What were those days like at Prufrock before Olaf came? This is in canon with How It Should Have Been. Multipart short story! Begin!

Universe*

~Violet's POV

Mr. Poe had dropped us off at a boarding school this time. Thank goodness we were out of those awful work uniforms from the Lucky Smells Lumber Mill. If I never see sawdust again it'll be too soon, and I think my siblings would agree with me on that. These Prufrock school uniforms were much nicer and actually a bit comfortable, to be honest. The three of us were sitting on a bench outside the administrator's office; the door read Vice Principal Nero. We were supposedly waiting for someone to call us inside, but no one ever did. It felt like we had been sitting here for an eternity. From inside the office, we heard the screechy noises of a violin that the player clearly didn't know how to play. Occasionally, we would hear two soft voices talking behind us on the other side of the bench, but we ignored them. It had been a while since we were around other kids our age, and we couldn't help being a bit shy about meeting our peers. Hopefully, we'll find some nice people at this school. After we lost our parents, other kids our age stopped talking to us entirely, including people who were once our friends.

Mr. Poe's sons, Edgar and Albert, seemed to believe that we had burned down our own house and killed our parents. I suppose other kids believed the same thing since the news was all over the Daily Punctilio when it happened. We had the perfect alibi too since we were at Briny Beach. To everyone else it seemed to be fact, but we knew the truth. After some time, we finally saw another person arrive. A girl who was significantly shorter than Klaus and I, but she was also most likely 12 or 13. (Mr. Poe had mentioned that this was a school for students 11 and up.) She wasn't wearing a uniform, and instead wore a frilly pink skirt, pink blouse, white leggings, and a ruby broach on her blouse, and was clearly wearing tap shoes based on how loud she walked. Ugh, I hate pink, and this girl gave me a headache just looking at her. She also had curled bright red hair and blue eyes; on her shoulder hung a small pink purse. She smiled at us, but I could tell it was a fake gesture; she looked stuck up as all Hell.

"Hello, cakesniffers," She said with her false smile beaming.

Klaus and I stood up to greet her politely as we had been taught by our parents. What on Earth did "cakesniffer" mean?

"Hello, uh..." I started, but I realized she hadn't introduced herself yet.

"Uh, um, what? Are you a blithering idiot? Everyone knows I'm Carmelita Spats! I'm the prettiest, nicest, smartest, most adorable, and the most popular girl in the whole school! I don't even have to wear a uniform because Vice Principal Nero likes me best! He's a genius! And he told me to give you a tour."

"Er, ok," I said, "I'm Violet Baudelaire, and this is my brother Klaus and our sister Sunny."

"Whatever, cakesniffers," Carmelita said, "Now let's get going, I don't have all day!"

"Prettiest, nicest, smartest, but she's definitely not modest," I inwardly chuckled as I picked up Sunny and the three of us followed the girl down the hall.

Klaus leaned over to me and whispered, "What does cakesniffer mean?"

"I don't know, but I don't think it's a compliment," I replied quietly.

As Carmelita led us around the school, she kept vaguely pointing out which rooms were what without any extra details. "That's the nurse's office, there's the broom closet, that building is the dormitory, there's the cafeteria," and so on. Other students were now bustling about the halls at their lockers, and staring at us as we passed by.

"Why is everyone looking at us," I asked.

"Maybe it's because we're new," Klaus said.

"It's because your home was destroyed in a fire," Carmelita said with another smile.

How rude. She led us down another hall and we noticed the doors of a room that we were actually eager to see.

"I don't know what that room is, and I never go in there," Carmelita said.

Klaus rolled his eyes behind his glasses, "The sign says library."

Carmelita looked offended that he had corrected her, "Only a cakesniffer would notice something like that!"

Suddenly the library doors opened and a very kind looking woman walked out carrying a stack of books. She had dark brown hair in a bun, glasses, and a bright smile on her face at the sight of us. Carmelita had walked on ahead, but we stopped where we stood.

"Oh, hello! You must be the Baudelaires! I'd heard you were coming. I'm Miss Olivia Caliban, the school librarian."

We smiled at her; it was nice to see such a friendly face after our time at the lumber mill.

"A library is like an island of knowledge in a sea of ignorance."

"Particularly if the library is very tall and the surrounding area is flooded," Olivia smiled, finishing Klaus' statement.

Carmelita popped back up again, "Don't talk to the library lady because she smells funny."

Olivia gave a polite, but clearly annoyed, smile, "Carmelita, always a pleasure. Anyway, be sure to visit the library sometime."

