan say, in a low voice so as not to be overheard by anyone but his friends, "damn...who's the hottie with Liv? Is there trouble in paradise?"

Alex heard and slapped Morgan on the arm, "no, no trouble at all. C'mon let's find out who that is." Though Alex already knew who Morgan was talking about she didn't want to ruin Liv's surprise.

Olivia Benson was nervous. She knew that she should've prepared Emily a little better but she also knew there was no real way to prepare someone for her friends. Liv looked up from where she was standing with Emily, and saw her friends. Emily still had her back turned to them, and she noticed Liv's eyes shift to something over her shoulder. She suddenly knew that Liv had seen her friends. Emily felt her heart start to race, she was nervous about meeting her cousin's friends, wanting to make a good impression on them.

Emily turned to Liv, "are they at least smiling?"

Liv, her eyes never leaving the gang, said, "Um, some of them are. I think the others are concerned there might be a problem with me and Alex if I am standing here with someone else, ya know?"

"Oh Liv, I don't want to cause you any problems."

"Don't worry about it Em, they'll relax once they know who you are. They're just protective of each other. We all are and the guys like to play bodyguard when one of us girls is in trouble." Liv gave a crooked grin at that last remark, remembering the last time the guys went into bodyguard mode, at the beach with that southern kid who'd tried to hit on JJ. They hadn't seen him again that week and Liv was happy about that, she hadn't liked that kid.

The gang walked up behind the unknown girl who was standing with their friend and the guys all stood their tallest, their arms crossed over their chests as they tried to look stern. Well, mostly it was Elliot, Morgan, Fin and Brian...Munch and Reid knew they'd never pull off intimidating so they just stood there looking serious.

It was Elliot this time who spoke for the guys in the group, "Hey Liv, who's your friend?"

Olivia grinned at her friends, "Hey El, hey guys." Liv turned to Alex and saw her girlfriend smile in support, then she put her hand on Emily's shoulder to turn her to face the group. "Um, everybody, this is Emily Prentiss...my cousin. Emily, this is everybody."

The guys visibly relaxed their stance a few degrees, now that it was clear that this Emily wasn't a threat to their friends' relationship, they seemed to warm up a bit.

JJ looked at Emily and was shocked at the flutter she felt in her stomach. She was struck by how beautiful the girl was, with her black hair and her deep brown eyes that JJ had to look away from before she lost herself in them. JJ took in Emily's outfit and realized that running her eyes over Emily's body wasn't helping to keep her libido under control. Emily was wearing dark blue jeans so tight they hugged every curve, a blood red t shirt and a black leather jacket. JJ was so taken by the girl she missed the gang introducing themselves. The silence that followed when it came to her turn, snapped her out of her musings and she blushed as she realized she was expected to introduce herself.

"I'm JJ." JJ took the hand that Emily held out and felt the tiny spark of electricity shoot between them. JJ fought not to show her reaction as Liv began talking again now that they were done with introductions.

"Emily's parents are in Europe on assignment so she's gonna spend her senior year here with me." Emily stayed quiet, a little shy around her cousin's friends and also still recovering from her reaction to JJ. It was stronger in person than it had been when she'd seen the girl's picture. Emily let Liv handle the explanations.

Before Liv could get deeper into her explanation, the bell rang and the gang knew it was time to go into the auditorium for the assembly.

The friends walked in and Liv walked next to Alex, grabbing her hand as they walked. Emily was on Liv's other side, following her cousin to where they were going to sit. The gang worked it out and the friends coupled off, taking up two rows. Morgan, Garcia, Elliot, Kathy, Fin, Jordan, Brian and Casey sat in the back row as Munch, Kim, Spence, Elle, Alex, Olivia, Emily & JJ sat in the row in front of them. The guys wanted to be able to keep an eye on Emily, they weren't going to let up until they were sure Emily was cool.

The assembly began with a pre-recorded, slightly tinny version of the school song played over the speakers. Emily fought not to roll her eyes at the song as the lyrics registered in her brain. The song was a bit lame and Emily vainly thought she could write a better one in her sleep. Emily glanced to her right at JJ and noticed the smile on the blond's face: she liked this song! Emily really tried this time to not show her dislike for the song, she didn't want to offend her cousin's friend.

