Halfway Out Of The Dark || The Doctor

School Reunion

"Leave her alone." the Artist reprimanded, rolling her eyes at the Doctor's attitude.

"Two days we've been here." Rose grumbled.

"Blame your boyfriend, he's the one who put us onto this." the Doctor retorted, "And he was right. Boy in class this morning, got a knowledge way beyond planet Earth."

"Yeah, same in my class." the Artist said, "I had a bunch of students this morning who knew way more than any human should." she remarked.

"You two eating those chips?" Rose asked, gesturing to the uneaten chips on the Time Lords' trays.

"Yeah, they're a bit... different." the Doctor frowned.

"Hmm, a bit too oily for us." the Artist agreed.

"I think they're gorgeous." Rose retorted, nicking a chip off the Doctor's tray and munching on it happily, "Wish I had school dinners like this."

"If ya want gorgeous chips, you should check out that chip shop in Birmingham the Doctor and I like." the Artist said, "Now, those are gorgeous!"

"Just like you." the Doctor winked at her.

"Doctor, please, there are children present." the Artist giggled, blushing at the Doctor's compliment.

Rose just shook her head in amusement at their little moment and sat down at the table.

"It's very well behaved this place." the Doctor said seriously, "I thought there'd be happy-slapping hoodies. Happy-slapping hoodies with ASBOs. Happy-slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones. Oh, yeah, don't tell me I don't fit in."

Just then, the head dinner lady came striding over. "You are not permitted to leave your station during a sitting." she said rudely to Rose.

"She was just talking to us." the Artist defended her friend, annoyed at the woman's attitude.

"They don't like the chips." Rose said to the dinner lady.

The dinner lady glowered at the Time Lords. "The menu has been specially designed by the headmaster to improve concentration an' performance." she sneered at them and turned back to Rose; "Now get back to work."

"And I thought you were rude." the Artist muttered to the Doctor as Rose slunked off after the dinner lady.

"I'll have the crumble." the Doctor called after the blonde.

"I'm so gonna kill you." Rose muttered as she went off in a huff.

The Time Lords watched as another new teacher, Mr Wagner, strutted into the dinning hall and approached a group of kids at a nearby table. "Melissa, you'll be joining my class for the next period." he said to a girl, "Milo's failed me... so it's time we moved you up to the top class." He turned to the pudgy, bespectacled boy sitting next to her "Not eating the chips, Kenny?"

"I'm not allowed." Kenny replied meekly.

"Luke, extra class, now." Mr Wager ordered another boy and strode off, Melissa and Luke following him.

The Time Lords' attention was then caught by the sight of the school's new headmaster, Lucas Finch, watching the proceedings from a balcony above the hall. Both Time Lords had a strange feeling about Finch. He had an air of arrogance around him, like he had a masterplan and everything was going according to it.

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After lunchtime, Rose was in the kitchens cleaning the trays when she saw a group of other dinner ladies wheeling in a drum of chip oil, all wearing hazmat gear. "Careful..." the head dinner lady warned, "Keep it steady... don't spill a drop."