Author's Note: Given that this is an AU, everyone is around the same age, even though they aren't in the actual show. I'm also American, so I went based off the US high school system of 4 years (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) usually starting at the age of 13/14 (depending on when your birthday is during the school year), but given we have a couple geniuses, Zack and Sweets probably skipped a couple grades. I put everyone's grade level and age below.

Seeley Booth - 17 - Senior

Temperance Brennan - 16 - Senior

Camille Saroyan - 17 – Senior

Angela Montenegro - 16 - Junior

Jack Hodgins - 16 - Junior

Zack Addy - 13 - Sophomore

Lance Sweets - 13 - Sophomore

Jared Booth - 14 - Freshman

Tim Sullivan - 17 - Senior

Hannah Burley - 16 - Junior

Wendall Bray - 15 - Sophomore

Colin Fisher - 15 - Sophomore

Daisy Wick - 14 - Freshman

Clark Edison - 16 - Junior

Payton Perotta - 15 - Sophomore

Temperance Brennan threw her books into her backpack for the first day of school. The worn out messenger bag showed signs of its age, but it was one of the last things she had from her father, the dolphin pin on the outside, the last piece of her mother. She tugged at the hair clip that Russ had given her on her 15th birthday, the last thing that he had ever given her, the last gift she received when she had a family.

A year in foster care had given her a lot of ups and downs and she wasn't happy to be at yet another home. She had been taken out of the last home she was in due to abuse and was recently placed in a group home. The loud banging on the walls of the dorms and the shouts from the social workers to notify the kids that they needed to 'get their asses into gear' reminded her that she was no longer a part of a family. She tugged on her sweater sleeve to cover up the bruises from last night's beating. She had to learn the hierarchy, at least that's what the other kids said. She shook her head and threw on her converse as she headed for the bus.

On the other side of DC, Seeley Booth was shoveling cereal into his mouth as Hank argued with Jared about his need for a sweatshirt.

"It's cold outside, kid." Hank said in a stern voice.

"Pops, it's not that bad. Plus, this is a cool shirt!" Jared said, showing off his band t-shirt.

"Throw on a jacket or a sweatshirt. I don't need you catching a cold on the first day of school." Hank mumbled as he sipped his coffee.

"I think Jarhead is trying to show off his guns to Daisy from down the street." Seeley interjected, which got him a swift kick to the shin from his brother. "Ow, jackass."

"Language!" Hank scolded. "Jared, no kicking."

"Sorry, Pops." The Booth brothers spoke in unison and smirked at one another.

"Jared, jacket. Seeley, get your stuff. You boys don't want to be late." He directed his grandkids like a well oiled machine and the teenagers stood up from the table, cleaning as they went. Hopping into Seeley's beat-up car, they made their way to George Washington High.

-BB-

The bus ride was bumpy as Temperance attempted to read.

"Hello." A voice rang from the seat beside her. She peered from above her book to see a scrawny boy with dark brown hair.

"Hi?" She responded questioningly.

"Lance Sweets." The kid got up and sat in the empty spot next to her, holding out his hand. She gently took his hand and he shook it vigorously. "I'm new to this school, my mom told me that I need to make friends as soon as possible and since you're not speaking with anyone, I thought this would be the best time to introduce myself. I'm 13 years old, but I'm a sophomore. I skipped 2 grades. I was adopted when I was about 9 years old-"

"That's a lot of unnecessary information." Temperance responded, giving him a quizzical look. "I - You skipped two grades?" She asked.

"Yes, 7th and 8th grade." He spoke proudly.

"Interesting. I skipped 7th and sophomore year." She replied and returned back to her book.

"I see you're reading about the ancient Mayan civilization."

"So you can read the cover of my book." Temperance responded.

"What's your first class?" Sweets asked and she sighed. Clearly this boy would not leave her alone.

"AP Calculus." She muttered, closing her book and placing it back into her bag.

"Ah, I have AP Psychology." This caused Temperance to pause.

"You're 13 and in AP coursework? Well it is psychology, which is a soft science." She muttered more to herself than the kid next to her.

"Psychology is fascinating." He responded, crossing his arms over his chest and she rolled her eyes. The rest of the bus ride continued with her and the young boy going back and forth regarding sciences. Maybe this school year wouldn't be so bad.

-BB-

Booth walked into George Washington High and took a deep breath. It was like coming home. Being the star quarterback meant that the girls loved him and the guys wanted to be him. He walked up to his locker to find a girl with auburn hair shuffling through the locker next to his.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, causing her to jump. He wanted to kick himself for scaring her. "Sorry, uhm, I just was going to introduce myself, since ya know, we're locker buddies." He threw on his charm smile and watched as she closed her door. Tucking some loose hair behind her ear, he was met with a pair of beautiful blue eyes that stared at him inquisitively.

