Chapter Three
The walk from the house to town was short and she spent it taking in the area and familiarizing herself with landmarks so that she could get back easily. The main part of Shepherdstown was a street lined with shops and small restaurants with the beginnings of the college campus directly in the middle, with a campus hall on one side of the street and the town library on the other. It was almost like a scene out of a movie. Next to the library was a bakery and a couple doors down the other side was a coffee shop, which she decided to enter first.
She didn't have a lot of money outside of what she had saved up for safe keepings and purchased a small coffee before sitting beside the window watching as college students walked up and down the streets. It was a homey town and she found herself quite fond of it easily.
"Hi, sorry to bother you but we have free samples of our new muffin if you'd like to try one." A dark haired girl said with an apron on and Temperance smiled and took one out of politeness. "It's white chocolate raspberry, it's so good if you ask me." She said with a bright smile. "I haven't seen you before, are you visiting the college? I'm Megan."
Sitting down the muffin on a napkin she wiped her hands and shook her head. "I.. I just moved here actually. I'm still in high school. My name is Temperance" She mentioned not wanting to say she was a foster child and hoping that the kind stranger didn't ask too much about her living situation.
"Really? I'm in high school as well, we'll go to school together! I'm a freshman, what year are you?" She asked excitedly and Temperance couldn't help but feel silly for having someone actually ask about her. No one had ever wanted to know about her before, well not without the intentions of making fun of her.
"I'll be starting school as a sophomore this coming year, it's too late in the year to start a new school so Li-my parents decided just to keep my home for the last couple weeks of the semester." She answered smoothly with a small smile as she picked at the muffin. "This is quite good, thank you."
Before the two could say anymore Booth walked in with his brother Jared clearly on their way to school. "Tem! Hey!" Booth said charmingly as he sat at the table. "This is my brother Jared, it's cool you're here because I wanted you to meet." He said before looking at the barista. "Skipping school to work again, Meg?" Booth asked, causing the girl to roll her eyes.
"No, Seeley, I just wanted to get some time in before class. Mind your beeswax. Tem, huh? I like that nickname the jock gave you?" She asked and Booth quickly nodded before looking at his new neighbor.
"He said he liked the sound of Tem for my name, but won't allow me to call him Seeley or anything but Booth." Temperance said with a small shrug like she was afraid to disobey his nickname rule.
"I might let you call me something else one day, we'll see." He winked and she looked down at her muffin shyly. "Megan here is a cool chick, if you like cheerleaders who are also nerds, which doesn't make sense but whatever. It's cool you two met." Megan was only a freshman but they had talked a time or two and he didn't mind her too much.
"If you want to clock out you can walk with Jared and I to school, Tem uh are you starting school yet?" He asked and when she shook her head he shrugged. "Want to walk with us to the school anyways? We can show you around a little and later I can show you around some of our hang out spots if you'd like." He offered before Megan shook her head.
"No way, you're not going to show her your jock friends hang out spots. I'll show her around, if you want at least." Megan offered and he looked at Temperance who still seemed to be in shock picking at her muffin before she finally nodded.
"That would be lovely, both of you. You can both show me around anytime, I'm happy to know this town more and some guidance would help. I suppose it would also not hurt to see the school I'll be attending next year as well." She finally answered and he grinned standing up and pulling Jared up with him.
"Come on weasel, don't make us late because you're short and slow." He said to his brother. Megan walked behind the register and hung up her apron before joining them and he watched as Tem awkwardly stood up with them putting her bag on her shoulder.
"How'd you get a cast? I broke my leg a couple years ago it was so annoying." Jared asked and he groaned and slapped the back of his head. Of course he would be the one to ask personal questions after he specifically told him not to overwhelm their new neighbor.
"Oh um…" Tem stammered looking at her arm and placing it behind her back like she was trying not to draw anymore attention to it. Sighing he scratched the back of his head.
"Don't answer that, it's none of our business. He's nosy that's all." He said trying to smooth things over as the group of four walked out of the shop and turned down the road to walk towards the high school. "Are you liking it here, I mean it's been like twenty four hours maybe but what do you think? Booth asked as he walked a little in front of the two girls and turned to face them walking backwards. "You can admit it, you totally like it here and it was after you met me that you decided so." He grinned.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head, obviously not one to say too much, or at least she was still a bit nervous. "You are a little cocky don't you think?" Temperance asked and he shrugged as Megan busted into giggles.
