"Look For Me"

Doris stands alone in the school of the arts lobby looking towards the main exit. A few moments before she had called out after her best friend, Bruno, who had left after the two had argued, but her words have fallen on deaf ears because Bruno had left the building.

Left in a state of shock Doris wipes the tears from her eyes. She can’t believe what a mess she’s made of things and how everything had gotten so out of hand. She’d been so confident that warning Bruno about his father's heart atack was the right thing to do. She certainly never imagined that her actions could ruin such a special friendship.

However seeing Bruno so angry and worse still seeing him hurting so much made Doris realise just how much of an impact her being in the past was having on hers and her friends lives. Doris stands in the same spot for what seems like an eternity, not quite sure what to do next. Interacting with people was obviously a mistake and she wishes she understood what was happening to her and could find away to get back home. Every part of Doris' being told her to leave the school and get as far away from her past as possible but something else, something stronger was fighting to keep her in the school.

Doris wanted to find out more about how she'd changed the past and why Bruno had said she was turning her friends against her. Most importantly she wanted to find away to make things right with Bruno. She either wanted to make him understand the truth or some how find a way to change the past back to what it should be.

Doris rubs her eyes as she feels the beginnings of a headache. Then she hears a strange noise above her head and and looks up. Above her is a banner which is gently moving back and forth and making a rustling noise. She steps back to get a look at what it says:

“Welcome Parents”.

Doris realises without even knowing it she's moved in time again. She lets out a deep frustrated sigh. She just wanted to understand what was going on?

At that moment she hears piano music and singing coming from the other end of the corridor and without really thinking about it, starts to walk towards the music.

At first she’s unable to make out the song but as she gets closer she realises that it’s Danny singing “It Didn’t Work Out That Way”.

"Honest I tried to love you, a little more today

But it didn't work out that way..."

Doris remembers how Danny had been having a hard time, after his parent’s arguments had got worse and his Father had moved out of the family home. Danny was so vulnerable then as he found himself caught in the middle of his parent’s battles.

Doris arrives at the music classroom and stands in the doorway watching as Danny sits at the piano singing:

"I wanted to hide like children do

But it didn't work out that way

I couldn't see your point of view

What can I say?"

For a moment Doris enjoys listening to the music and starts to relax a little. After a while Doris realises that Danny is performing the song alone, which she finds strange. She remembers that she had found Danny performing the song and then had joined him at the piano to sing with him and afterwards they talked about his problems. Doris looks around the corridor to see if there is any sign of her younger self approaching the room but there is nothing and Danny continues singing alone.

Doris becomes concerned that something is very wrong, as this is now the second time she’s witnessed events from the past that she rememebers actually being part of but her younger self is now nowhere to be seen. Surely her problem with Bruno hadn’t affected her friendship with Danny too, had it?

Doris shakes her head in confusion, she couldn't bear the thought of losing all her friends and starts to imagine how isolated her younger self must be feeling and not knowing why her friends have turned against her. Suddenly she becomes more determined than ever to find out what had happened and put things right. Some how!

Doris hears laughter from across the hall and goes over to see what is happening and finds Chris and Cassidy watching old movies together. Curious about her younger self Doris decides to ask the guys about her.

Doris: “Excuse Me I’m Mrs Mandenhall, Dwight’s Mother, and I’m looking for Doris Schwartz. I have a message to give her from Dwight. Have either of you seen her?”

Both Chris and Cassidy are surprised by the question as they didn’t hear Doris approaching. They both shake their heads, "no".

Cassidy: “I don’t think I even know anyone called Doris Schwartz”

Doris is shocked, how could Cassidy not know who she was? She turns to Chris:

Doris: “Dwight talks about her all the time, Surely you know her don’t you?

Chris thinks for a moment and scratches his head:

Chris: “Schwartz, Doris Schwartz... No it don’t ring any bells”

Doris feels frustrated: “As I say my Dwight is always talking about her. He told me that last year when you hit your head and couldn’t hear, Doris was the one that visited you at the deaf school you went to.”

Chris shakes his head: “No that was Holly who came to visit it me.”

Doris: “Well maybe I got that wrong, I believe she was the one that married Jesse Velasquez, to try and stop him from being deported when he had a problem with immigration.”

Chris still shaking his head: “No Holly was the one that married Jesse.”

Doris is finding it hard to hide her frustrations and turns to Cassidy:

Doris “I believe Doris was the one that stood against Danny and my Dwight in the vote for School president and she asked you to write a campaign song for her’”

Both Chris and Cassidy are now shaking their heads and both together say:

“Nope that was Holly!”

Doris rubs her forehead “Give me a break is there nothing this Holly didn’t do? Surely I can’t have misunderstood everything Dwight has told me.”

Chris laughs: “Maybe this Schwartz is Dwight’s fantasy girlfriend!”

Doris glares at him: “No, I don't think so, I believe she’s very real. During the break dance competition last year, she was pursued by someone called snake.”

Chris: “No that was Holly!”

Doris: “I know, what about who is the best singer in the school, and if you say Holly I’m going to break both your arms!”

Only Silence greets Doris’ question. Until Doris breaks the quiet by asking sharply for a response:

Doris: “Well? Who is it?”

Chris lets out a frustrated sigh: “Look Lady, I don’t know why you are asking all these dumb questions but we don’t know this Doris chick okay! I think there was someone with a name like that when I first started here last year but I didn’t know her and she’s not here now!”

Doris is confused: “What do you mean she’s not here? Where did she go?”

Chris shrugs his shoulders to indicate that he doesn’t know.

Feeling even more frustrated Doris leaves the room and heads back down the corridor. Chris and Cassidy exchange puzzled looks. As Doris walks she passes Jesse and Nicole and stops them.

Doris: “Excuse me I’m looking for a Doris Schwartz. Do either of you know her?”

Both Jesse and Nicole shake their heads and say “No”.

Doris thanks them and watches as they head off down the corridor. She stops, stands still and wispers to herself:

“What has happened to me?”

Doris feels lost, lonely, confused and scared. The more things happen the less she understands. Surely trying to change just one little thing, which didn't even work couldn't have had such and impact?

Doris notices the door to the administration office is open. It strikes her that the student files are stored there and maybe her file holds some of the answers to the multitude of questions spinning round in her head. She quickly heads towards the door, pushes it open and turns on the light.

She looks around for the filing cabinets, sees them and opens the draw marked S to T. She searches through the files looking for her name. Eventually she finds one marked “Schwartz Doris” and pulls it out.

She opens the file and flicks through the pages. She stops suddenly, shocked by the last entry.

Stamped on the page in bold capital letters is the word “EXPELLED!”

Doris can’t believe what she is reading and mutters to herself:

“How could I have been expelled? What did I do?..... Something is very wrong here!”

To be continued....