Authors notes: I've gone back and divided the story into 'Books' which divide the story into individual adventures or like episodes of a TV show. You'll notice them in the listings.

I've made some small changes to chapter 31, nothing too major, but it does now contain something that is subtly referenced here. You won't need to re-read it to understand the chapter, so don't worry. ;)

Chapter 50

Dolores' Perfidy

Rachel was on edge for most of the day. She was just waiting for Dolores to try something. Poke and prod at them, get them to react so she could cry and pretend to be hurt.

It never occurred to Rachel before, but she and her friends were essentially social outcasts in one form or another. They were a group of misfits. They weren't bad or nasty, but they stood out compared to everyone else.

For that reason all five were seen as 'the Others,' they were strange, weird; and if Rachel knew one thing it's when a group of misfits get in trouble, the punishment is always magnitudes worse, and not very fair.

Looking over at Dolores, she too was a member of a group of misfits. But where as Rachels group was content to just keep themselves to themselves, Dolores had to make noise, and pretend to be angelic when her motives were sinister.

That made Rachel hate Dolores all the more. She was someone who wanted to be nasty, but have an excuse, a 'good reputation' so she could get away with it. It was the kind of bullying she was used to at the School of Azarath, but it was still irritating to watch her strut around as if her own B.O. didn't stink.

Hopefully that smell would wash off her now because it was GYM time again. The boys and girls had been split up this time, the boys were going to play basket ball while the girls went swimming.

Dolores had complained to Doctor Davison about this. Claiming the boys and girls should play together because separating them was a form of discrimination.

"Correct me if I'm wrong." Doctor Davison said casually, with an edge. "Wasn't it you, who yesterday suggested the boys and girls not mix, nor compete in case the boys showed the girls up?"

Dolores had no answer to this. She just stared at him moodily. "It's discrimination." She insisted.

"It was your idea."

"That was different, now we..." Before Dolores could say anymore Doctor Davison walked past her to speak with Garfield and Victor, who looked like they were fighting over something, probably trivial. Dolores looked like the words she was about to use had just had a massive pile up at her mouth as her face bunched up in an angry scowl. She tried to pursue Doctor Davison, but he looked like he was doing his best to get away from her.

Rachel knew the feeling.

Now Rachel stood in her swimming costume with the other girls. Of course, her own was jet black. She found this attire quite comfortable and liberating in a way. Just a shame its not as appropriate to wear something as form hugging as this all the time. A few of the girls giggled and muttered about how good they looked, and about what boys thought of them.

Rachel just rolled her eyes. Do all girls just do things to get boys to look at them?

When she passed a mirror she glanced at her own reflection in her costume, her form and body. Plenty of people thought she was malnourished because she had such a slim stomach, but she actually ate well and didn't over eat. Rachel decided they were just jealous that her figure was natural, that she didn't really need to work for it, not very hard at least. She had just had the luck of the lottery draw of life and had inherited her mothers curves.

The ground shook, and Rachel guessed correctly, Dolores had entered the picture. She just imagined the water on the pool shuddering as she walked.

Dolores was dressed in some sickly, pink swimsuit which barely contained her bulging form, and she went to go stand next to Rachel.

"Its not healthy to starve yourself." Dolores said, looking her up and down.

Rachel narrowed her eyes.

"Neither is it healthy to have breakfast at McDonalds, but that doesn't stop you." Rachel heard Dolores' knuckles click in frustration.

"You're a really nasty piece of work!" She snarled.

"So eat me." Rachel felt the people listening in on the exchange laugh.

"I'm only concerned about you and others." Dolores said, "aren't you worried you might make people feel uncomfortable? That some people might starve themselves too. To try to achieve your unnatural figure?"

"So you're saying my figure is desirable?" Rachel shrugged, "Thanks."

"No, its not healthy and it's not achievable for everyone!" Dolores moaned, if Rachel could walk away from her, she would.

