Universal Impact

Chapter 12

I'm an Alien Magnet

3rd November 2009

Park Vale Comprehensive School

The TARDIS landed behind the school and I began to get very anxious. Dad put down the emergency brake and when he saw how nervous I was, he came over.

''There's nothing you need to worry about. You'll be fine.''

I gave him a slight grin and began to walk out when he stopped me.

''I almost forgot. I have something for you.''

I turned around and found him holding a brand new sonic screwdriver out to me. It was a silver colour and it was long and thin. The tip had a blue LED light. I stared at it open mouthed.

''What... how,'' I said in disbelief.

''The TARDIS created it. I added all the settings on it last night. Go ahead. Try it out,'' he said as I took it from him. I pressed the button on it and the tip lit up a brilliant light blue colour. I checked the extention and put it in my pocket.

''Thanks,'' I said gladly.

''I'm glad you like it. Have a great first day.''

''See you tonight,'' I said as I walked out the door.

I shut the door behind me and as I walked towards the front of the school, I heard the wheezing of the engines in my ears. At the enterance, kids of every shape and size were squeezing through the small doors. Some of the kids noticed I came from the back and gave me weird looks, but I just ignored them. Once I finally entered, I went into reception.

I approached the front desk and the secretary asked, ''How can I help you?''

''I'm Emma Song. It's my first day here and I was told to come here to pick up my schedule.''

She looked through her records and when she found my name she said, ''Oh, yes, Emma.''

She pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to me, ''There you are. I was also informed by Mr. Chandra that you'll be escorted to your tutor room, so have a seat. Mrs. Ash will come and collect you momentarily.''

''Alright, thanks,'' I said. I sat in a red chair that sat against the wall.

The late bell for tutor room rang once I sat down. I reviewed my schedule and a few minutes later, a woman with black hair and brown eyes came through the door. She approached me and asked, ''You're Emma, right?''

''Yeah.''

''I'm Mrs. Ash. Your tutor room is room 38 in the English wing.''

I got up and she escorted me to the back of the school towards the English wing. Once we entered, everyone's attention turned to me. Mrs. Ash introduced me to the class and then left. I sat in a desk near a girl with dark skin, dark hair and brown eyes.

''Hi,'' she said once I sat down.

''Hey,'' I said.

''I'm Rani Chandra.''

Her last name seemed familiar and once it clicked, I said, ''Your Dad's the principal? That must be rough.''

''Yeah. It's not that bad, really. How do you like it so far?''

''Well, everyone seems to be more than overly helpful, so it's pretty good so far. The only problem is I have no clue where I'm going.''

''Can I have a look at your schedule?''

I handed it to her and after studying it, she said, ''Well this was unexpected. We have every class together except cooking.''

''Really? This day officially got better. Are the teachers nice?''

''Mostly, but the chemistry teacher, Mrs. Barks, is kind of strict.''

The bell for first period rang and Rani and I walked to English together. It only took about twenty seconds to get there, which was good. Once I got my textbook and the teacher introduced me, we started reading Great Expecations by Charles Dickens. I literally almost fell asleep from how boring it was. Next was cooking, so Rani walked me there and she went off to PSHE. The cooking room was huge. At the back were tables and at the front, there were four kitchens.

Once I entered, I sat beside a tall boy with brown hair and blue eyes. He stared at me like I was a godess or something. I looked at him weirdly and asked, ''What?''

He snapped out of it and said, ''Oh, nothing... sorry.''

After the bell rang, he introduced himself, ''I'm Luke Smith.''

''Emma Song,'' I introduced myself for the hundreth time that day.

Sadly, the teacher made me read safety instructions the whole period while everyone else made garlic bread, although I did get to have some that Luke made.

''What do you have next?'' he asked.

I took my schedule out of my pocket and said, ''Algebra with Mr. Cooper.''

''I have Algebra next period, so.. do you want to walk with me?''

''Sure,'' I said.

Luke and I were on our way to Algebra when Rani caught up with us.

''Hey guys. How was cooking?''

''I had to look over safety instructions the whole period,'' I said.

''We made garlic bread. How was PSHE?,'' he asked her.

The three of us entered the classroom. I sat beside Rani and Luke sat in front of me.

''It was okay. All we did was take notes the whole period on mental disorders,'' she said, taking out the homework.

The bell rang and Mr. Cooper came in. He looked about 24 or 25. He had a clean cut beard, spiky black hair and calm blue eyes. He noticed me and said, ''I'm Mr. Cooper. You must be Emma.''

He walked over to the desk, grabbed a piece of paper and the Algebra II textbook. He handed them to me and said, ''Here's the syllubus and your textbook. You don't have to bring it everyday, just on the days I tell you to.''

