Childish| Criminal Minds

7

Spencer Reid would be more than surprised if he was told three weeks earlier that he'd ever have more than one friend. Now he has six. JJ and Emily are his closest, but his accidental run-in with Derek Morgan ended up being a good thing after all.

Things are looking up. He isn't crying as often as he usually is. He's even friends with Cat Adams.

Speaking of Cat, it's Wednesday, and Cat has decided that their six-minute passing period is a perfect time for a conversation.

"Spencer, about what happened on Saturday.. can you do me a favor and not tell people about Lindsey? Nobody is supposed to know we're together."

"Wait.. so you are together," Spencer repeats. He rocks back and forth on his feet, not wanting to awkwardly end the conversation, but not wanting to be late to class.

"Kind of. It's an open relationship," Cat says.

"So are you like.. lesbian?" Spencer dreadfully asks. The word 'lesbian' comes out of Spencer's mouth like a whisper. Cat would be the only not-straight person he knows. Most people at their school aren't exactly accepting of the lgbt+ community.

Cat laughs. "No, silly. I'm bi."

"So you like guys and girls?" Spencer asks.

"Yeah," Cat says. "I don't think she understands that I'm not out yet."

Spencer actually feels sympathy for Cat. Before the party he thought that she was a one dimensional person; a shallow, slightly off teenage girl, but now he's seeing a side of her that he didn't know existed.

"Anyway, I'll see you later," Cat says with a smile. Her hand faintly brushes by his as she leaves, making Spencer cringe a little bit.

"Spence!" JJ yells. She grabs his shoulders from behind and he whips around.

"Woah-" he says. "Don't scare me like that."

"Why were you talking to Cat?" JJ asks.

"Does it matter?" Spencer asks, slightly annoyed. "I'm late for class."

JJ is a little taken aback. She raises an eyebrow, but without getting the hint, Spencer leaves for class.

JJ still has the notecard in her backpack. She doesn't know if she should tell him. She stole from him and, maybe even worse, she lied to him.

JJ and Spencer have been friends for two strong years, and she might ruin all of it with her jealously. Why is she even jealous?

She has a boyfriend. Spencer is her best friend, nothing more. She was just protecting him.

"What's on your mind?" Penelope asks. JJ almost forgot she was in the hallway.

"Penelope.. I think I really fucked up," JJ says. She and Penelope both happen to have free periods, so it doesn't really matter that class has been in session for five minutes now.

"Spill the tea!" Penelope yells. She slides her sun-glasses to the top of her head and sits down on a nearby bench, patting the seat next to her. JJ takes a seat and sighs.

"It's not tea- I don't know what it is," JJ says. She takes a deep breath then continues, "Cat Adams gave Spencer her phone number."

"Okay.. and that's an issue how?"

"She's a psychopath." Penelope stares blankly at JJ. "I mean- if they dated it wouldn't work out. He's too fragile."

"You took it, didn't you," Penelope says in disbelief.

"I did," JJ admits. "I did the right thing.. right? Because I feel so shitty. Please tell me I did the right thing, Penelope."

"I don't think you took it because you wanted to protect him," Penelope says. She gets up and starts walking toward's Derek's class, leaving JJ alone.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" JJ yells. "Stop being so ominous! You're being really unhelpful right now!"

Penelope doesn't look back. JJ sighs in defeat. Maybe she was right?

A/N: I'm written up to 12 rn so updates every day-ish until I hit a writer's block :)

Word count: 653