"You can work your whole "I'm Nathan Scott, Mr. Big shot, scoring my touchdowns" on somebody else, because ..." The actress pretending to be Claudia said, without an English accent. 

"I don't even play football." The actor playing Nathan, interrupted her. Claudia didn't really see the resemblance. 

"This is so strange." Claudia whispered to Nathan, who nodded his head in agreement. The moment when they met was being played over in front of them.

"Whatever ... the point is, at the end of the day, all your bluster and B.S. Don't mean anything to math, because math don't care, and neither do I." The actress continued and Claudia looked at them weirded out.

"Well, does English care? 'cause I pretty much suck at that, too." The actor continued as well, he was kind of nailing Nathan but he just didn't look like him. They finished and Claudia just smiled at them. 

"Thank you. Thank you for that." Adam smiled at the actors and both Nathan and Claudia turned to face Adam

"Why don't I have an accent?" "Why am I shirtless?" Nathan and Claudia asked in unison and Adam nodded his head.

"Yeah, let's do one where he has an english accent and she's shirtless." Adam stated and the actors looked at each other weird. Claudia looked at Adam weird.

"He was kidding. He was kidding. You guys were great." Lucas smiled reassuringly at the actors. "Thank you." Lucas added and the actors left. Lucas turned to the married couple. "So, what'd you guys think?" Lucas asked and Adam looked at Lucas confused.

"Really? Didn't realize Julian had given creative control to all four of us." Adam muttered rudely and Claudia rolled her eyes at the ignorant guys.

"They're the real people. Don't you think their opinions may be valuable?" Lucas asked Adam, he sighed before he turned to the Scott Couple with a raised brow, he wanted their opinion.

"They seemed fine." Claudia stated, she didn't really want to say the truth. 

"Yeah." Nathan agreed and Adam just clapped his friends together.

"I stand corrected. Let's get the studio on the phone right now. Tell them we found two actors who seem fine." Adam smirked sarcastically and Nathan was not impressed, neither was Claudia.

"Why don't you tell them their director's a jackass while you're at it?" Nathan replied back in a rude manner. Claudia decided to jump in.

"I was going to be nice but fine then." Claudia stated and Nathan and Lucas looked at each other. Claudia didn't sound too nice. "We have names for your type of guys in Britain, wanker." Claudia stated harshly and Adam raised an eyebrow before turning to Lucas, who was smirking.

"You know, even when he talks back to me, I still find him likable. The girl on the other hand, not so much." Reese replied and Claudia rolled her eyes.

"It's probably safe if I leave." Claudia laughed as she hugged Lucas from behind, Adam leaned back so he could sneak a peak of her arse. "Reese, I swear to god." Claudia warned and Adam came right back up.

"We're gone man." Nathan replied as he slapped Lucas' shoulder. Nathan and Claudia walked out hand in hand. They walked through all the Nathan and Claudia's. 

"Always and forever." One of the girls said and Claudia looked at her weird.

"It sucks I can't stick around for this." Nathan groaned and Claudia nodded her head in agreement. 

"It sucks even more you're gonna be gone for two weeks." Claudia pouted as she looked around at all the shirtless Nathan's. "At least I'll have all these shirtless Nathan to keep me company." Claudia grinned jokingly as she looked at all the shirtless actors. 

"Oh, I don't think so." Nathan smirked as he pulled Claudia closer to him and kissed her.

"Maybe just one Nathan actor then?" Claudia asked jokingly before she bit her lip smirking. Nathan rolled her eyes before he kissed her again. Claudia pulled away smiling. "Okay no Nathan's." She laughed before she grabbed Nathan's neck and kissed him again.

___

"You wanted to see me?" Sam asked as she walked into Claudia's classroom. Claudia was sitting reading a book in the corner.

"Yes. Take a seat, please." Claudia stated monotone as she closed the book. Sam sat down and Claudia walked over to her. "Do you know why I called you here?" Claudia asked as she leaned on the desk in front of Sam.

"No. I guess I'm in trouble, but I don't know what for. And I'm sure as hell not gonna start admitting stuff." Sam replied as she leaned back as she crossed her arms over.

"I think you know exactly what you did. You won the essay contest, and, as promised, you're gonna be published in the school paper tomorrow." Claudia exclaimed excitably as she showed Sam the essay with such pride.

"You suck." Sam laughed as a weight was lifted up off her shoulder. Claudia grinned happily.

