8Temperance Brennan was an above average girl. She had an unusually high I.Q. She had never gotten a grade below an A. She was beautiful. She was abandoned by her parents. She didn't smile anymore. She hadn't lived in one place for longer than a month in half a year. She never knew if the next place she was going to would be better or worse. Temperance Brennan was an above average girl, living a below average life.
Seeley Booth was an average boy. He was the quarterback on the highschool football team. He wasn't the smartest kid around, but he got by. He was handsome. He could get any girl he wanted. He was a good, Catholic boy. He was raised by his grandfather, since his drunk of a father left them. Seeley Booth was an average boy, making the best of what he had.
Temperance had packed up her one duffel bag with all of her possessions. It was all that a foster kid was given to carry their things. It was usually all that they needed. Her bag was close to full, but over her half year of being a foster child, she had lost quite a bit of her things along the way.
She didn't want to leave. This was the fourth home she had been in since she had been put into the system, but it had been the kindest. The woman she was living with was very kind; fed her good food, drove her to school, made sure she had the right textbooks, and had even bought her some new clothing after discovering how worn out her old jeans were.
Temperance hugged her foster mother goodbye, and looked back as she was walked toward the child services van. She waved sadly, and added this moment to the memory of abandonment.
She was going to have to enroll in a different school now. Temperance hadn't had to enroll in a new school since the second home she had been in; all of the foster families after that had been within bus distance of that school. This school she was going to now would be full of new people, who wouldn't accept her. She would have to endure the feeling of alienation once more.
The young woman didn't try to keep track of time. She just stared out the window and watched as the freeway turned into side roads, and the side roads turned into residential areas, and the car finally stopped in front of a decent looking house. Temperance looked at it hopefully, thinking that it may not be as bad as some of the others. She then tried to shake these thoughts; she had learned not to hope anymore.
A social worker walked her to the door, and left as soon as her new 'parents' let her inside.
"Hi," She began. "I'm Temperance Brennan." She held out her hand to shake their hands, but they didn't take it.
The man just rolled his eyes. The woman placed a hand on one hip and spat. "We know that. Just go put your stuff in your room."
"Where-"
"Third down the hall, to the right." The couple turned and walked back into the living room, where a television was set to an obnoxiously loud volume on some sort of action movie.
Temperance just sighed and shuffled down the hallway to her new room. She looked at the name she had written on her hand before leaving her previous home.
"Porter," It said, written in blue marker that had faded just a bit. Temperance shook her head, knowing that the name would be one that she would come to hate. She opened the door and entered a plain room, with a twin sized bed in one corner with a plain brown bedspread, a very small table that was meant to be a desk, a closet, and a bathroom. The walls were beige. She began to unpack her things, hanging the clothes up and placing some personal objects around the room to make it more homey.
Temperance looked at it and picked up all of the things that she had brought with her from her old room and placed them back in her duffel, before sliding the bag to the very back of her closet. She didn't want anything to happen to them, and who knows what the Porters would do?
The next day was school. Temperance got up, brushed her hair until it was shiny and smooth. brushed her teeth, and went into the kitchen to eat breakfast.
Her new foster mother was sitting there, reading a romance novel with a cup of coffee in one hand.
"Excuse me," Temperance called warily. "Is there anything that I may eat for breakfast?" She asked.
The woman checked her watch. "No breakfast for you. At this rate, you should probably run to school."
"There's no bus?"
"Not for you. You know we have to pay a fee for bussing, right? No, you start in 20 minutes and the school's three miles away. Better get going. " Mrs. Porter smirked and took a loud sip of coffee. Temperance checked her watch and realized that she was right. She had been shown by the social worker where the school was, so she dashed back to her room, grabbed her backpack, and put on her shoes, slamming the door for good measure as she started running.
Good for Temperance, she had always been a pretty fast runner. She made it to school just after the bell rang, and found her homeroom easily with the clearly labeled buildings and schedule in her hand.
She paused for just a second outside the door to catch her breath and fix her hair before pulling the door open and staring into a class of unfamiliar faces, who she can tell are already judging her by her appearance.
The math teacher, Mr. Robins, appeared very strict. She walked to his desk and handed him her slip of paper saying that she was a new student. All teachers were supposed to sign it on her first day. He took out a pen, scribbled a signature, but held it before handing it back to her.
"Just because you're new doesn't give you the excuse to be late," He scolded. "See me after class." Temperance only nodded. The fat man pointed back to an empty seat. "You can sit next to Seeley Booth."
