Chapter 3
Temperance avoided Seeley for the rest of the day. After school, she managed to get into her car and drive off before he walked out of the building.
She went straight to her room when she got "home". Well, she thought, at least the Whites were nice, and allowed her to stay up in her room and study. And they didn't hit her, either. This was probably the best family she'd been with.
She kept to herself, usually. She knew it was easier that way. The less people she knew, and the less she knew about people, made it easier when she inevitably had to move to another house, another family.
The weekend was actually fun. She studied for her tests, did her homework, wrote her reports and papers, just like always. On Saturday, Mrs. White took her to the mall to get some new clothes, and then she got a haircut. They even went to get their nails done. She was actually enjoying spending time with her foster mother. Mrs. White was a kind, generous, funny woman who genuinely cared about her and wanted to get to know her. They went to a book store, to her delight, and she perused the shelves for hours.
Monday morning was cold and cloudy, a typical October morning. Brennan pulled up to school in her car, parked, and made her way to her locker. She was a bit early, so she headed to the cafeteria to get breakfast.
On her way back to her locker, she passed the art room. It was empty except for one girl. She was working on a painting, her iPod headphones in her ears as she worked. Brennan paused, studying the somewhat abstract painting. She decided she liked it.
"Hi," Brennan said tentatively. She knew she could be socially awkward, as it was something that classmates from former schools had pointed out often.
The girl turned around, removing her headphones. "Hi," she said quizzically.
"I was just looking at your painting, it's very good. You are a very skilled artist."
"Thanks. Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you around before."
"Yes, I'm new. I just…moved here." She hesitated slightly when she stated she had moved. It wasn't technically a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either.
"Oh, ok. I'm Angela, by the way. Angela Montenegro."
"Brennan. Temperance Brennan." Angela laughed while Brennan gave her a confused look. "What's so funny?"
"It's just that you sounded so much like James Bond. You know, 'Bond, James Bond'?" Brennan was still confused.
"James Bond?"
"Wait, you've never heard of James Bond? Sweetie, we're gonna have to educate you. In fact, we have a resident hottie here at Thomas Jefferson High that happens to slightly resemble good old double oh seven. I'm sure you've had the great pleasure of meeting Seeley Booth?" she asked, curious as to how this girl had never heard of James Bond. She didn't appear to be one of those horribly geeky or nerdy types; in fact, she was what the aforementioned Booth and his friends would call "smokin' hot."
"Oh yes, Booth. We met yesterday. He's in a few of my classes." Just then, a boy a couple of inches shorter than Brennan walked into the art room. He had curly brown hair and bright blue eyes, and he clutched a container that held a small green caterpillar in his hand. He wore a sweatshirt and jeans, his backpack slung over one shoulder.
"Hey, Ange," he said tentatively. He turned and saw Brennan. "Oh, hi. I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met. Jack Hodgins." He extended his hand, which Brennan shook.
"Temperance Brennan." She thought he had a friendly air about him.
"Hodgins' house is that huge one on top of the hill by the edge of town," Angela stated.
"Ange! You know I hate it when you tell people that!" Jack exclaimed.
"Sorry Hodgins, I just like to see you get uncomfortable," Angela countered with a smirk.
"Why wouldn't you want people to know where your house is?" Brennan asked.
"Because I don't want people to know that my family is rich," he sighed. "If they found out, and everyone became friends with me just so I would pay for stuff, then how would I know whether or not my friends genuinely cared about me?"
"That's understandable," Brennan nodded. Suddenly, a shrill bell rang. "Crap, I have to go if I'm going to get to class on time. Bye Ange, bye Hodgins. It was nice meeting you."
"You too," Angela and Hodgins replied in unison.
Brennan walked briskly down the hall, her books held tightly to her body by her crossed arms. She walked into Physics and sat down just as the second bell rang. She exhaled, not even realizing that she had been holding her breath in the first place. She turned to see Booth smirk at her and wink.
"What?" she asked, slightly irked.
"Nothing, it's just that I didn't think you'd be the type to almost be late to class, especially on Monday morning. In fact, I figured you'd be the type to get here early." He chuckled softly. His weekend sucked, and seeing her face on such a dreary Monday lifted his spirits immensely. He enjoyed this bickering thing that they had.
"I was early, but I stopped in the art room and began talking to this girl named Angela and a guy named Jack," she huffed. She wasn't really irritated, but she enjoyed the friendly, meaningless banter.
"Oh, Angela Montenegro and Jack Hodgins? They're nice. Angela's a very talented artist, and Jack runs on the cross country team and plays lacrosse."
"Yes, I stopped to compliment Ange on one of her paintings. They were both very friendly." The teacher walked into the room, a little winded from rushing to class. Since, she was late, she had to go through the day's lesson quickly, so Temperance and Booth had no time to talk to one another.
The rest of the day was quiet, as were Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Except that Temperance told Booth that she wanted to be a forensic anthropologist. After she explained what exactly a forensic anthropologist did, he decided that he would from then on call her "Bones". On Friday, Booth met Temperance in the parking lot, a little while before school started.
"Hey, Bones–"
"—Don't call me Bones."
"Okay Bones, whatever you say." That earned him an exasperated sigh and a light hit to the shoulder. "So, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the football game tonight. It's a home game, and I would really appreciate it if you came." He squirmed in his chair, slightly nervous. He wasn't sure why he was so afraid of her turning him down, but he knew if she came that he would be beyond elated.
"Sure, Booth. I'd love to go. Can Ange and Hodgins come too?"
"Of course Bones, thanks. One other thing," He looked at her, nervous once again but still excited from her saying she would go to his game. "Whenever the varsity team has a home game, they give their away jersey to a girl to wear on game day. I was, uh," he looked at her again, then turned his gaze downward, studying his shoes intently, "I was wondering if you'd, uh, maybe like to wear mine?"
Brennan was a little stunned that he had asked her. She had heard of the custom, as they had done the same thing at her old school. However, she had only ever been asked once. A cute boy named Sully, who she had gone out with for a month or so before he moved to a new town.
"Uh, yeah, Booth. I'll wear your jersey."
"Okay, uh, I think I have it with me. It's clean, I washed it." He dug through his backpack for a moment before producing the navy and white jersey. "Here you go." She took it from him and placed it on the hood of her car. She quickly removed her sweatshirt, followed by the t-shirt she had worn that day. After pulling the jersey over her head, she saw Booth's face was bright red.
"Are you embarrassed by something, Booth?" she inquired.
"Oh, uh, no Bones, it's nothing. Thanks for, uh, you know, wearing my jersey." Booth was on cloud nine at that moment, not only had she agreed to go to the game and wear his jersey, but he also had a nice, long look at her toned stomach and her breasts, barely contained in her blue polka dot bra.
"Thanks for asking me to wear your jersey." They gazed at each other for a long moment before Brennan, in a decidedly un-Brennan-like manner, pulled him into a hug. She felt a strange warmth wash over her as his arms wrapped around her middle. She could only describe it as a wave of euphoria and happiness. It was a feeling she hadn't felt since…she shivered at the mere thought, and Booth pulled her closer to him. They reluctantly pulled apart, though neither was sure why they were so reluctant.
"We have to get to Physics." She couldn't wait for her third period English class. It was one of the few classes she didn't share with Booth. However, she discovered that Angela and Hodgins were both in her class. She was practically bursting with excitement, and she desperately wanted to share this morning's events Angela. Yes, third period couldn't come soon enough.