JJ listened to the song, she liked it, mainly because it was played at every pep rally and big game. Being a soccer player, and having friends on the football team, JJ had heard that song a lot in the last three years. She could admit it was a little lame but that was part of why she liked it. JJ noticed Emily turning to look at her and she forced herself to keep smiling and not turn to look at her.

The song ended and Principal Cragen stepped to the podium that had been set up for the speeches. The older man, who was slightly balding, cleared his throat as he adjusted the microphone. "Good morning. For those students returning for another year here, welcome back, and for our new students, welcome to Barton Avery Underwood High School. My name is Principal Cragen. I have a few announcements to make before I hand the microphone over to Vice Principal Rossi." Principal Cragen turned and gestured to another man, sitting on the stage off to the left. He then turned back to the microphone.

"First off, football team tryouts will be held all this week after school. With Homecoming just a few weeks away, we need to build a strong team. Please see Coach Hotchner in the gym to sign up for tryouts. Cheerleader tryouts will be held starting tomorrow in the girls' gym, there are three open slots and we want to fill them before the Homecoming game. Mrs. Hotchner informed me that this year's school play will be a musical, Grease, and that tryouts for that will be held next month. Now, you've all received your schedules and homeroom assignments. Your homeroom teachers will provide all new students with a copy of the Rules of Conduct and Dress Code during homeroom tomorrow. Anyone in violation of the rules after tomorrow will be subject to disciplinary actions. I'm going to turn the stage over to Vice Principal Rossi at this time." Cragen turned to Rossi and motioned him over.

Vice Principal David Rossi walked slowly over to the podium. He hated addressing the school like this, he preferred to do it via the PA system. Rossi took his place as Cragen sat down. "Thank you Principal Cragen. Well most of you know me, for the new students, I am Vice Principal David Rossi. Those of you who violate any of the rules of conduct or dress code will be getting sent to me," Rossi grinned a little evilly, "and be warned, I am not a lenient man, so think twice before you break any of the rules. That being said, I hope you all have a great school year and that I don't have to see many of you in my office until at least...December." Rossi grinned, then let the students laugh at his joke. The returning students knew his sense of humor and he always picked a different month but the sentiment was the same.

Rossi turned to look at the next man in line to address the students, Jason Gideon, the guidance counselor. "Do you have anything to add Jason?" Rossi knew that Gideon usually let the students call him by his first name, it helped him connect to the kids.

Jason Gideon stood up and walked over to Rossi. He clapped him on the back and smiled, "One or two things, thanks Dave."

The men traded places and Rossi sat down, thankful to be out of the spotlight. Jason took his place at the podium and smiled comfortably at the students. He looked around and noticed some of the seniors had tuned out but his gaze landed on one in particular. Jason smiled as he watched his protege paying close attention to the speeches. Spencer Reid was a rarity among those of his age and Jason knew the young man would go on to do great things.

"Welcome to another school year. My name is Jason Gideon and I am the school's guidance counselor. I am always here if anyone needs to talk. My door is always open, unless I am with a student. Feel free to drop by between classes or before or after school if you need someone to talk to. I know how scary high school can be, especially for you freshman. New school, new people, new pressures. It can be a harsh world, I'm offering to be a port in that storm for anyone who needs one. Now, I'll let Coach Hotchner have his say before Principal Cragen releases you all on our unsuspecting teachers." That got a laugh from the students as Gideon left the podium and a much younger man took his place.

Coach Aaron Hotchner was in his late 30s. He was married to the school's drama teacher and he taught physical education as well as coached the Football & Soccer teams. His students all called him Hotch or Coach. Hotch was a handsome man, still young enough that some of the girls had crushes on him but old enough that none of them ever tried anything.

"Well, I'm Coach Hotchner but I prefer to be called Hotch or Coach. In regards to the football team tryouts, I want to see my returning team there as well as any new students who want to try out. No one is guaranteed a spot on the team, not even my returning stars," Hotch easily found Morgan, Fin, and Elliot with his gaze, he grinned, knowing that his seniors would easily make the team, "so come on out for tryouts and let's build us a championship team. Go Wolves!"

