It was dinner time and the Baudelaires, Duncan and I were all tucking in to what appeared to be meatloaf. I never really liked meatloaf but after spending so much time at Prufrock my taste buds had adapted to the flavour of disappointment, meaning that this usually gross meal didn't seem half bad today. It seemed to be a similar story with my brother, as he was wolfing down his food as usual.
Violet was the first to speak, "So how were rehearsals?"
Klaus and I shared a look before he answered, "Yeah they were painful... but not as painful as they could have been."
"And how was your first kiss?" Duncan perked up after clearing his plate and downing a glass of water, "Was it a thing of nightmares?"
"I didn't have it."
Violet raised her eyebrows, "You got Carmelita to cut it out the script?"
"Unfortunately not," Klaus said, shaking his head, "Isadora just helped to stop it happening-"
"Of course she did," Duncan mumbled under his breath. I kicked him lightly under the table.
"-and then the bell went so we didn't have time to practise it," Klaus finished.
"So you just avoided it? What are you meant to do on the actual night?" Violet asked.
I shrugged, "We haven't figured that out yet... any suggestions?"
Violet thought for a second, "You could push Carmelita off the stage?"
"Trust me, I've considered that option many times," I laughed.
"But, like, seriously though, how close did Carmelita actually get to you?" Duncan asked.
Klaus shook his head, "I don't know, I had my eyes firmly clamped shut."
"It was a close encounter," I said.
"A close encounter, huh?" Duncan chided, his mischievous grin returning to his face, "Bet that's not the one you had hoped for, huh sis?"
My head snapped to him and I glared, kicking him extra hard this time. He winced and pretended to drink his water even though the glass was empty. I'm not sure if Klaus misheard my brother or if he was just ignoring what he said but he didn't react at all and instead kept telling Violet about the play and the sorts of cringy lines he would have to say on stage, all of which without missing a beat. If he knew what was going on and what was being implied, he was pretty damn good at hiding it.
Another glance in his direction revealed that Klaus' ears were tinged a dark crimson, something that occasionally happened when he was embarrassed. So he did hear what Duncan said. Duncan's gonna get a punch if he carries on, I thought to myself.
"I wouldn't worry too much," said Violet as I tuned back into the conversation going on around me, "there's still a couple days until the play. That's plenty of time to have you first kiss."
At that, she winked at me and I scowled, trying to ignore the redness that crept up my neck. I didn't appreciate being bullied by half of the table.
"Anyway," I butted in quickly, making sure Violet couldn't say anything else with embarrassing implications, "What did you two do while rehearsals were going on?"
Duncan huffed, "We had to make posters to hype it up, and now I keep finding glitter everywhere."
"The posters are going outside the auditorium so we tried to draw Carmelita as badly as possible," Violet added, "but knowing Carmelita, she'll just take them down or cover them up."
"It was fun drawing her as a troll though," Duncan sniggered. The two shared a laugh before Violet spoke again.
"We have to help make props tomorrow though."
A surge of panic went through me. Did we have more rehearsals tomorrow?
"Let's hope we're on prop duty too," Klaus said, poking his food around his plate.
At that moment I realised that a certain tapping sound was getting closer and closer until-
"Cakesniffers!" Carmelita shrieked, "You can't just go around assigning yourself jobs. You two will be in charge of painting the backdrop tomorrow so don't bother going to lessons. I want a princess castle and a sunset and pretty flowers and it has to all sparkle...but not as much as me, okay?"
"Whatever, Carmelita," I replied, waiting for her to twirl away in her dance shoes.
She rolled her eyes and with a "hmph" she was on her way again.
"I can't be bothered to paint," I complained. Usually I didn't mind creative activities, but when they involved Carmelita they all seemed to suck.
Klaus gave me a reassuring smile, "At least we're together."
His words made me blush again and I ignored the suggestive looks from Violet and Duncan whilst suddenly being extremely interested in the table. That's how I stayed for the rest of dinner, just running my nails over the grooves in the worn canteen table, trying to have a moment to myself in a room full of people. I just needed to think about everything that was going on. Things seemed to have progressed in a way that was out of my control. Things went from me having a weird dream to me realising my crush on Klaus and now three other people, possibly four, knew about it. It was a strange feeling and I felt like I needed a breather. Every meal time I would get subtly teased about Klaus and, although it was all in good spirit, it was exhausting being constantly worried about what was going to be said next.
Even in Nero's recital I found myself zoning out when I usually kept well out of my own head by the racket he called music. By the time he played the final note, I was long gone, my head resting upon someone's shoulder as I drifted through dreamland.
