Amy Pond was sitting in history class, and she was incredibly bored. She knew how the class would go, they would talk about some sort of event that had happened in England's history and Mels would continue to either mumble about or inform the teacher that the reason the event happened was because of the Doctor.
It had been that way for years and Amy often questioned if Mels was just doing it to make fun of her or if she actually believed her. The teacher was droning on when the door to the classroom opened and a girl with brown hair plaited in one long dutch braid walked in, with a brown leather book bag on her shoulder.
Amy looked up with a piqued interest. She watched as the new girl handed a slip of paper to the teacher. The teacher read through the note quickly before folding it. "Alright Ms. James, there's an empty seat between Ms. Pond and Ms. Oliver." She instructed, pointing to the desk between Mels and Amy.
The girl nodded her head before moving to her seat. Amy eyed Mels as the girl sat between them. That had been where Rory sat before he moved classrooms a few weeks prior. After about five more minutes the girl looked over to Amy.
"I'm sorry… What page are we on?" She asked as she gestured to the textbook that was open on Amy's desk.
"One hundred and ninety-seven." Amy replied without looking up from the note she was writing to Mels.
After a piece of paper was passed between Amy and Mels several more times, and the teacher gave the class work time, Amy leaned over to the new girl. "So what's your name?"
"Clara." She replied immediately, trying to focus on the assignment that was just given to keep herself from looking too suspicious.
"Don't bother doing that." Mels informed her. "It's just reading, we'll have a quiz on it next week after we've talked about all of the concepts for days." She said as she closed Clara's book on her. "So Clara, what's the story."
Clara was delicately placing her book back into her book bag. "I'm a foster child." Clara said, sticking with the story her and The Doctor had decided on beforehand. They needed some sort of backstory that would explain several things, such as why Clara wouldn't want to hang out at her own home, and why she would just appear and disappear without much warning.
Mels looked at her, interest clearly gained. "Really? Who are your foster parents?"
Clara looked at her, surprised. "You don't… You don't know them."
"I'm sure I do, I'm in the foster system too." Mels replied
Clara looked upward and cursed The Doctor. How could he fail to mention something like that. While she was caught off guard she wasn't going to let it stop her. "Mr. and Mrs. Laningham." She said quickly. "They actually live just outside of town… They're an older couple, but they're very nice."
Amy and Mels exchanged glances. "How far out of town?" Mels asked after a moment.
"I'm not exactly sure… I took a cab here…" Clara said, assuming that playing confused would be beneficial.
"Harrow?" Mels asked hopefully. "I'm honestly just dying to get out of Leadworth. It doesn't have to be Harrow, just anywhere else."
Clara scratched behind her ear rapidly. "I don't know if that's such a great idea." She admitted awkwardly. "I would kind of like to not add any pressure to Mr. and Mrs. Laningham… I kind of was put there last minute and I don't know how long I'm staying. I'd like to see how things go before…"
"Come on!" Mels insisted eagerly.
Clara was becoming obviously more and more uncomfortable.
Amy shot Mels a look. "We can just get my mum to drive us into London or Harrow this weekend." She hissed at her.
Ultimately the number of people that even took the time to talk to Amy and her friends is an incredibly small number. And Amy felt sort of bad about how much Mels was harassing Clara. Plus, based on Clara's behavior she could tell that she was very insecure about what was going on. She felt bad for Clara and she didn't want Mels to make her feel any worse.
"Do you want to come over after school?" Amy offered. "My mum's probably made some pie."
"Plus then you can meet Rory." Mels said with a smirk toward Amy.
Amy blushed slightly but brushed it off. "Come on. Rory and I can catch you up on what we're learning in your classes." Amy said as she looked through Clara's class schedule. "I can help you with History and English and Rory can help you with Calculus and Advanced Physics."
"I can eat snacks while not doing any of my homework, ever." Mels said as she picked up her bag, which was definitely not full of books.
"Come on." Mels said as the bell rang, signaling the end of the period. "Lunch." She said as Clara rapidly shoved her class schedule into her book bag.
"You can sit with us." Amy said gently as she softly placed a hand on Clara's shoulder. She could sense something was bothering her, but she of course didn't know what.
"So if you divide x by the square root of forty two and then you take the derivative you get your solution." Rory finished explaining to Clara as Amy and Mels flipped through magazines on Amy's bed.
Clara nodded before putting the last of her homework back in her bag. "Thanks." She said with a smile before moving over to join Amy and Mels. She sat down at the bottom of the bed while Rory spun around in Amy's desk chair to boot up her computer.
The four of them sat around and chatted for hours and it was nearing seven o'clock when Amy spoke up. "Mels are you staying over?" Amy asked as Rory began to gather his things to head home.
"What's for dinner?" Mels asked, not looking up from the magazine she was reading.
"I think mum's making Fish N' Chips." Amy replied as she lay face down on her bed, exhausted.
Clara perked up at the concept. "Do you mind if I stay for dinner?" She asked hopefully.
"You can stay over if you want." Amy replied. "Mels practically lives here. Mum and Dad are really relaxed about it."
Clara debated it. She thought about what it would take in order to get enough samples of Mels DNA and she knew she wouldn't do it without spending time with her.
