Title: Tag
Author: castrovalva9
Spoilers: School Reunion
Rating: G
Summary: After School Reunion, Kenny needs a little help. Kenny/Melissa fic
Notes: Written for whofest on LiveJournal. Kenny and Melissa were two of the students in the School Reunion episode.
Beta read by Kara MT.
If there was one thing Kenny had learned about lately, it was karma. He didn't really blow up Deffry Vale High School a month ago, not personally, and now he was paying the price for saying he had. Oh, Melissa didn't know the truth, that the little robot dog had committed the act, but she might as well have for all the mind she'd paid Kenny lately. Even the intrigue value of having destroyed a hated school had only made him popular for about a fortnight.
So it happened that on another school day, during another break, once more he found himself at the edge of the playground watching from afar as Melissa laughed and chatted with several of her seemingly limitless number of friends.
He supposed he deserved whatever happened to him, but as he experienced this thought, what should he see come rolling toward him but the squat mechanical dog that was truly responsible for the Deffry Vale incident? By rights, the thing should have been destroyed in the explosion--actually, Kenny had previously believed it had been--but some beings had all the luck, and others had virtually none.
A woman was with the dog. It was the reporter, and she knew the truth. 'Keep walking,' Kenny thought desperately.
Naturally, because she would have to do it, she stopped in front of him. The dog halted at her heels, very much like a flesh-and-blood animal would. The reporter looked at Kenny and smiled. He probably kind of grimaced. 'Take a hint, lady,' he thought.
Instead, she spoke. "Hi, Kenny. I don't know if you remember me. I'm Sarah Jane Smith, from your old school last month."
Kenny stared. Of course he remembered her. They had met barely four weeks ago. He nodded.
Undeterred by his attitude, Miss Smith smiled again and continued, "It's a nice day for a walk, isn't it, so K9 and I thought we'd come this way and see how some of you Deffry Vale students were doing. I suppose quite a few of you are attending Waterton School now?"
Kenny shrugged. "Some of us are."
Miss Smith turned to look across the playground. With his luck, Kenny was not surprised that she quickly focused on Melissa. "That girl over there, is she your girlfriend? Melissa, right?"
Galvanised into speech, Kenny responded, "She barely knows I'm alive. She was only interested in me when you and your dog blew up the old school and she thought I did it." It seemed like he was blaming her, and he rather wanted to even though it wasn't fair. Slightly shamed, he looked away, and his gaze fell upon the dog. An idea was born. "Hey, I don't suppose I could borrow your dog? Just for a few minutes?"
As if she had read his mind, Miss Smith replied, "Kenny, you don't need a robot dog to impress a girl. Think about it: If she doesn't like you for yourself, maybe she isn't good enough for you."
"Thanks for trying to be nice, but that's not how it works, Miss Smith." He hesitated, then blurted, "What do you think I should do about Melissa?"
"Are you asking me for advice because I'm old?"
"No, I'm asking because you have a cool robot dog."
For some reason, his answer made her smile. "I'm sure if you just went over and talked to her, everything would work out."
Kenny glanced over to where Melissa stood at the hub of a group of chattering students. He shook his head. "That never happens."
The dog rolled forward a few inches and spoke in a tinny voice. "Incorrect. The word 'never' is a statement of 100 certainty, which is accurate only in very limited situations and does not include your set of circumstances."
"Quiet, K9," Miss Smith ordered.
The dog subsided. Kenny again looked at Melissa.
She had turned and was staring straight at him. She smiled. Maybe she was smiling at Miss Smith? Then she waved. Kenny raised one hand very weakly, just in case she didn't mean him. Melissa's smile widened and she beckoned to him.
"Go on," Miss Smith encouraged.
Kenny walked towards Melissa. She left her friends to meet him halfway. She did not want to talk about the explosion.
Break was almost over. Remembering, Kenny looked around for Miss Smith. She and K9 were moving away. He couldn't be sure about the dog, but he knew the woman was smiling.