Beyond Education [Jemily]

J'aime Aussi ton Sourire

"Emily. I'm Emily."

"Y-You're Emily?" Oh God. She's the one who I heard last night.

"Yeah?"

"Oh uh. I-I've heard your name before. That's all."

"Shit. Um. You probably mean last night, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry about that. My date was a little loud." She quickly changed the subject, "So I can drop this by in a few minutes. Is that okay or do you have a class?"

"Nope that works, I'm actually free for the rest of the day."

"Perfect, I'll see you in a bit." She hung up and I hurriedly tried to clean up our room a little before she got here. Penelope's clothes were all over the floor-- I guess she left for class in a hurry. After about five minutes or so, I heard a knock on the door.

"Coming!" I jogged over and opened it up. I had to refrain from dropping my jaw to the floor when I saw who it was: the mystery girl from Criminology. All the pieces of my puzzle were falling into place.

— Emily's POV
"Coming!" I heard JJ yell through the partition of the door. She opened it up a few seconds later and I was met by one of the prettiest faces I've ever seen. Her eyes were so blue I could almost make out the ocean in them. She had a kind gaze that emitted a sense of immediate comfort. I was enchanted.

"H-Hi." I breathed out. I was never shy or nervous around girls but for some reason JJ gave me butterflies.

She seemed just as starstruck, "H-Hey. You're... Emily?"

"We've been over this already I thought. You look familiar. Have I seen you before?"

She smiled, "I'm um, I'm in your Criminology class. Today was your first day though, so I don't expect you to know me yet."

I smirked, "How'd you know today was my first day?"

"I uh, I saw you when you came in. You walked down to Professor Rossi's desk. I'd never seen you before so I assumed you must be checking in with him on your first day of class."

"Were you intentionally watching me or are you just very observant?"

"Both?"

"Good answer." I leaned against the doorframe and held out the scarf for her to take. "So you're free for the rest of the day? How about we grab a cup of coffee or something?" I desperately hoped she'd say yes.

She blushed, "Sure I'd love to." I stood in the doorway and waited for her grab her purse and get her things together. Once she was all ready, we headed outside our hall and walked to the main street off of campus. On the way, JJ explained to me how she was a communications major and starting forward for the soccer team. I was already impressed but I knew there was much more to learn about her. I took her to a small cafe a few blocks away and got my favorite spot by the window for us to sit at.

After a minute or two, a waitress came over to take our order, "What can I get for you ladies?"

I asked JJ, "You ready?" She nodded and motioned for me to go first. I told the waitress, "One black coffee and a bearclaw for me."

JJ politely spoke up next, "Low-fat iced vanilla latte with a raspberry scone, please." We handed our menus back and turned our attention to each other.

I leaned back in my chair and started, "So, JJ, where are you from?"

"A small town outside Pittsburgh. It's super boring. What about you?"

"Technically DC but I think of Italy as more of my home."

She rested her head on her palm and questioned, "Why's that?"

"Spent a lot of time there when I was a kid. My mother was posted there."

"Oh, interesting. Is she in the army?"

I laughed, "Ha! Elizabeth Prentiss in the army, now that's something I'd pay to see. No, she's an ambassador."

"Wow! Did you spend time anywhere else?"

"France, England, some Middle Eastern countries."

"How many languages do you speak?"

"Sieben."

"Bless you?"

I chuckled, "Seven. I speak seven languages."

"What ones?"

"Well what you just heard was German. I also know Italian, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, French, and obviously English."

"Ugh, you speak French I'm so jealous."

"C'est une langue très romantique." I smirked when I saw JJ swallow hard.

She swooned, "What does that mean?"

"Tu as de beaux yeux."

She smiled widely, "Stop saying things I don't understand!"

"J'aime aussi ton sourire."

"Emily!"

I laughed, "Okay I'll stop, I'll stop!" The waitress came over and handed us our orders.

JJ took a sip of her latte and then begged, "Now tell me everything you said in English."

I winked, "Maybe another time." We talked and talked for what felt like hours. When I finally checked my watch, however, I saw it actually had been. We left the cafe around 4:30, once again stepping out onto the busy streets of New Haven. JJ was walking awfully close to me but I didn't mind, it showed she trusted me. When we approached the corner, a car quickly sped around the bend and skidded off, coming dangerously close to the curb. JJ squealed at the scare and clung to my bicep. I never even flinched and chuckled when the car was gone, "You okay?"

She panted, "That scared me." She looked down at where her arm had landed and nervously pulled away, "S-Sorry."

I gave her a soft smile, "For what?" She smiled back and we kept walking. I brought her back up to her dorm to make sure she got in safely. When she unlocked the door, we saw that Penelope was back. I asked JJ, "Is that the scarf girl?"

She giggled, "Yes. Penelope!" She had to yell because Penelope had headphones on, obviously preventing her from hearing us.

She jolted up and took them off before turning around, "Hey, there you are! Where the hell have you been?" She glanced over to me and cheekily grinned, "Ahh out making new friends, are we?"

I waved, "I'm Emily."

"Of course you are, you're the one Derek was telling me about."

I rolled my eyes, "He's obsessed with me."

JJ whispered to her roommate, "Pen could you give us a sec, please?" I smirked to myself when I heard that JJ wanted to talk to me alone.

"Sure thing, buttercup." Pen walked a few feet away into their attached lounge room. I stuffed my hands in my pockets as JJ turned back around to face me.

She stepped a little closer and said, "Sooo, I had a really nice time today."

"Yeah? Me too." She frowned a little bit when she realized I wasn't gonna make another move, but I was too nervous to ask her out again, even though a tiny voice in my head was pushing me to. It knew she wouldn't ask me.

Even though JJ was slightly defeated, she hopefully asked, "I guess I'll see you around then?"

I awkwardly nodded, "Yeah. I'll see you around."

"Good. Bye for now I guess then, Emily." I led myself out and she shut the door behind me. I leaned my back against it for a while, regretting not making a second move. Why was it different this time? Why wasn't I as forward as I usually am with girls? I'm such an idiot, she's gonna think I don't like her. I wasn't gonna fuck this up with JJ-- I knew I had to do something else to show her I was interested. I anxiously knocked on the door again but presented confidence when she opened it.

She scrunched her brows when she saw me, "Did you forget something?"

I nodded, "Yeah," before stepping forward and placing a light but lingering kiss on her cheek with my hand resting against the other side of her face. I smiled when I pulled away, and gently stroked her chin with my thumb before saying, "I'll call you."