One Week Earlier
"'Ello, class," The Doctor said, stepping into the brightly lit classroom.
The adolescents looked up at him with mixed reactions. Some, the prim and pressed, overachievers sat, straight-backed, staring quizzically at the man. Others slumped in their chairs, absentmindedly fiddling with their number two pencils. There were two groups chatting, one made up of four girls and one boy, the other two boys who were holding something under the table.
"Hello?" the Doctor said, striding to the front of the room. Only three kids seemed to be paying him any attention.
Clara stood in the doorway, watching him with amusement. While the Doctor interacted well with kids and teens, it was evident that the Doctor was lost when it came to discipline, let alone control a room of them. He seemed to struggle. She decided to save him.
"Right then! Anyone who talks after I snap my fingers can go ahead and get out of my classroom," she snapped her fingers, and all conversation stopped. She noted one girl who sat in the back of the room didn't move at all, and just kept staring quizzically at the Doctor.
"Hello, I am Miss. Ozwald, I'll be your new seventh grade science teacher for the next week, while Miss. Klass is away. Now, I believe we are on," she glanced down at the folder in her arms, "Geology…" she frowned as she reached into the pocket of the folder to get the work sheets, remembering how boring that subject had been, "Right. I'll have two volunteers pass these out,"
As two of the overachievers came up and began handing out the papers, the Doctor came by her, looking astonished.
"How did you do that?" he said, quietly so the children couldn't hear.
"What?"
"The whole," he waved his arms, "'Hello-I'm-your-new-teacher-stop-talking-and-give -me-all-your-attention-the-second-I-start-talking' thing,"
"I'm a Nanny, Doctor. It's not like I'm new at this," she said with a smirk, "Why am I playing teacher, again?"
"I need a reason to be here. The schools in America are extremely paranoid, with good reason. Unless I have a tie to the school, they'll kick me out,"
"And you need to investigate,"
"Yes so… just keep doing… whatever you're doing," he turned to the door, escaping the classroom gladly.
Clara sighed, turning to the group of students, who were now focused on their papers.
Except one. The same girl who had been staring at them at the beginning of class was still fixated on her. As Clara met her gaze, though, she quickly looked down at her paper, letting her chocolate brown hair hide her worried green eyes.
The Doctor stood next to one of the rows of purple lockers, watching as the swarm of children and teachers faded into classrooms. Finally, he was alone. He glanced up at one of the clocks on the grey stone wall. 1:45. The classes were starting, meaning almost everyone would be out of the halls.
He pulled out his screwdriver, turning in a full circle. It buzzed as he faced north, and he ran down the hall in the direction of the North Hall.
"Hey!" someone yelled behind him. He stopped, glancing back to see a teacher standing outside her door, "No running in the halls. Even the students know that," she said, looking at him with a mix of exasperation and judgment. A grown man, running down the hall like a lunatic.
"Well that's no fun," he said, looking her straight in the eye, "How do you get anywhere?"
She shook her head, "No running,"
"Fine," he said, turning and beginning to walk down the hall. She retreated to the watching students in the classroom. When she was out of sight, he took off again, slowing down at doorways to avoid another round of pestering.
When he reached the doorway of the large gym. But the screwdriver seemed to pull him away from the door, down the hall again to a door labeled 'Klass'. Clara's room?
He peered in, and the screwdriver went berserk, beeping and vibrating. All the heads turned to look as he fiddled with it, turning down the volume.
"Ah," Clara covered him, "Doctor, thank you for coming to help with the presentation, she said, gesturing to the Power Point on the Smart Board.
He looked at the diagram of the earth's layers. They thought it was all magma? As if. They had no idea….
"Yes," he said, straightening up and coming to stand beside Clara, ignoring the look she gave him.
In his hand the screwdriver, now silent, continued to buzz. Something was in this room. The Time Churn devise. He glanced around, wondering what it was. It had to be quite large to start an explosion.
"Right, so we'll pretend that the Doctor is the sun," Clara said, leading him next to the board, "If he is one of the elements that heat the earth, what else is there?"
"Doctor?" a person called out, looking at him with a mix of fear and amazement.
"Yes, do you have an answer?" he said, looking at her with the same face, but with a twinge of confusion.
"Yes, geothermal activity below the crust," she said it dismissively, "Doctor Who?" her green eyes waited for something.
"Quite," he answered dismissively. The screwdriver buzzed more that ever.
Her face flushed with sudden color, and she sat up straighter, not taking her gaze off him for the rest of the class.
"Class dismissed," Clara said, to the Doctors relief. Standing in one place did not come easy to him, especially with that girl staring as if she knew him.
The students began to wash out of the class room, all but the one girl. The same girl.
Clara noticed her standing in the back of the room, "Are you all right…"
"Ashley," she said, shaking her head and glancing down at her books, scooping them up. She started out of the room.
The Doctor watched her silently. She watched him, too as she walked past him and out the door. The screwdriver buzzed audibly as she walked by, and she jumped, half running into the hall.
"What was that?" Clara said, turning around, and stopping when she saw him.
Tears rolled down his face.
"Doctor, what's wrong?" she asked, worried.
His hands flew to his face, "I-I don't know,"
"Why did you come back to the class? I thought you were investigating,"
"I was," he said, pulling out the screwdriver, "I found the Time Churn,"
"Really?" she said, brightening, "What was it?"
He shook his head, "No, who was it?"
"What?"
"It was that girl, Ashley,"