So I always had this weird obsession with the way people pass their days. Do you know what I mean? You get back from school at like 2PM and you blink and suddenly it's 9PM and you really can't explain what the hell you did in those past 7 hours. Well, that was a question that made me go nuts. You'll understand why I decided to start with that.
Before I start talking about my very poor and boring life, I think I should introduce myself.
I'm Temperance Brennan, and I graduated from one of the most terrible high schools on Earth.
About my obsession – people like my best friend would look at me with that weird look, the one I could never figure out,
BUT, I do know one person who shares that obsession with me; his name's Booth.
In some books I've read the writer tells you, the reader, how he and the second most important person in the story met, which in my case, is Booth.
So I've met Booth in a psychology class, when I was a junior and he was a senior, and I took that class for extra credits.
It was the first or the second meeting, and for some reason, the teacher asked about our hobbies.
When she got to me, she practically yelled "Temperance" because I wasn't really listening. (Only after that class Booth told me he "would've turned red", but I couldn't understand why would I turn red because the teacher called my name.)
Anyway, it took me about five seconds to understand what I'm supposed to do.
"I'd rather not discuss it, thanks," I said, and as I mentioned, it was only for extra credits, and the teacher – I actually can't even remember her name – couldn't care less.
Booth's voice, back then so strange and now days so familiar, came behind me.
"Bones?" He asked, and I jumped around and looked straight into his brown eyes, what scared him a little, and he backed off a little.
"Excuse me?" I was a bit confused.
He pointed at my notebook, at the pages which I covered with skulls I've drew. "Bones."
"Mmm," I shut my notebook, not disconnecting my eyes from his for a second.
"Seeley," the teacher called, and it was his eyes who disconnected from mine. I think something in me was jealous at the teacher, who now owned his look.
"Oh yeah, uh, hockey, I guess. And psychology! Oh how I LOVE psychology, Mrs."
"Thanks, Seeley," the teacher said in an amused tone, and continued with the round of names.
The boy – Seeley, chuckled and turned back to me. "So, Bones, I'm Booth."
"I thought you were Seeley," for some reason that made him laugh, go figure.
"Yeah, Booth's my last name, I go by it."
"Okay, so my last name's Brennan, you can call me that," I said.
"Nah, I'm gonna go with Bones."
Well, eventually, the bell rang, and I was just about to leave when HIS voice came from behind me.
"Wait up, Bones," he called, and I was kind of disturbed, I wasn't really used to people calling after me. "I have two questions, two things I'm quite interested about."
"Well? What are they?" I asked, and my tone was far grimmer than I was planning it to be.
But he didn't seem to notice. "Okay, one; how come I only see you in psychology?"
"Well, that's an easy one, I'm not a senior, I'm a junior," I was quite for a moment and then continued. "I take this class for credits, plus, my teachers say I have the IQ of a senior, maybe even a student in the university or something. I gotta say I agree."
I could see he was a bit dazzled, but I just kept staring at him.
"Okay, and two; what's the things with you and bones?"
"Well, I was always very into anthropology, I know it's pretty weird for people in this age to be so into that kind of stuff, but what can I say?" At about this point I realized I was talking way too much, but something in his look kept me going. "I don't know, there's a whole bunch of shit that I think about, like, stuff I shouldn't even bother with, but I always loved mysteries – even though I'm a huge believer in facts-"
"I'm gonna take that as 'I'm an atheist', yeah?" He actually looked quite upset about interrupting me.
"Huge atheist," I nodded, I had no idea what a believer in God he was.
"Okay, continue."
"Anyway, where was I? Oh, mysteries, I always loved mysteries, in books, in movies, in life. So yeah, anthropology is more of a science, not mystery, but it's surprising, I mean, when I read books about the human body I just discover things you would never even think about, that's the best part. The solving-the-mysteries part, you know, when everything about the human species, or any other species, really, becomes so clear, so understood… you probably have no idea what I'm talking about, but wow, I could go on for hours. And bones, the bones are the center, you know, it what keeps the human going. The skeleton, the everything. Most of the creatures on Earth wouldn't exist if it wasn't for bones, especially the human kind. I mean… you know? No, I guess you don't, but um, yeah, you know."
He was silent for a minute, and I opened my mouth again.
"I'm sorry, was that boring? my best friend always says I have this thing with boring people, but I don't know-"
"Temperance Brennan, I think you are the most amazing person I've met in my entire life. Not only you're not boring, you're interesting, you're fascinating, and I like you, a lot."
Now, THAT made ME go silent.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Seeley Booth," I mumbled, then turned around and left the hall as fast as I could.
So that was the first time I've met Booth. And yes, the day after that, he sat next to me in class, and then at lunch, and at the breaks. We became close friends and I didn't even notice. When Angela – my best friend which I mentioned earlier – asked about "that boy who always sits next to us" all I said was "it's a kid from psychology". I guess I never thought he would even want to be a friend of mine.
I'm gonna skip a bit, I'm going a month later.
So our teacher – I think she was called Mrs. Fitzpatrick, I'm not quite sure, I'm gonna call her Mrs. Fitz – said we're gonna do an opening paper, in pairs. Booth was pretty enthusiastic, he leaned over to me and pointed at me, and then at him, and then back at me.
"Ah?" I almost laughed.
"You, me, yeah?"
"Oh, the paper! Us, together! Yeah, okay, sure," I smiled.
I think that was just about the time I realized he was my friend, not just a person I knew.
"You can come over to my place," I said. "I live by myself."
Oh yeah, another thing about me, I'm an orphan, and my brother is a stupid prick who moved to Boston or something, I can't really remember where he lived back then.
Of course, 'where's your parents?' was a question I expected, but it never came.
Later on, by the way, he said he knew I was gonna tell him the full story when I was ready, and indeed I told him.
"Okay, cool," he smiled. "I'll wait for you outside of your classroom, after your last period."
I nodded, and he gently touched my arm when I stood up, ready to leave the room. Usually I'd pull my hand or yell at him, but his warmth only made me smile.
"See you later, Booth," I grabbed my stuff.
Behind my back I could hear him, or I think I heard him. "See you later, Bones."