Chapter Four
They all stood there, not talking or even looking at each other. All of them found interesting cracks in the floor and stared at them, wishing that this wasn't real. If only, really, this wasn't real. Without any warning, Clara jumped and made a mad dash for the door, leaving Kitty and the Doctor staring at each other, puzzled at her sudden burst of energy. It took both of them a second to realize they should probably follow her. They madly ran out and continued down the street, making wild guesses at where she might have made turns in the beat-up roads. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Clara, hunched over and trying to catch her breath on the sidewalk.
Both of the halted, and Clara motioned for them to come closer. "I…tried to…run back…to…TARDIS…gahhhhh." Somewhere along the way of her mad dash to freedom, Clara's glasses had fallen off her small nose and got lost in the surrounding bushes that lined the streets, and the Doctor's glasses had done just the same. Before anyone could try to make sense of Clara's actions, a clique of teenage girls rounded the corner. Their faces went blank and they spotted the out-of-breath group standing vulnerable on the sidewalk. It was a staring showdown until one of the girls in the group decided to break the silence. "OH MY GOD IT'S MATT SMITH!" Immediately, the clique of girls began screaming and crying their thoughts out into the afternoon air. "I love him, OMG" and the occasional high pitched scream rung out. The Doctor stood motionless, only moving to ask Kitty, "Are they talking about me." Kitty pursed her lips. "Um, well…yes…" He sighed heavily. "Ah."
Clara tried hard not to laugh. Still slightly out of breath, she joked, "Look, lucky you. Hormone raged fangirls? Hell yes!" The girls huddled in a group, pointing at Clara and jumping up and down. "It's Jenna-Louise Coleman!" The Doctor couldn't hold in his laughter as Clara crossed her arms and scowled. "Oh, lucky you, eh," the Doctor teased. "I feel as though running wouldn't be the best choice, maybe just stand here and they'll lose interest," he weakly suggested. "I don't see them goin' anywhere," Clara shot back. "Maybe we should go near them, you know, just get it over with?" All three pondered, wondering if their plan would actually work. They all eventually nodded, and then began to walk toward the giggling girls. "Oooo, look. They must be filming! They're wearing their costumes," a blonde girl pointed out. The Doctor and Clara automatically looked down, wondering how they looked on a small box in someone's living room.
The girl then approached the Doctor, and held out a picture with "Matt Smith" on the front and a neon green sharpie. "Mmmm, I've got even a bigger chin in 'real life,'" he muttered as he chicken scratched some letters onto the face of his other-universe clone. "Now, um, ladies. I would love to stay and chat but all us lot have got to do some 'filming', if didn't mind." Without waiting for an answer the Doctor, Clara, and Kitty all turned and jogged off, eventually checking behind them to make sure they weren't being followed. "While we're trying to figure this out," Kitty suggested, "Would you two like to come to my house and get some coffee?"
Kitty lived nearly right down the street. Her white house had tendril vines creeping up the rainspouts, and half-dead flowers in dirty pots leading up to the small front porch. Kitty took a key out of the backpack she'd had on and slowly opened up the door, then let her guests in. The Doctor and Clara looked around, surprised by the random clutter that was everywhere. "Have you got a mum, or dad," Clara asked, struck by the fact that they would possibly allow this? "Nah," Kitty answered, with a sad quiver in her voice, "Never met 'em. Or at least can't remember them. They died when I was little. I got put up for adoption, but no one ever adopted me. Suddenly out of nowhere, there comes some 'long lost sister' who I never knew about. She had already grown and moved out by the time my parents died, so I grew up not knowing about her. She's hardly ever home now, with workin' and stuff."
Clara looked away from Kitty, not wanting to see the obvious tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. "You guys can go make yourselves at home in the living room and I'll get coffee, but DO NOT turn on the TV, or use the laptop, you hear me? I don't want you guys getting your future changed, or something." Kitty scurried into the kitchen as the Doctor and Clara neatly sat on the couch, unknowing of what to do. "You wanna turn on the TV and find ourselves on there," the Doctor dared, the tone of his voice sounding that of a five year olds. "I thought you'd never ask," Clara said, groping for the TV controller. It was hiding under the couch.
Controller in hand, Clara promptly turned on the TV. Both of them gasped.