Disclaimer: Doctor Who is not mine. Neither is Birkbeck. I make no money from this.
Sometimes, Donna wondered what was wrong with her - not the memory loss, that, at least, could be explained away with medicine in a way that almost made sense, even if it didn't make the block of Swiss cheese she called a memory better. No, it was the other things. The things that made no sense.
Like her sudden interest in science, or that she seemed to be suddenly good at it. It was as much of a mystery as her mother's sudden attempts to be kinder - which just made Donna unsettled, wondering if she had some sort of horrible, painful disease where she was going to die horribly. She dreamed of dissolving into fat the other night, which was very disturbing, and woke up with a headache on top of it all.
Still, on a whim, when she couldn't find anything she liked in the library, she had driven by Birkbeck, and thought, why not? Now, after filling out paperwork and catching late enrollment, she was walking into the university, heading to all things, a class entitled Geology of the Solar System I, and what was more, actively excited for it.
Something was definitely off.
She entered the classroom nervously. She hadn't been to school in ages, and was amazed how well she had actually done on the entrance assessment for the course. It was quite a disconcerting feeling, made slightly better by the fact that almost everyone in the room appeared to be older than the average student, which shouldn't surprise her about Birkbeck.
The one exception to the age group looked to be a teenager, siting by herself in the back, who didn't really look like she could be more than sixteen, let alone meet the over-eighteen entry requirements. Her arms were crossed defensively, and she was pulling a face that reminded Donna strongly of when she had been in school, and had made her way by defensively declaring "Do I look bovvered?" at everyone. The girl was even ginger!
On a whim, she planted herself beside the girl, offering her a smile and feeling an odd sense of deja vu, as if they had met before. "Hi," she said kindly. "I'm Donna, Donna Noble."
Mina looked suspicious, but offered the older woman her hand. "I'm Mina. Mina James."
Donna shook her hand, easily, smiling. "I hope you don't mind me sitting with you."
"Not at all." Mina replied, giving Donna the first honest smile she had seen on the girl's face. "I'm nervous, this is my first class."
"Mine too." Donna sympathized. It was hard for her as a thirty-something, how hard must it be at half that? She tried to come up with something mundane as a distraction for them both as they waited for the professor to show. "I like your bracelets." She offered. From what she could see, they were thick leather, with odd circular designs on them. "The designs look familiar."
Thanks!" Mina enthused, looking down at the bracelets that encapsulated her wrists. "I dunno." She said after a moment. "I carved them in a year or so ago, when I got bored. They just popped into my brain." The girl tilted her head at Donna, brown eyes bright and excited, making Donna wonder, again, at how old she was. "Have you ever had that happen? Things just pop into your brain?"
Donna felt oddly close to her in that moment. "All the time." She admitted. "But I have some sort of amnesia. My memory for the last two years is gone, so..." She shrugged.
"I think we'll be good friends." Mina said after a moment. "I don't know why. I just feel that way."
"Me too." Donna agreed. it was as if she had known the girl before or something. She trusted her. The conversation cut off when the professor arrived, and headed to the front.