The moment Sunny saw Quigley's car, she nearly jumped back in surprise. She had no idea that he had purchased a caramel-colored convertible after he left his siblings and their spouses. So many questions started buzzing around her head and she desperately craved them. "Crave" is a word which here means, "wanting to know what Quigley had been doing with his life since he left". For example, did Quigley live near the Baudelaire Mansion? Would he be willing to spend time with Sunny so they can catch up on the events in their lives? Was he dating someone?
Sunny froze; did she think what she just thought? She shook her head, trying to forget the last question. "Sunny?" questioned Quigley. She turned her head in his direction, seeing an amused smile play with his lips.
"Y-Yes?" she asked.
"Are you feeling okay?" he inquired. Sunny blushed; he must have seen her acting like a total idiot. How embarrassing!
"O-Of course," she replied. "How have you been for the past ten years?" Quigley laughed softly.
"I figured you were going to ask me that question," he said. "I've been well. I moved into an apartment not too far from the mansion after I left."
"You did?" Sunny exclaimed. Quigley stared at her in surprise. Sunny gasped, sank in her seat, and whispered, "Sorry." Quigley laughed light-heartedly.
"Don't be sorry," he said. "I'm glad I have this opportunity to talk to you. I know it's nothing like it used to be when we were younger. We can't talk about schoolwork or crushes or anything else like that without one confusing the other."
"Do you have a crush on anyone?" Sunny asked abruptly. Quigley blinked a few times, startled by her question. Sunny blushed and looked down. "I meant after you graduated high school." Quigley smiled sadly at her young sister-in-law.
"I wish I could say yes, but I can't," he said. "I've never found the right girl for me during or after high school. To be honest, I don't think any of the girls would like me."
"How could you say that?" exclaimed Sunny. "There are plenty of likable qualities you have! You're smart, funny, creative, compassionate, cute-" Sunny stopped and stared at Quigley whose eyes seemed wider than usual. Sunny's face reddened even more as she desperately tried to come up with a good excuse. "I'm just saying. If I was a girl who wasn't your sister-in-law, those are the qualities I'd like about you." Quigley sighed and looked out his door's window. Sunny noticed a hint of pain in Quigley's dark eyes and gasped. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend you! I was just-"
"It's okay," Quigley said. "I understand." His car came to a stop in front of the literature hall. "Here we are," he said. "I'll see you later."
"How about tomorrow night at 5:45?" Sunny blurted out. Quigley looked at Sunny in surprise, his face turning pink as did Sunny's. "Uh, that is if you want to catch up with my life and me with yours," she mumbled. Quigley snapped out of his shocked state and smiled.
"I would love that," he said. Sunny gasped and smiled; it wasn't like she had developed a crush on him or anything of that matter. "Shall I meet you after your last class? What is it by the way?" Sunny unzipped her backpack, pulled out her schedule, and quickly looked over it.
"Uh, history!" Sunny said.
"Then I will meet at the history hall," promised Quigley, unlocking the doors. "You'd better get in there. I don't want to keep you from your class." Sunny nodded and got out, holding onto her bag and schedule.
"Thanks for the ride, Quigley!" she said as she pulled herself.
"It's Mr. Quagmire to you, Miss Baudelaire!" Quigley mockingly yelled. Sunny laughed and ran inside the building. She sighed happily once she found her room on the first floor on her second right and patted her rapidly beating heart. Wait. Rapidly beating? Oh no! She wasn't falling for Quigley, was she? For shame, Sunny! screamed her conscience. How could you fall for a teacher thirteen years older than you? Get a grip on reality, you stupid girl! Now feeling depressed, Sunny entered her Literature and was surprised to see how rambunctious her class was. "Rambunctious" is a word which here means, "Sunny's classmates throwing paper balls around the class, talking, and drawing pictures on the blackboard not worth mentioning while there was no teacher present". Sunny looked around frantically, trying to find her friends and hopefully, not Lenard.
"Well, well, look who decided to show up," cooed a familiar and undesired voice in her ear. Sunny gasped, whirled around, and saw Lenard hovering over her, a sly smile on his face. "You're such a brazen girl for ditching class," he said, leaning down towards her. Sunny's face turned a dark pink.
"I-I-It wasn't like that!" she said. "I-I-I-I-I had to talk to-" Lenard placed a finger on her lips, silencing her.
"It's okay," he said. "You don't have to explain yourself, you bad girl." He lifted her chin up with his thumb and smirked. "I like girls like you." Sunny groaned, pushed Lenard away from her, and started walking away. Unfortunately, and I've never used this word in such a long time, Lenard followed after her and trapped her between his body and a desk. "Come on, Sun. Stop playing hard to get and go out on one date with me." Sunny's widened; did he just ask her out and on the same day they first met? He had to be crazy!
