I will never forget the day I met the Doctor. It was the day I died inside.

It started out unlike any other. Got up. Went to school. But this day was different. Special. This was the day the cast list was announced for my high school's musical. My last musical. Three years of standing in the background would culminate in this: Me! A lead role in Little Shop of Horrors!

I walked down the hall, faster and faster, practically falling over myself to get there. Didn't look at the characters at all, just my name. Found it! In the lead section! My finger followed the dots to the name of my character… Mrs…. Luce? Who the hell is Mrs. Luce? I turned around and walked back to the lunchroom. I wasn't quite aware of my surroundings. There was an odd feeling in my chest. I could feel my hands shaking. Maybe there's more characters in the musical than in the movie. Maybe I am actually someone important.

I sat down at the table where my friends were. All involved in his or her own conversation, no one said anything. I opened my laptop. To Google I went. Started searching for the cast list. It took me twenty minutes. But there she was. Finally. I read her description and my heart sank. I was worried about this. Mrs. Luce is the wife of the editor of Time Magazine. Basically just someone interested in the plant.

I tried to keep it together for the rest of the day, but I lost it a couple times. Alone in the locker room during gym I sobbed. Singing during choir I had to excuse myself to the restroom. People repeatedly asked me what was wrong, and I repeatedly denied that anything was.

The day finally over, I went to my haven. My grandparent's house, ten miles outside of town, ten acres of glorious wilderness. I drove up and started wandering, looking for my uncle's horse, Jack. (Jack Daniels, but I always call him Jack) I really should know better than to have so much time to myself to think.

Sitting on a fallen tree, I began to cry. I must have sat there for a full fifteen minutes. And that was when I heard him.

"What's the matter?"

I gave out a squeak and fell of the log, startled. He sort of… took a step forward and held out a hand as if to try and catch me but withdrew both as I stood back up, regaining (some of) my composure.

"Who on earth are you? And how did you get here?" I asked between gasps, wiping tears from my eyes and trying to stop crying.

"My name's the doctor, what's the matter?" the man with the British accent pressed, stepping forward gingerly.

"Nothing-nothing's wrong, I'm fine" I lied.

"Liar. How many times have you said that today? This week?"

"Well if people would stop asking if I was okay I wouldn't have to lie!" I snapped back.

"Right… Sorry…" the Doctor replied, looking genuinely apologetic.

I sat back down where I was, facing him this time, and stared at my feet. "It really doesn't matter. I'm being stupid. There's nothing I can do to change it so why don't I just accept it."

The Doctor stared back at me for a moment. "Doesn't matter? Stupid? Are you kidding? Why don't you want to talk about what is hurting you so much that you have to lie to everyone in order to keep it at bay?"

I looked up at him, taking in his appearance. He was surely an adult, late twenties at least, but he had this child-like sparkle in his eyes, a twinkle almost. They were the most peculiar shade of green-grey-brown, as if they would change depending on the light or the temperature or the mood. His hair flopped over, adding to the childish effect. There was just something in his expression that made me trust him.

Sighing, I patted on the log next to me. "Have a seat. I'll tell you."

His face lit up, "Ah, brilliant," he said just before plopping down.

I told him my story and then was quiet. Neither of us said a word.

"See?" I said, finally breaking the silence. "Stupid. It's just a part in a play; I've even got a name this year. What am I complaining about, anyway?'

"What's your name?" The Doctor asked in reply.

"Does it matter?"

"Well of course it does, every name matters, what will people call you if you don't have a name?"

"If names matter so much what's yours?"

"Well, I've already told you mine, I'm the Doctor," He explained, straightening his ridiculous red bowtie.

"Doctor is a title not a name. Doctor what?"

"Just the Doctor. First name The, last name Doctor. And you are?"

"Alexis Genevieve. First name Alexis, last name Genevieve."

"Genevieve? That's an odd last name."

"So is Doctor."

"Point taken…" The Doctor stood up very suddenly, spinning to face me. "Alright. Well. I think it's about time."

"Time for what?"

He held his arms out. "A proper hug." He started walking towards me.

"Oh, no no no no no!" I stood up and stepped to the side, backing away. "I don't like hugs."

"Oh, come on, they warm, and nice, and make you feel happy, you know human contact and all that—well almost human contact—well sort of human—okay not human at all contact—but that's completely besides the point, the same principles apply."

"No, I mean it, stop!"

He shuddered to a stop, looking confused and somewhat dejected.

"I'm sorry, it's nothing personal, I just. I don't like hugs with people I don't know very well. Never have. Sorry," I felt bad, but it wasn't worth the discomfort.

"No, you're right, I shouldn't just be hugging random people I meet in the forest—by the way… What are you doing way out here?"

I gave him an odd look. "This is my grandparent's property. I'm out here looking for their-well technically my UNCLE'S horse. I should be asking you the same thing."

"Ah, but you didn't! What's this horse's name?" he said in return, pulling something from his pocket and turning away from me.

"It's Jack. Jack Daniels."

He spun around again and this time he gave me an odd look. "Isn't that a…"

"It wasn't my choice, alright? It was my uncle's decision, not mine." I interrupted, scowling at the thought of my uncle.

Turning back around, he held the thing in the air, pressing a button and creating a strange whirring noise.

