I never know why. I only know who. (AU)

Chapter 26

"Excuse me?" Clara shouted at the group of huddled year elevens in the corridor. She hated how they seemed to insist on blocking the way so absolutely no-one could get through. "Move!" She shouted once more, waiting for them to separate.

But as they did, there was a look on their faces that seemed quite intimidating. She felt like they were sizing her up for something, sniggering under their breaths things that Clara couldn't quite make out.

She budged part them, ignoring her weird encounter, as she made her way to the canteen. She always found it was better to ignore it when people were rude behind your back. It saved you from all kinds of problems that came with it later.

As she walked along, she felt more and more awkward with each step. She was beginning to think she was paranoid, as she felt like everyone around was staring at her. But as she continued to look back, she realised that she actually might not be. People genuinely were staring at her.

She stopped in the corridor, moving to the side for a moment to try and hide in the shadows. Unfortunately for her, she had already been spotted.

"Oi, Clara!" Olivia shouted, her voice a little too giggly for Clara's liking. She watched as Olivia and Louise skipped along, some boy attached to Olivia's arm who she'd never seen before. It made her roll her eyes, knowing that particular relationship wouldn't last long.

"What?" Clara moaned tiredly, not willing to hear what her annoying friends had to say. It sounded like they had gossip and she really wasn't in the mood to hear it.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Louise laughed, making Olivia giggle too. Clara looked at them as if they were weird, wondering what on Earth was going on.

"Tell you what?" Clara snapped back in slight irritation, their giggles becoming increasingly frustrating. Even the boy Olivia was holding seemed to be laughing. Except, unlike usual, they seemed to be laughing at her rather than with her.

Louise and Olivia both looked at each other, rolling their eyes as if it was something insanely obvious. "That you're knocked up." Olivia stated, making sure everyone around heard.

Clara's face fell as she looked into their eyes. How could they have possibly known about that? No-one knew about that.

"What?" She said quietly, not quite sure how to respond. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

"Everyone knows Clara, so quit the dumb act." Louise sighed, their giggles turning to death-glares. "Thanks for telling us. You know, your friends."

Clara looked down to the floor, not quite sure what there was to say. She felt like her mind was cramming full. What did they mean by everyone?

"Wh...I..." Clara could barely get words out, struggling to even understand what Olivia and Louise were saying as they carried on their incessant babbling in the background. She wanted to scream, but she had to know. John wouldn't have told them, would he? What if he told his friends and they had told? But she couldn't imagine Amy and Rory doing such a thing. they were too kind.

"And here we were thinking you were shoving hot water bottles up your shirt every morning to keep warm!" Louise laughed, making Olivia chuckle with her too. they thought they were absolutely hilarious and it made Clara feel sick. Even the boy she didn't know was cracking some joke at her and it churned her insides, stabbing her heart every moment.

Without even paying attention to the moaning protests of her so called "friends," Clara pushed past them, running to the sixth form lounge as fast as she could. She knew he would be there; he always was.

It took her only five seconds when she ran in to spot him, and by that time she could see people around staring. They knew. They all knew.

Clara ran over to John, who saw her coming and instantly looked worried. She looked panicked, as if she was about to collapse into hysteria again. That was not a sight he really ever wanted to experience, not ever again. The last time it had just about killed him, seeing Clara in so much pain. So something was wrong; very wrong indeed.