Thirteenth X Clara - Alternative

Chapter 23: A Day In Life

She closes her roll book as the bell to end the day rings out. She simply waits a little while, watching the students file out, eager to start their weekend break. She shakes her head and softly smiles, remembering her time as a student at university. She was never one to usually rush out of class, always wanting to speak to the teacher before she left. No such students for her this time, but seeing as it was the end of her first week, she understood it. That relationship between teacher and students hadn't been properly developed yet, but she'd get her hooks in them. Like someone very special once said, once she gets in your head, she doesn't leave.

Now being able to drop the role of teacher, she lets her hair out, always preferring to let it swing about, usually when she was running. As she smoothed it out, she wondered about adding extensions to it, an artificial but needed way to have longer hair; her condition preventing her hair from ever truly growing naturally. She checks her phone in order to see what messages she's missed. She scrolls through a blur of random advertisements, emails for things she signed up for ages ago and an alarm letting her know her weekend had begun. Until she reaches something that made her grin from ear to ear. A small WhatsApp message, nothing too complicated. But its intentions and its sender mattered most to her.

"Waiting outside for you. Can't wait to start the weekend. XOXO - The Doctor"

She tried telling her that she didn't need to sign off with her name, that the app shows her who sent it, but she didn't listen. She did that a lot. But she didn't want her to stop. She found it really sweet and lovely. She had her motorcycle to ride to her with, but being picked up was also fine. She loved being pampered by her. She packed her stuff up and swung her handbag over her shoulder as she left the now empty classroom, ever so eager to meet the one she loved.

Luckily for her, her last class was on the ground floor, which meant she could simply walk out of the building as quick as she liked. The elevator was out-of-order today and with the typical sleepy feeling she got after a full day of classes; she was in no mood to walk down flights of stairs. Her journey wasn't long, the only real stop gaps being quick conversations with other members of staff. There were a few who commented on her age as she had brief but stimulating conversations with them, surprised at how wise she was for someone so young. If they only knew how old she really was.... There was one last stop with the guard before she was finally let out of the building and into the free world, where that special person was waiting for her.

The Doctor stood right outside the building, leaning against the Tardis, which was parked between two cars from the staff. It was quite an impressive parking space for her, seeing as she wasn't always so on target. Clara remembered finding herself in Bristol once when they had finished with their travels for that day, 120 miles from her apartment. Granted, it was because of aliens from another dimension who were trying to become 3D, but that's beside the point. Clara realized that the Doctor couldn't see her right away, so she decided to take a look at her. Well, more so a stare, but she wasn't to know that.

For once, the Timelord was relatively calm as she waited for Clara, her foot tapping showing her impatience. She could have regenerated as many times as she wanted, the Doctor would always be impatient and get bored quickly. So the fact that she still waited for her, even after all this time, warmed her heart. The glow from the sun's rays brightened her face and hair. Her blonde locks looked particularly golden now, as it now cascaded down onto her shoulders. She did want to inform her of how long it had grown since they first met, but she didn't want to infringe on her wants. Plus, she liked it longer like that; it made it easier to run her hands through, which she enjoyed thoroughly.

Clara simply stared at her girlfriend for a few more seconds, in unabashed awe of her. Sometimes she needed to really stop herself and remember exactly who this was. This wasn't some gorgeous blonde she somehow picked up on her travels, a chosen one for a short fling. This beautiful creature was once her grey-haired stick insect, one she thought at one point, was incapable of showing any emotions besides anger and occasionally happiness, mostly at her expense. But to his credit, he eventually got much better at it. But he wasn't on the level of her. This version of the Doctor seemed to be exactly like the ones she knew before her, yet completely different at the same time.