"My body, my rules." Dolores looked shocked that Rachel would say that.

"No, no. You're not supposed to say that!" Dolores stumbled, as if Rachel was not supposed to say that to her, but something else.

"My body, my rules." Rachel said again.

"But what about people who think your body is achievable?!"

"They are responsible for their own body, I'm responsible for my own body. I am not responsible for anyone elses'." Rachel looked at Dolores up and down. "And I'm not taking the blame for an insurance write-off."

Rachel could tell Dolores so wanted to hit her. But she stayed her hand because the teacher was here. It was Doctor Davison again taking the class.

Dolores instantly complained that a man shouldn't be teaching a girls swim class. But Doctor Davison looked clueless as to why.

"You might make people feel uncomfortable." Dolores said. "I'm sure many here would want to speak up, but are too scared." Rachel rolled her eyes. Doctor Davison was always a respectable sort. She felt more comfortable with him than she did with Dolores. The big girl just wanted to be the centre of attention. Looking at the other girls Rachel got the impression they were all looking at Dolores like she was someone proclaiming the world to be flat, evolution to be a lie, and the sun went around the earth.

After a brief argument, in which Doctor Davison explained that the female GYM teacher is currently unwell, and ended with Dolores being put in her place, did Rachel approached Doctor Davison to speak to him.

"I'm not inappropriate, am I?" He asked with such an innocence to him.

"Ignore her, but keep a close eye." Rachel advised, "she tried to get my friend in trouble, for nothing. I think she believes herself to be a crusader."

Doctor Davison didn't seem to understand what she was saying, and she didn't have time to explain herself so settled for telling him. "Ever read Harry Potter? Heard of Dolores Umbridge? That's what she's like."

All the girls arranged themselves in rows and prepared to swim the length of the pool. For some reason, as Rachel got closer and closer to the edge of the water she began to get a pang of anxiety. It was as if her brain didn't want her to jump into the deep water for fear she wouldn't come back up again. As if she couldn't swim.

But she knew how to swim. She remembered her dad teaching her when she was seven. So why was she so scared?

Marya was behind her, the difference in their figures now much more noticeable, and Marya didn't like it.

It was Rachels turn to swim, and she got to the edge of the pool and looked down into the water, seeing herself stare back. She looked utterly terrified.

"Move it!" Marya said and sharply she shoved Rachel into the water. It was so deep Rachel sank to the bottom. She pushed off and broke the surface and gave Marya a nasty look. A nasty look which vanished when she realised something worrying. She wasn't floating. She was being dragged down!

Rachel tried to reach up to grab something, but the edge of the pool was too far away. Water closed over her mouth and she vanished under the pool.

Swim! Swim! How can I not know how to swim?!

She reached around, felt for the floor as she held her breath. The weight of her soaking cloak was weighing her down.

Cloak? I'm not wearing a cloak!

She got flashes of her dad, in the pool with her when she was seven, holding her stomach as she swam around to get comfortable with the movement. But nothing useful came of the memory. It was like she could remember it, but not 'feel' it.

Rachel looked around. She was surrounded by slowly sinking lumps of wood. Dead bodies, black ink leaking out of them. She saw the surface and frantically she tried to swim back up to it, but she didn't know how to swim. The Monks of Azarath never taught Raven how to swim, it wasn't necessary.

In desperation she focused her powers and tried to force herself to the surface to grab onto something, anything to keep her afloat.

She couldn't speak her chimes, so her focus was limited. But she shot towards the surface and she prepared to break it!

Rachel suddenly coughed, and a great deal of water erupted from her mouth. She took great, sack fulls of air through her aching lungs as she came back to reality.

"Are you alright, Miss Rachel?" Doctor Davison asked, he was kneeling over her and by the look of it he was the guy who'd just saved her life. He was also soaking wet.

"Like I nearly drowned!" Rachel said gasping through each breath.

Gently Doctor Davison moved her towards a bench and set her down.

