Chapter Text
Professor River Song couldn't take it anymore. She walked through the veil of stars hanging from the ceiling, dodging three students carrying some huge project, marching angrily to her classroom. She slammed the door behind her and threw her bag on the desk, knocking over the chalk pot onto the floor, scattering them into a colorful dust.
"Damn it," she cursed, making no effort to tidy up the mess. The loud noise seeped through the door gap, and River checked the time on her wristwatch. Of course, her class had been canceled for the event. It always was. The kids were no longer interested in history, only useless experiments that always went wrong and math problems that didn't fit on a single notebook page.
Ever since Professor Jane Smith arrived, the school had turned upside down to accommodate her classes. Nobody was supposed to like exact sciences, but somehow, she managed to convince the students. And now, every month, they were blessed with a science fair that delayed the teaching calendar for days on end. All because she had a post-doctorate in astrophysical physics or something. Big deal, Doctor.
A knock on the door made River look up expectantly. She had planned an amazing lesson on fossils for the eighth grade and hoped at least one student would show up, but the person peeking into the room made River hold back a disappointed sigh.
"Hey," the Doctor smiled at her. Her cheeks were covered in star and solar system planet drawings made of gouache paint that were already smudging from sweat. She probably hadn't stopped running around all morning. "We're just finishing up some posters for the gym, and then I'll release your class. If you want to come help..."
She raised her eyebrows, waiting for River's response.
River looked her up and down. "You want me to paint posters full of numbers?"
"Well, the purpose of the science fair is to convey science, so... yes?" The Doctor walked into the room fully and closed the door gently, leaning against the frame. Her white shirt was wrinkled, and the sleeves rolled up and stained with paint, making River roll her eyes and smile.
"No, thank you. The only numbers I care about are the ones I'm forced to see when grading papers. And that'll only be possible if you let my class study. So, please, Doctor, I'll wait for you to release them soon."
River was the only one who called her Doctor face to face; the other teachers used the nickname only to mock that the principal favored her because of her studies and that she should be teaching at a college, not taking jobs from others at an elementary school.
"Alright. I'll... Alright, yes. I'll be right back with them, then." The Doctor bid farewell with a nod of her head and closed the door behind her.
River slid down in her chair and buried her face in her arms on the table. She hated being rude to the Doctor and felt bad every time she saw her bewildered expression, but she couldn't deal with it for another day. Enough of physics, she thought, getting up to finally pick up the chalk she had dropped and write the date on the board. The Doctor got everything she wanted; it was only fair that River felt upset. Maybe when the school organized a historical week, they could reverse roles.
By the end of the day, River rushed to her car before anyone could stop her and ask for help at the fair. It wasn't that she didn't want to socialize with her colleagues, but it was kind of exactly what she was doing. Especially if 'helping' meant spending almost the entire night decorating the school with idiotic scientist puppets and posters about whatever the laws of inertia were. It was unbelievable how the Doctor managed to get almost all the teachers to help her.
Unfortunately, the path to the school parking lot was not spared from mathematics. River collided with the Doctor just before the back door, nearly causing her to drop a box full of cardboard mathematical formula models. The Doctor pouted at the items on the ground.
"Sweetie, come on, try to watch where you're going." River stooped down minimally to pick up a pink π the size of her head. The Doctor let the rest of the box fall and crossed her arms.
"I wouldn't need to be careful if you were more understanding and let the kids finish what they were doing. Everything would have been ready for hours."
River tossed the cardboard back into the box and took a step back. She stared at the Doctor. "I've been understanding since the beginning of the year. Maybe you should remember that physics isn't the only thing they need to pass."
The Doctor sighed.
"I've only hosted three fairs so far, physics is supposed to be fun, and I think I'm doing a great job."
"Doctor, physics isn't fun. Only you think so. The kids are having fun because they're skipping class, plain and simple."
If she wasn't so annoying with her stupid planets and stupid gravity, her annoyed expression would be amusing. The Doctor kicked the box forward and knelt down on the floor to finish picking up alone.
"Maybe they'd enjoy your classes more if you did something different instead of just talking to the walls all the time," she muttered more to the number five on her hand than to River, who still caught the end of the sentence.
"You have no right to demand anything from me. My job is to teach history, and all I ask of you is to stop pulling my students out of class. From now on, no one will be excused during history class."
The Doctor's eyes lifted. "But Missy said that..."
"Missy will say anything to her beloved Doctor." River practically leaped over her to open the door. "See you on Monday."
The Doctor stood up and grabbed River's sleeve at the last second, holding her at the top of the stairs.
"You're really not coming tomorrow?" Her voice came out exasperated, as if she hadn't taken any of their little argument into consideration and truly didn't believe River would be capable of skipping the science fair.
River pulled her arm away.
"I'm a humanities person." She retrieved the car key from her purse and left.