"Congratulations, Samantha. Oh, you're gonna be a published writer!" Claudia exclaimed and then she realised she had to ask her something. "That is, if that's okay with you." Claudia added reassuringly.

"Hell, yes." Sam exclaimed as she looked over her essay. Claudia was just so happy because Sam needed this.

___

"Part of me is glad that jack's gone. Gone is a place I dreamed of when I was hiding in a closet from whatever drunk parent I had that month. But ..." Sam read from her paper, very monotone, and then a voice started to ring. Claudia sighed.

"Whose phone is that?" Claudia asked as she everyone checked their phones. Sam turned her head and looked at Claudia.

"Yours." She hissed and Claudia grinned at everyone before she answered her phone. It was Nathan.

"Hi. Is everything okay?" She asked a bit concerned. 

"Hey. I just wanted you to be the first to know. I'm starting next game." Nathan said and Claudia's heart just blew up, she was extremely happy for him. "I couldn't have done this without you, Claude. I love you." Nathan continued lovingly and Claudia just listened to the sound of his voice. "Tell Jamie and Gracie I'll call them later, okay?" Nathan asked and Claudia smiled at her class.

"I love you, too." Claudia grinned as she sat in her class, she switched off her phone and looked at her class with utter shock. "He's ... he's starting!" Claudia exclaimed with pure delight and the class looked at her with pure delight. "Hold on." Claudia stated biting her lip as she ran out of the classroom and down the hall to Haley's classroom.

"Haley, Nathan is starting!" Claudia shrieked out with such pride and as a happy tear cascaded down her face. Haley looked at her so happy and then turned to her confused freshman's.

"Mrs Scott, can you say that in French, S'il vous plaît?" Haley asked in a teacherly voice and Claudia just laughed at Haley's teacherness. 

"Mme Stone, Nathan commence dans son match de basketball. Désolé pour le dérangement." Claudia replied in perfect french and Haley nodded her head.

"Merci beaucoup Madame Scott." Haley smirked back as she bit her tongue. She was so happy for both Claudia and Nathan.

"Au Revoir!" Claudia sang before she walked out of the class and back to hers. Haley always used her sudden outbursts as a teaching excersise. Claudia awkwardly walked back into her classroom and shut the door behind her. "Sorry, Sam." She whispered before she sat back down at her seat.

"But I got lucky." Sam continued but the only thing Claudia was thinking about was Nathan, starting. It was amazing. 

___

"So, what did you do?" A student asked as Claudia sat beside a student outside Principal Rimkus office. Last time Claudia was in the office for something important it was when she lost her job at the tutor centre. That was years ago, though. She had been in it for job interviews and stuff but nothing as significant as that. 

"Nothing. The principal just wanted to meet with me." Claudia explained to the student, he just laughed a little.

"You're probably in trouble. With the new principal, everyone's in trouble." The student replied and Claudia just sighed. She was already in a happy mood she didn't need this woman running it.

"Mrs. Scott, could you come in, please?" Principal Rimkus asked and Claudia nodded her head as she followed after Principal Rimkus. She wasn't concerned, she did nothing wrong.

"Am I in trouble, Principal Rimkus?" Claudia asked as she walked into the office, Principal Rimkus was already taking a seat.

"Do you know why I wanted to see you?" Principal Rimkus asked as Claudia sat down on a seat in front of her desk. She wasn't intimidated by her at all.

"No. And I'm not gonna start admitting stuff." Claudia joked but Principal Rimkus didn't look impressed to the say the least.

"I have a problem with the essay you selected for the school paper." Principal Rimkus started off saying and Claudia looked at her with a weird intrigue.

"Oh, Sam's essay? What's wrong with it?" Claudia asked confused, I mean the essay was amazing to say the least. It was just 

"What, you mean besides all the references to sex and drugs?" Principal Rimkus asked rhetorically and Claudia honestly understood that Principal Rimkus knew nothing about the story at hand.

"She's witnessed some really horrible things growing up. I think that's what makes the essay so important. We can't shelter a voice that was never heard. We are as bad as them." Claudia explained passionately and she was so passionated about it all. 

"Well, that may be. But I have the students and their parents to worry about." Principal Rimkus replied. Claudia could not believe what she was hearing.

"I understand, but with all due respect, I thought i was in charge of the school paper and had final say on what went in it." Claudia explained confused and Principal Rimkus nodded her head.

