Hello! Yes... this is one of those 'self-fulfilment' stories, and yes! It was inspired by the second part of "The End of Time". Now... a lot of this isn't true, and it doesn't happen at my college but I think you can guess which parts are real and which are not. This is a continuation of my 'International Baccalaureate' story.... kind of. Enjoy!

The Forgotten Time Lady

Chapter One: That's Not An Invitation

"Ciao bella," said Gigi cheerily. I was passing him in the hallway- completely by accident, I'll have you know- and his friendly Italian nature always made him reach out to everybody and he knew to greet them and make them happy. I was in no mood for laughter. He sensed my aura and softened his expression. "Perché sei triste?" He stopped me and pulled me the side. That's why I liked Gigi- he was always on par with everyone's emotional habits. He was like a Siamese cat- he fell into empathy easily and always managed to cheer you up no matter what.

"I don't want to talk about it, Gigi." I shook my head and looked down- I have been betrayed and abandoned by someone I thought I could trust. The typical excuse, but I hated talking about emotional things.

"Giusto, bella." He said softly. "You know you can talk to me, sí? Io sono tu amico." He tapped his heart with his fist a couple of times and gave the peace salute- I just nodded. I was too pale to pull that off that gesture.

"Sí, signore." I said, turning and leaving. I needed to get to History. Due to the college's regulations and determination to succeed in passing the IB students- there were ten since the other twenty-something had dropped out to do A-Levels- meant that there were more teachers available to teach it. Therefore, I saw Mr. Harkness a lot less- around once a month... or twice if I was lucky. The rest of the time I was stuck with Mr. Anderson, who had a weird love of shaving his head- every time the class (all four of us) saw him, his head was shinier than the last time. Thankfully, I had Mr. Harkness today.

"What's wrong Gav?" He asked as I walked through the door. I took my seat and took out my books- German Unification. He sat on my desk and lifted my head up. I looked at him- his eyes were read and bloodshot, and his voice sounded cracked, like he had been crying. Not many people knew why Mr. Harkness's aura had crashed. All we knew was that a last month he had a fortnight off to recuperate. The people who did know what had happened were the IB students in Mathematical Studies and anybody who was in room S212 for Psychology.

"What's the matter, sir?" I asked, concerned.

"I asked you first." He said gently. I looked at him sternly, imagining a huge syringe sucking out every drop of emotion other than complete concern out of my back.

"You tell me, I'll tell you."

"What if I don't want to tell you?"

"Then I won't tell you," I took his hand in a comforting way. "Just don't think of me as a student- think of me as a friend, sir." He smiled a little, and some of his light came back... only to be vanquished when he started talking.

"Ianto was in... a," he started. "He was in an accident. He would have survived, but... he caught an infection, and he's been on life support for the past few weeks. The outlook doesn't look so good, and... and..." he stopped there, and I finished the sentence;

"And they want you to say goodbye." I said quietly. He nodded and tears started pouring down his face. I stood up, letting go of his hand, and hugged him tightly. He hugged back. As I breathed, I took in his scent- he smelled sweet and Earthy, like nectar. He cried into my shoulder shortly and regained himself. He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his light blue shirt.

"Forgive me, Gav." He said, looking away. "I don't normally... you know, like that."

I just looked at him with empathy. The look turned into a stare, and I blanked out. It was like I was looking into a vortex- mesmerised, yet afraid. I was brought back to life by a painful slap on the back by Mr. Harkness.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Huh?" I said, sounding dumb. The door opened- we looked and saw the other three History students (Kofi, Grazyna and Jessica) enter the room. I hated the three of them, and none of them knew it. They all shouted me down whenever I was two words into an argument. Mariam had left History at the last second because she decided that she wanted to do Chemistry and become a heart surgeon. Instead of backing me up, she had taken to siding with them and began to jump at me as well. In a second, Mr. Harkness had regained himself and began teaching the lesson.

I spent the lesson in complete misery, taking scribbled notes. By the end, I couldn't see the point of living. Since I had started college it was like if I said something would happen, it happened. It made everybody look at me with contempt because they got the impression that I was an arrogant little bitch. Thus, I had hardly any friends. I had three: Kirsten, who I had known since I was ten and was the only friend I had who had never used me for anything; Katie, who I had met at college and was faithful and always came through; and Stacey, who I had met in RE and had hit it off with me when we discovered that we both loved and loathed the same things. We were a match made in Niflheim (Norse Hell)!

I had Biology after break, but I didn't want to go out or to the LRC- I was too miserable for anything like that- so I went straight to the building. I had Dr. Smith which made me a little happy, but the moment I saw Mariam that happiness shrunk away like a dormouse.

He allowed me into the room, and noticed from my gait that I wasn't happy. He asked me what was wrong. There was only one teacher who I could talk openly with- Mr. Bolton. My Theory of Knowledge teacher. He also taught Philosophy, Critical Thinking and RE, which explained why he was always so neutral and understanding. He was the only teacher I had who listened to his students. I could always talk with the Doctor, but it wasn't the same- I didn't fancy him as much!

I looked at him as I took my seat, and he came over to me. I told him everything that had happened, and why I was so miserable- how everyone was blaming me for their problems, saying it was my own fault I was having such a hard time at college, how Grazyna thought she had me figured out from my 'acting enthusiastic' in History (I really am interested in History, but she thought I was just making it up to get out of doing homework), how Mariam had abandoned me, and how almost everyone had turned against me without trying to get to know me first. Break was nearly over by the time I had finished. He had listened patiently looked heart-touched by what I had told him. He gave me a reply;

"Biology is your last lesson? So it's a half-day for you? I have six gaps until my next class- stay behind and I'll take you somewhere. That's not an invitation- it's an order."