The bell rings and it is finally the hour hat I have been waiting for, the one class we all have together. One that we are all actually interested in. It is a class that is just for seniors. Entering I see Penelope, Emily, Hotch and Derek already sitting, a new face sitting next to Derek. As I sit Derek introduces his new friend as Will a football prospect. Derek had suggested to him that he should try out for the team the next day. He seems kind with his southern draw clearly evident amongst the city garb of the nations capital. Our teacher Mr. Walker used to be an agent, so he has hands-on experience in forensic matters. Although this is a senior class, I once again see the young boy that was in both my math and advanced science classes. I think I remember the teacher calling him Spencer. He seems quite out of place, even more so than Will's very southern accent. He is small in stature, but he asks all the right questions that raise approval from the teachers.
All class I am distracted, not that there is much to pay attention to the lecture being about having a good year, what he expected and to my surprise the beginning portion of slides for the unit. Emily kept looking back at me winking and making obvious gestures. This is what she does when there is someone that she thinks I should date, she means Will. He is diagonal from me seated right behind her. I know that he can see the exchanges as she isn't subtle, like at all. She did this last year when Hotch moved here, but we have ever only been friends. Hotch met Haley last year while trying out for the spring play. He did the play as a dare from Derek, but didn't realize that he would fall in love with Haley. Haley doesn't get to hang out with us much. She is very artistic. She acts in the plays, does pottery and modern art so her schedule looks different than ours.
The bell rings ending the embarrassment that is Emily, and we gather our things. The first day of senior year over! The rest of my afternoon will be filled with organizing my binders for each class. Emily, Penelope and I decided that we would organize our binders together after school, so they would be coming over as I know that my parents aren't home. As a group we walk out to the parking lot, the senior lot right outside the doors.
"Alright so I will meet you at yours," Emily asks as she walks over to her car.
I nod and Penelope gets in my passenger seat. Over the summer Penelope's car went out again so it's at the shop, again. I watch as the new boy, Will walks over to an older model pick-up truck, very southern. Derek climbs into his Expedition with his little sister, Desiree and Hotch and Haley are attached by the lips as I back out of my parking spot and leave the parking lot. As soon as the school is out of sight Penelope blares her favorite CD. The school has a policy about music before, during and after school hours. We sing at the top of our lungs until we reach my neighborhood. I turn the volume down a bit, but it is still a concert of two as we pull into my driveway. Emily arrives right after us our coffee orders in her hands and we lug our backpacks inside to begin organizing.
As we sip our coffees Penelope casually brings up someone new that she met in the advanced coding class that she is taking. I had no idea that we even had an advanced coding class. Their class is an extension to the previous year so not much time was spent on the syllabus, instead they dove right into code. Usually, Penelope complains about how others are clearly not at the same level as she is, but as she talks about this guy it starts about how great he is at code, but quickly turns to how cute she thinks he looks as they tried to hack each other's code and how he furrowed his brow.
Emily stops her and says, "Well, what's his name?"
Penelope looks surprised then blinks and says, "I don't know."
Emily recovers from that then turns to me and says, "What about Will?"
"I, uh, don't know what you're talking about," I reply.
"Oh, yes you do! I saw the way you looked when he said your name in his southern accent," she replies smugly.
I feel my face turn pink. I can't deny that I like the way my name sounds when he says it. Like a lyric from a country song. His eyes, blue, lit up when he saw me, like he had seen me before I walked into class. Or I could be making it up in my head. He is the new kid, and I am sure that he will have his pick of pretty girls awaiting their opportunity to be with him. But I am getting ahead of myself. I don't even know if I like him, I just know that I like how he says my name. Then I turn it back on Emily, if she wants to be nosy about our love lives then, let's butt into hers.
"What about you and Derek," I ask three-sixty-ing the conversation. Emily completely stops what she is doing as does Penelope, you could hear our hearts beating.
"I haven't the slightest idea what you are talking about J.J.," she replies her cheeks already flooded with crimson.
The thing is her and Derek have played the flirting game forever. To Penelope and I he has always been basically our brother, but with Emily it's always been a little more, a little different but neither of them had ever acted on it. Last year Hotch had almost convinced Derek, but Emily had a bad break up with Ian. Their relationship didn't last long, but it affected her, nonetheless.
"Em, we see the way the two of you look at each other," I say just stating the facts.
"I wonder who he will take to the Homecoming dance, "Penelope questions innocently finally finding her voice.
"Well," Emily starts, "It doesn't really matter how I feel. Derek always has a line of girls that are just waiting for a chance to date the fabulous Derek Morgan."
She sighs and goes back to labeling tabs for her binders. It's almost certain that Derek will win Homecoming King and if Emily is his date, then she would almost certainly win the title of Homecoming Queen. Penelope and I have been working on getting them together since the end of freshman year, too many girls had broken Derek's heart. Then last year Hotch joined in and even Haley states that they would be the perfect couple. Finally Emily seems to be on board, I just don't know where Derek is now as far as all of that is concerned. Hotch mentioned that Derek seemed pretty bummed when he finally decided to ask her out in junior year for Emily to state that she was 'taking a break from boys'. I guess we shall see.
Will
After seeing her in class and observing how she interacts with her friends that makes me want to get to know her more and now I know her name, and she knows mine. I for sure can't change my mind about that now, not now J.J. as said my name like an angel. Class is over and as I am not sure what to do, I walk with the group of them out to the senior parking lot. They say goodbye the same as I am sure they have their entire lives. Derek and his sister get into an SUV, Emily says something to J.J. before heading to a small silver car. Hotch has found the girl that I now know is Haley and they act as if he has been to war. All the while I see J.J. and Penelope as I walk to my beat-up truck, the truck that my dad and I rebuilt, J.J. and Penelope climb into J.J.'s car and drive off. I am left sitting in my truck. The students clear out quickly even Hotch and Haley eventually breath her climbing into his SUV, I'm guessing he is her ride. I have nowhere to run off to in a hurry. If I go home my dad won't be home for hours. Police work has long hours and different shifts, and my dad is a detective working on sergeant so he is pushing the shifts which is fine, eventually after I try out for the football team, I will hopefully have some friends that I can hang out with.