"You do. And I have final say on whether or not you work here. Pick another essay." Principal Rimkus stated coldly and Claudia sighed before she stood up and left. She was annoyed and angry. 

___

"Hey. Heard any word from jack yet?" Claudia asked Sam as they sat in the Claudia's classroom together. 

"Uh ... no. That's kind of why I hang here. I figure this is where he'll show when he decides to come back ... if he decides to." Sam answered in a monotone tone.

"I'm sure he will." Claudia replied in an upbeat tone.

"Yeah. I hope so. Could you really get fired for publishing my paper?" Sam asked and Claudia sighed a little.

"Where did you hear that?" Claudia asked in a sad tone.

"I've already lost jack. I really don't want to lose you to some stupid paper." Sam explained and that made Claudia kind of happy, you know? Like she had made an impression in Sam's life that was what she wanted.

"You ... you're not gonna lose me. And your paper's anything but stupid, Sam." Claudia replied and she knew that the paper was not stupid. It was great.

"Well, I better get going. Don't want Brooke to worry. Listen, Claudia. I appreciate it. I do. But if I were you, I would just choose a different paper. It's not worth it." Sam explained and Claudia sighed before she looked at Sam who was walking out.

"Sam." Claudia called and Sam turned around to face her. Claudia sighed for a moment. "You know, when I first started to sing people would start going 'why is this white girl trying to become black' or 'stop singing like you are Aretha Franklin." Claudia started to explain, everyone was confused as to why she had a soulful voice. Sam leaned on a desk, she was intrigued. "It got so bad that I honestly considered changing my style. Going from the gritty, honest songs." Claudia continued using hand gestures to really convey it, "like your story," she added and Sam looked down smiling, "to a pop princess, dance music kind of style. But I knew that it just wasn't me." Claudia continued, "So I decided to go with my gut and for that I won a BRIT, I am just scared I do the same to you. You lose out on things because I had to do my job." Claudia finished frustrated. She didn't know why the truth had to be censored because people that didn't go through Sam's situation didn't want to handle the bad in the world.

"So what are you going to do?" Sam asked and Claudia sighed for a moment. She knew that the right thing to do would be to follow the rules and not publish the article. But she couldn't.

"You know the Suffragettes famously said to make rules you have to break them." Claudia smirked and Sam joined in. Claudia was leaning towards publishing the article for the good of everyone but she knew that she had to put her family first and if she lost her job they would lose some income. It was difficult. 

___

"Hey, how's the movie biz?" Claudia asked as her and Haley walked up to Lucas in TRIC. He was sitting at the shooting hoops game.

"Well, I had my first diva moment ... threw a temper tantrum." Lucas explained and both Claudia and Haley gaped with shock.

"No way." Claudia stated.

"Damn. Wish I'd have been here to see it." Claudia groaned teasingly and Lucas just nodded his head.

"Uh, stick around. I'm sure I'll have another." Lucas replied and Haley gave him a sympathetic look as Claudia ate her nachos.

"Is it really that bad?" Haley asked sad.

"I can't even pick a basketball much less a Peyton without feeling like i'm making the wrong decision. My gut says one thing, and everybody else says something else." Lucas answered and Claudia nodded her head.

"Who cares what everybody else says? Go with your gut." Claudia stated honestly, which was hypocritical for her considering she was still dwelling about Sam and her situation.

"Just like that, huh?" Lucas asked and Haley nodded her head.

"Lucas, this was your book, and now it's your movie. You know the characters, and you know tree hill better than anybody." Haley answered like she was a motivational speaker and honestly she should be.

"You should have some faith in yourself, for crying out loud!" Claudia exclaimed laughing as she eat more nachos. She did love her mexican food. 

"I love you. I love you. You know that?" Lucas asked rhetorically to his two best friends.

"We know." Claudia and Haley grinned like children in unison. Lucas just laughed at the cuteness of his two best friends.

"You know, they should name an antidepressant after you the pair of you." Lucas replied to his best friends.

"Yeah. Great with everybody else's problems. It's my own I'm a basket case with." Claudia groaned as she threw her head back.

"All right, well ... psychotherapist Luke. Can I help you with anything?" Lucas asked Claudia as Haley leaned forward intrigued.

"Sam wrote this paper for my class. It was gritty and harsh and honest and really beautiful, and I want to publish it in the school paper. And principal Rimkus won't let me." Claudia answered explaining the whole situation.

"I honestly don't like her." Haley groaned and Claudia nodded her head in agreement.