"Don't you know it, you nailed that one on the head. Jock here thinks he's all that because he's the star and only a Sophomore." The cheerleader said, rolling her eyes as she spoke. "How'd you two meet already anyways? There is no way you purposely met this one."
He put a hand on his chest. "Ouch. We're neighbors, I met her last night when this one threw my - a model plane into their yard." He wasn't about to say he had a toy plane even if it was totally cool and he put it together himself with his Pops.
The high school was just on the other side of town outside of the college campus so there was a separation between where it was prominently college students and where high school students had their own space. The courtyard was fairly large where students often hung out and the school itself was big enough in the small town that it didn't seem out of place.
"So this is your new home for the next three years." He motioned to the school as they stepped on the courtyard. "Behind the school is the football field which is my oasis and over there is some tennis courts and there is a skating rink down the block!" He said energetically. Jared said his goodbyes and ran down the road towards the middle school and he bounced on his heels thinking of anything else to point out to her while they were there.
"I think that's about it. I feel bad for having you walk with us and now you have to walk back by yourself though." He frowned as Megan pulled out a piece of paper and jotted something down to hand to her.
"This is my number, give me a call sometime. I'm almost always at the cafe though so you can always stop by there. We can hang out and stuff." She smiled and he smiled too. Tem deserved to have friends here. It was cool of Megan to be her friend especially if she knew nothing about her.
"Thanks, I'll do that." Tem replied as Megan ran off to meet up with he was sure were other cheerleaders or whoever else she happened to be friends with. Not wanting to leave her alone just yet he adjusted his backpack.
"Uh, is there anything you have questions on? I don't have to head inside just yet and like I said I sort of feel bad you have to walk back by yourself. Uh, it's not really a bad town or anything but some of the college students can be sort of rude so when you walk by campus just be careful."
She shook her head thankful for the amount of kindness that was thrown towards her in such a small amount of time. It was a little overwhelming. Scratching her arm above her cast she bit her lip unsure what to say. She hated that she felt at a loss for words, but she had never known what to say.
"Thank you for everything, Booth." She finally said. "I'll be fine walking back on my own though I should probably be heading back soon, I don't want the Mitchells to be worried about me." Temperance answered. "Also, uhm, since it's obvious I am not blood related to them or anything I wanted to say thanks that you didn't tell Megan that or anything. It's not something I want anyone to know about. People treat you differently when they know you're different." She said honestly.
"I get where you can say that you're different, but why would it matter? We all have different family backgrounds, does it really become that big of a deal if you're a foster kid?" Booth asked and she winced at the words even if it was just a question. "Oh, sorry, I guess that was dumb to ask."
Shaking her head she gave him a weak smile. "It's just hard, promise you won't tell?" Temperance pleaded before biting her lip until he finally nodded.
"Of course, I'll make sure Jared keeps his trap shut too." He added and she nodded before motioning towards the sidewalk.
"I'm going to get going, thanks for letting me walk with you all. I really appreciate it. Hopefully we can get to know each other a bit more." Waving goodbye she walked back towards the town square and took her time taking in the sights. The campus was beautiful but she decided not to walk through it just yet and instead made her way back to the house.
Stepping on the porch she decided to sit on the swing for a bit. Putting her bag down, she opened her book and allowed it to swing back and forth slowly as she gazed around the neighborhood. It was quiet and it was obvious that the neighbors were mostly older and probably have lived in their homes for decades. That was something she had always wanted as a child. To go home to her parents house where she grew up and visit for years to come. Now she had no idea what had come of the home after she had been forced to leave it when Russ took off. She hoped it was someone else's forever home by now, one that could be passed down like Lisa's mom had done with hers.
Before she allowed herself to be sad at the disappearance of her family she opened her book and dived into the world of Stephen King. It was silly to read a scary fiction book but she liked the creepiness of it. People at her last school had called her Morticia for her interests in the dead and she hoped that Booth and Megan didn't decide they didn't like her because of it. She wasn't hopeful that they would remain friends from past experiences but it was nice to have at least two people her age to talk to, at least for a little while.