The students cheered, school pride in full effect as the students rallied behind their beloved coach.

Principal Cragen returned to the podium and when the noise died down he dismissed the students to their classes.

The gang left the auditorium and JJ turned to Emily, "hey, what's your first class?"

Emily blushed, "Um, I didn't get my schedule yet. I was told to visit the office to officially register and get my schedule. My transfer was kind of last minute."

"Oh, well I have first period free so I can show you where the office is...if you want." JJ offered, a little nervous.

Liv heard this and smiled, she spoke before Emily could say anything, "hey that's a great idea JJ. I got English first period and you know how Strauss gets when anyone's late. Emily, I'll see you later ok?"

Emily just nodded, then let herself be led away by the blonde.

JJ walked next to Emily as they headed to the office. She thought up and discarded one opening line after another in her attempt to start a conversation. They all sounded lame to her, and a few sounded like cheesy pick up lines.

It was Emily who broke the silence, "So, um, Olivia told me you were on the soccer team. That's so cool. You must really like it." Even to her own ears it sounded lame but Emily didn't care, she just wanted to hear JJ's voice again.

JJ smiled, she loved talking about soccer. The conversation began slowly as JJ talked about her love of the game and how it was her ticket out of there and into college. Emily smiled, happy to just listen to JJ talk. Sooner than she would've liked though, they were outside the main office. JJ led Emily inside and, since she had the next hour free she offered to wait there for Emily to get her schedule so she could show her to her next class.

Emily spoke to the secretary and was soon enrolled officially in BAU high. The secretary, a blonde named Elizabeth Donnelly, saw JJ waiting for the new girl and she smiled. She was in charge of making the schedules and she could tell that JJ liked Emily. Liz made up her mind and checked the computerized class records. It took her a few minutes to first call up JJ's schedule and then to make sure there was a spot in the classes. Within ten minutes, Liz had enrolled Emily in all of JJ's classes. Their schedules were identical. Liz grinned to herself, she hoped JJ would take advantage of all her hard work and use their identical schedules to get closer to Emily. Liz had gone to school with JJ's mom and she knew the family well. She wanted JJ to be happy.

Emily, unaware of what the secretary had done, took her schedule with a hint of sadness in her chest. She figured this was where they parted ways, JJ had the first period free and Emily would have to go to class.

Emily walked out of the office, refusing to look at her schedule yet, with JJ right behind her.

"So, what's your first class?" JJ asked, hoping that they had at least one class in common.

Emily handed the paper to JJ, not willing to see the proof of their separation just yet.

JJ took the paper and scanned it, looking for the first classroom number. She grinned when she saw that Emily had first period free as well. Then she did a double take as she realized that Emily's schedule looked identical to hers. JJ pulled out her own schedule and held them side by side to compare, just in case she was mistaken. Nope, she wasn't mistaken, they were identical, right down to the same lunch period, the only difference was their homeroom which was assigned by last name. JJ smiled, it looked like she was going to be seeing a lot of Emily this year and she only hoped that meant that somewhere along the way, they'd be more than friends.

"Well? Does it say where I gotta go first?" Emily finally asked, unable to handle the silence as she noticed JJ comparing their schedules. Something was up.

"Looks like Miss Donnelly has been up to her old tricks again." JJ mumbled under her breath, she didn't want Emily to know that she knew Liz Donnelly...or that the meddling secretary was the unofficial matchmaker of the school. She raised her voice, "Looks like we have the same schedule. Which means you have first period free too, and then you-I mean, we have English class with Strauss." JJ thought about the situation and glanced at her watch, they still had at least half an hour left in their free period, so she made her decision. JJ grabbed Emily's hand and began leading her to the side doors.

Emily, still a bit stunned at having all of the same classes as JJ, just let herself be led to wherever JJ was taking her. When Emily noticed they were heading outside the school, she got curious.

JJ led Emily to her car and unlocked the doors. She held Emily's door open for her and watched as Emily slid in without a word, trusting the blonde.

