Danny Hacker.

Chapter 8: Bones Jones.

Walker's P.O.V:
If people never died, life would be so boring. Sure, it's sad.. But try to imagine a world where there was no death. No tears. No pain. We'd just be a mess of smiling faces, living each day without surprises. No twists or turns or slaps in the face from reality to say "HEY YOU! WAKE UP THIS IS LIFE!"
The thought of dying hardly ever crosses my mind, but after the Grease Garage incident and Bobby Dennley passing away, it's all I've been able to think about.
______
After school I immediately sank into my desk chair and began writing.

"Dear J.,
I met a boy at school named Ben.
He doesn't talk much..
But he's got a real sweet way about him.
A few days ago a building burned down and three people died. It was sad.
The kids at school have nicknamed me Bones Jones. At first I wasn't a big fan, but now it's beginning to grow on me.
Some of the kids don't even know my real name and think "Bones" is biological! Silly isn't it..
It's been too long. I miss you.
See you someday."

When I finished my letter I signed and folded it and slipped it into an envelope. I labeled and stamped it then dropped it into the desk drawer that was overflowing with the rest of the letters that I wrote but never mailed. "Hm. If only you could read these." I sighed, and slammed the drawer shut.
_______
The next day after school, I invited Ben Bentley back to my house to continued researching for our journaling project. The news story Ben had picked wasn't exactly the happiest thing in the world, but he seemed to be very intrigued by it.
"So.. you find anything new?" I asked beginning to grow bored. "Not yet." He replied. He always gave me the shortest answers. We shared his laptop since I don't have one and I had finally finished my part. I was so relieved that I could be done with this thing. The whole project honestly made me super uncomfortable. I looked up and stared at my reflection in the mirror connected to the hutch across the room. 'My roots are coming back..' I thought to myself.
"Uh.. hello?" Ben said snapping me back to reality. "Oh I'm sorry I zoned out a little there." I said flashing him a sweet smile. "I should be getting back home but I'm all done with my part of the assignment. So I think we're ready to present tomorrow." He said while he collected his stuff. I hadn't realized that our presentations were tomorrow. That made me really nervous. "Alright. Well I'll see you later Ace." I said waving goodbye to him. "Bye Bones Jones" he called as he walked backwards waving. I kinda liked when he called me that. It was cute.
I shut my front door and sighed. Then I ran to my bedroom. I grabbed a pair of scissors and a curly blonde wig. I was getting sick and tired of having to deal with my dark roots all the time. I ran back down to the old dark hutch in my living room and spread the supplies out on top of it. I grabbed a record off of the bookshelf and laid it on the dusty turntable. As it spun I placed it on the song Love Grows(Where My Rosemary Goes). I've always been quite fond of that one. I stood and stared at my reflection in the mirror, flashing myself a smile before grabbing the scissors. I cut the tan netting and laid the wig back down on the hutch. I opened one of the drawers and started shuffling things around. I pulled out a box of gloves and a bottle of superglue. My natural appearance could look a bit ghastly at times so I always did my best to cover it. I mean the kids weren't calling me Bones Jones because I look like a supermodel. I put on the gloves and poured a bit of the glue onto my gloved finger and rubbed it along the inside of the cap part. Then I pulled my hair into a tight bun before placing the wig onto my head. 'Much better.' I thought as I went back to my bedroom to return the scissors to my dresser. Then I ran back downstairs and returned the glue and gloves to their drawer.
I sat down on the couch and noticed Ben's laptop sitting on the coffee table. 'Eh I'll return it to him tomorrow' I thought, placing it onto my lap. 'But first.' I opened it and deleted our entire assignment then closed it and put it back on the table. I leaned back and smiled. "Oops."