Detention (ASOUE)

Chapter Thirty Three

By the time the school day ended and it was time for me to go home, I had a pit in my stomach. Would my mother even let me in the house or would I be forced to stay elsewhere again? 

However, I didn't have to wonder for too long as, to my surprise, I spotted my mother's car in the car park. Slightly confused, I headed over to it, half hoping I had made a mistake and it wasn't her at all. When I was about a metre away, the door opened and my mother stepped out. She held her arms out to me which I frowned at. She must've expected me to come running but I didn't, so she stepped forward and hugged me instead. It was then that I realised she was crying.

"I'm sorry, I never should've kicked you out," she said quietly, looking at me and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

I wasn't fully ready to forgive her but I also didn't want a massive argument in front of the whole school so I said "It's okay," even though it wasn't okay at all. 

We headed home once her tears were all gone and sat in silence in the car. I was desperate to put the radio on but I assumed the lack of it was so we had a chance to talk, so I left it off. But soon we had turned onto our street without a single word passed between us. It was confusing to me that after that outburst of emotion she was now giving me the silent treatment but, again, I couldn't be bothered with the argument that would come with asking, so I didn't. 

We pulled up onto our drive and my mother got out straight away, not bothering to wait for me. Instead, she grabbed a couple of bags of shopping she must've picked up before coming to get me and then headed inside without a word. I followed behind her and found that the house was business as usual. I had assumed my mother and I would have another argument or at least talk through things but after her apology, it seemed like the situation was just dropped. 

As much as I didn't really want conflict, I couldn't help but feel like I needed some more closure on things. But my mother was just unpacking the shopping and acting like everything was normal so, for the rest of the afternoon I did the same.

When Duncan and Quigley got home they came to see me and the three of us spent most of the rest of the day in my room, doing homework and just talking. I could tell that they felt bad about what had happened, despite it not being their fault. They asked me a bunch of questions about the Baudelaire's house and, of course, because they couldn't go two minutes without teasing me about Klaus, they kept asking about him as well. There wasn't really anything to tell, though, which I insisted to them but they kept going on about it.

We had dinner, which was quiet to say the least. No one wanted to acknowledge the awkward silence, though, so we all just sat through it until my brothers and I could go back upstairs and hang out again. I had also noticed some tension between my mum and dad, something that didn't happen very often, and I wondered if they had been in an argument as well. My father was fairly easy going and usually let my mother's word be gospel. There were just a few occasions where he stepped in and said she was wrong, and those always ended up in a falling out. My mother didn't like to be wrong, and I was constantly reminded of that every time we had a disagreement. 

My brothers and I ended up staying together right up until we went to bed, just like we used to do when we were little. It was nice and I appreciated that they were trying to keep me company since they couldn't the night before. Even though we wound each other up, when it all came down to it the three of us were very close. It was nights like those that truly reminded me of that. 

*

The next day, I had barely made it onto the school premises when Violet stopped me in my tracks, an excited smile on her face.

"Isadora!" She exclaimed, "Do you want to sleep over at the weekend? I was thinking we could finish our movie marathon and paint our nails and stuff. It'll be super fun! Oh, and you can bring your friend if you like? Lily's her name, right?"

I was slightly shocked, mostly because of how enthusiastic she was, but also because I was surprised she wanted me back so quickly. I had assumed she found our sleepover of sorts boring. I had been upset and down and I hadn't really done much to make it enjoyable. I thought she had said it was fun out of courtesy. But now, seeing her expectant face beaming down at me, I realised I had been wrong. 

I nodded. "Sure. And I'll ask Lily if she's up for it too."

"Great! Just let me know!" Then she pulled out a small slip of paper and hurried off, probably to go to her locker before lessons started.

The slip of paper had her number on it and I quickly punched it into my phone before I could misplace it.

Now that I was going to the Baudelaire house under different circumstances, I was looking forward to it and I knew Lily would be too. She had been intrigued when I told her I stayed there and was erring on Quigley and Duncan levels of interrogative questions. I would ask her just in case, but I could almost guarantee she would say yes.

I was slightly worried about my mother's reaction at me staying with the household she hated twice in the same week, but she was already awkward with me. How much worse could she get? So, while we were in this weird limbo, I figured it would be fine. And if she started another argument, so be it. I knew I had a back up plan if she went mad and kicked me out again.

I headed to my first lesson of the day and texted Lily on the way. All there was left to do was get the OK from her and then I could focus on looking forward to the sleepover. I planned on enjoying it, instead of being a ball of stress like I was the other night. And having Lily there with me would make it even more fun. I smiled to myself as I put my phone away and stepped through the classroom door. I absolutely couldn't wait for the weekend. 

A/N:

Thank you for 5k views! It still shocks me that people actually read my fics, let alone enjoy them! It's still kind of crazy to me haha

So yeah, thank you so much for the support! I always appreciate your votes and comments so thank you for those as well!

Now, just quickly I'm going to promote my other account just because.... I can lol. Some of you may already know that I have second account @milk-and-stars , and I've just recently published the first chapter of my original story Camp Malicious. I would really appreciate it if you considered checking it out if you haven't already!! Thanks in advance! :))

Anyways, that's enough from me. I hope you're all still staying safe! See you next time :))