"Locker buddies?" She questioned in a small, raspy voice that made his mind go blank.

"Well, uhm, your locker is next to mine. You're new." He stated and she nodded.

"This is a fact." The statement caused him to furrow his brow.

"Seeley Booth!" He exclaimed a little too excitedly and threw his hand toward her. She looked down at it and then up at him with some confusion before taking his hand.

"Temperance." She spoke quietly and then the bell rang. She grabbed her bag and gently placed it over her shoulder.

"Uhm, what class do you have?" He followed as she looked down at her class schedule and a school map. He peered over her shoulder. "AP Calculus? Smart cookie." He muttered.

"Cookies can't be smart. They're inanimate objects." She replied and looked around before turning on her heals and walking in a different direction toward her class. He turned with her to follow.

"No, I know, it's just a saying. Just saying you're smart, hey, maybe you could help me with my math homework! I suck at math!" He smiled and she stared at him inquisitively.

"Is this your way of getting me to do your math homework?"

"What?! No! I - NO!" He responded and she squinted at his strange behavior before continuing to walk to her class. "I just thought since you're, you know smart and I'm not as smart, you could help!" He was floundering. He usually knew how to talk to girls and yet somehow this one left him stumped.

"Shouldn't you be getting to class?" She asked and he realized she was probably right.

"Uhm, yea, maybe I'll see you around, locker buddy." He smiled and she shook her head before walking into her classroom.

Taking a seat next to a curly haired kid, she took out a blue notebook and a textbook. The teacher began droning about what her expectations for the class were, when Tempe heard someone clear their throat. She turned her head to see the curly headed kid toss a note on her desk.

You a new kid?

She squinted at the note. What was with this school and new kids? Didn't they just leave kids alone? She wondered, but regardless, she grabbed her pen and responded.

Yes. Before tossing the note back.

Cool. The name is Jack Hodgins. She read it and nodded, giving him a small wave.

Temperance. She wrote back. The duo went back to writing their notes and paying attention to class. When the bell rang and she collected her books, Jack spoke up.

"So, Temperance, where did you move from?"

"Uhm, a lot of different places." She responded vaguely. "I grew up in Chicago though." She tried to give him a little bit of a better answer so that he would be satisfied and maybe leave her alone.

"Nice, my parents have a place in Chicago, right on the lake, we go there in the summers sometimes." He responded and she nodded. "What class are you off to?"

"AP Biology." She responded and he grinned.

"Perfect, me too, I can walk with you. My buddy, Zack, is in that class, you can be in our lab group." She was about to object but knew it would be futile.

-BB-

Booth couldn't concentrate on his Spanish class as he continued to think about his encounter with Temperance.

"Seeley!" Cam Saroyan whisper-shouted at the football star. He jerked his head over to his childhood friend.

"What?" He replied.

"What's got you all daydreamy?" She responded with a grin.

"I'm not daydreamy." He muttered as the bell rang and the two sprung up to collect their books.

"Oh sure, you just have that far away look in your eye. Is it that blonde chick from cheerleading?"

"Hannah? God no." He mumbled. "We went on two dates and we had nothing to talk about."

"Well I think she's telling everyone you guys are together." Cam responded and Booth rolled his eyes.

"Great. Let's hope she doesn't hear that." He muttered and Cam snapped her head to look at him.

"So it is a girl!"

"You weren't supposed to hear that!" He responded and she laughed.

"Super sonic hearing, my friend. I'm like Catwoman."

"Ugh." He groaned and walked down the hall. He craned his neck looking for a glimpse of auburn hair and blue eyes, but saw none.

"Sooooo, tell me, who is it? If it's not Hannah, is it Heather? Angela? Please tell me you're not getting back with Rebecca or Tessa." Cam started to name off girls and Booth laughed.

"No, she's new. I met her this morning at the lockers. She's different." He shrugged and Cam smiled, she knew her best friend. They had tried the romantic thing, but it just felt weird. He was smitten with this new girl. "She's smart, like super smar-HEY!" He shouted causing Cam to jump and look in the direction he was heading. A flash of reddish-brown hair, a dark blue sweater, and a pair of baggy jeans. It was so not Seeley Booth's type. She was walking with a curly haired kid that Cam had seen before in her science classes, from what she remembered, he was pretty rich, but kept to himself.

"Temperance!" Booth continued to shout and weave through the crowded hallway. Cam watched as the girl stopped and looked over her shoulder, the curly haired kid also stopped and looked, too. His eyes wide and Cam saw him ask Temperance if she was okay. Temperance gave a small nod, but could see the fear in her eyes.