"What's that you're holding?" I pointed as I said.

"It's my sonic screwdriver!" The Doctor replied loudly over his shoulder without needing to see what I was pointing at. "Very useful for many uses, you wouldn't believe the situations this puppy has gotten me through."

I rolled my eyes. "Real good at mending things I bet you are."

"Like you have no idea," he replied, apparently not sensing my sarcasm.

"Ah," I said quietly, putting a hand to my head to try and soothe another oncoming headache. "So what are you using it out here for?"

The Doctor turned around to face me. "Scanning."

"For what?"

"Life signs. Disturbances in the air. Do you smell that? Smells like—" He took a deep breath in through the nose. "Citrus. Why do I smell citrus here? There shouldn't be any citrus for miles around here."

I pulled cough drops out of my pocket. "You mean these? I've been eating them all day, keeping back this cold."

The doctor paused for a moment, looking slightly disappointed. "Alright, so it wasn't so weird after all."

"Why are you looking for something weird in the least weird place on this continent?" I twinged in pain and held my head again.

"Does your head hurt?" He asked, looking concerned.

"It happens all the time lately. From the stress I guess."

"Right. That would make sense. You said this was the least weird place on the continent, why?"

"Well, nothing ever happens here, does it? Just boring everyday human lives, the same old same old."

The Doctor was quiet for a moment. "Would you like to see something weird?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Here? You must be joking."

He grinned the biggest grin I'd ever seen and said, "Follow me.

We took off through the trees, running for no real reason other than pure excitement. The sun was shining through the leaves and there was a pleasant breeze rustling the long grass. We ducked under branches, jumped over logs, and only slowed to a stop when we got to the creek.

I laughed. "Look," I pointed downstream to where Jack stood in the water, staring at us with curious eyes, ears at attention.

The Doctor laughed. "That's the horse you were looking for, I assume! Jack, was it?"

Jack snorted in reply.

We both chuckled and the Doctor put a hand on my shoulder. "My turn; look over there." He pointed the opposite direction and I gasped.

There sat a big blue police box. It stood tall and proud, regal as if it belonged there amongst the weeds and rocks.

"This beauty is the TARDIS!" the Doctor exclaimed throwing his arms in the air and walking towards it. "That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space."

"But… How… I… I have hiked through these woods a hundred times, and that has never been there!"

"Oh, come on, that's not even the weird part!" He took a step back towards me and leaned in. "It's a space ship." He opened the door and went inside, leaving the door open just a crack. "Come on in, make yourself at home, and don't forget to pick up your jaw when it hits the floor!" His voice echoed as if he were in a large room.

"Uh… why do you… why are you in a box?" I walked hesitantly towards it.

"So! Where should we go? How about Bellaphores? The birthplace of the musical instrument!" He popped his head out. "Quite literally, all the inhabitants look like giant talking instruments," he pulled his head back in, "Beautiful voices, but everything they say is in rhyme, so it gets a little annoying."

I reached the door and pushed it open, walking inside. My eyes must have been the size of saucer plates with how wide I opened them!

"The inside… it's… how does this even work?" I stepped forward with an outstretched hand, worried I'd hit a painted wall or something. "The inside is bigger than the outside!"

The Doctor smiled and leaned against the large console in the center of the room. "Or perhaps Catrigan Nova, there's whirlpools of gold. As long as you promise not to touch of course, last time that happened—well… I suppose you've heard of Midas? Not really a king, contrary to popular belief, more of a crook who got a little to greedy, and a little too stupid to remember how to eat."

I sat on the ground, soaking it all in. My hand flew to my head. It was really bad this time. "Ouch." I attempted to ignore it and continued gazing at the large room. "This is amazing!" I said, loud enough for him to hear.

"You should see the pool," the Doctor said with a smile. He noticed the hand on my temple. "Headaches again? How long have these been going on anyway?"

I put my hand down and stood up. "A few months, it's not a big deal."

"Taken anything for them?"

"No, I try not to take medicine if at all possible."

"Hmm," He paused only a moment, as if he was considering something but dismissed immediately. "So!" He pushed away from the console and took a few steps forward. "Where would you like to go?"

"Well… There is one place I've always kind of dreamed of going to but I didn't think it existed."

"What is it then? If it exists, I'll know," he announced proudly.

"The biggest library in the universe," I beamed.

The Doctor seemed confused—no, disgusted almost. "All of time and space to explore, anywhere imaginable, I offered you whirlpools of gold! And you want to go read a book?"

"Is that okay? Is it possible?" I asked, worried.

"Well, of course, it's possible! Just seems like a waste of a trip if you ask me." He turned begrudgingly and stepped towards his instruments.

"Well if you know so much, where would you suggest instead?"

The Doctor stopped. Turning slowly with a smile growing on his face, he said, "I was hoping you'd say that." He jumped towards me and asked, "Why do you want to go to the library? What do you want to read about? We could see them in person, you know!"

"Hmmm…. Mermaids?" I asked, not really expecting a legitimate response.

He spun around and went right back to the console, exclaiming, "Enlandia it is!"

"Are we seriously going to go see mermaids?" I asked excitedly, stepping forward and leaning on the railing.

There was that twinkle in his eye again as he grinned and said, "Geronimo!"