Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine except Reagan, Quinn, and Peyton Booth. I also own the plot.

Dear Diary, August 19th, 2023

I got this diary from my Aunt Angela for my Sweet 16, and I promised her that I'd put it to good use, so I'm doing just that right now. I guess I'd better introduce myself. My name is Reagan Elizabeth Booth and I just turned 16 today. I have two older brothers, Parker and Peyton, and an older sister Quinn. My parents are Special Agent Seeley Booth, and Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan. I feel like I should make a few disclaimers before I continue, because my life is messed up and I'm not a happy person. I am 16 years old and I will be graduating high school this year. That's right – according to everyone, I am a genius. I have an IQ of 194, and that test was taken when I was 12. I belong to the Giga Society – it's a society for all people in that 99.999999th percentile that I fall into. In addition to being a brainiac, I will also be attending Georgetown University starting in the fall to study biology and anthropology. I want to do what my mom does. My older sister Quinn will also be starting college at Georgetown in the fall; she's 18 and is normal. She wants to study history. I'm glad that she's going with me, because in all honesty, I'm a little scared. I'll be leaving everyone I know from school behind, and I know that I'll have trouble fitting in. I'm only 16 and all the college kids are old enough that hanging out with a kid won't be fun. I imagine I'll be spending a lot of time in a dorm room alone, but that doesn't bother me too much. I spend a lot of time alone anyways.

On to more important disclosures that will help you understand me…

I hate my parents, but mostly my mom. Funny how I want to be just like her, huh? It's something that happened when I was 8, and it has changed our relationship ever since. It's hard for me to talk about, but maybe writing it will be easier. When I was eight years old, my mom told me I was a mistake. I had just gotten home from school and was going to go talk to her about my day and science class. When I walked in the room she looked upset, and when I asked her what was wrong, she just stared at me. It was at that point that she said, "You're what's wrong. If you hadn't been born everything would be fine. You were a mistake." All I could do is stare at her as she smashed my heart into oblivion. I didn't say anything and turned and walked back to my room and quietly shut the door. I hate that day. It was the day that I began to hate myself because she hated me. I guess I should have seen it coming, but when your mom is your hero, I guess you wear blinders. My mom was never the most loving person in the world – at least to me. She would hug my brothers and sister, but she hardly ever hugged me. I thought maybe it was because I was so smart. I tried to do badly in school just for her, but I couldn't. Once I got a B and dad asked me if I forgot to turn something in, but that was it. She never even said anything. When Quinn and Peyton got A's she was happy, but she was never happy for me.

From that point on, I withdrew. At family functions I would sit and read a book and not speak to anyone. At Christmas I would always open my gifts and let them sit in my room untouched, and once we cleaned out our rooms to give stuff to goodwill, I would give all my gifts away. If my mom couldn't love then I didn't want pity gifts from anyone else. No one ever noticed that I had changed, except Aunt Angela. She was the only person who ever paid me any attention, but even she doesn't know what mom said. I think this is a sadness that I will carry around with me forever. I feel that no one will ever love me, and that I don't deserve to be loved.

Because, let's face it…no one loves a nobody. And that's me, Reagan Booth.

Reagan turned over and put the diary in her nightstand drawer. Just by writing that little bit of information down – information that she had never told anyone – she felt better. Grabbing her book, Reagan snuggled down into the covers of the bed. She was trying to learn Greek on her own, and was actually quite successful. She had asked her dad to buy her some tapes so she could learn on her own, and he had obliged without much trouble. Reagan never asked her mother for anything at all, since giving birth to her was such a terrible ordeal, why should she put her in under any more stress.

There was a knock at the door, and Reagan looked up. "Come in." Her dad slowly opened the door and came into the room.

"Hi sweetie," he said softly. He always had a smile for her, even though she never smiled back.

"Hi dad," was all she said.

"I just wanted to say Happy Birthday again before you went to bed. Did you have a good time today?"

"Yeah, it was a good day."

"That's good. You're always so quiet."

"Don't want to bore anyone to death," Reagan said with a straight face. Her dad laughed.

"You'd never bore me to death, remember, I'm used to your mother." Reagan only nodded. Seeley just wanted to get one smile out of her today. It's not right for a girl not to smile on her Sweet 16. "Don't you ever smile anymore, Ray?"

"Sometimes, dad. Smiles should be saved for when they are truly needed."

"Can't you give your dad just one smile?"

"I suppose." Reagan gave him a small true smile that was reserved only for him.

"That's my girl. Well, looks like you are studying your Greek again, so I'll just let you get to it. See ya in the morning. Happy Birthday, Ray."

"Thanks. 'Night Dad." He smiled at her one last time and shut the door.

His youngest child always perplexed Seeley Booth, as Reagan was just too far out of his league sometimes. She was always too hard for him to read. He could never tell if she was happy or sad, since she never smiled at anyone. She had grown into such a different young lady. He reminisced about her as a baby. She always smiled and was bubbly all the time. She rarely fussed about anything and was content to be near either of her parents. And as she grew her personality stayed the same. Reagan was always content to be doing something with her parents. Most days, since she was home schooled, she spent time with Temperance at the lab and Reagan loved every minute of her time there. When she was eight, she asked to be enrolled in a regular school and it was around that time Seeley noted a huge change in her demeanor. From pleasant and outgoing to quiet and withdrawn, it was as if Reagan had changed overnight. It was then he realized that she had grown up too quickly, though he didn't know the reason behind it.

Seeley walked into the bedroom he shared with his wife. She was sitting on the bed pouring over files. "Bones," he said, alerting her of his presence.

"Oh, hi."

"Working again? I thought you said you'd take a break today?"

"It's just work for my next book, I wanted to do some editing."

"You did some earlier when we were supposed to be spending time with Ray."

"I only worked for a little while, and I spent time with her today."

"I know. Come on, come to bed." Temperance sighed, but got up and put the papers away and lay down next to him. "That's better." She smiled at him as he leaned down to kiss her. "I love you, Bones."

"I love you too, Booth."

"Can you believe our baby is 16?"

"They grow up fast, don't they?"

"Too fast. I just wish she wasn't headed off to college in a few weeks. We're really going to have an empty nest."

"But we'll be able to focus on us now instead of the kids all the time. We can go on trips and stuff alone, and we can spend more time working on cases."

"You always want to work, don't you?"

"I can't help that I just love working with my partner. Have you met him? He's gorgeous and carries a gun."

"So you like dangerous men?"

"No, I just like his guns." She kissed him passionately as he reached over and turned off the lights.