"What happened?" Doctor Davison asked, and Rachel explained how Marya had pushed her into the pool. But Doctor Davison was more concerned about why Rachel couldn't swim. "I don't know. I thought I could swim, but I guess I can't."

"How could you have taken swimming in P.E. before and never realised you couldn't swim?" Doctor Davison asked aghast.

"I don't know." Rachel gasped again. That was a horrid experience, she never wanted to go through that again.

"Do you want to go to the nurse?" Doctor Davison asked.

"No." Rachel said, "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Rachel nodded, "I think its better if you stay on the side for now and get your strength back." Rachel nodded in thanks.

Stella was at her side in an instant. "Oh, friend Rachel, that was truly awful to see." She proclaimed.

"Try living it." Rachel commented.

"When Doctor Davison saw you struggling he jumped in immediately to save you. I had feared we'd lost you." Stellas concern was touching, but she hugged her so tightly Rachel was feeling a little uncomfortable.

"He shouldn't have done that!" said the annoying voice of Dolores.

"Done what? Saved me?" Rachel asked.

"No, put his hands on you." Dolores said. "That's why we're supposed to have a female GYM teacher." Rachel fixed Dolores with a toxic look. The man had just saved her life and Dolores was complaining about stuff that wasn't her business.

Rachel didn't speak, she just stared directly at Dolores hoping she'd get the hint and go away.

"When I saw him dive in, drag you out and give you mouth to mouth. It really disturbed me. I wouldn't want him touching me!" Dolores said with venom. "I want a female GYM teacher to look after us. Do you agree?"

"I'll do you a favour." Rachel said, her words and eyes pointy and covered in poison. "When you're drowning and need reviving, I'll hold him back for you."

Dolores looked like she was about to explode. She mimed with her hands. "The point!" She held up her hand as if holding something. She then pointed at Rachel before moving her hand over her head. In other words, Dolores arrogantly assumed Rachel was talking back because she was 'missing the point, it's going over your head.'

Keeping her cool, Rachel mimed with her hands too. Pointing at Dolores, circled a finger around her right ear; then she gave the big girl a very pronounced and erected middle finger.

Dolores didn't like that.

If you can't take it, don't dish it; and Dolores looked like the kind of person who couldn't take it.

Rachel recovered from her dunking in the pool quite quickly, but still couldn't understand why she didn't remember how to swim. It was embarrassing, and Marya was gleefully telling everyone who'd listen that Rachel couldn't swim, and was saying it in a tone of voice so Rachel heard her every time.

Her friends were beside themselves with worry, but she didn't want them to worry. She was fine, and she didn't want to talk about it anyway.

The final lesson of the day was Geography, taken by some teacher she really didn't find memorable, nor interesting to look at, at all. He was so boring and half the time Rachel suspected he wasn't really there. Like he was a hologram or a ghost. Like Professor Binns in the Harry Potter books. In fact... yes. His name was even Binns.

Huh? Weird.

Dolores spoke with the teacher before she sat down. Rachel didn't know what she was saying, but she guessed it wouldn't be anything good. Or maybe she was complaining about how boring he was.

The work they were going to do was something to do with melting glaciers. Rachel couldn't care less; and they'd be split up into pairs for the assignment.

The teacher drew their names out of a hat, and one by one they were paired up. Marya was with Garfield, and good luck to him. Stella and Victor were both paired off with one of Maryas goons. Richard was pared off with someone else in the class, she didn't know who; and Rachel...

Rachel wanted to bang her head on the table. She wanted someone to shoot her, now.

She had been paired with Dolores.

The large cry-bully strutted towards her and sat herself down. Rachel refused to sit next to her and quickly swapped seats so she was sitting across from Dolores, not next to her. She raised her geography text book in front of her face and pretended to read it as her eyes stared at a picture of the alps.

"You don't like me, do you." Dolores said.

"What gave it away?" Rachel said with venom.

