Chapter 2: Just Slightly Off
Arnold Perlstein had his eyes clenched tight. He wasn't ready to die just yet. If he'd had his way, he'd live to be at least 100. But sometimes, just being in this class made him think the entire universe was out to get him. He opened his eyes when he realized he hadn't heard any loud crashes in a while. Looking around him, he saw that his classmates seemed to have followed his example, and it was only when they all registered as still alive that a collective sigh of relief rang out.
"Ms. Frizzle," said Arnold, "I think you should give us a heads up next time you plan to take us to space. That way, we can all choose to stay home instead."
"I second that." said Phoebe.
"Oh come on you guys, really?"
The sudden interjection by the strange man in the bow tie aroused a startled shout in the kids, who had in their moment if relief forgotten he was there. He was sitting backwards over the drivers seat looking over all of them with a satisfied smile.
"You're gonna let one silly old meteor shower put you off space? Kids these days, so ungrateful. Amy, Rory, you okay back there?"
The other two strangers gathered themselves, the man called Rory being the first to respond.
"Been worse. Oh God, I've been worse than a meteor shower in a Schoolbus. What is my life?"
Arnold couldn't help but sympathize with that comment.
Wanda Li watched as the Scottish women called Amy placed a hand on Rory's shoulder and gave it a pat, looking surprisingly unfazed.
"Confused." she said, "Mostly, confused. And with a massive bloody headache but fine aside from that. Trust me, kiddies, after a while deadly space adventures just become a walk in the park."
"Y-yeah." said Wanda, "I wasn't scared. I knew we would get out of that one okay."
She paused for a moment and made sure no one was looking directly at her as she wiped some sweat from her forehead.
"How did we make it out if that one, anyway?"
It was then that Ms. Valerie Frizzle piped up, easily the most tranquil-looking face on the bus.
"My good friend The Doctor-" she motioned to the bow tie man, who waved happily at them, "-was nice enough to send us back in time and away from the shower!"
"Now then," she continued, not missing a beat as the students exchanged odd glances, "lets just make certain everyone is present and accounted for. Arnold?"
"Here."
"Phoebe?"
"Here."
"Carlos?"
"Here."
"Keesha?"
"Here, but Ms. Frizzle-"
"Tim?"
"Here."
"Dorothy-Ann?"
"Here, I suppose."
"Hey, Ms. Frizzle?"
"Just a moment Keesha. Ralphie?"
"Here."
"Wanda?"
"Here."
"...Liz?"
A green lizard appeared from it's hiding place in Frizzle's dress and flashed a thumbs up, eliciting a giggle from the teacher and a small wave of greeting from The Doctor.
"Now, what was it you wanted to ask Keesha?"
"Did you say we actually time traveled?"
"Why yes, indeed I did."
"That's awesome!" Tim said.
"It's also totally impossible and ridiculous." said Keesha.
The Doctor seemed to disapprove of this comment.
"Oi!" he said, "You're on a Schoolbus that shrinks, morphs, and goes into space!"
"So?"
Not having a prepared response, The Doctor instead shrugs and hops out of the drivers seat, giving Ms, Frizzle a light slap on the shoulder.
"Right," he began, "like I said we should be about four hours back, but I think you should take them back down to Earth before the storm has a chance to start up again."
Frizzle nodded and sat down in the drivers seat, flying the bus back down to Earth.
As she did that, the children turned their attention toward The Doctor.
"Thank you for saving us, Doctor...um-"
"Just The Doctor, keeps it simple."
"Uh, okay then."
Carlos scratched his head. "How did you know to come and save us?"
Tim pointed to the blue wooden box that The Doctor and company had arrived in before he had a chance to answer. "And how'd you get here in THAT?"
The Doctor snapped his fingers and pointed at the box, his eyes widening to accompany a loving smile.
"That's my TARDIS. Stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. It takes me wherever I want to go in the universe, plus it has lots of near little ways of picking up distress signals. Your teacher has my number on speed dial, so it only makes sense she called me over."
Keesha folded her arms. "You expect us to believe that a box made of wood travels through time and space?"
The Doctor shrugged. "I don't expect you to, no, but it'd help if you did. Rory, explain."
Rory fumbled for a moment, obviously put off by having the explanation suddenly delegated to him.
"Uh, well, it's sort of...bigger on the inside. It's only wood on the outside it more...mechanical, and stuff."
The impromptu lecture was halted as Frizzle landed the bus safely on the ground outside of school.
"Now kids, leave Rory alone for a moment, I'm sure the Doctor and his friends will be willing to answer all your questions inside."
"Blimey," said The Doctor with a laugh, "Forgot how fast this Bus was."
"That's funny," Frizzle said as she looked over the school building, "Looks a bit cleaner than I remember it being."
Hearing this, The Doctor rushed over to Frizzle's side as the kids piled out.
Looking at the school, The Doctor licked his lips nervously and scratched his chin.
"Well...maybe they've taken up speed renovating?"
Amy and Rory looked out of the window to observe the town around them, Amy giving a whistle.
"I know The Doctor said he was takin' us to the 90's," she said, "But I didn't expect 'em to have aged this badly..."
This comment also caught The Doctor's attention, and he practically leapt out of the bus, followed shortly by a curious Ms. Frizzle.
The Doctor spun on his heels, looking around at the buildings and people. Something seemed off. Just slightly off. He spun around back to the school.
"Valerie, which room do you teach in?"
Frizzle pointed to a particular window, and followed The Doctor's example as he pulls a large pair of binoculars from his pocket. Amy and Rory stand in the doorway of the bus, looking at the strange duo in amusement.
"Look at them," said Amy, "they're like clones!"
The Doctor and Frizzle both grow a surprised look as they come to the same conclusion and simultaneously place down their binoculars.
Not only did Ms. Frizzle's classroom look considerably different, it was full of drowsy looking children she had never seen before.
"Speed renovating..." The Doctor whispered, looking from Frizzle to Liz. "Ooooooor, not. Do other classes normally use your room while you're away?"
"I'm not sure. I'm usually away when I'm away."
"Haha, very clever. Hey, listen, call the kids back to the bus. I'll be right back!"
The Doctor then dashed off, ignoring Amy's calls after him as Frizzle called out loudly for her students to return before they entered the building.
"What's up Ms. Frizzle?" questioned Wanda as she and the others sat back in the bus.
The Doctor appeared back before Frizzle had to provide an answer she didn't have.
"Ok," he started, looking slightly nervous, "guys, I MAY have miscalculated just a bit with how far back I took us."
There was an uncomfortable silence before Dorothy-Ann spoke up. "Miscalculated by how much?"
The Doctor held up a newspaper, with the date reading July 12th, 1955.
"I may have taken us back four decades, instead of four hours."
All eyes were on The Doctor as he shifted uncomfortably.
"...Oops?"