"Well, what else can you do?" Lucas asked and Haley answered.

"Claude could publish it anyway." Claudia nodded her head to Haley's statement.

"Kids like Sam, they ... sometimes all they have is a voice, and if you take that away from them, especially after everything that she's been through, then what's the point of me even calling myself a teacher anymore?" Claudia asked rhetorically and Haley nodded her head in agreement. "I was explaining to the same the situation about my singing voice and how people wanted me to change it and I didn't. Look where I am now. I don't want to take that away from Sam." Claudia explained.

"Well, it sounds to me like you've already made your decision." Lucas nudged Claudia, who was blushing. 

"I'm just not sure it's the right one." Claudia groaned and Haley looked at her with wide eyes.

"Man, you got to have some faith in yourself sometimes. No, go with your gut. Come on. What's the worst that can happen?" Haley exclaimed.

"I could get fired, or at least suspended." Claudia groaned in agreement.

"I've been suspended ... not that bad." Lucas shrugged and both of the girls laughed. 

"You're pretty good at cheering me up, too." Claudia grinned at her best friends.

"Yes!" Haley and Claudia shouted in unison as they got a shot in the basket.

"If only Nathan was here to see me score my first basket in one of these machines." Claudia smirked and both Haley and Lucas nodded their heads.

"Don't think we would forget the game you used to play." Haley grinned and Claudia played all innocent.

"What game?" She asked in a voice as sweet as a child's. Lucas raised his eyebrows, everyone knew that game. They used to play it for fun all the time. "Well Nathan would always win in that game because I could win a shot." Claudia groaned in defeat.

"Ah the game. The game that you got from my sister." Haley sang a little and Claudia laughed a little.

"Yes, but it was such a good game." Claudia sighed happily and Lucas began to get grossed out. The game that they were referring to was a game that Claudia and Nathan would play. The first person to make a shot in the arcade game would get to do whatever they wanted to the other person. 

"Okay, let's move on." Lucas replied and both of the girls laughed.

"Why are the Claudia's american and not english?" Claudia asked seriously and Lucas just smiled weakly. Haley decided to change the subject.

"These are good nachos." She laughed and Heidi rolled her eyes grinning. 

___

"Oh, hey. You're baby-proofing!" Claudia exclaimed as she walked into Lucas' bedroom, where Peyton was. "Don't forget the laundry room. Jamie used to take naps in the dryer. Oh and weirdly boxes. I don't know why but Grace would club into boxes, like any kind, and sleep. Nathan had to hold her on his lap just so she wouldn't crawl into a box." Claudia explained frantically. "Man, I have weird kids." Claudia whispered to herself.

"Yeah, I got it. The toilet, the cupboards, fridge. What else does a baby get into?" Peyton asked worried.

"Your heart." Claudia smiled as she lifted up a baby suit that she got for baby Peyton and Lucas. It said 'Team Peyton'.

"I love it." Peyton grinned at the baby suit.

"Good." Claudia smirked at the two boys.

"Thanks." Peyton smiled as she took the baby suit.

"I saw you registered for a boning knife, but I figured that was more practical for a newborn." Claudia grinned jokingly. "How you holding up?" Claudia asked concerned.

"I don't know. One minute, I'm shopping, and the next, I feel like I'm gonna cry. Tell me that's normal." Peyton practically begged and Claudia laughed.

"Just remember, things are never as bad as you think they are, even though your hormones are trying to convince you otherwise." Claudia explained because she knew what was going to happen with Peyton, hormones wise.

"I know, I know. Um, I just ... I keep telling everybody that I'm okay. But doing all this baby stuff just really makes me wish that Lucas was here. I've got this doctor's appointment tomorrow that I really want him to go to, but he's so busy with the movie." Peyton explained and Claudia just nodded her head.

"Well, if you want him to go, why don't you just tell him?" Claudia asked like it was obvious. Peyton shook her head.

"I did. I told him last week. But with everything that's going on, he's ... you know, he's swamped, and I don't want to be a nag." Peyton answered and Claudia shook her head.

"I think you should nag him anyway. That boy needs it. Nathan would have training and I would just tell him to blow it off, like the hospital appointment, but then I realised he is missing stuff and he will regret that. So I told him to come and he did." Claudia explained motivationally. She doing a 'Haley'. 

"Thanks. And thanks for being so good with Luke. You make everything better for us." Peyton smiled at Claudia, who grinned back at Peyton.