Freshman Year

2

"Jennifer. I can't believe you are actually doing this. What would your sister think? I can't believe you are leaving your family for some little crazy dream." JJ smiled at her father, keeping track of the distance between them. He raised a hand to his head and she flinched.

She hated that she did. After her parents' divorce, her mom moved out, it was shortly after Roz died. JJ was certain he never hit her mom, he was never angry before the divorce. But when she left the house, JJ seemed to be the target for his anger.

Every other weekend she would leave heaven, go to hell and back again. Her mom never found out and never would find out, it would break her heart. "What do you mean? I thought you were happy for me." She shoved her cap and gown into her bag, planning on getting ready at a friend's house before he stopped her on her way out.

"I was never. You are going across the country. Leaving your everyone for something that won't even happen. You disappoint me. Your sister would be disappointed. You disappointed everyone."

She looked at him, confused as to what caused the blow up. "I'm only going to be four hours away and I can come visit on weekends." She said, wondering why she felt so bad. He shook his head and started to walk away. "I want you out of this house by the time you leave."

JJ stood in the kitchen, shock about what she just heard. She just nodded and watched hum walk out of the kitchen. When his door was closed she leaned on the counter and covered her mouth. She kept herself quiet, knowing what would happen if he heard.

JJ looked at the clock, she only had an hour. She went to her room, throwing everything she had into bags and boxes. Fortunately, she didn't keep much stuff at her dads house. She threw all her stuff into her car and sat in the front seat, finally letting herself cry.

She opened her bag, grabbing the makeup she had and started to reapply it, fixing all the things her tears had ruined. She finished it quickly, keeping track of the time. She plugged her hair curler into her backseat outlet, giving it time to heat up before telling her friend she wasn't coming. She spent fifteen minutes fixing her hair, before unplugging it and leaving for her graduation.

JJ ran faster letting her body pierce through the cool air. She lapped the perimeter twice, alone, letting everything leave her brain. "Doing good blondie. I didn't think I would meet a challenge this early in the morning." A guy said, running next to her.

"This is just a little warm up. You're going to have to work harder to win." JJ smiled, not looking at him. "I'm Derek. I'm on the football team. Do you live near here?" He asked her. "Yeah, I'm in Harbin. I'm on the soccer team. JJ."

They kept running, each trying to be faster than the other. They lapped the school twice more, completing JJ's goal. JJ let Derek walk her to the dorm, he lived a floor below her.

As the elevator doors open, Penelope stepped off, stopping in her tracks at the sight of the man next to her roommate. "Hello gorgeous. Penelope Garcia, JJ's roommate." She said, holding out her hand to him. "Pleasure to meet you darling. Derek Morgan."

JJ rolled her eyes at them, the three of them stepping onto the elevator, Penelope forgetting what she was planning on doing. After saying goodbye, JJ finished getting ready, cleaning up before leaving her class.

She found Spencer sitting in the front row, the only student without a laptop. "Jennifer, I saved you a seat." He said, waving at her. JJ smiled at him joining him front and center. She unpacked her backpack, simply pulling out her laptop to the surprise of Spencer.

"That's it?" He asked, confused as to why she only needed the one thing. "That's how they do it in the 21st century Spence. No need for paper." She smiled, logging onto her laptop. Their conversation was simple, catching up about their mornings, being interrupted by someone calling JJ's name.

"I didn't know you were in this class blondie." Derek said, sitting next to her, waving to Spencer. She introduced the two, Spencer knowing a bit about him. "I thought it would be fun. I read one of Professor Rossi's books in high school and thought it would be fun."

She smiled, thinking of all the times she read his books on the bus to soccer games. "Fun for a Communications major?" Derek smiled. "Mass Communications." JJ corrected him with a smile.

He lightly punched her arm as the professor walked in. The class went by quickly, they had a small assignment, just saying what they wanted to learn. JJ was fascinated the whole time, the stories Rossi told kept her hooked the whole time. After Derek and Spencer packed their bags, JJ said goodbye.

She let them leave before walking up to Rossi. "Professor, do you have a minute?" She had a few minutes before her next class and could spend time talking. "Call me Rossi, what do you need?" He said, putting his bag down, starting to wipe off the whiteboard.

"I was wondering if you had to be a Criminology major to do what you do. I've read almost every one of your books and todays lecture changed my mind about what I want to do." She said, trying to keep all her thoughts from spewing out.

"Absolutely not. Are you thinking BAU specifically or just being in the FBI?" He asked, knowing what she was wanting but trying to get her to say it.

"I mean, BAU would be amazing, but FBI seems more reasonable. I just want to help people." She smiled, thinking about being the person that people could turn to for help. That was always the type of person she was. In high school she was the person that people would go to for help.

"The BAU would be lucky to have you. We always need people that want to help. But to answer your question, no. Criminology or Psychology would be if you wanted to be a profiler. But they aren't the ones directly talking to people. If I'm right, you want to talk to people. Help them on their worst days and comfort them."

JJ looked at him, confused as to how he read her mind. "How did you do that?" She asked, lost. He laughed at her reaction and went back to wiping the board.

"Profiling kid. I saw your reaction when I talked about the families. You looked empathetic towards them. I overheard you were a Mass Communications major?" She nodded. "The role of a liaison, for any field, is the person to talk between the tea, and the public. They make press announcements, talk to families, help the team. Continue with Mass Comm and that seems like a strong place for you."

JJ smiled at him. "Really?" He nodded. "If you ever need any help along the way, let me know. Having a letter of recommendation from the founder of the BAU can really help." He smiled at her and started to pack her bag. "Thank you. That means a lot." He sent her on her way and she made it to her next class just in time.