Lol... sorry... but here's another in between chapter... let me know if they're getting annoying, I like short chapters, if you can tell
Chapter Eleven: Rio or Bust
Monday rolled around uneventfully. I gave my presentation on World War II, which went without hitch if you exclude the fact that Penny was making faces at me from the back of the room the entire time. I was sure to return the gesture.
As expected, Lawson was quiet and subdued. The only time I noticed him speak was to go over to Rhodes, mumble something that I couldn't make out, and shuffle awkwardly back to his desk. I was half worried that he had said something rude, but one look at Rhodes' smug little grin told me that it had been some form of apology. I would have to call his mom later to thank her. Maybe make her some cookies or something. Or volunteer at something she was hosting soon? Either way, do something that would reaffirm my position on her good side.
Monday passed. Then Tuesday. Then Wednesday. I was getting restless. I wanted to travel somewhere again, go someplace that I had never been and meet new aliens. I knew that the Doctor hadn't specified a specific meeting schedule, but how long of a wait could I expect? On average?
Finally, Thursday came and I didn't have to wait any longer. I was in math, taking a quiz. Or staring at a quiz that I had finished ten minutes ago. High school was agonizing. School rules had really tightened up over the last few years. The rule that was currently irritating me the most was the one that wouldn't allow students out of class early, because at one point, if you had finished all of your work, you could go and hang out in the library, lunchroom, or stadium until your next class started, so long as you weren't in the hallways making noise. But now, there was nothing to do apart from stare either at the quiz or out the window.
Lucky for me, I had been staring out the window at that particular moment, and could see the TARDIS materialize. My math classroom was a corner room on the second (and top) floor of the building, giving me a lovely (not) view of the parking lot and the gymnasium. The TARDIS appeared between the gym and a tree just so I could partially make it out between the branches.
I stood up immediately and turned my paper in, but stopped by the teacher's desk just long enough to convince him that I had left my homework for the next class in my car. He gave me permission to go and get it, so long as I went straight there and came straight back. I agreed, shouldered my bag, and tried my best to not run out the door.
At one point, speed-walking had been a sport in the Olympics, and if it still was, I would've been in a lock for the gold. It's difficult to hurry and not be noticed by administrators, but somehow I managed it. I opened the outside door and forced myself to slow to a normal walk. When I was almost to the TARDIS, the door swung open to reveal the eleventh Doctor. He beamed at me from the doorway and sidestepped to let me in, giving a mock bow as I passed.
"Hello, Mo!" a voice called down to me in a scottish accent.
I looked up to see Amy leaning against the railing, her bright red hair contrasting with the blue of her baggy shirt. Through the rails I could see that she was also wearing a black miniskirt and some kind of sports shoe.
"Hi, Amy", I greeted.
The Doctor bounced around me while I crossed the floor to the stairs. He got to them first and hopped up the first few before leaning against the rail to look at me.
"So, where are we, eh?" He asked.
"Uh… Adipose", I answered before stepping around him and climbing the rest of the stairs.
"Ooh, so still early then", he said cheerfully as he followed me up and danced about the console. "But I take it you've met Amy?"
I smiled at the redhead and nodded. But before I could comment further, Rory emerged from one of the corridors, in jeans and a Space Invaders T-shirt.
"Oh, and have you met my fiance, Rory, yet too?" Amy asked, going over to link arms with him.
"Yeah, I've met both of you, but we didn't really get to talk much".
So, fiance. They weren't married yet. This was before all that stuff at Demon's Run. They didn't know yet. I leaned my elbows on the console and glanced over at the Doctor. He didn't know yet either. And I couldn't tell them, any of them. I didn't know if I was frustrated or relieved. I really wanted to talk to someone about it, but really didn't want to deal with the awkwardness that would come with that situation.
Amy was talking. "The Doctor was about to take us to Rio".
"Or try to, anyway, again", Rory added in exasperation. "We've been trying to get there for ages now. But first we ended up in a world with dragons and jousting, and then in Tibet. Who knows where we'll end up this time, but I'm betting it's not Rio".
"Oi! Don't blame me, it's the TARDIS. She's the one that decides where we go in the end".
"You're the pilot. You fly the TARDIS".
"You don't really fly a TARDIS. You negotiate with her and hope for the best".
I snorted and watched as the Doctor began pulling levers and pressing buttons in the sequence that I was beginning to recognize as the one that started dematerialization. The TARDIS grinded to life and I could almost feel us leave Virginia behind. The TARDIS hummed in my mind and I automatically knew that we were NOT going to Rio.