He passes the house across the road at least twice a day, every day. And if there is something involving aliens going on, which there usually is, it's usually more. Except now Clyde is the one racing across the road to ring the bell first and ask if Rani's available could she come and see Sarah Jane for some 'work experience'. When Maria lived there it was always Luke who got there first, and usually without trampling the flowerbeds.
Since she moved to Washington, and Rani took her place, the relationships in their little gang have felt a little different. Clyde is still the same as ever, cracking jokes, making movie references to every alien they cross paths with and finding time to teach Luke how to be cool in between saving the world.
With Rani, it's not quite the same. He still gets the vibe occasionally that she finds him maybe a little too strange.
He never got that with Maria. She had been with him from the beginning. She was used to it. She was the first thing he ever saw, and the first name he ever learned. She found him, and helped him save the world and stuck by him at school when nobody else would talk to him.
Some days it feels like Rani has become Maria's replacement. A replacement for one who could never be replaced. It's days like that he thinks about Chrissie's impending wedding, when Maria will be coming back, and even though it's only going to be for a few days, back in the inner circle once again.