"I'm just a lonely girl." Dolores said sweetly.

"I am so surprised!" Rachel said, adding more venom.

"Look," she said, "I think we got off on the wrong foot." What game was Dolores playing now? "Lets wipe the slate clean and start again."

Rachels guard was instantly up and she prepared to choose her words carefully in case Dolores attempted to twist them.

"I'm just someone who's tired of being kicked around, pulled back and judged for what I look like."

That's not why people judge you. Rachel thought rather than said.

"I found your story last night and I read it." Dolores said. Rachel waited for some complaint. "You must understand what it feels like to be pushed around, kicked to the curb and judged unfairly. In a way, I kind of find your story empowering."

Rachels eyes appeared over the edge of the book. She was still suspicious and yet curious.

"Yes. Someone like Raven breaking free of her chains, becoming powerful and fighting back against the people who oppressed her!"

Rachels eyes narrowed.

"I felt fear when the Doctor threatened her." Threatened? When did he do that? Was she talking about when the Doctor spoke harshly to Raven after the Shaydes? That wasn't a threat! "I felt choked as that Vampire took hold of her and cheered as she broke free of her bonds. I cried when the Doctor revealed he was evil too." The Doctor wasn't evil, he was just like Raven, he had darkness in him too. "I just love hearing about how Raven is slowly breaking her chains, and I'm waiting for when she goes back to uproot that oppressive Azarath and Gallifrey civilisation and make the universe a better place."

Rachel sighed deeply. That wasn't Raven at all. Raven just wanted to be left alone in the TARDIS to live out her natural life away from everyone else. She had no desire to attack and hurt the people of Azarath, or anyone; no matter how unfairly they treated her. She could already crushed them all like insects at the start of the story, but didn't. Raven just wanted peace. Her dark side, the part of her she's struggling against, that was the part that wanted to hurt people for their treatment of her. But it wasn't something Raven embraced, she fought it, because it was evil.

Rachels eyes disappeared back behind the geography book.

"I don't mind that you based the Impostor off me." No, it wasn't. Though there were similarities between them. "I probably deserve it and its sobering to see myself reflected back at me like that." Dolores sounded sincere, but Rachel wasn't buying it.

"But maybe she could see the light, and become one of the good guys of your story?" Rachels answer was 'no,' but she didn't summon the effort to say it. The Impostor had a different destiny in the story, one more fitting. Dolores obviously wouldn't like it.

"Or maybe after their current story you could have some more which deal with oppressive, prejudice and awful governments and leaders, and how they over throw them." Rachel groaned to sound like she was listening.

"Okay, when will Raven rebel against the Doctors oppressive influence?" Oppressive? Was Dolores reading the right story? The Doctor and Raven were friends, close friends, though Raven would never admit it. Rachel had based their relationship on the one she had with her own dad, and her dad in no way oppressed her.

A vein was starting to throb on her temple as she heard more and more of Dolores' twisted version of the story. To Dolores the story wasn't about a lonely girl coming out of her shell and discovering the wonders of the universe she lives in, forming a friendship and a fatherly bond with the Time Lord. It was about an oppressed girl, slowly using everyone to become more, 'liberated,' was the word Dolores used. To her, even the Doctor was an oppressor to be liberated from, not a friend who teaches and protects her.

"You're not listening to me, are you?" Finally, she'd clocked on.

Rachel held up her hand, and pointed at it with her free hand. "The story, plot, the point." She called it. Then Rachel pointed at Dolores before moving her hand smoothly over her head.

Dolores was stunned. She understood what Rachel was saying. She looked purple faced as Rachels eyes disappeared behind the book again.

"Well, if that's the way you want to play it, I think your story should be taken down. It's icky and creepy." Dolores now spat, her tune changing.

"Oh yes, you really are a fan of my work." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"I'm just suggesting how to make it better!" Dolores moaned, "So you'll get more readers."

