282AN: I HAVE UPLOADED THIS CHAPTER WITH SLIGHT ALTERATIONS SO IT FITS THE TIMELINE (I forgot Christmas isn't in the Summer holidays over there in the US of A!)
Disclaimer: I don't have enough money to own Bones – if I did, I would.
Well, this is my first ever fic, so PLEASE gimme so feedback. I have about 3 more chaps written and I intend to continue, but I'll only post em if people are interested.
Oh, and I'm and Aussie, so if you don't understand any of the slang that I may have slipped in – sorry, and fell free to ask!
Hope you like
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Monday. School. Finally.
Unlike most fifteen year old teenage girls, Temperance Brennan absolutely loved school, and for a multitude of reasons.
At school, Temperance could let her genius brain run wild without having to remember to not use exotic or large words, she could happily immerse herself in a scientific textbook for the lunch hour. At school, Temperance was free of her foster family and the place she was forced to call home.
Tempe had been at this latest school - and foster home - for a surprising three months, two of which had been wasted on summer break. It had been awful – extended family gatherings where everyone stared at the freak, asked awkward questions or just avoided her, and endless days filled with boredom. It was now week two, and she was glad school was back.
'Well, I can definitely conclude that this school is a marginal improvement on the last one,' she thought to herself as she paced down the corridor, shaking her head slightly at the students milling around.
Tempe had been at this latest school - and foster home - for a month, the last week of which had been wasted on mid semester break. She was glad school was back.
'Well, I can definitely conclude that this school is a marginal improvement on the last one,' she thought to herself as she paced down the corridor, shaking her head slightly at the students milling around.
On her left were the 'deadheads', the ones who spent their free time high on one of many different drugs; to her right were the girls who proudly upheld their reputation as the 'one night lifetime' - a bloke got one night of fun in exchange for a lifetime of responsibility. They would gather around, their hands resting over their swollen bellies and compare ultrasound images. Although she never wanted children herself, Temperance couldn't help but feel a little envious of them - at least they had someone who would love them.
And straight up ahead were Tempe's least favourite people - the jocks and the cheerleaders; the self-absorbed guys who breezed their way through school, given top grades simply because they could throw a ball, and the snobby, backstabbing girls who flaunted their wares and threw themselves shamelessly on the footballer's laps. Her foster sister was one of them.
"Hey Garbo!" a snide voice that Tempe instantly recognized as that of her foster sister, Camille, called. "You forgot your lunch!"
As she yelled, Camille threw a small bag of stinking vegetable scraps in her direction. Moving quickly, Temperance managed to avoid the majority of the filth, with only a small amount landing on her shoes and the bottom of her jeans.
Her cheeks flaming and her mouth set in a firm line, Tempe continued along the corridor at a steady pace, trying to ignore the peals of laughter that followed her.
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The last lesson of the day - advanced chemistry, her favourite. Mr. Reid was Tempe's favourite teacher; he was fair, and was not fazed or offended by her intelligence.
He moved around the classroom, handing back their most recent test papers. "Excellent Temperance," he murmured as he placed hers on the desk, the big letters 'A+' written in red ink at the top.
The corner of Tempe's lips curved upward into a smile as she flicked through the pages, looking for mistakes. There were none.
"What the?" A loud voice startled Temperance out of her reverie.
"A D? Come on Sir, you can't fail me. If I don't have a pass I can't play, and we're undefeated!" the voice complained loudly across the room.
"Mr. Booth. As your teacher, I can fail you. Especially considering your awful performance in this exam. You will see me after class," Mr. Reid responded calmly, continuing his rounds. Temperance smirked as she pictured the expression on the football star's face.
Before she knew it, the class had ended and people were racing to dump their equipment, shouting and jostling one another in their haste.
Temperance waited until the majority of the class had disappeared out into the corridor before removing her safety glasses and beginning to clean everyone's instruments. She enjoyed this time alone in the laboratory, and more time spend there meant less at 'home'.
As she worked, she watched on disinterestedly as Seeley Booth sulked in front of the teacher's desk; in her head she was busy reciting the names of the bones in the human body.
Temperance had just run out of bones that she could remember and was moving on to muscles when she was distracted by the sound of her name.
"Temperance!" Mr. Reid called. "Could you come here a moment?"
Tempe approached the front of the room, warily eyeing them both.
"Now, as you undoubtedly would have heard earlier, Mr. Booth here is failing Chemistry."
She shot a quick glance at him, but the football star was staring off to the side, anger and embarrassment evident on his face.
"Technically, the school is required to have a teacher available of an afternoon to tutor such students, but due to family commitments and some plain laziness, no one can do it.
I was wondering if you would be interested in being Seeley's tutor, at least until the next exams at the end of the semester."
Temperance opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off.
"I'm aware you haven't been here long, but it's obvious that you're smarter than most of the teachers here already and I know you're not struggling with the work load, or I wouldn't have asked. And you'd be paid - how does $20 an hour sound?"
As much as she didn't want to have to spend any extra time with the self-centered jerk that was Seeley Booth, she knew that she could really use the money; especially considering she wouldn't have to tell her foster parents about it.
"Okay. I'll do it," she said, looking at her teacher.
"Thank you Temperance," he replied. "It means a great deal."
Tempe nodded slightly then turned to her new student. "Tomorrow afternoon, 4:30, I'll meet you here, okay?"
After seeing him nod painfully in assent, Brennan grabbed her bag and marched out the door leaving, the two men staring after her.
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