The Adventures of A Time Traveling Fashionista: A Doctor Who fanfic

chapter 3

Ellie sighed, and clutched her mug even closer, like it would warm her whole body. I took one of her hands in mine, and it was stone cold. We sat there for a while, just looking at each other. I wanted to know, but I was not about to push for information. El seemed to gather her strength, and sat up.

" I want to make sure you understand something before I tell you anything. I did not have a terrible childhood. I may have had terrible parents, but I wasn't starved and beaten. And what comes later, well that was bad. Really really bad. But I don't want the pity that everyone else gave me. You are too smart to pity me over this when you have had to deal with so much worse, and seen so much real evil. I don't want pity, I just want understanding."

I looked at her for a moment, then nodded slowly. I knew what she meant.

" Okay then. Ready for the story of me?" Her voice contained a sad sort of bitter sarcasm that made me want to comfort her, but i didn't want to risk making her feel worse. I remained silent, but listened intently, and Ellie kept speaking.

" I had basically the perfect family. Not the perfect family life, but the perfect family. Once upon a time, there was a corporate giant, an ex-model, and a little girl who looked cute on Christmas cards, and they all lived together in a multi-million dollar manion." She laughed now, but it was sarcastic, sharp edged and mocking. "I was an accessory, a dress-up doll. And I survived this for fourteen years. God, I was such a brat. I ordered people around all the time, and because I was the person my parents made me, I didn't understand how the world works. That if you order people around, you will get stabbed in the back. My mother molded me to be a perfect model of her, and I didn't know how to be a person. A princess, yes, but not a real peron, a kid that went to the neighbors house to play with headlesss barbies, and came home covered in dirt and chocolate, and creamsicle if she was lucky. I literaly had no childhood."

Her voice, already hard edged and brittle to the point of breaking, took on a mocking and sardonic lilt. Coming from El, usualy so soft-spoken and gentle, despite her naturaly sarcastic and crazy personality, it was worrying.

" And then, my parents died. They died. And I didn't. even. cry. And I remember thinking 'they raised me, I love them. Why am I not crying?' Because I did love them, because I had never had a chance to love anyone else. And when they died, I went to go live with my Uncle James, and my cousin, Koran. Uncle James was a big shot, and just as rich as my dad, so he was never at home. Koran was only three years older than me, 18, but he was completely unapproachable. He was the king of the private school we went to, and I was a nobody. Within a year, I was no longer just a nobody, I was a fat nobody, and that made me an immediate target. It felt like everyone hated me, any friends that I did have disappeared along with the rise of the name "Taco Bell El". I had been a princess for my entire life, and now everybody turned against me. It took two years in that hell hole before they decided to just get rid of me. And so, one night when I was at home alone, ironically enough, plowing my way through a bag of chips, Koran showed up. He was drunk out of his mind, and so were the four other boys with him. I tried to leave, to get out of their way, but they caught me."

Her voice was shaking, she was barely able to choke her words out. As she continued to speak, tears made silver tracks down her face.

" I don't really remember anything after that except pain. It was a blur, and when I woke up, I was lying in the middle of the kitchen floor. My clothes were shredded- one of the boys had a knife- and I had cuts all down my stomach, my arms, my legs."

She paused for a minute, and pulled off her sweatshirt, then pulled her shirt up a few inches. I wasn't sure why this was going on until I saw what she was showing me. Ugly. That was the word that was crudely scratched into her skin just above her left hip. She was crying even more now, and I didn't think outrage would be helpful, so I just sqeezed her hand and let her continue. That didn't change the fact that I wanted to kill somebody.

" They probably would have killed me, but a maid came into the room. It's a miracle that they didn't just kill her, but they were too drunk to think straight, and they ran instead. The maid- her name was Lia- wanted to call 911, but I wouldn't let her, I just wanted out. Lia helped me bandage myself, and I slept for a night with her keeping watch. In the morning, I packed as much as I could into a rolling suitcase and a carryon bag, called a cab, and went to the airport. I got a plane ticket to London. I was 18 by then, so I had access to money, and I got a flat. I made some friends at the coffee shop I worked in, and at the art classes I was taking. I was still miserable though. I felt ugly, I felt like I was really living up to my old nickname. I dyed my hair black, I ate once a week, and wore too much eyeliner. I thought the world just might be better without me. My friends told me that I was wrong, but I didnt't believe them. They were just saying that because they had to. I almost killed mself, I didn't want to keep going. I was really and truly ugly. Then, there was Jamie. That boy saved me even though I didn't want to be saved. I have no idea how he did it, but he just pushed right past every defense I had, invited himself in and made himself at home. We became best friends in less than two weeks. And then you came, and whisked me away to see the stars. Jamie took one look at me and said 'Go El, wherever you're going, but come visit me, okay'. I don't know how he got so smart, but I'm glad that I listened to him. I've been having the time of my life out here. Tonight..... that guy was just a little too much like Koran, too close to my nightmares. So now, you know the story of me, every last detail. And I hope you were impressed."

It's clear that she has told bits and peices of this that she has come to expect the condenscending pity, because Ellie's voice has reacquired that bitter tone. Instead of pity, or the understanding she asked for, I decided to try a reaction she had probably never gotten: making her understand. I came around to her side of the table, and got on my knees in front of her chair, looking into her eyes.

" Ellie Violet Johnson" I began. " I was very impressed. And I'm grateful that there's still a you to be impressed by. And I'm glad that your hair is blonde again, and I'm glad that you stopped wearing so much makeup. And that you met Jamie, and that you are right here in front of me." I leaned in and wrapped my arm around her, and she immediately burried her head in my shoulder.

" I'm also very flattered that you think that I've been through worse than that." I continued. "Because I'm pretty sure I never have and never will. You are still so strong and kind, and funny and brave; I could never act like that after something that damaging. You, Ellie Johnson, citizen of the planet earth, are braver than a 904 year old Timelord.....and you are also fast aleep." I added, looking down to see Ellie breathing steadily into my arm, dead to the world. The emotional strain and all the crying must have worn her out. Smiling gently down at Ellie, I picked her up and walked deeper into the TARDIS, saying goodnight to her as I went.

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so now we know more about Ellie! Sorry it took so long to get thiss uploaded, I've been half really busy and half really lazy. Tell me what you think of it!