At other schools that was considered a perk of being my friend, though my dad was a cop, people liked to come over and have parties. Two moves ago, a party got out of hand, some guy brought some stuff that had a lot of people trippin'. Needless to say, a neighbor called the cops, and my dad actually refused to come to the house he sent others. We were all arrested because of the underage consumption even though I hadn't taken anything, it was my party. My dad didn't even bail me out, he made me sit in lock up overnight releasing me the next morning. Since then, I've been very careful about who comes and what they bring. I really don't want to sleep in lock up again besides who knows what my dad would do if I got busted again.
Starting my truck, I head to the grocery store that is closest to the school to pick up something for dinner. As I go to leave the store, I see that the auto shop on the corner is hiring people to man the tow trucks. I can do that and maybe I'd have the chance to work on some cars while I'm there. I walk inside the shop and talk to an older man standing at the counter. He wears a classic mechanic jumpsuit with the name Jeff embroidered in black.
"Hi, what can I do for you," he asks kinda monotone.
"Uh, yea, I saw your help wanted sign. I know how to tow, and I also know how to fix cars. I don't have a resume or nothing, but my dad and I rebuilt my truck," I say pointing to my prized possession outside, "and I'm a hard worker."
Jeff nods then says, "How about this, we start you on the tow and I'll pull you to see how you do on the cars. When can you start?"
I think for a moment remembering that I planned to try out for the football team the next day and trying to mentally think of my schedule. "Well sir," I start, "I will be playing for the football team (not to pat myself on the back, but to be realistic) and so I will have evenings open all but Fridays and I should be free al weekends."
Jeff nods and says, "I support the football team, I am an alumnus myself, no problem. You just started school, let's make your first day on Saturday at eight am sharp."
I take Jeff's hand in my own and shake it thankful, "Thank you sir, you won't regret it." I then leave the auto shop headed home to cook my frozen pizza and to watch a movie.
J.J.
Emily and Penelope stay for dinner then Emily volunteers to drive PG home. That leaves me by myself. I'm thankful that the year has finally started. I know that you shouldn't wish your life away, but I'm ready for what comes next. I'm ready to play college level soccer and to pursue classes and gain experience in a field of study. I'm over being required to take classes that I care nothing about.
Then next morning I wake before my alarm once again, today after school we will have conditioning. I've never been a long-distance runner, but training to run sprints is fun for me. Then tack on weightlifting and whatever else coach wants to throw at us, I'm excited. Most of the girls are probably going to complain. Emily will probably be one of them. They should be happy though, coach wanted to do conditioning before school, and I convinced her that we would probably work harder in the afternoon. My big problem with the morning was I didn't want to have to shower before class. I'm in the running for team captain; I've waited four years for this. Emily could care less, but I want to play ball in college and being captain looks good to college scouts.
After getting dressed and situating a change of clothes and sneakers in a drawstring bag I go pick up our morning coffees before text Penelope that I was on the way to pick her up. PG gets situated in my car, thanks me for the coffee then hooks her phone to the aux cord and begins to blare tunes. Sometimes I wonder how Penelope Garcia, Emily Prentiss and I are friends. We couldn't be more different, but I guess that is what makes great friends. Penelope is a wiz on the computer- coding, hacking ad she is obsessed with shopping. Emily plays soccer and is as tough as the rest, but we all know that she has a soft spot for animals. She volunteers at the animal shelter where she adopted her cat, Sergio last year. Then there is me, I wouldn't say that I'm fantastically smart in academics. I'm more street smart; I've had to be with my parents gone often I've basically grown up on my own. I guess that Emily is the same. She has basically been raised by a nanny for most of her life. She could have gone with her parents and lived in spectacular places, but she stayed here with me, Penelope and Derek. Then there is Derek, he is the protector. He became it after his father's death. As the only boy and suddenly the man of the house he took on that role and not only to his mom and sisters, but for us too. He has always been like a big brother.
After my sister left us, my parents couldn't bear it anymore. They didn't want to move, but they also couldn't bear to be in the house for very long. I can't blame them for not wanting to be there. It's quieter now and lonely. My sister just couldn't hold onto the good in life, she let the bad completely fill her until there was no room left for good. I choose to see good, for her. I see it in Penelope as she belts out lyrics to a pop song in my car. I see it in Hotch's eyes as he talks about Haley. I see it when Derek is protective. I see it when Emily blushes as Derek flirts with her. I choose to see the good everyday even in a house that my parents won't allow themselves to stay. I see the good when Emily, Penelope, Haley and I enjoy a sleep over in the now quieter house as my parents are out of town.
I turn off the ignition as I park in my spot, Emily is already in her spot the visor down as she is fixing her makeup. Derek pulls up followed by Hotch and Haley. At the end of the year, we had the opportunity to pick our spots, so we all chose spots close to each other rather than getting whatever was left like the other grades. We all get out of our cars and greet each other, I attempt to glance over to where I think I remember his truck sitting the day before, but he isn't here yet. I wonder to myself if we should wait. I don't know him very well yet, but I'd hate to make him walk in alone. The first bell has yet to ring, but I follow my friends inside anyway knowing that I needed to visit the locker room before heading to class to drop off my stuff for the afternoon.