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A/N – thank you so much for the reviews! They've really persuaded me to pick up my pen again. The past few months have been hard but writing is a part of me and I'm so happy to be picking it back up again.

Well, that had been one of the messier trips. It wouldn't normally be a problem – but the Doctor had helpfully dropped her back exactly where they had come from. Trust him to pick this time to calculate his timings correctly. How on earth was she going to explain to her class of Year Nines why she was covered in Slitheen blood? Come to think of it, how was she going to explain what a Slitheen was?

She sighed exasperatedly, quickly pulling her jumper over her head. She might be cold in just her blouse but it was better than having bizarre stains all over her. The skirt was going to be a problem though. She had spare clothes in her car, she always did… but how on earth was she going to get out there? The window wasn't an option – whilst whoever built the school clearly had known nothing about heating, they had at least had the sense to not make the windows possible to climb in or out of.

Right. She was panicking. Maybe if she took her cardigan off? That would leave the top half of her body a bit cleaner. But it was still going to be blindingly obvious! And no doubt a prime subject of gossip. Well, she wouldn't even blame the kids for gossiping about this. If one of her teachers had gone into a cupboard and come out covered in red goo…

Why did it have to be this time that the Doctor was "in a rush" and just chucked her out into a cupboard? That man. Infuriating. She half suspected that this was part of his anti-Danny agenda.

Suddenly, there was a small knock on the door. Oh god. Her normally clear and calm voice shrank back into her, as she quickly whipped off her cardigan and tied it around her waist – because of course that wasn't going to help. Oh, bloody hell! That was a trick they used to use at school when someone's period had casually started without warning. And also the reason why she never told girls off for having jumpers around their waist.

The knock sounded again. This couldn't be good. Tossing her hair back and pulling on that smile, she leaned casually against the doorway as she opened the cupboard door.

Sophie. Oh, thank the Lord.

She gave a genuine smile as the girl looked up at her, a bit worried. "Everything alright, Sophie?" she asked, her relief unfortunately evident in her voice. "I'm just grabbing some textbooks for the lesson."

And then, to her great surprise, Sophie smirked and quirked an eyebrow at her. That couldn't be good. She kept the smile on her face as she braced herself for what was coming. She didn't know Sophie very well as she did some students, but she knew that the face staring at her was Sophie's amused face. What had she done to be the centre of amusement this time? Last time it had been a very masculine sneeze. What was it this time?

Seeming like she was holding back laughter, Sophie finally spoke. "Miss," she said, deeply amused but fairly good-naturedly. "Miss, you've been in there for half an hour. Everyone's buggered off except me and Snuggy."

Snuggy was the class hamster. Today was not a good day.

Clara sighed, letting the smile drop. What was she supposed to say to Sophie to possibly explain this? She was blushing, flustered, and it only increased when she saw Sophie clock onto the goo all over her. "Wait, what… what is all that?" she asked, the smirk disappearing. "Miss, are you OK? Are you… you're not hurt, are you? Miss?"

She was shaking her head as soon as Sophie started to speak worriedly. "Honestly, Sophie, I'm fine," she said reassuringly. "It's… it's paint. There were art materials left in here, not sure why, probably Miss Parker again, she does like to make English arty. I'll have to speak to her. Where – um, where are the rest of the class?"

She was gabbling. It wasn't helping the situation. Sophie frowned deeper. "I think to the newsagent," she said, her mind clearly elsewhere. "To buy sweets before Maths. Miss, can I help?" The last question was added on as soon as Sophie answered Clara's question – clearly this was what was really on her mind. Bless her. Sophie was one of the kind ones.

"You could do me a big favour, actually, Sophie," she said tiredly. "I'm going to run to my car to grab some fresh clothes – could you try and round a few people up? Just so the class isn't completely empty…" She sighed deeply. Checking her watch, there was barely any of the lesson less. But it would be nice to salvage something, anything from this mess.

Sophie nodded quickly. "Of course, Miss. Don't worry." And with that, she sped off, leaving Clara still leaning exhaustedly in the doorway. Honestly, sometimes she felt like the kids were babysitting her. And she was going to bloody kill that stick insect of a Time Lord.