She took her seat next to the boy in the very back corner. Temperance could see that they were learning about something that she had just started at her old school, so she pulled out a blank piece of paper and started taking notes when Mr. Robins began talking. She was pretty focused until another piece of paper slid beneath her left hand, which was lying on the desk.
Temperance could see the word 'Open' written in black ink on it, and she could tell that it had been the boy next to her. She flipped it open and read the neatly written note.
Name?
She normally ignored notes that were passed to her. Then again, most notes that were meant for her were derogatory in some way or another. This one didn't seem like it had bad intentions, and Temperance glanced over to the boy she knew to be Seeley Booth, who was smiling a charming smile at her. She picked up her own pencil, and wrote her response.
Temperance Brennan
His reply? Temperance? That's an unusual name.
Temperance sighed and would have angrily scratched down a comeback, but she just didn't have the heart to right now. So she just slid the paper back to him, choosing not to say anything
I didn't mean for that to seem rude. Sorry.
She ignored it again.
What's your schedule?
Temperance could see now that he wasn't going to leave her alone until she answered, so she pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to him.
Cool. We have all the same classes except for English. But I know where that class is. I can show you if you'd like.
Surprise was the only word to describe how Temperance felt at the moment. The first time somebody her age had reached out to her in any way. Instead of writing back, she looked him square in the eyes and nodded. This was met with a genuine smile.
For the first time in what seemed like forever, Temperance had the urge to smile back.
After class, Temperance was given a short lecture by Mr. Robins before he handed her the paper back. She left and reached for her pocket to pull out her schedule, before realizing that Seeley had never given it back.
"Shoot..." She muttered, doing a slight facepalm. She tried to remember anything that had been on the paper.
A sudden tap on the back caused her to jump and whip around to see none other than Seeley Booth waving a piece of paper at her. "Forget something?" He placed it into her waiting hand and motioned for her to walk with him.
"Thanks."
He nodded in acknowledgment and told her. "We have Bio next. It's just in the next building over." When she didn't say anything, Seeley asked, "You're very quiet, aren't you?"
"Yes. I only speak when spoken to."
"Why?"
"When I-" She cut herself short. She didn't want anybody to know that she was a foster child. It would just make them further push her away. "Just the way I am, I guess."
He shrugged. "That's cool. I've always liked quiet people. So, it must suck being the new kid huh?"
Temperance nodded.
"You should sit with us during lunch; me and my friends that is."
She agreed and entered the biology lab with him.
After English, the one class they didn't have together, Seeley waited for her outside of her classroom and took her with him to their lunch table. She looked at their faces as he rattled off a list of names.
"This is Angela, Hodgins, Cam, Sweets, and Teddy. Guys, this is Temperance Brennan." He introduced her to them, pointing out who was who. She received all approving looks and squirmed, not comfortable with people looking at her without a sense of disgust, fear, or loathing. After a few seconds of awkward silence, she took a seat next to Teddy. Everyone was eating, but Temperance just sat, staring into her lap and listening to the groups light conversation.
"When's the next football game?"
"Next Friday. It's gonna be tough."
"What did you get on the Lit. test?"
"Hey, wanna come over on Saturday?"
These kinds of situations were not uncommon for Temperance. She just listened, wondering if she had made the right choice to sit with these people after all.
"Hey, Temperance," Angela called over from her seat next to Hodgins. "Why aren't you eating?"
"I don't have any food." A simple enough response. She could just act as though she left her lunch at home.
"I'll go wait in the lunch line with you if you want," The brunette offered.
"I don't have any money."
Angela smiled. "That's okay, I can treat you for today."
"It's alright. I'll be fine." Temperance was lying. Her stomach was growling; she hadn't eaten since the day before.
"Sweetie," Angela said, concerned. "You have to eat something. You're not on a diet are you? You're already so skinny, I just look at you and think you might break!"
"No, I just feel bad taking money from you when we've only just met."
Angela shook her head. "The food here is cheap. Besides, it's not that great. I won't miss a dollar fifty, I swear."
"Really, that's okay!" Temperance refused adamantly. She didn't want to be viewed as a charity case; here she was with an opportunity to be viewed as normal, maybe even be seen as popular, and she may be blowing it by not having a lunch. Just great.
Teddy was the first to say anything. "Come on, just let her be, Ange." He was showing Booth how to spin a pencil around his thumb and back into writing position. Booth looked over at Temperance.
"Really, that's not healthy. You're already so skinny. Just bones. I think I'll call you that. Bones!" Booth laughed. Temperance frowned.
"That nickname doesn't seem to be entirely derogatory, but I don't like it," She stated matter-of-factly, as though that was going to put an end to the whole thing.
Booth laughed. "Well, get used to it Bones. That's your name from now on."
