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Disclaimer: I do not own Bones, sucks doesn't it?
Chapter 19
It was only supposed to last four years
High school was probably the least enjoyable thing on my list. It wasn't just for the total waste of time Zach and I found it. It was the teachers who gave you work you could do in ten seconds. And it was the students who didn't understand how someone could be so smart.
When Zach and I pulled up infront of our old school I thought I was going to hurl. I didn't want to go in, but Zach squeezed my hand and that re-assured me a little.
The school entrance was decorated with blue and purple streamers and lots of panthers everywhere. Yup, this was our High School.
Zach and I walked inside and saw plenty of other people walking to the gym. Mrs. Salk stood outside of the gym, handing out nametags.
"Hello Mrs. Salk." I said already counting down to the time the whole thing ends.
"Do I know you?" she asked.
"Mrs. Salk, it's us Zach and Althea, I do not think we have changed that much since our graduation." She put on her glasses and starred at us.
"Oh goodness me, I'm sorry dears." she said and gave us our name tags. "It's so good to see you."
"You too," I said
"So what have you too done since graduation?"
"I work at the Jeffersonian Institute. I help put murders behind bars."
"I spent I year in Egypt and now I work with Zach. We went to college together and everything."
"Well good for you dears." she said "You have a good night."
We headed inside and saw the same colors in a bigger amount and tables with white folded chairs around a dance floor and a DJ playing.
"That wasn't too bad, was it?" asked Zach
"I suppose it could have gone a lot worse." I told him. A bunch of people were dancing and others were simply sitting at tables with people they used to be best buds with. Zach led me to a table next to a crowd of screaming women with big bellies and long gowns. "You had to pick this table?"
"Socializing is a key component at such events, or am I wrong?" He wasn't wrong of course, but did I like it, no.
"Fine, but I'm not happy about it." A woman came up to us. She looked familiar, but I couldn't tell much.
"WOW, Althea is that you?"
"Maybe," I replied reluctantly.
"It's me Ashley?"
"Ashley, wow you look….not like you did in high school that's for sure." I said. She was still blonde and still had that slim figure, but her breasts were bigger than one remembered them. The nose was definitely new.
"Why thank you. I married at twenty one and at twenty two had twin boys."
"I am aware. My sister is your babysitter. So how did those dreams of living it up in Milan go for you?"
"I spent a year in Milan, didn't enjoy it very much. And Zach, you too still being yourselves, I mean do you two even date?"
"Well who else would one take to a high school reunion if not ones girlfriend." said Zach and smiled at me.
"Ah, nerd's love," she said. "Oh look there's Hank, you remember him. He was our star quarter back."
"We had a quarterback? I didn't even know we had a football team." I told her and she left.
This reunion was exactly what I thought it was going to be. But some of our old scholastic decathlon buddies came and sat with us Marny Davidson and Cal Forbes. The two had been dating for nearly three years now. She became a surgeon and he works for a software manufacturing company.
Marny had short black hair and Cal had this thick curly red hair. Both were fairly thin and loved to play a good game of chess.
"So what about you guys?" asked Marny "We heard what happened to you Zach, we wanted to visit, but….our work…"
"It's alright I had Althy to keep me company and she was the one that got me exonerated."
"Now we're seeing each other and we work together at the Jeffersonian."
"Oh yeah, I saw an article online a few years ago." said Cal. "The group that works with the FBI to solve cases."
"That's…." but my sentence was interrupted by a scream coming from a male ex football star (A/N Raine as requested/ suggested). We rushed to see what was going on and saw a body in the middle of the dance floor. "Nobody move."
"What's going on?" asked Ashley annoyingly. I walked over and checked for vital signs.
"To put it in less scientific terms he's dead." I said. "Who is this?"
"It's Phillip Richardson, our star line backer."
"Which is what exactly?"
"Football player Althy," explained Zach. "Do you want me to get our field kits?"
"I would appreciate it." He nodded and ran outside. "Alright you football stars…all possible exits; Zach is the only one that enters. No one leaves.
"Why?" asked Ashley. The ex-jocks did as I said.
