Hello everyone. Radio Milk is back with Chapter Three! Please contribute suggestions for crack pairings between non-Lemony characters, I'll give you a cookie if you can think of something nice.
If you've ever been woken early by a very perky person, you are bound to get upset, and would probably feel like hitting aforementioned perky person with a pointy stick of impressive dimensions.
However, the Baudelaires were used to discomfort, having encountered a lot of it during their fleeing from Olaf and his scheming schemes to steal their money, so they did not mind at all when they were woken early by Gabrielle, who had a perky personality, though she was never over the top. Of course, they did not hit her with a stick either, reasons being the facts that they had no sticks to hit her with, and also because they would never do that, after she had been kind to them.
After they were all awake, they were reminded to head to the bathrooms and freshen up, after which they proceeded to the dining hall for a quick breakfast before getting ready to leave for their new school - Starmount Academy.
All of Lynette's wards, excepting the two eldest Baudelaires, had already packed their belongings, having known the date of the new term for the longest time. Violet and Klaus were a little dismayed to find that they were horribly unequipped for school, without a single stub of pencil between them.
Their worries were unfounded, though - Lynette, thoughtful as always, had supplied them with spare clothes, textbooks, uniforms and everything else in between. A couple of outfits were not to the siblings' tastes, but they were grateful for the fact that they could stop walking around in rather tattered, unattractive clothes, as much as they were comfortable.
Changed and fresh, having had a brisk morning shower in the baths, the Baudelaires went quickly down to breakfast, not wanting to hinder anyone else.
Violet found a small satchel neatly labeled with V. Baudelaire next to a cinnamon-scented messenger bag. Peeking inside she found stationery and other essentials supplied by Lynette. Klaus was relieved to make a similar discovery, his bag grouped with the luggage belonging to the Scout twins.
Breakfast was a frenzied rush, much unlike the leisurely dinner of the previous night. The residents of Christmas Manor were treated instead to a small-scale buffet prepared briskly by Chef Marcel, assisted by Sunny once she herself had eaten.
A piece of toast wedged firmly between her lips, Lorelei carried a guitar case under each arm as she strode down the stairs, placing her cargo down in the hall next to a battered green suitcase. Gabrielle dashed past Lorelei and down the passage to her room, simultaneously pinning back her hair and muttering about having forgotten to pack an extra pair of dance shoes.
After the elder Baudelaire siblings bid a heartfelt farewell to Sunny, the two of them separated, as they would be travelling in different vehicles according to their ages. Apparently, Lynette possessed an army of hired drivers, a platoon ready to get passengers to wherever they needed to be.
Through snatches of conversation with people as they passed by, the Baudelaires discovered more about their new school. Starmount Academy was a prestigious boarding school divided into four towers – North, South, East and West. Violet and Klaus were to be further divided – the antepenultimate Baudelaire would be with those of her age in South Tower, whereas Klaus, along with Lorelei, Gabrielle and the Scout twins, was to lodge in East Tower.
At the last moment as everyone loaded their baggage, Lynette caught hold of Basil and tasked him with helping Violet assimilate to her new school, since they would be sharing a dormitory with several other students from the Manor.
Surprisingly, Basil agreed and climbed into the limo, seating himself at the window across from Violet.
Klaus followed Colleen and Kerica into another vehicle, where Lorelei and Gabrielle were already seated. He took the nearest seat and closed the door behind him, feeling just slightly mislaid.
The stretch limos sped away from the Christmas Manor then, once everyone was accounted for. Lynette was left waving madly from the doorway, awaiting the recommencement of her night classes now that term break was over.
"You'll be in East Tower with us," Lorelei informed Klaus.
"We'll show you round," Gabrielle added. "It's a big place, but you'll get used to it."
Klaus nodded and smiled. He looked wistfully out the window, watching the silhouette of Christmas Manor fade into the distance as the conveyance gained speed, taking the middle Baudelaire towards his new school.
When the vehicles arrived at Starmount, the established (and new) students were sent up to their dormitories, with their baggage. Nobody minded, except for the indolent Scout twins – their scowls dampened the mood a little, but not for long.
Gabrielle was busy catching up with her fellow dancers, while Lorelei met with her band mates from High Water, the school's own ensemble where she played as lead guitarist. These classes and groups were elective, held outside school hours, but almost everyone had chosen at least one, in which to pursue a specific interest.
After meeting up with friends, which had to be done, Klaus, Lorelei, Gabrielle, Colleen and Kerica headed to East Tower, having been assigned the Turquoise Room as their dormitory. Dormitories were usually shared by students coming from the same household, regardless of gender – it was often remarked that the Principal was far too laid-back, though Gabrielle emphasized that he placed utmost trust in his students.
The Turquoise Room held five beds - two on one side of the room and three on the other. Colleen and Kerica took the beds that were together, Kerica getting the window side. Klaus left it to Gabrielle to assign him a bed, unsure of how these proceedings should go.
"Turquoise is actually pretty nice," Gabrielle admitted, earning her a smirk from Lorelei, "but I kind of like orange better." This comment was with reference to her own orange room back at Christmas Manor.
Lessons were only to begin in three days, to give new students time to acclimatize to their surroundings and for current students to get back into study mode. Violet and Klaus, though separated for the moment, were both very relieved to learn this, as they weren't keen on the idea of that much change in only two days.
Violet had been assigned the Green Room with Basil and a pair of cousins from the Manor – one of them was Jared, Basil's partner-in-crime, and the other, Marielle, a relatively quieter girl who had made a point of getting to know the eldest Baudelaire.
"I couldn't stand it if I had to be around them all the time," she whispered to Violet, with a sidelong glance at the two boys in the room as she gave her new dorm-mate a confidential smile.
By the time the students had all arrived, of course, it was almost lunchtime, and many were relieved when the call for meals came.
