A/N: I don't own Doctor Who.
This is my first Doctor Who story!
Please let me know what you think.
It was a cold Monday morning that the student of the Coal Hill School found that their history teacher, Ms. Barbara Wright, was out sick. In her place was a young man with floppy brown hair wearing a bow tie and tweed.
The whisperings started up at once.
"He doesn't look that much older than we are!"
"I think he's handsome."
"I wonder what his name is…"
Soon the bell rang, and class began.
"Hullo, everyone! I'm afraid that Miss. Wright is feeling a bit under the weather today. So, I'm going to be your substitute teacher. You can call me Mr. Smith."
He started the lesson then, talking about history as if he had been there, complete with corrections to the textbook and comments that made very little sense to the listening students.
By the time the bell rang to dismiss the class, it had unanimously been decided that Mr. Smith was the strangest substitute teacher that the school had ever seen.
One student, however, wasn't thinking about the teacher's oddities. She had recognized him for what he was, and she was terrified.
As soon as the other students left, the dark haired girl confronted him.
"You aren't going to take us back, are you? Please don't make us go back!"
"Oh, Susan," he sighed, a world-weary smile appearing on his face. "I would never."
She froze then, a whole slew of emotions passing across her face.
"Grandfather?" she asked incredulously.
His smile widened. "I'm surprised you recognized me. I changed a lot. New faces, and all."
"Faces? Plural?"
He chuckled. "It's been a long time, Susan."
She hugged him then, holding him tight as if she'd never let him go. "Why?"
"Hmm? Why what?"
"Why has it been so long?"
He pulled away slightly. "You know I can't tell you that. I'm breaking the rules enough just by being here."
"I know." She looked down at the floor.
"Promise me something, Susan."
She looked him straight in the eyes. "Anything."
"Promise me you'll live a good life."
"I promise."
They sat there in silence for as long as they dared, before they went their separate ways. She walked home to a blue box in a junk yard, and he walked back to a blue box on a street corner.
And he was, once again, alone.