She sighed, frustrated, and pulled out a book in exasperation.
"You alright?" Booth asked.
"You're infuriating."
"So I've been told."
The group sat and talked the rest of the lunch period, until the bell's shrill warning rang throughout the school. Booth waited for the newly bequeathed "Bones" before heading to their maths class, where they ended up sitting together once more.
At the end of the day, Brennan was offered a walk home, but she refused. She could already tell that she didn't live in a great neighborhood, so she began the trek back by herself.
Halfway there, Brennan was grabbed from behind. Her eyes widened, and she followed her first instinct, which was to turn and roundhouse kick whoever it was that was messing with her. After the initial rush of adrenaline wore off, she looked down at her supposed 'attacker,' who was lying in a fetal position on the ground.
It was somebody whose face she recognized just barely. "Sweets?"
He groaned a bit as he pushed himself up off the ground and grimaced. "I prefer for people to call me Lance."
"Sorry, Lance."
He continued. "I didn't mean to startle you. Actually, I was going to ask you if you were like me."
Brennan looked at him in confusion. "Like you?"
"A foster child. I can tell."
Her eyes widened and her lips moved back and forth, trying to figure out what exactly to say. Finally, she regained her focus and whispered, "You're in the system?"
Sweets bobbed his head up and down in response. "Everyone else knows, which is alright, I guess. Even though I'm not the closest to all of them in that group, at least hanging around with them keeps me from getting thrown into trash cans..."
Brennan looked at him, pleading. "Please," she begged. "Don't tell anybody. Not yet."
Lance raised his arms up a little before letting them drop back to his sides in a little bit of a shrug. "I guess. But trust me, they'll find out eventually." And with that, he made the opposite turn of Brennan and headed off to what Temperance was sure was a home just as bad, or worse, than her own.
That night, after finishing the truckload of homework that was now stacked in a neat pile on the edge of her desk, Temperance wandered fearfully into the kitchen in hopes of getting even the smallest morsel of food.
Mrs. Porter was on the floor of the living room, giving herself a pedicure. Mr. Porter was found in the kitchen, bent over and searching the shelves of the refrigerator.
"Um, excuse me sir, but could I please have dinner?" Brennan dared the question after standing in the back of the room for almost a minute.
He froze on the spot, then straightened his back and wheeled slowly around to face her. "Dinner? We give you a perfectly nice place to live, with good care, and all you want is more?"
Temperance shook her head, "No, no, I was just wondering-"
"Listen, you selfish girl! Don't go around begging for more when we've already given you so much!" He took a couple of long strides towards her, making Brennan back against a wall and bring her loosely clenched hands to her face.
"Please, sir, I didn't-"
Mr. Porter had almost reached her now. "Go back to your room!" He bellowed. "Now!"
Temperance nodded, her body shaking with fear, before turning and dashing out of the room. As the distance between herself and the man was increased just a bit, she clumsily face-planted into the carpet, successfully giving herself a bloody nose in the process.
Mrs. Porter waddled over, making sure not to let her wet toenails touch the floor. "Now look what you've done! Go get the stain remover, quick!" She shouted.
"Where is it?" Temperance asked, trying to use her hand to stop the bleeding.
"Under the bathroom sink," She rolled her eyes as she said this, as though Brennan should have known this all along. Temperance used her non-bloodied hand to push off off the ground and ran, though more carefully, to the bathroom. She quickly used toilet paper to clot her wound and washed the blood off of her left hand before reaching under the sink for spray bottle.
As she came back into the Porter's sight, Temperance rushed to her knees and began to scrub the area that had been stained by her own blood. She could feel their glares on the back of her neck as she scrubbed harder, fighting the tears that threatened to spill over her eyelids. They didn't though. Temperance had trained herself far too well not too cry.
When she finished, she stood back up and apologized to the Porters, before being promptly slapped on the cheek before being sent of to bed, without a bite of food.
Temperance had taken a big risk the next morning, and that risk was taking some of her foster mother's makeup from her bathroom. She grabbed the jar of coverup, applied some to her nose and cheek, where red spots still remained from the night before. This helped very little.
It was a better day. For the first time in twenty-four hours, Temperance had scrounged up something to eat. She had found a burnt piece of toast on a plate on the counter, which was clearly meant to be thrown away. Luckily, Brennan liked her toast on the crispy side, she she grabbed it and began walking to her school.
For once, Temperance was excited for going to school.
For once, she didn't have to face ridicule everywhere she went.
For once, she had something to look forward too.
A venture into the high-school Bones fandom! Please leave your reviews to let me know what you think!
~SnowKoyuki13