"It's not written for a mass market." Rachel hissed. "It's my own, personal story. I write it for me. The people who like it are the people who like it. But I couldn't care less if no one reads it." Her eyes appeared over the book, "and I'm not interested in pleasing readers like you."

"But you have fans!" Dolores insisted. "I'm now a fan! You should listen to me!"

Rachels eyes wanted to roll into overdrive. Dolores wasn't a fan, not a fan in the way Rachel thought of it. She got the feeling Dolores only became a fan when she found out how popular the story was, that it had reach to an audience; which Rachel only recently discovered was quite large. Maybe Dolores decided it fashionable to 'like' it, or at least to say positive things about it in public. But deep down Dolores didn't care for it, perhaps she even hated it, and wanted it to change to suit her rather than accept it wasn't written entirely to cater to her. Raven was a reflection of Rachel, and Dolores just couldn't understand that, nor did she accept it.

To Rachel, Dolores wasn't a 'fan' because she had demonstrated she didn't understand what Rachels story, nor the characters were even about, and because of that she suspected what Dolores would want Rachel to write would be a misunderstanding of them.

Rachels next thought was, 'Why doesn't Dolores just write her own story?' But it came to her. Dolores saw how popular Rachels story was, and she wanted to tell her own story with that built in audience to read it. Dolores wasn't going to give advice to make the story any better, she wanted to hijack it.

"I'll continue to write what I want, thanks." Rachel dismissed.

"Don't you want it to be better? More exciting? Liberating? Positive? Progressive?" Dolores said, trying to guilt trip Rachel. As far as Rachel was concerned her story already had those traits built in, some were subtle, but they were there. She wondered if Dolores was really so narrow in scope and intelligence that she couldn't see it. But then the reason for her saying it became clear.

Dolores had used positive words to describe what she wanted from Rachels story. 'Liberating,' and, 'Progressive.' Any attempt to decline Dolores now could be spun to mean Rachel was 'anti' all those things, rather than just 'anti-Dolores.' So Rachel remained silent and went back to staring at the inside of her text book. It was a good few minutes before Dolores spoke again.

"It's creepy, you know." Dolores then said, "That the Doctor is a nine hundred year old man travelling with a sixteen year old girl who isn't his daughter."

Rachels fingers gripped the book tighter and the vein in her temple pulsated more intensely. She knew exactly what Dolores was getting at, but she refused to rise to the bait. The Doctor and Ravens' relationship wasn't like that, Rachel hadn't written it like that at all.

But it was such a 'Dolores' thing for her to do, to willingly misunderstand and twist it so it sounded like something icky. What was her game? What was she trying to do? Was this just to poke and prod at Rachel? Or was there something much more sinister afoot?

"In fact, you know what." Dolores was adding smugly "I think I deserve to help write this story since the Impostor is clearly based on me." It wasn't; and Dolores had said this with such relish as if she now had Rachel in something totally legally binding.

When Rachel didn't reply Dolores smoothly put her fingers on the tip of Rachels book and pushed it down so Rachel had to look at her. They stared at each other, like two enemies across a battlefield. Dolores smug look faltered as she caught Rachels cold, staring eyes. The goth girl wondered what delusions that pink hippo had running through her head.

"I am talking to you!" Dolores said, as if she deserved her attention.

"and I'm not listening." and Rachel slammed the book closed very hard, catching Dolores fingers between the heavy pages.

Rachel may have gotten detention for this with Mister Binns, but it was worth every second for the emotional satisfaction she'd felt as Dolores screamed and nursed her sore fingers; and now Rachel could do her geography work and get it done much faster without Dolores to 'help her'.

To Be Continued...

Authors notes: Wow, 50 chapters! I never expected this story to be so long and I never expected myself to have the imagination to keep it going.

Special thanks to everyone who's still following the story, and I hope you'll continue to enjoy it as we move on wards.

Cheers

-TimeLordParadox