''Thanks,'' I said as I took them from him. The book was very heavy and I compared it to the weight of a brick.

Mr. Cooper walked over to the smartboard and clicked on it with the pen.

''Alright, everyone. We have a new student who moved here from Yorkshire. Her name is Emma and I expect you to treat her nicely. Now, on to last night's homework...''

For the next ten minutes, he went over the homework in great detail. He then cllicked on the powerpoint and notes came up. He pressed the 'from beginning' button with the pen and the slide came up. I asked Rani for a piece of paper. She gave me one and for the next twenty minutes, we took notes on matrices.

After we were done taking notes, he said, ''For your homework, it's pages 35 and 36, numbers 1 to 14 and 28 to 39. You have about ten minutes to get it started, so I wouldn't chat if I were you.''

Ten minutes later, Rani, Luke and I rushed to put our things in our rucksacks. We practically sprinted to lunch because, according to Rani, people have to fight for seats. The diner shocked me because it's a small room about the size of two classrooms put together and close to 800 kids are trying to get a seat. We got in line and once we were served, we looked around for about five minutes until we found three seats in the corner of the room.

''Where's Clyde? I haven't seen him all day,'' Luke said once we sat down.

''His Mum said he was sick when I went over to his house,'' she said.

''That's too bad,'' he said.

At the other end of the diner, I thought someone was looking at me, but when I looked over, no one was there. After we ate, I compared my schedule with them. I have chemistry with Rani for the next two periods while Luke has P.E. and English. The bell rang and all at once, eight hundred kids rushed to the double doors. It took a minute or so for us to get out.

''See you,'' Luke said to us as he walked towards what I think is the P.E. and PSHE wing.

Rani and I walked to the science wing, which was at the left corner of the school. I entered the chemistry classroom. At the front was the teacher's desk. Aligning the walls were cabinets and a couple of sinks. There were four long tables serving as desks. Rani and I sat in the second row. Some of the kids were sitting on tables, talking to their friends. There were about 22 kids, including me. As soon as the bell rang, a short woman with brown hair, brown eyes and a seemingly laidback but strict persona came into the room.

''Alright everyone,'' she said as the other kids scrambled to their seats, ''get your notes out from yesterday. We have a tonne to do today. Yes, Rani?''

Beside me, Rani was raising her hand. She put it down once the teacher called on her and said, ''Aren't you forgetting something?''

Rani looked to me, indicating that I was new and when she realised what she forgot, her eyes grew wide and she said, ''Oh! Yes, class this is Emma Song. She just moved here from Yorkshire. Make her feel welcome. I have a textbook for you somewhere... oh, here it is.''

She pulled the chemistry textbook from the drawer, walked over and put it on my desk.

''You can get the notes from Rani. They're just doing a paper on nonpolar molecules today,'' she told me.

She walked up to her desk, got a pile of papers from on top of it and as she passed it out, she said, ''You're allowed to use your notes for this, but work independently. We'll go over it once the bell rings for sixth period.''

Rani gave me her notes and once I started copying them, I felt kind of uncomfortable. I put my pencil down, got out of my seat, went up to the teacher and asked, ''Can I use the loo?''

She looked up and said, ''Sure, but make it quick.''

I started to walk away when a man's voice stopped me.

''I'm surprised you haven't figured it out by now.''

I walked back to the desk and said, ''Sorry, what?''

''I said you can go,'' she said.

''Oh you're so like your Dad. Figuring it all out at the last minute,'' the man's voice said. My chemistry teacher's lips were moving, but the man's voice was coming out.

This day is beginning to get weirder and weirder, I thought. I looked behind me and everyone was busy doing the paper like they hadn't noticed anything. I walked to the door and went out into the corridor. I entered the girls' toilet and once I came out of the stall, I went over to the sink and looked at myself in the mirror. I suddenly saw someone behind me. I quickly turned around to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, but no one was there. A zap made me flinch to my right. A man with a pudgy face, red hair, a suit and a bow tie was to the right of me.

''Who are you?'' I demanded, still shocked. My hearts were still beating out of my chest.

''They call me the Dream Lord.''

''They? Who's they? What do you need me for?''

''I've seen your dreams. You've shown me that you're smart enough to pass my test. You will be sent to two worlds. Your fears and dreams will be revealed in both and you will be pushed to your limits. Are you ready to begin, Emma Song?''

''You can't do this to me. I'm not gonna be your lab rat. You know what, Dream Lord? I have one thing to say to you: I'm the Doctor's daughter, you're insane and I'm going to persuade you.''

I was looking straight in his face when I said that.

''Well then,'' he said, ''Persuade me.''

A/N: Hello again! The feedback for this is just.. incredible. Thank you so much! And just to let you know, I'll probably post the next chapter some time tomorrow night.