Detention (ASOUE)

Chapter Twenty Seven

My heart was beating harder than usual as I got home. I almost expected my family to be sat around the table waiting for me, disappointed and annoyed faces staring back at me in the last few moments before I'm disowned and kicked out of the house. Of course, that wasn't what happened at all. My thoughts, thankfully, didn't come to reality. 

The Quagmire house was in a state I liked to call "Business as usual" where my father was reading the paper, my mother was in the back garden tending to the flowers, and my brothers were doing whatever the hell it was they did all day. I almost slipped in without a trace, that was, until I was pounced on in the upstairs hallway.

"You're back late," Duncan mused, "Where've you been?"

"With your boyfriend?" Quigley answered for me. 

I ignored their comments. "Do you two have to always team up and wait for me? You pair of stalkers!"

"We're just keeping an eye on you," said Duncan.

"Just making sure you're not getting in over your head," Quigley added. 

I frowned. "What are you even on about?"

"You know mum won't like it if you're suddenly best friends with the Baudelaires," said Quigley, "so don't get too attached to hanging out with them."

"Yeah," Duncan agreed, "whatever this is, won't last forever."

I'd had enough of them and their nosiness, so I nudged past them and went into my room, locking the door behind me. It was so tempting to slam it, but that would alert my parents and then I'd have to have a conversation about my attitude and what I was so irritated about. That satisfying feeling was definitely not worth me trying to beat around the bush and explain the situation without somehow mentioning the Baudelaires, while Quigley and Duncan smirked on from the sidelines. Definitely not worth it. I shut the door normally and chucked my bag onto my bed.

My brothers were still putting in their two cents outside of my door but I put music on to drown them out. Did they really have nothing better to talk about than me? Surely their lives were more interesting than that. I loved them, of course I did, but I really wished they would keep their noses out of everything I did. If I had a diary, it would be safe to assume they would read it every night like a bedtime story.

Speaking of stories, I reached into my back and pulled out the book Klaus had lent to me. Then I got comfortable and started to read, only pausing when a voice shouted up the stairs that it was time for dinner. 

We ate and it was fairly uneventful, save for when Duncan and Quigley decided to throw peas at each other. Our dad spoke about the office and something about the coffee machine being broken, and ended his story with: "How was your day, honey?"

My mother sighed. "It was alright. Normal. I went shopping after work and then stopped in at Rosemary's on the way back. Last time I bumped into her she said she was making jam and that she would give us some if I popped over to her's."

The way she was speaking made me nervous. It wasn't in what she said, but more so the way she said it. That tone was one that my siblings and I knew well: someone was in trouble. And now, as I glanced towards my brothers and noticed their equally concerned faces, it was a waiting game until we worked out who the victim was. 

My mother continued with a little laugh that didn't seem cheery in any way, shape or form. "It's funny, you see. We were talking and she told me something interesting. Really interesting, actually." She met my eyes and my stomach dropped. "She said that she was looking out of her window earlier on and saw Isadora walking down the road with a boy."

My face flushed as suddenly every pair of eyes had fallen on me. 

Of course Rosemary would've seem me. I wanted to punch myself for not considering the possibility sooner. Here I was, worrying about being seen by my mother when I should've been worried about Rosemary: the old lady who lives opposite the Baudelaires. Her only hobbies included knitting and spying on the neighbours, something I didn't really give a second to think about.

My mouth went dry as I struggled to find something to say. Would it be better or worse to say the boy was a stranger? Or was it better to own up? Maybe, I thought to myself, I'll say Klaus kidnapped me and the only reason he let me go was because I jumped out the window.

Before I could make a fool of myself, my mother kept going, seemingly enjoying making the situation into a big drama. That was one of her many brilliant traits.

"So I asked her who the boy was," she said, "and of course, Rosemary's eyes aren't what they used to be so she said she wasn't sure. But then she described him." My mother paused and met my eyes again, with a stare so intense that my only reaction was to gulp. "Isadora, why were you with Klaus Baudelaire?"

Duncan seemed to let out a silent gasp, and he shared a look with our triplet as they both realised that their guess was actually right. Their joke wasn't actually a joke for a change. I, on the other hand, felt like I was frozen stiff. A million excuses ran through my mind but my mouth wouldn't cooperate. Say something!

"He hurt himself!" I blurted out, "I was the only one left at school so I helped him home."

"He hurt himself?" My mother repeated, a frown scrawled across her face. She didn't believe me in the slightest; it was clear as day that I was hopeless at lying. Nevertheless, I had started this so I had to keep going with it.

"I was being a good citizen-" I continued, ignoring the amused looks radiating from my brothers, "-as you always tell us to be. I did it for our family's gain and no one else's."

My father nodded slowly. "I suppose it does look good for the Quagmires and Baudelaires to be helping each other for a change. Opposed to being at each other's throats."

A sharp glare from my mother ended his speech early and he went back to eating.

"So he's hurt, is he?" she said patronisingly.

"Yes."

"Where?"

"His... ankle."

"His ankle?" She repeated. "And what happened to said ankle?"

"I... I'm not sure, I didn't ask. You do say that I shouldn't speak to him, after all."

She ignored my last comment and instead smiled, which was something I wasn't expecting at all. However, I noticed it didn't reach her eyes. 

"Then, if what you're saying is true," my mother smiled a little wider, "then you won't mind if I go and ask him myself, right?"

My eyes widened but I tried to keep myself composed. My mother interrogating Klaus? Just the idea made me wish I had his number so I could advise him to run away to Mexico and change his name. You did not want to be on the bad side of my mother.

But, alas, despite me trying to come up with a reason not to go on the spot, there was nothing I could do but agree and follow her lead as she forced me out of the house and down the street to the looming Baudelaire residence. This should be fun.

A/N:

Hello! This chapter is a little bit late, sorry. Everything is super stressful right now! Obviously because of COVID-19 everything is going into lock down. Everything except for my company for some reason!! I work in retail and our shop is non-essential but they still won't give us the go ahead to close! It's extremely frustrating because all the people making the decisions are tucked away safely at home while me and my colleagues are being put at risk because we interact with strangers all day :(

I hope you guys are all being safe! Stay inside if you can! It's a crazy time right now but hopefully the world can pull through quickly.

I want to make more content for you guys to hopefully sooth some cabin fever you might be starting to feel, but like I said I'm pretty stressed right now! I'll try and get round to posting more though.

One last thing before I let you guys go: I just posted on my second account which is @milk-and-stars (yes this is a shameless plug) and I would really appreciate it if you guys went and had a look! I'm using that account for original stories and stuff and maybe that's not your bag but still, please check it out if you like! And of course any follows, or votes and comments on my first story, would be deeply appreciated!

As always, thank you so much for reading! Please look after yourselves, wash your hands, you know the drill!! And I'll see you in the next one! :)))