Chapter Three

"Tizzy!!" (Or "Twit!!") Sunny squealed to Sophia as Oliver stepped into the room. Violet shot her a glare, taking her hand as they all followed Sophia through a series of hallways. The Baudelaires watched at the two conversed animatedly; Sunny- annoyed, Klaus- furiously jealous, Violet- dubious.

"Here we are!" Sophia sang, swinging open a large dark wooden door, revealing a room the size of a reception hall with tables scattered around and a long banquet table in the middle. "The cook is probably still preparing, but you can sit at this table with me!"

"Oh, Mr. Browne," Senor Fortunato said in his thick Italian accent, once everyone had settled in. "You are very kind to direct our next production. This will be the one people will be talking about! I have only known you for five minutes, and I know you will bring glory back to the Glorious Gandillon Opera House! I have a feeling!" he yelled as he raised his glass for more wine, full of passion and fervor as he always was.

"What does he mean by that?" Violet asked Sophia, neatly placing her napkin in her lap. Klaus nodded, still shooting glances at Oliver, who was laughing and joking with the singing instructor.

She sighed, tucking a loose curly strand behind her ear. "This used to be the biggest, most extravagant theatre in all of New York City, and probably in all of New York State, as well. Senor Fortunato never forgets to tell that to any of the people staying at the dormitories. These dorms, they used to be filled with hopefuls, students, theatre legends, stars of the stage, everyone! Now… just look at this place. It's dying. There are only fifteen of us ballerinas, our star dancer's leaving. There are about thirty singers, only less than half of them with star-quality."

"That explains all the room you have," Violet muttered softly, not even stopping Sunny from crunching on a piece of burnt steak. "I don't mean to offend," she added quickly, "I was just…"

"No, I understand completely. I hope that this Mister Browne will breathe some life into this place," Sophia said finally, resting her elbow on the table before receiving a glare from Aunt Marguerite.

Klaus looked over the ballerina's saddened face. This place meant everything to her. Dancing meant everything to her. If those two things were taken away, what kind of person would she be? She would be lifeless. Far from the bright girl she was. He grabbed her hand, swallowing hard. "We'll try to help," he said quickly, before she could react.

Violet bit her tongue to stop herself from giggling, more out of surprise than anything else. She hadn't seen Klaus being this forward unless he was defending her or Sunny, who was babbling as Sophia looked up at Klaus. "Quiet you," Violet muttered, handing her little sister a plate of corn on the cob.

"Thanks," Sophia said, smiling sweetly at him.

"Yes, we are currently training a few of our students to both sing and dance," Aunt Marguerite's voice drifted over to their table, "my assistant Sophia, being one of them."

"Ah, yes," Oliver replied, smiling over at the girl, who looked up from her plate. "I met her at the door. You never said you were a young lady of many talents."

Sophia was blushing again. Klaus was jealous, but not entirely, because she was still holding his hand. "Well, I was... I mean, they were…"

"Articulate, Sophia," Aunt Marguerite said sternly.

She nodded. "Your words are too kind." She said simply, averting her gaze.

"You will sing for us sometime?" he asked, his gray eyes kind.

"Yes, of course."

"Can you believe it?" Sophia said, bursting into Klaus's room in full costume and makeup sans the Pointe shoes. "Mr. Browne saw me practicing with the other girls, and, oh! He's just so nice, and so kind and I really do think he knows what he's doing! Just hearing him talking to Mam'selle and Senor Fortunato!"

Klaus nodded, still getting over the shock of her suddenly appearing at his door. "Are we allowed to watch?" he asked, standing up from looking over one of the librettos on his bed.

"You want to watch Carmen?" she replied, but before he could respond, she was bouncing up and down. "This is great! Ohmigosh, I'm so nervous, but I really hope you like it. So, do you think Violet and Sunny want to watch, too? Let's go ask them!" Sophia was already grabbing his arm and dragging him to the next room. "Hey, do you want to come and watch? There's this balcony that no one uses unless we need extra lighting. But in this case, it's all free!"

"I'd like to see this," Violet said as she finished unpacking their things and putting them in the closet. "I've always wanted to see how professional sets are arranged and how you maneuver them. Technical things." She grinned. "What about you Sunny?"

"Cheels." She said, which meant, "Well, I have no choice, now do I?"

Author's Note: Wow, I'm just really into this story right now! I've updated within a week! Yesssss! Anyway, thanks much to Emily, for that totally random review, and to Nny11! I'm glad that I've more than caught your attention! And that you've put me on your alert list! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter!