This is what I think Temperance Brennan went through during her first couple of days in high school. Her parents haven't left yet, also.
She would be in the 9th grade and 15. Russ would be in the 12th grade and like 18 (I know that he left her at the age of 19). I don't know if they were actually in high school at the same time, but in this story they will be.
I remember she told a story about high school, and how Russ would come by and say 'Marco.'
As always…I do not own Bones.
I hated school. Well, I didn't really hate school but I disliked it very much. It wasn't that I wasn't good in school, actually I had a very high intelligence and that was the problem.
I never complained though. I didn't want my mom and dad to worry about me. And most important, I didn't want my big brother to know. I knew that he was well liked, so I figured that he might not want to be associated with me.
After school on Friday, I ended up walking home because I didn't want to take the bus. There were some older girls who kept messing with me and a few of them rode the same bus as me. I didn't want to become the butt of any more of their jokes.
Most of them messed with me because their boyfriends liked picking on me. I guess they didn't like the fact that their 'men' were paying attention to another girl, even though I did not like the attention they were giving me.
I didn't want to ask Russ for a ride home because that would mean going up to him during or after school. He was always surrounded by a big group of friends; so he was not even considered as a ride.
I didn't really care about walking home; it didn't really bother me. I was able to get there when I wanted to. It wasn't like I had a bad home life, because I had the best parents. I loved them so much.
I just didn't want to be asked questions about my first week of school. I didn't want to lie to my parents, because I couldn't tell them the truth. I knew if I lied too, Russ would know. He could always tell if I was lying or not.
I was later getting home than I should have been, but I didn't realize how late until I saw Russ' car parked in front of the house. Normally I beat him home by ten or fifteen minutes.
I was trying to slip into my room before being noticed by him.
"Tempe…"
Uh-oh. I must have made more noise than I thought. Crap. What could I say to get him to believe me? I knew that if it was too fake, he would jump on it quick.
"Russ, what?" I answered as I kept walking to my room. I was hoping that I would be able to make it there before he reached me. But my attempts to get there first were dashed. He was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, in front of my bedroom door.
Crap. Again.
"Tempe…how did I beat you home?"
I tried getting past him, but he grabbed my arms and pulled me down on the floor next to him.
"Why weren't you on the bus today?"
Not making eye contact, "I missed the bus."
He must not have believed a word that I said, because I heard him sigh.
"Why are you lying to me?"
"Don't worry about it Russ."
Pushing him out of the way, I stumbled into my room and slammed the door before he could come in after me. I wasn't going be able to explain why I walked home, at least not to him. He would never understand.
He is 'like totally gorgeous;' at least that is what I heard when I was in the bathroom yesterday. He has a bunch of friends; I only know this because he is always hanging out with them. He also has his own car. I don't know what type it is but it is awesome.
How would he understand getting picked on because he was different from everyone else? He wouldn't be able to. He wasn't different, and even if he was it wouldn't matter. He could carry being different.
I got through the whole weekend without talking to Russ, but not without talking to my mom and dad. When they asked how school was going I told them that it was good. Yes, I liked my classes and my teachers. No, I haven't made any new friends yet.
My parent's seemed to understand that I was different from everyone, so they didn't push me to make friends. I was so grateful for that too. They didn't know about the girls though, and I was not about to tell them.
They went out to the grocery store Sunday evening so I decided to go into the backyard to look at the stars. What I didn't know, however, was that Russ had come home and he was working on his car in the garage.
He must have heard me come outside, because as soon as the backdoor shut he hollered out for me.
"Tempe" I jumped at my name "you think you can hide from me? You have done well so far, but now you are going to talk."
I sat down on the grass, still not wanting to answer any of his questions. He must have sensed that something was wrong, because the next thing I knew he was plopping himself down right next to me.
"Explain. Now."
"It's nothing Russ. Don't worry about it."
Crap. I should not have said those words. They were like a big, red beacon telling him that there was something actually wrong with me.
"What is going on? Why did you not ride the bus? If you missed it why didn't you come find me?"