"Uh, I'm flattered by your request, Lenard," Sunny said, looking down. "But I-"
"Settle down everybody!" shouted a loud voice, causing the young adults to wince and cover their ears. Naturally, all the students stopped everything they were doing and sat in their seats. Lenard released Sunny and gave her a flirtatious wave and went to his desk. Relieved, Sunny found her friends' desks and sat in between them. When Sunny looked up, she saw her teacher who was an elderly woman with her gray hair in a tight bun and her thin lips pressed together, forming a frown. "Good afternoon, class," she said. "My name is Ms. Doe." The class, except Sunny, Martha, and Emily, burst out laughing.
"Why are you called that?" one student asked.
"And what's up with the "Miss" title?" questioned another student.
"I bet you've never dated anyone in your life!" howled a third student. This earned another round of laughter, causing Ms. Doe to redden either out of anger or embarrassment. Sunny felt so bad for her poor professor; her name and romantic life was nothing to laugh about and Sunny knew that.
"Well, if you're going to laugh," Ms. Doe said, turning on her heel and walked towards the blackboard, erasing the inappropriate images on it and wrote in complimentary cursive while saying, "laugh at this." Once she was finished, she stood next to it, her arms folded across her chest and her old hazel sparkling with bitter pain. "Write a ten-page report on a famous author and turn it in tomorrow" read the board. All the students let out loud cries of protest, some say how it wasn't fair to that to them and others saying they didn't deserve an assign on the first day. However, Ms. Doe pulled out a metallic ruler and drag it along the blackboard, causing the students to stop their objections and cover their ears. "No more complaining!" snapped Ms. Doe. "Now I have several books on famous authors so there should no reason why you shouldn't have at least three paragraphs done by the end of the class. So hop to it!" Grumbling, the students got up and walked over to the peeved professor's bookshelves. Sunny, Emily, and Martha, however, stayed in their seats, not wanting to push or get pushed to get their books.
"Can you believe her?" Martha asked.
"No," said Emily. "I don't what that bitch's problem is." Sunny frowned.
"It's because she's probably been ridiculed her whole life," she said. Emily and Martha looked at their friend in surprise.
"What do you mean?" Emily questioned.
"Did you see the pain in her eyes?" Sunny queried. "Did you see how hurt she was when those class clowns were making fun of her?" The two friends shook their heads. "I did. And I had never seen such pain in anyone's eyes like that at all. The only thing I feel for the poor woman is pity." There was a dead silence amongst the friends before they spoke again.
"I guess, now that you mentioned it, I never thought about it that way," said Emily, bowing her head in regret. "I'm just quick to judge instead of wanting to get to know somebody first." She laughed bitterly. "Maybe I should stop doing that." Suddenly, a book hit Emily in the head and effectively knocked her out of her seat. Angrily, she grabbed the book, jumped to her feet, and screamed, "WHO THE HELL THREW THIS STINKIN' BOOK AT ME?"
"Now Emily," Martha started, "let's not lose our heads. We mustn't-" Another book flew through the air and hit Martha this time. "OW!" She snatched the book and looked around for the culprit. "Whoever's throwing books at us, stop it!"
"Girls, please calm down," Sunny pleaded, fearing somebody would throw a book at her as well. Instead, an open gently landed on top of her head. Surprised, she looked up and saw Lenard grinning at her.
"Thought you girls might not get any books and decided to throw you some," he said. Emily and Martha successfully restrain themselves from strangling this flirty upperclassman and glanced at their books. Martha had Horatio Algers, Emily had Thomas Paine, and Sunny had Arthur Miller. Sunny stared at her upperclassman suspiciously and opened her book, trying to ignore him the best she could. "So you up for our little date?" Lenard twirled a lock of Sunny's blonde hair between his fingers, trying to get her attention. Emily suddenly slapped Lenard's hand away from her friend.
"Shouldn't you be working on your report?" she asked. Lenard growled, looked at Sunny, winked and gave a little wave, and walked off.
"What a jerk," mumbled Martha, her brown eyes scanning her book's pages.
"I'm sorry," Sunny said with a sly smile. "Did you not say in health class I should go after him?" Annoyed, Martha placed a hand behind Sunny's head and gently pushed it down into the book.
"Just shut up and read, you big chatterbox" she said. Sunny and Emily both giggled and continued their reading. However, Sunny was deeply worried about the situation with her and Lenard. She didn't know what he really wanted with or from her, but whatever plans he had for her, she was not and would never be interested whatever the case may be.