"Sounds great." Clara said finally. "Can I use a phone to call my foster parents to let them know I'm not coming home?" She requested.
Amy nodded before handing her the phone from her nightstand.
Rory stood up and grabbed his bag. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye Rory." Amy and Mels replied in unison as Clara followed Rory out in the hallway to make the phone call.
"Hello?" The Doctor replied through the receiver.
Clara grinned awkwardly as Mels and Amy entered the hallway. "Hey… Dad…"
"Oh this is good." The Doctor replied with a smirk. "So how's it going?"
"I got my homework done… But I'm going to spend tonight at my new friend's house. I really would like to spend more time with her." Clara said vaguely.
"So how much DNA have you got?" The Doctor asked her curiously.
"None." She replied sheepishly.
"Seriously?" The Doctor asked as he put his face into his hands. "Clara this is important."
"I know I probably don't have a lot of time here, I just want to enjoy it." Clara replied, clearly trying to get the message across.
"Alright, just… hurry…" The Doctor replied.
"Of Course." Clara replied before hanging up the phone.
"Wow that's longer than almost any conversation I've ever had with either of my foster parents and I've lived with them for almost ten years." Mels said as she examined her nails.
Clara shrugged as she handed Amy back the phone. "Thanks." She said quietly as she looked down at her feet.
"Dinner!" Amy's mother called up the stairs.
Mels immediately bounded down the stairs. Amy came back into the hall after returning the phone to her room. "Don't let Mels get to you." Amy said with a gentle smile. "She's just… very… she doesn't really censor herself."
"It's fine." Clara replied with a smile.
"AMELIA!" Her mother called up the stairs again.
"We should go…" Amy said before running down the stairs with Clara on her heels.
Three weeks later Amy, Rory, Mels, and Clara were sitting at a lunch table.
Mels was betting with Rory on how much soda she could drink in five minutes and Amy was thoroughly enjoying her sandwich. Clara however was just sitting, staring at her own sandwich. "Are you alright Clara?" Amy asked her with concern.
"Fine." Clara said softly. She started playing with the bun to her sandwich. Clara honestly was dreading this day for a long time. She had enough DNA for the replicator and she was going back to the TARDIS that night.
"No you're not." Amy insisted. "What's wrong? You spent last night at home. Did something bad happen?"
Clara bit her lip and shook her head. "I'm fine."
Amy rolled her eyes before grabbing Clara by her wrist. She pulled her into the girls bathroom before she spoke again. "Alright, spill." Amy insisted.
"I'm moving." Clara said simply. She hated this. She always was too emotionally invested but this was a whole new level. She had gotten to know them on a personal level, for weeks.
"What?" Amy asked, her eyes wide. "Why? Can't you stay in Leadworth? There's other foster parents in Leadworth!"
Clara shook her head, her story already straightened out. "My real parents are taking me back."
"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Amy asked her gently as she gave her a hug.
Clara shook her head again as she pulled away from the hug. "Please don't tell Mels and Rory. Not yet. I'm horrible at saying good-byes."
"This can't be goodbye…" Amy said sadly. "Will I ever see you again?"
Clara smirked. "Probably not for a long time." She said honestly. "I'll miss you though." Clara assured her.
"Me too." Amy said honestly before pulling her into another hug. "I expect to see things from you Clara James."
Clara nodded. "We better get back to lunch before people get suspicious." She said before they headed back to the lunchroom.
"What was that about?" Rory asked Amy as the two of them sat back down.
"Female stuff." Amy replied smoothly as Clara tensed up.
Rory blushed slightly before turning back to Mels. "There is no way you're winning." He informed her as he cracked open a can of Pepsi. "Three… two… one…"
Clara was waiting on a street corner in downtown London, waiting for The Doctor. He was late… very late.
He was supposed to pick her up four hours earlier, and there was still no sign of him.
She waited another fifteen minutes before a familiar swooshing noise began and the TARDIS materialized around her.
"You are late." Clara informed him.
"Clara please." The Doctor begged as he reached out his hands.
"You are late." Clara repeated. "Almost five hours late. You're in a time machine!"
"Clara!" The Doctor insisted. "I've made an appointment to have the DNA reform the body but if I miss it we're going to be hard pressed to get another."
"You have a time machine!" Clara repeated.
"It's not exactly… a legal procedure… It's entirely safe, but it isn't very easy to find a doctor willing to do it."
Clara rolled her eyes. "Okay whatever it is that you need to do… Do it." Clara insisted. "I'm going to go sleep, I've missed my bed. Also after all of this I need to go back and watch the kids for a while." She informed him as she handed him the brown leather bag which contained several vials of saliva, blood, and hair.
"Thank you Clara Oswald." The Doctor said sincerely. "You have done a great and wonderful thing for me. I'll never be able to repay you for this."
"You could give me some more of those candy bars that taste like my mum's soufflé. That's a good place to start." Clara suggested.
The Doctor pulled one from his pocket and handed it to her. "I promise we'll stop to get more." He assured her.
"Thank you." She said with a smile before heading back into the hallway toward her bedroom.
"Alright…" The Doctor said quietly. "Let's do this."
Author's Note: Yay! Another chapter! I really hope that you're all enjoying this story so far! Please, please review! I'd love to get feedback.