She carried her books back inside as we continued on our tour. Carmelita took us out to the athletic field where she informed us the gym teacher, Ms. Tench, was at an away football game so she was allowed to force other kids to do jumping-jacks as exercises until she returned. What a strange school. Klaus noticed the school motto emblazoned on the broken down scoreboard outside. It read Memento Mori, Klaus explained that it was Latin for "Remember death," or in this case "Remember you will die." What a terrible motto for a school! And here I was starting to think this might be a decent place after all our unfortunate experiences with Olaf. We were led back to the Vice Principal's office and Carmelita started whining about wanting a tip for her services. Even if we had any money on us, we wouldn't give her one.

She got furious and started banging on the office door, and lied saying it was us that had interrupted Vice Principal Nero's violin practice. She skipped away happily; great we haven't started classes yet and we might already have detention. Nero ushered us into his dingy, cramped office and started playing the violin again. Good God almighty; our father once said there is nothing worse in the world than someone who can't play the violin but insists on doing so anyway. I set Sunny down on a chair and my poor baby sister was covering her tiny ears with her hands at the noise from the battered instrument. Once he finished assaulting our hearing, he gave us a tired look.

"It is traditional to applaud when in the presence of a genius," Nero said.

We didn't believe he was a genius, but we didn't want to get in trouble on the first day, so we applauded him. He gave a little bow and thanked us. He then explained that we would be living in a little tin shack instead of a dorm, because we're orphans and don't have a parent or guardian to sign a permission slip. I tried asking if he could sign it but he said no, of course. We were told that we're allowed in the dorms to use the communal showers, but that's it; it's not perfect but it's a start at least. He then showed us the advanced computer system that the school had installed recently. It's supposed to help keep out Olaf, but we know it won't be any help if he comes in disguise like usual.

"Now, Violet, you'll be in Mr. Remora's class in Room One, and Klaus you're going to Mrs. Bass' class in Room Two. If you're late to class, you'll have your hands tied behind your back during meals. If you miss a meal then you'll have your glasses taken away at the next meal and you'll be forced to drink liquids off of your trays. Oh, and every night I hold a violin concert in the auditorium for 6 hours right after dinner, and if you ever miss my concert you have to buy me a bag of candy and watch me eat it!"

Well, these rules were certainly strict.

"What classroom is Sunny in," I asked, trying to stay polite even though this man was grating on my nerves.

Nero looked down at Sunny for a moment, "I told Mr. Poe that we'd have room for a baby here, but not in a classroom; she's too young. Sunny can work as my secretary! And if she's ever late to work then the same rules apply. Now get going to your shack, you start class in an hour!"

He almost shoved us out the door in a hurry to get us to leave. We walked outside to the shack that we were being forced to live in. It was small, had only one dirty window, had three hay bales instead of proper beds, tan fungus dripping from the ceiling and it was full of very angry crabs scuttling around. Hanging on the side wall was a spare uniform for each of us. We quickly hopped up on the hay bales to avoid the crabs.

Klaus sighed in frustration, "This is already turning out to be miserable."

"Well, this is a school. Let's see what we can learn," I reached into my pocket and pulled out the picture of our parents we had found in Aunt Josephine's safe, and hung it carefully on the wall.

We still had the piece of the spyglass that was in Klaus' pocket. We were still trying to solve the mystery of our parents' secret past. Hopefully, we can find out something, anything, while we're here.

~…

I made it to Mr. Remora's class without being late after we dropped off Sunny at the office for her first day of work. Of course Klaus and I didn't like that our baby sister had to work instead of going to a daycare or something, but we had no choice in the matter. Vice Principal Nero wouldn't listen to us anyway. Mr. Remora was a tired-looking, older man who was chomping on a banana as he talked in a slow, boring voice.

"Ahem, as you can see students, we have a new orphan with us today," He gestured to me; I had taken a seat at the only empty desk in the room, which was also unfortunately in front of Carmelita.

The other students all turned to look at me and I silently studied their faces. All of them were frowning at me... well not all of them I noticed. An attractive boy sitting right next to me gave me a half-smile. I returned it kindly. Wait a minute, an attractive boy? As Mr. Remora introduced himself and started telling random stories (apparently that was his idea of English class) I glanced at the boy beside me once more.

He was attractive. He looked to be 13 but was taller than me already, had pale skin, neatly combed black hair and wide, green eyes. He was also about a head taller than me. He wasn't looking at me, but he had the same small smile he had shown a second ago. He looked nice. And he certainly was good-looking. I turned back to pay attention to the lesson and smiled to myself a little. I didn't even know this guy's name and he was already the best thing here so far... I suppose I could get used to this place.

~Klaus' POV

I took a seat in the back of Mrs. Bass' classroom as I waited for the lesson to begin. I don't like to brag, but I've always been exceptionally good at school work so this should be easy enough for me. I've never failed a test in my life even. Mrs. Bass was an older looking woman with a cruel sneer and a stern voice.