JJ went around to the driver's side and slid behind the wheel. She closed her door and turned her car on. JJ didn't buckle up and she didn't shift the car into drive, she just turned on the AC and then the radio. JJ turned the sound down to a reasonable level and turned to grin at Emily.

"We have about 30 minutes or so until we have to face Strauss. Trust me she can be a real...handful. I figured we could use the time to get to know each other a bit more and maybe listen to some music to relax before facing her, is that okay?"

Emily grinned, JJ was so cute when she babbled. "Yeah it's fine JJ. I do have a question for you though."

"What's that?"

"What does the JJ stand for?"

JJ grinned, no one ever really asked her that anymore. Certainly none of her friends had asked. She''d been JJ all her life. Her parents had agreed to call her JJ when she was in the first grade, knowing her daughter didn't think her real name suited her. Only Alex knew for certain what her real name was and that was only because Alex met her as Jennifer not JJ. JJ realized that none of her friends had ever made the effort to find out her real name. All her teachers called her JJ and she always introduced herself as JJ. Suddenly, JJ wanted Emily to know her real name, even if she still thought it didn't suit her.

"Those are my initials. My real name is Jennifer Jareau. But everyone's always called me JJ since I was in like, first grade."

"Jennifer...that's a really beautiful name. It fits you, a beautiful name for a beautiful girl." Emily said, a little wistfully. She wanted to use that name a lot more but realized that she'd have to respect JJ's wishes and call her JJ.

JJ blushed, both at the compliment and at the feeling she got when she heard Emily say her name. JJ felt the warmth that began in her belly and spread to her limbs at the way Emily said her name. She smiled and thanked Emily for her compliment.

Pretty soon they began talking about their childhoods and how they grew up. Emily was talking about her parents and her uncle and the summers she spent with him and his wife and Olivia and something occurred to JJ. "Wait, you spent summers with your uncle, his wife and her niece? That's an odd way to describe them."

"Well, only if you don't know the history. My uncle married Olivia's aunt. Technically speaking there's no blood link between me and Olivia. We're cousins by marriage. I mean, if god forbid my uncle got a divorce, I'd probably never see Marina again. Olivia is the closest thing I have to a sister so I'd probably see her but there'd always be the awkwardness of the divorce ya know? Which is why I am so glad that my uncle Jon is extremely happy with Marina."

JJ nodded, suddenly understanding the situation. Silence reigned as they listened to the radio. After a few minutes, JJ pulled a CD out of the CD holder on her visor and put it in the player. She waited for it to load then hit play.

Emily watched in silence, for some reason she trusted JJ and she was curious what kind of music the blonde had on CD.

When the opening notes of 'You Give Love a Bad Name' by Bon Jovi came blasting out of the speakers, Emily couldn't help but smile. Emily was a huge fan of the music of the 80's and she liked that JJ seemed to be as well.

JJ saw the look on Emily's face and was glad she'd guessed right about Emily's taste in music.

A few lines into the song, JJ began to let loose and sing along. Emily smiled and then joined her. They spent the rest of their free period singing along to the songs on the CD, all from the 80s.

They'd just finished the last line of Warrior by Scandal when JJ heard the bell ring from the school. She glanced at her watch and frowned. "Dang it, time's up." JJ turned off her car without stopping the CD so that it would pick up where they'd left off after school. She turned to Emily, "C'mon, as much as I want to stay here with you and the music, we gotta get to class."

Emily frowned, "yeah I suppose we should. First day and all, but I am really starting to wish I didn't have to go to class. This was too much fun."

"It was fun. Well don't worry because before you know it, the weekend will be here and there'll be plenty of time then to rock out. There's a party this weekend and you, are most definitely invited. Let's go before were late and Strauss has a cow."

The girls got out of JJ's car and she locked it up again. They headed back to the school and to class. JJ walked in and smiled when she saw that Alex was in this class too. Its going to be a very interesting year.

Before long, the whole gang was immersed in classes. Emily sat next to JJ in every class, enjoying the chance to be close to the girl she was starting to like. Emily realized very quickly that her vow to be the good girl and not mess with Liv's friends was going to be tough to keep around JJ.

TBC...

AN: So there's chapter 2...hope y'all like it.