"Booth!" Cam shouted, causing Seeley to stop. "Dude, chill, you're scaring the poor girl." She muttered and walked up to the duo. "Hey, sorry about this lughead." She apologized and smiled. "I'm Cam. Seeley says you're new." Temperance nodded.

"Hi, I'm Temperance." She said quietly, and then looked at the kid next to her. "Uhm, we should get to class, or we might be late, right, Jack?" He nodded and they turned.

"Wait, Temperance, what class do you have next?" Seeley asked and Jack was the one to respond.

"AP Biology."

"Jesus, what's with these guys and science classes?" He muttered and Cam laughed.

"Hey, I actually have that class next too, so I'll walk with you guys. See ya, Seeley." Cam smiled at her distraught friend and caught up with the duo. "Sorry about that again, he can be really loud. I don't know what got into him when he saw you, but jeez." She shook her head and watched as Temperance let out a shaky breath.

"Yea, I just wasn't expecting that." She muttered back. They made their way to the classroom.

"Class, get in groups of four, this will be your lab group for the year!"

"Temperance, come on!" Jack said as he ushered the shy girl over to his friend Zack, Cam smiled and decided to do a little spy work for her friend, Seeley.

"Mind if I join you guys?" She asked and Zack shrugged.

"You want to be a part of our lab group?" Jack asked skeptically. "Usually we have to work in a group of two or three because we're the 'weirdos.'" He muttered, putting air quotes around the word weirdos. It was Cam's turn to shrug.

"Let's call it your lucky day, then."

-BB-

A couple periods had gone by and Booth changed for PE. He liked PE. He got to run and get some fresh air. It allowed him to get some of his energy out. As he entered the gym, he noticed a familiar face sitting on the bleachers.

"Temperance?" He asked as he walked over, he hiked his foot up on the bleachers to tie his shoelace.

"Hello, Seeley." She responded and he cringed.

"Call me Booth. Seeley is what my Pops calls me when he's mad at me." He smiled and she furrowed her brow, but nodded.

"Okay, Booth." She responded.

"So you have PE?" He asked and she nodded. "Why aren't you changed for class?"

"I'm injured." She muttered, holding up a note from the nurse's office.

"Oh. Well that's too bad." He responded, before grinning. "Well I guess now you get to see how good I am at basketball." He watched as she tilted her head.

"Is that supposed to impress me?"

"Yes." He replied confidently, causing her to chuckle. He couldn't help but feel a wave of electricity as he spoke to her.

"Hey, man!" Tim Sullivan shouted, causing Temperance to jump and Booth wanted to smack him. "Who's this pretty little thing?" Booth watched as Sully licked his lips like a lion out on the hunt.

"Hi, I'm Temperance." She muttered, holding out her hand and Sully grasped it tightly, causing her to wince.

"Dude!" Seeley punched Sully's arm, which only caused Sully to chuckle and let go of Temperance's hand.

"Sorry, I can be a little aggressive, but usually the girls love that." Sully winked and Temperance grimaced.

"Sorry about him, he can be a douche." Booth muttered before the coach blew his whistle letting the class know the game was about to start. "Hey, I'll shoot a couple baskets for ya." Seeley said before winking at Temperance, who shook her head and went back to her book.

Booth played and watched Temperance out of the corner of his eyes. Every so often she would look up from her book and look out onto the court. He would try to show off in those moments, making a lay-up or a three-pointer. His buddies hitting his back and hooting and hollering as he threw a wink at her. She would inevitably shake her head or roll her eyes and go back to her book, but he saw the slight pink in her cheeks. As the guys walked off the court, sweaty from the game, they clapped Booth on the back and congratulated him on a good game. Before he could walk over to Temperance, Hannah ran up to him.

"Good game, baby!" She squealed, planting a kiss on his cheek. He tried to say something, but noticed as Temperance placed her book in her bag and scurried out of the gym.

"Fuck." He muttered as he walked to the locker rooms to get changed.

-BB-

Lunch was Temperance's least favorite time. She had forgotten to ask Jack when he and Zack had lunch, but she usually ended up eating in the library or alone by her locker.

"Temperance!" She heard a familiar voice and saw a dash of dark hair.

"Lance." She responded, as the boy came into view. "How is your day going?" She asked as the younger kid sat across from her at the long line of tables.

"Good, the psychology class that you criticized went great." He smiled and she rolled her eyes. She was about to retort when another tray smacked the table. Jack plopped down in the seat next to her.

"Thank god, you're in this lunch." He muttered as Zack timidly sat next to Lance. They introduced themselves to Sweets.

"Why 'thank god'?" She asked and Jack chuckled.

