Mum and I had another fight. Unlike usual, I can't go to Rani's, because her parents aren't around, and she's staying with Sarah Jane. I would just head over to hang out, but I had to pass on hanging out this time. That was part of the reason we had the fight. For some reason, she's been trying even harder to force me to call William dad. Now, it's been 13 years, if I haven't called him Dad by now, I never will. I've never liked him, he's never liked me, I don't get why she's so hung up on it all of a sudden. In order to try and promote a more "family" mentality, she's started trying to enforce family dinners. I hate them, so much. She "forgets" that I'm vegetarian, she and William will leave me out of conversations, and when I'm asked anything, I get snide remarks from both of them. The worst part is, Mum has said that these dinners take priority over everything else. Even worse, I'm not allowed to leave the table until I've eaten everything on my plate, cleaned up, washed and dried everything, and only then am I allowed to go to my room. If I dare ask for help, I get lectured about "how exhausting your mother's job is, can't you at least do this for your mother?" like, one, ew, who do you think you are, you cannot speak to me like that. Two, she's your wife, why can't you do this for her then? I'm so glad these only happen once a week. If I had to pass on more time with my friends, I would actually cry. Today, I managed to secure the promise that I could cook, so at least I can eat tonight. This did mean I had to tell Sarah Jane that I can't help with the matter compressor being stolen. About the fight, Mum got angry that there "wasn't any protein", which is not true. I had made a vegetarian toad in the hole, with green beans, mashed potatoes, broccoli, carrots, and a variety of other vegetables. I don't see what the big deal was. But Mum freaked out on me. Instead of engaging in this childishness, I just went to my room. Fortunately, I had the table set with all the food already prepared, so I didn't feel bad leaving Mum and William to eat without me. I might need to sneak downstairs later and grab some food, but I can wait. As I was rereading my biology textbook in preparation for tomorrow's test, I get a call from Luke. I pick up. "Hey, how'd it go?" I asked, flopping onto my bed.
"Asha, what to Blathereen eat?" I blink. "Sorry, what?" I'm so confused, where did that come from? "Blathereen. The police family from Raxacoricofallapatorius? Do you know what they can or can't eat?" He asks again. "I mean, they tend to prefer a plainer diet, compared to the Hazrateens, but still like some flavour. Nothing rich. I'd recommend something potatoe heavy. Why?" I asked. "We got saved by a pair of Blathereen and they want to eat with us." Luke explained. "Makes sense. That's the tradition on Raxacoricofallapatorius. Someone saves you; you eat a meal with them. I wish I could go." I whine. "Why can't you?" Luke asks, cluelessly. "I may have had another fight with Mum, and I may have shut myself in my room. It's also family dinner night, so I'm not technically allowed out of the house until tomorrow. You and Rani will have to tell me all about it on our way to school." I tell him. "Oh, that sucks. Hey, just because Rani's parents aren't around, doesn't mean you have to stay at home, you can come over to mine, you know that, right?" I sigh. "Yeah, I know. Thanks for the reminder, though." we chat for another few minutes before we hang up. I then finish another hour of study before deciding an early night might be for the best.
As per usual, I'm outside number 13 to pick Luke and Rani up for school. I've got mine and Luke's coffee, and Rani's order of hot chocolate. Normally, she'd do it herself, but Sarah Jane doesn't have the "right stuff" according to Rani, so I offered to make her some. I knocked on the door, and was mildly surprised when it was Rani, not Luke, who opened the door. "Morning, I come bearing drinks." I hand off her hot chocolate, before stepping inside. "Thank you, so much!" Rani exclaimed, downing a gulp of hot chocolate before running back upstairs. I hear her calling for Luke, but she comes down a second later without him, or Sarah Jane, for that matter. Normally she downstairs by now. "Come on, we need to go." Rani starts pulling me towards the door. "Hang on, where's Luke, I've got his coffee." I tell her, confused at her behaviour. She ignores me and carries on tugging on my arm. I give in and follow her out of the door. We make it a few steps out before Sarah Jane rushes out. "Morning...are you okay?" I ask. Sarah Jane looks on the verge of tears. "Hey, Asha. Rani, I'm sorry I snaped. But if Luke's ill, what do I do?" "Luke's ill?" I exclaimed. Sarah Jane shrugged. "I don't know. He shouldn't, the Bane gave him perfect health. But he looks..." She trailed off. "I don't know how I would explain him, what he is, to a doctor?" Sarah Jane sounds so lost. "First things first, call the school. Given his reputation, and how much everyone adores him, they shouldn't give you too much trouble, other than asking if he's okay. Then, get Mr. Smith to scan him. If he finds anything concerning, call your UNIT friend, Martha? She's a doctor, right? Plus, she used to travel with Space man, so Luke's not the most unusual being she'd have met, right?" I mask my panic and give Sarah Jane Luke's thermos of coffee. "Give him this if his throat's sore. It's just coffee, hot chocolate, and cinnamon. If he's having painkillers, have him drink some of this after, caffine helps speed up the break down of painkillers, they kick in faster." Sarah Jane gives me a grateful look. "He's probably fine, it's just, never happened before." Sarah Jane says, getting her phone out. "I can stay home if you like?" Rani offered. "No, no. Your dad wouldn't want you skipping school, especially when there's a test." Rani laughs. "It was worth a try. See you later." Rani starts walking. I follow after her.