"I might just be crazy and this might just be a guess. But this is a murder." She screamed and I had to cover my ears. "Ok he's been murdered its not a horror movie and your not cheerleader number 2."
"A…are we all s…s…suspects?" asked someone.
"Well duh." Zach came back with our field kits and we put on gloves.
"You guys carry field kits with you?" asked Cal.
"When you're in our line of work you have to be prepared for as much as possible, since it's impossible to be prepared for everything." explained Zach.
"Someone hasn't changed." said Marcy
"Who hasn't?" asked Zach.
"Nevermind," in my very large field kit I found a microscope and baggies for samples. "Ok, everyone pick a table, one per person. No talking to each other."
"We should call the cops."
"And they'll tell you exactly what I'm telling you now." I said a little agitated "Now do as I say and this will be over before long." The grunted and agreed.
The body wasn't bruised and there were no shots, no stab wounds either. The foaming around the mouth was the most likely cause of death. "Zach…."
"I will inform the authorities." replied Zach and grabbed my cell phone. Why he did not take his own was beyond me. My gloves were on and I swabbed the inside of the mouth and put it in a test tube. The liquid changed color and everything made a little bit more sense.
"Alright ladies and gents," I told them "How many of you have ever heard of cyanide poisoning?" No hands went up. "Right because to answer would imply that you had something to do with this murder…"
"Althea." said Zach "The authorities are on their way. The seemed much more cooperative after I explained who I was."
"Of course they were." I said. "Marcy, can you go outside and meet them? Also inform Mrs. Salk who is trying to get inside."
"Of course." she said and stood up in a red dress with flowers. She headed out.
"Hey how come you know she didn't do it?" someone shouted.
"Because I'm me," I explained. Then another person began foaming and choking, then two then three. All were football jocks; all had been poisoned using cyanide. This led us to believe that the culprit or culprits had a grudge against the team. "NO one eats or drinks anything anyone gives you. The Football players, that goes double four victims is enough thank you."
"What now?" wondered Cal
"Now comes the part that's hell for me." I explained "All of you form a single line to the stage. One by one I will interview you."
One by one each old cheerleader, ex-jocks, and all the other ones came up and one by one I analyzed them. Cal was last and in two seconds I knew he didn't do it. Some sessions took me a second, others a couple minutes, but I knew I had my culprits.
I came over to Zach and whispered something into his ear. He almost laughed.
"That's what this whole thing was about?" asked Zach and I nodded. "They aren't very intelligent, are they?"
"Unfortunately no," I explained as the authorities arrived.
"Officer Holster, Detroit P.D." said a tall man wearing a dark grey trench coat.
"Ah just in time for a wrap up." I said. I came up to the podium and looked around "Would all past Patrick Henry cheerleaders please come and join us."
The women slowly made their way up to the podium and looked at the others standing around. "Now ladies, led by Ashley Bringer," I said and looked at them. "I got to hand it to you. You have made this a very memorable reunion for me and let me tell you why." They began to sweat. "It wasn't very difficult to figure out you guys killed those ex-football players. Your first mistake was poisoning the men with cyanide. Secondly you chose to do it at this affair. Finally you are all horrible liars and I'm guessing that the four football players that are currently lying dead all slept with you in High School. Yay! Althy got it right. Officer this is your part."
The officer and his men came up and arrested the ten women that were standing on the stage. The coroner came and took the bodies away and statements were taken.
Finally we headed home, neither of us was tiered. We simply came back to the hotel and lay on the bed watching a movie.
"Were you always this bold?" asked Zach "Taking charge, standing up for people, fighting…."
"Actually I was never this bold. I was probably the most shy person in the entire world."
"Really"
"Yeah, I changed schools so many times and so many new people. Nobody understood me, not even the numerous 'geek' clubs that I joined. Sure there were people there, but…you know how it can be. You answer every question the teacher asks and you know the answers before the questions are even asked. One day I just got sick of it I suppose and grew back bone."
"Did it happen quickly?"
"IF you want to hear the story just say so."
"I want to hear the story."
That's it for another chapter. YAY ME! If you really want to hear the story of how Althea grew a back bone just review and tell me.