"Well the entire football team has this lunch and I feel like I'm going to lose brain cells if I have to listen to them drone on about players statistics and the cheer squad."

"So you're also 13 and a sophomore?" Temperance heard Zack ask Lance, who nodded happily.

"I skipped 7th and 8th grade."

"Jack!" A girl with dark hair and a flowy dress walked up to the table.

"Angela! Long time, no see." He smiled, his eyes glazed over.

"Angela Montenegro!" She smiled at Temperance and held out her hand, and Temperance took it. "Jack is usually never the welcoming committee to any new kids, so you must be hella smart." She grinned and sat next to Temperance. "We're kinda the land of misfit toys over here. I invited Daisy, Wendall, Colin, and Clark to sit with us too." She said speaking more to Hodgins than to Temperance.

"They're all in this lunch?" Jack replied and Angela nodded.

"Saw them in line. They should be walking over, I think Wendall is a bit conflicted because he made varsity football and might sit with the jocks."

"Oh boy." Jack responded and Tempe furrowed her brow. Before she could open her mouth to ask, a group of three more kids came to the table. "Daisy, Clark, Colin, this is Temperance, Temperance, this is Daisy Wick, she's a freshman, Clark Edison, he's a junior, and Colin Fisher, he's a sophomore." The trio introduced themselves as they sat down and everyone exchanged their class schedules. Temperance tried to keep up with the conversation as she watched with fascination as Colin and Clark fought over various comic book characters, Zack and Lance conversed over being younger than everyone in school, and Daisy and Angela spoke about a new store opening up at the mall.

"So how are you liking the new school?" Jack asked in a low voice, taking Temperance out of her trance.

"It's okay." She mumbled. "It's hard to get used to, but I'm hoping that this one sticks." She mused and he lifted a brow at her. He was curious, but she just didn't want to tell anyone just yet about her life as a foster kid. Whenever she did, the kids always treated her differently afterwards. "Let's just say, I've gone to a lot of different schools." She mumbled and he nodded. "I'm going to go grab a bottle of water." She stood up quickly before Jack could respond and walked over to the vending machine.

As she fed in her crumpled up dollar, she let out a long breath. "Temperance!" Another voice called out from behind her and she turned to see Booth standing and smiling. "Looks like you got yourself quite the friend group!" He grinned and she nodded.

"So do you." She responded and nodded toward his table. A mixture of bulky football players and dainty cheerleaders sat chatting. It looked like the all-American stereotypical dream. Seeley shrugged.

"I was kinda hoping that you would be in my lunch." He responded. "But then I saw you were already overrun by squints." He muttered and she furrowed her brow and pressed the water button before bending over and grabbing the bottle from the vending machine.

"Squints?"

"You know, uhm, geeks?" He mused. "You guys squint at things." He muttered and then squinted at her.

"I don't know what that means." She responded in a monotone voice, before turning on her heels and beginning to walk back to her table.

"Uhm, what class do you have after this?" He asked, hoping for her to say English.

"English." She replied with a sigh.

"Me too! I can walk with you!" He smiled and she shrugged.

"You don't have to do that, Booth." She looked back at her table and saw 7 pairs of eyes looking at her.

"C'mon, I want to, we can stop at our lockers, if you need to grab something!" He retorted and she sighed again.

"Okay." She replied and began walking back to her table.

"Cool." He smiled to himself.

-BB-

"Why don't you seem too happy about English class?" He asked as he watched Tempe walk down the hallway.

"Because I don't like English class." She responded.

"How? You speak it!" He replied and she rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but it's fictitious and irrational."

"That's the beauty of it." He responded and she scoffed.

"Maybe for you." She muttered as they entered the class. Seeley wanted to sit next to Temperance, but Angela squealed as she entered the classroom and dragged her toward a seat in the corner, leaving Booth to sit with his football friends on the other side of the class.

"Temperance Brennan?" The teacher called out attendance and Seeley took note of her name, repeating it in his head a couple of times. He wondered if she had any siblings at the school. He hadn't noticed any other new kids wandering around. A couple of the football guys made jokes about her, called her pretty, joked about her clothes, but he was focused on her eyes and how she could stun him into silence with her brains.

He watched her the entire time as she watched Angela whisper and doodle on her notebook. He smiled when she would giggle, not knowing what she laughed about.

"Mr. Booth, is something funny?" The teacher asked and he shook his head.

"No, ma'am." He responded and the class chuckled, he made eye contact with Temperance and gave her a wink, only for her to shake her head and look back at the board. As the bell rang, he watched as Angela dragged her out of class, and he shook his head. Getting Temperance Brennan alone would be a feat in and of itself.