Klaus accompanied Lorelei and Gabrielle downstairs to the dining hall, hoping to get seats even as the crowd streamed in.
Gabrielle led Klaus and Lorelei to a corner table, the middle Baudelaire hoping to find Violet in the chaotic mass of students. Eventually, Violet was spotted in the doorway, accompanied by Basil, Jared and Marielle. It was not uncommon for students from Christmas Manor to cluster together, though they did have their own social circles.
Basil was making most of the conversation as the occupants of the Green Room approached, the dominating topic being that of his newest cologne, La Cinnamone.
"It's one of a kind, this La Cinnamone," said Basil genially. He smiled at Violet, his newest (albeit slightly reluctant) listener, while Jared and Marielle rolled their eyes.
Thank goodness, thought Violet. She didn't want to imagine what the world would be like were everyone to wear La Cinnamone perfume. She tried to smile back.
"You know, my surname isn't actually Cinnamon," continued the presently self-absorbed Basil. "It's Fisher. I just get my friends to call me Basil Cinnamon, because I like cinnamon."
"Of course," said Violet absently, occupied with scanning the tables for her brother to listen properly to Basil. Gabrielle, catching sight of Violet, waved her over, beckoning to Marielle and Jared to join them. The group of four came over and sat down, and Violet turned to her brother.
The siblings immediately began talking about what had happened so far, although nothing had, really. They also exchanged information about which dormitories they were in, and Klaus quickly learnt his way around the school with some help from Jared, an avid explorer of school grounds.
Finding that he was being ignored due to fervent exchange of news, Basil gave a loud, purposeful cough, and whipped out a small bottle of perfume from his shirt pocket, labeled in scrolling black letters with La Cinnamone.
It could very well have been spelt D-O-O-M, with the catastrophe about to occur.
"Why don't you all try my La Cinnamone perfume?" he said loudly, and proceeded to spray large amounts of it into the air, much to Jared's horror as he tried and failed to get away.
Everyone in the vicinity immediately began to cough, choke or gag, some people experiencing all three symptoms as the object of Basil's idolatry permeated the air in its relatively gaseous form.
Gabrielle leapt out of her seat in a fury, trying to get away from the cloud of overwhelming cinnamon scent. She ran right up to Basil, snatched the bottle out of his hands and threw it on the floor, stomping on it and grinding her heel on its pitiable fragments.
Basil looked aghast, his face contorted with what seemed like intense agony and sorrow. "My La Cinnamone!" he cried, his mouth frozen in a scream reminiscent of an Edward Munch painting.
"NOOOOOO! I paid money for this, honestly!"
He fell to his knees immediately to try and rescue whatever pieces of cinnamon-scented glass he could find. However, Basil's actions were futile as the glass pieces were embedded too deeply in the plush carpet.
Lorelei stood over him with a deadpan expression on her face, holding a hand over her mouth and nose.
"It'll be entirely your fault if we all start getting sinus problems!" Gabrielle snapped, glaring down at the distressed Basil. With that, she turned on her heel and walked off, holding her breath until she was far away. Jared sniggered as he cupped a hand over his mouth and nose, making Basil bash his fist against his friend's knee in aggravation.
Giving each other surreptitious glances, and trying not to breathe, Violet, Klaus and Lorelei followed Gabrielle over to an empty table as far as possible from Basil, who was still trying to collect the remnants of his perfume and attracting the oddest stares.
Very soon, lunch was served, and all the students (except for Basil) tucked in to the much-anticipated meal, their cheerful silence broken only by agonized howls coming from the place where Gabrielle had stomped on Basil's perfume bottle.
Fortunately, they were able to ignore all this, and after eating, the group from Christmas Manor, except for a humoured Jared, planned to run straight to the baths, where they could finally get rid of the overpowering stench of cinnamon hanging round them.
When he saw that most of the students had finished eating, the school's head, Principal Montreaux, made a short speech.
"Welcome back, students of Starmount, and I extend salutations to the new students who have come to attend this prestigious school. Despite the big crowd of people who have arrived today, there will be a couple more new students and another new teacher, incapable of reaching school today, who are coming tomorrow."
Lorelei nudged Violet and Klaus. "He's a little long-winded," she said with a grin.
"I wonder what the new students will be like," Gabrielle quipped audibly. "Here's hoping the new teacher is pleasant!"
"They are probably very nice people," said Klaus, hoping that was indeed true. The siblings were not used to so much pleasantness, having encountered misfortune everywhere they went, but things seemed different for now, and they both felt odd, despite the fact that it was a nice sort of oddness.
Montreaux made his speech relatively short and sweet. He was a sensible man, and knew that the students would much rather be up in their dormitories till dinnertime instead of listening to him drone on and on. He dismissed them, and the students left the dining hall in a rush, most people talking excitedly and catching up with what their friends had been doing during the term break.
Violet, Klaus, Lorelei and Gabrielle headed straight back to their dormitories to get a spare change of clothes before going to the baths. Klaus split from the group, being a very obvious non-female, smiling amusedly to himself as he remembered Basil's distraught expression over a trivial bottle of cinnamon scent.
Remembering this later caused Violet to laugh uncontrollably during her shower, resulting in a copious amount of soap getting into her mouth.
After the baths it was back to the dormitory and then again to the dining hall for dinner, following which the Baudelaires spent some time in the Turquoise Room before lights out, Violet there because she wanted to be with her brother, and also because Basil was in the Green Room giving the fragments of his perfume bottle a memorial service (Jared was the only invitee present).
That night, as everyone in Starmount Academy slept soundly, a certain Nicolette Abbott clutched her diploma in her hand as she rode through the night in a mysterious black car bound for her new school.
Life at Starmount, she thought to herself with a wide grin, is going to be perfect.
