"Nummy!" Matt said, after swallowing a chunk of the pancakes. Clara smiled at the little boy. She was really glad she was better at making pancakes than soufflés. While little Matt was happily enjoying his pancakes, Peter was picking at his.
"Peter, are you alright?" Clara asked. His brother seemed to really enjoy the pancakes, why wasn't he? She didn't know this boy, but she still didn't want to him to be ill or anything.
"'M fine," he said. She could tell he was lying, but before she could press him for more details, Matt called her
"Clara!" Matt said, presenting his syrup stained plate, "I'm done! Thanks for the pancakes! They were yummy!"
"You're welcome," she said before taking the plate to the sink.
While she was doing that, Peter leaned over to Matt and whispered into his ear. "I don't trust this Clara. There's something wrong with her," he said.
"Well, duh! She hit her head and now she's having trouble remembering things," Matt said.
"No, dummy!" Peter said, flicking his step brother's shoulder, "I mean she's acting funny. She didn't make the pancakes like she usually does, and her voice sounds different when she talks to us."
Matt looked at Clara for a second while her back was turned. "That might be part of the whole hitting her head thing. 'Sides, I haven't noticed anything," Matt said, "What do you think's wrong with her?"
"I don't think she's our Clara," he said, "I think someone or something has replaced her!"
Matt snickered. "That's silly!" he said.
"You're silly!" Peter said, flicking his shoulder again.
"Dooooon't!" Matt whined, smacking his hand away. The two boys started a slap fight. Clara turned just in time to see this happening.
"Boys! Stop it!" she said, splitting them up. "I don't want to see either of you hitting one another!" she said.
"He started it!" Matt said.
"Did not!" Peter rebutted.
"I don't care who started it, you're both going to stop it right now, alright?" she said. The two boys nodded, not looking at her. "Good, I don't want to see anymore fighting, or you'll get a time out," she said. She then began to help them out of their booster seats. "Do either of you have somewhere to be this morning?" she asked.
They looked at her like she was crazy for a second. Was she serious? Even if she had hit her head she should know they'd be in preschool at there age. "Ok I think I see what you mean," Matt said too quietly for her to hear. "Yeah," he said, "We have preschool at 8:30."
"Oh right!" Clara said, feeling stupid. She knew they were preschool age, but it hadn't really occurred to her that she would have to take them to it for some reason. Crud, she didn't even know where their preschool is! Wait...she had her phone with google maps! All she need was the name. "Hey, just as a reminder...what's the name of your school?" she asked.
"Coal Hill," they said simultaliously. Clara froze. That...that was the name of the school she worked at! It didn't have a preschool, even though some of the children acted like preschoolers...and it certainly wasn't located in a suburb. Was she even on earth? Where...or maybe when was she?
"Alright," she said, faking calm, "Why don't you two start getting ready, ok?" The two boys ran off to get their cloaths on. As soon as they were gone, the fake smile fell from Clara's face. Where the heck was she? She hoped the Doctor could figure it out and get her back soon.
(Meanwhile in a parallel universe)
"Your molecular structure is different from anything else in the universe," the Doctor said, looking back at the screen.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Clara snapped in confused. She wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. She was stuck on a space ship floating through outer space piloted by an alien who kidnapped her. This whole place was creepy and she just wanted to go home. The boys were probably missing her.
"It means that you're not from this universe. Somehow, you switched places with my Clara," he said.
"Yeah, Likely story," Clara said, not believing him. Did he really think she was going to trust him? She didn't even know his name.
The Doctor looked at her with confusion. A very familiar look. "I'm being honest, I just want to get my Clara back. Why would I say such a thing if I wanted you to stay?" he asked.
"You would then pretend to search through your files to find a way home for me but then you say something like 'oh no there is no way home'," she said, "then you would mope about for your 'friend' to earn my sympathy. Once you had done that, I would be forced to stay because you lead me to believe I had no identity on earth so I couldn't last long or something. Then you would have your own little human pet forever."
The Doctor stood there for a second, mouth agape. "Well..." he said, "I guess I could have done that..." "Honestly though I would never do that. I promise. Cross my hearts," he said, making two crossing motions over his chest.
"Hearts?" Clara said.
"Yes, I have two," he said smiling.
"...You really are an alien," she said, trying to stop herself from smiling.
"Was that a smile?" the Doctor said, a knowing grin on his face.
"Heh, you wish!" she said.
"Alright then," he said, still smiling smugly. "I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot," he said, "Let's start over. Hello, I'm the Doctor." He held out a hand for her.
"Really? That's what people call you?" she said.
"Yes, along with 'hey you, get off my planet' but I don't think that counts as a name," he said.
Clara chuckled. "Well Doctor, I'm Clara," she said, taking his hand.
"Pleasure to meet you Clara," he replied, shaking her's.
"You two, now you better get me home or you're going to regret it," she said.
"Yes boss!" the Doctor said, saluting her before turning back to the controls.
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To be continued...
Hey guys! Merry Christmas and Happy Wholidays! (Yes I just made that joke. Whatcha gonna do, huh?) Hope you like this little gift. Sorry this took a little bit. I've had finals and then I've been working on an original story on the side. It's called "Secret of the Amazon" and is on Fictionpress if any of you are interested. Shameless self advertising aside, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll try to get another one done soon.
Hey what did you guys get for Christmas? Let me know in the review section! If you don't celebrate Christmas, I hope your day is still awesome!