"So..." Rani sing songs. "What've I done now?" I whined at her. She only does that when I've said or done something. "That was a detailed plan you gave Sarah Jane for looking after Luke." There it is. I blushed. I may have accidently confessed to Rani that I may or may not have realised that I may or may not have a crush on Luke. She has not stopped teasing me about it. "Shut up! He's sick, and that sucks. Plus, you saw how stressed Sarah Jane got, I was trying to be helpful! Everyone knows that when it comes to Luke, Sarah Jane forgets how to function when he's not okay." I hunch my shoulders defensively. Rani can't help but get the last word. "You know she adores you already, you don't need to try and score brownie points with your future mother-in-law." My blush deepens. I glare at her before I change the subject. "How was the dinner yesterday?" She looked at me suspiciously. "How did you know about it?" I look at her weirdly. "Luke rang and asked what Blathereen are able to eat?" She nods. "Yep, knew it. Luke seemed weirdly confident about it for someone who'd only heard the name before." I rolled my eyes. "Anyways, dinner, tell me." she rolls her eyes at me, then launches into the story. "Honestly, their table manners were appalling! I thought I was going to throw up watching them eat! They were nice about the food, though. I will give them that." I frowned. I heard that the Blathereen were supposed to be among the neater families. "That's...not what I was expecting. Anything else?" Rani nodded eagerly. "They asked Sarah Jane to be their ambassador to Earth! They gave her this plant, Rakweed. It might be the answer to world hunger!" I blinked in shock. "Rakweed? I've never heard of that. Did Mr. Smith scan it for foreign entities? I don't think England is ready for space mosquitoes." I joked. Rani laughed. "Yeah, no, don't worry. He scanned it to make sure it wasn't dangerous before anything else." I nodded.
We arrived at school a few minutes later. I had been quizzing Rani on her weaker areas on the topics for the test. When we reached the corridor outside the class, Clyde emerged from the classroom, looking dodgier than Clyde at school usually does. Rani decided to call him out, but I just slipped past the two of them and sat in our normal area, right in front of the teacher's desk. Rani and Clyde have joined me, still in conversation about the Rakweed. Again, Clyde does something odd, Rani calls his bluff, and I ignore them both. Normally, I'd have Luke here, but oh well. I hope it's nothing. It is weird though. I look back to find that Clyde and Rani are sat in the back corner. Probably the reason Clyde's being weird. Honestly, I wouldn't have put it past him to have brought K-9 to school... that's why he's acting the way he is. I just give a small huff of laughter before turning to Miss Chalmers tp receive my test. "No Luke today?" she comments, looking at the empty seat next to me. "Nope. He's not feeling very well." I tell her. Luke and I are often treated like a singular unit at school. We do share a majority of our classes, so it kind of makes sense. We find it funny, however it does mean that we do get asked where the other is like we have a tracking device on the other. That would be funny, if one day, when asked where Luke is, to just pull up a tracking app to pinpoint exactly where he is. "Well, tell him I hope he feels better." Miss Chalmers says before moving on to the next student.
Notes:
a/n: I do not own Sarah Jane or anything that actually happened. I just own Asha.