"Salvage"

20. One Single Request

Lima, Ohio – January 2012

"So that substitute is back, Miss Harrison?"

"Yeah, I know, we…"

"You two hung out a lot last time she was here, didn't you?"

"I worked in the library with her for extra credit, you already know th…"

"Have you talked to her since she's been back?"

"No, not really. But she's a teacher."

"But you spent a lot of time together."

"I spend a lot of time with all my teachers. Because they're my teachers."

"I just figured you two had become like friends or something."

X

She wasn't nearly as awkward as she'd once been about this. Even the jumps from one place to the other hardly phased her anymore. This was merely what her life was at the moment, as she helped the Doctor with this one very long task that needed doing. This was not to say that she wasn't nervous anymore. Every step that she took in this school, she knew she could say or do something that would completely throw off the…

"Miss Harrison!"

She paused and looked over her shoulder to see who had called to her. Padra.

"Sugar, hello," she smiled at her, letting the girl catch up to her. "How've you been?"

"Christmas was good, we went on vacation, I skied, almost broke my leg but didn't. Classes are boring now." Gemma chuckled.

"I've never been skiing," she told the girl. Actually I have, just not on Earth.

"Is your apartment all fixed up now?"

"Yes, it's good," Gemma smiled. "It's bordering on cozy."

The Doctor would have set her up with a lot more if she hadn't said a thing, but Gemma had gone against it. If she got too comfortable, then she'd forget why she was here, and none of them could afford this. She had joked that this would be her chance to finally read all those classics she'd never gotten around to reading, which had come back to bite her, when the first morning of her post-home economics assignment had started with a delivery of three boxes full of those books. Thanks, Doctor. She had made her way through the first box with only one or two books to spare by the time the new posting came along.

"So you don't have to keep running around anymore?" Sugar asked.

"Not really, no, I guess I don't." Or I'm just getting better at timing my returns. "Maybe I should have waited until now for our project, right?"

"Maybe," Sugar shrugged, then gasped. "But you're here now."

"Yes, I am," Gemma wasn't sure what she was getting at, though she had a feeling she did know.

"You should come by and check out the Glee Club."

"I don't know if that's…"

"No, but it is. You said you checked us out, didn't you?"

"I did say that."

"And you know about music, it'll be fun, you'll see. Please?" Seeing her so excited, it was hard not to laugh. But she had to think this through.

She knew what she was meant to do here at McKinley. She hadn't really understood it at first, but that was all for the Doctor, letting her figure it out for herself. Nothing had been left to chance, but then there were variables, and she would find them all in that choir room.

"I'll tell you what. I'll check my schedule, I'll think about it, and then I'll see with your director. I'm not making any promises if I don't know whether or not I'll be able to keep them."

"Okay, that could work," Sugar smiled.

"You should probably be getting to class now," Gemma looked at her watch. "I should be going, too."

"Right, okay. Later, Miss Harrison," Sugar went on her way, and Gemma watched her go. Sometimes she wondered about her, this girl who had been born so far from Earth, years and years from now, living here and now. Did she still think about her home, the parents she had lost? How long had it been since she'd thought of the Doctor?

She did want to go and check out the Glee Club, if she was going to be honest with herself. Having to be so focused on them all, curious by nature as she was, she couldn't not wonder about them, in that room. Some of them had met the Doctor long ago, some not so long ago. Some would meet the Doctor soon, and others would have to wait several years still. Actually they would all meet the Doctor in the matter of months, but it would hardly be over.

But she was playing a part, being here. She was supposed to be Ginny Harrison, not Gemma Lucas. She might have slipped, telling Sugar about Juilliard, but she feared if she walked into that room her mask would begin to slip, and they would see the real her underneath. Like she'd told Sugar, she would need to think about it.

X

Artie had watched the entire exchange from down the hall. He couldn't get close enough to hear, but he could catch a handful of words by looking at their lips, and the rest was all to gauged on gestures, postures, and expressions. There had been some small talk, and then Sugar had looked like she'd gotten an idea, and he was almost sure she'd offered for the substitute to come to Glee Club. Wouldn't be the first time. Gemma, Ginny, whoever she was, didn't look like she'd said yes or no, and then they'd parted ways. Artie was careful, so not to be spotted.

When she was on her own, thinking to herself, it was almost too easy for him to see. This was Gemma, the one he'd met as a kid, with the Doctor. He had to get to the bottom of it.

TO BE CONTINUED (TUESDAY)