He must have heard me sigh before I could stop it, because he moved in front of me so that I had to look at him. I folded her legs under her, while he squatted down so he could see into my eyes. Unfortunately I had to answer him now.
"You were hanging out with your friends."
"That doesn't mean anything."
"I didn't want to bother you." I said this, hoping that he would believe me.
He smiled before answering, "You wouldn't be a bother, little sister."
He stood back up and stretched his arms over his head. I knew he was going back to work on his car, and I was happy. I had finally gotten a little lie past my brother. That had never happened before.
I couldn't tell him that it was some of his friends who had been picking on her this past week. He couldn't know, because if he did he might not believe her. She didn't want to take that chance; she couldn't lose him.
"Hmmm…" was all I said, under my breath, but he caught it.
Crap. He had just walked into the garage but turned back around when he heard me make that noise. Crap.
I rushed back into the house, trying to get into my room before he could catch me. He was quicker and stronger than me though. He grabbed me around my wrist and pulled me into his room. Shutting the door behind him he nodded his head toward his bed, so I sat on it.
"You lied to me. And I actually believed you." he started pacing his room. "Why would you lie to me, especially about school?" something must have clicked in his mind, because he grabbed his desk chair and sat it in front of me before sitting on it. "What happened? Something must have happened at school to make you miss the bus."
I tried getting up, but he grabbed my hands in his and wouldn't let go. I didn't want to tell him that his sister was a social outcast. Again, how could someone like him understand someone like me?
"Don't worry about it. Please. I will be fine."
"Something did happen."
Crap. Why did I just say that? He wasn't that stupid…I should have known that he was going to catch that 'please' that I had thrown in there.
"What happened Tempe?"
"Just some stuff."
"Temperance" oh crap, I was in trouble now.
"Russ…"
"Stop lying to me." he was starting to get upset. "Did someone mess with you or something?" I looked away. "That's what happened! Why didn't you tell me? What the hell kind of brother would I be if I didn't know something like that?"
"It's fine Russ. I will be okay."
"Tempe…"
"No. its fine." I needed to leave; I didn't want to tell him more. "I need to go finish my homework."
He must have realized I wasn't going to let any more slip, so he let me up. When I got back to the sanctuary of my room, I went and sat down at my desk so I could get finished with my homework.
It just barely crossed my mind that Russ might do something tomorrow. I knew that he probably wouldn't though. I knew he cared about me, and that was enough.
Little did I know…
The next morning when I woke up I found a note sitting next to my backpack. I smiled when I read what it said…
Polo-
Wanna ride to school today?
-Marco
After I finished getting ready, I went into the kitchen to see Russ eating a bowl of cereal. He looked up at me and smiled when he saw the note in my hand. I grabbed an apple and when he was done we went out to his car.
When we pulled up to the school, I could see his friends gathered around their cars. They must have noticed his car pulling into the lot, because they started making their way over to where he parked his car.
Getting out quickly, I grabbed my backpack hoping to make a quick getaway. Unfortunately, my big brother had other ideas. He jumped out of the car and grabbed my arm, pulling me into the protection of his arms.
When his friends got there, they must have thought that they were going to have fun with me…I could see some of the girls snickering to each other. I was pleading inside for him to let me go.
Looking down at me he smiled, "see you after school, sis" and he let me go.
I saw the shocked looks on their faces. How could someone as cool as Russ Brennan have a younger sister who was such a dweeb. As I walked away, I smiled. He had figured out who had been bothering me, and he had done something about it.
Before I reached the side door I heard "Marco."
I turned around to see Russ looking at me. I smiled and shouted "Polo" right back at him.
The kids were quick to learn that I was Russ Brennan's little sister. They knew, even if I didn't, what he was capable of. They knew that he would stand up and kick butt if someone messed with me.
Just to remind people who my big brother was he would holler out "Marco" once or twice a day, when he saw me walking down the hall. And I would always answer "Polo."
It was funny, because for the rest of that year…before mom and dad disappeared…no one else messed with me again.
A/N: let me know what you think about this one-shot. I don't know much about the game Marco-polo, so I hope I got the names right. I didn't know if she would be Marco or polo. If I got it wrong, let me know and I will try to change it.