"We have a new orphan joining us today," She gestured to me and everyone turned around to stare.

I studied the faces of my peers. They all frowned at me as if I had done something wrong. Well, not all of them were frowning actually. A pretty girl sitting right next to me gave me a small smile. I shyly returned it. Hold on, a pretty girl? As Mrs. Bass started telling us to measure things with the rulers on our desks (which was apparently her idea of Math class) I glanced at the girl beside me.

She was pretty. Actually, she was really pretty. She looked to be 13, but she was a head shorter than me; despite me only being 12. (I'm very tall for my age as I've been told, but I'll be turning 13 soon enough.) She had black hair that went down over her shoulders gracefully, and partly fell over her eyes, pale skin, and wide, brown eyes. She wasn't looking at me, but she had the same nice smile gracing her lips. She looked nice. I went back to paying attention to the lesson and felt a small smile cross my face. Pretty girls don't usually smile at me; I'm too much of a book-loving dork. I don't even know this girl's name and she's already the best thing here so far... I suppose I could get used to this place.

~Violet's POV

After class the bell rang for lunch, which I only figured out was the case because of some kids talking about getting food before everyone else. It's not like we were given a schedule or anything. I met up with Klaus and we picked up Sunny from the office. We held hands, helping Sunny walk as we did, and talked about how our day had been so far.

"What was your class like," Klaus asked.

"Dreadfully boring, all Mr. Remora does is tell random stories about his life and have us take notes on the details. What about you?"

"Mrs. Bass is obsessed with the metric system. All she does is have us measure random objects and write down the measurements. It's so dull. And she's really strict too."

"How was work Sunny," I asked.

"Tedo," Sunny replied, which meant "Tedious." Sunny can't talk in full sentences yet, the only words she can say fluently are our names.

We passed by a bulletin board that had a time table on it telling us our daily schedule. I noticed a small sign that warned about thieves stealing people's possessions; "If anyone has information contact Vice Principal Nero or Carmelita Spats." Hmm, that doesn't sound good. We arrived in the cafeteria and got in line with our trays. For a minute we thought something strange was going on because the waiter we had seen at the Anxious Clown restaurant on Damocles Dock was here as a cafeteria worker. He seemed eager to give us something, but apparently he lost whatever it was. We left the strange man as we got our food and started looking for someplace to sit.

"Oh, Baudelaires! There's room at my table! Oh, wait I forgot, cakesniffers aren't allowed at my table," Carmelita then started banging her silverware on the table and chanting, "Cakesniffing orphans in the orphan shack! Cakesniffing orphans in the orphan shack!" Soon the whole room was chanting with her. All I could do was stand by my siblings and wait for it to stop.

Then something amazing happened; the boy who had smiled at me in class stepped in front of us and shouted to stop the teasing, "Oh, leave them alone Carmelita! You're the cakesniffer and no one in their right mind would want to sit with you anyway."

He turned to us and smiled, "There's room at our table."

We smiled and followed him over to a table at the back of the room. A girl was sitting there already and she smiled at us too. We sat down across from the two. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Klaus blush a little when she smiled. Oh, this will be great! Watching my shy brother try, and fail, to talk to a pretty girl is always a treat. For all of Klaus' genius, girls were the one thing he couldn't figure out using his reading skills. It was then that I noticed these two people were obviously related; they looked identical with a few small exceptions.

"I'm Isadora Quagmire," The girl said, "And this is my brother Duncan."

"I'm Violet Baudelaire, this is my brother Klaus, and our sister Sunny," I replied.

"It's nice to meet you," Duncan smiled warmly at me.

I felt my face heat up as I smiled back. Damn. His smile was charming. And he was even better looking up close. His green eyes were amazing. Our eyes were locked. Unfortunately, the moment was interrupted pretty quickly by Sunny.

"Roomie," She said, which meant "Get a room."

I blushed and forced myself to look away from Duncan. He was blushing too.

"So, how did you end up here," Klaus asked.

"We were brought here after our house was burned down. Our parents died in the fire," Isadora said looking down slightly, "Along with our brother Quigley..."

"We're triplets," Duncan finished sadly.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You're orphans too," I said, quizzically.

"Yeah, we lived in the orphan shack for 3 semesters before you guys moved in. We got upgraded to the broom closet this morning," Duncan said.

"Our parents died in a fire as well," Klaus said.

Three semesters, I thought to myself. That's a year and a half. No wonder they're so nice; they've been here so long, and this school treats orphans terribly as far as we've seen. They must have wanted to help because they didn't have anyone to help them when they first arrived. Carmelita then stopped by to taunt us once more before skipping away loudly.

Duncan gave us a sympathetic look, "Ignore Carmelita, she's so awful Mrs. Bass is considering a life of crime. My sister wrote a poem about her."

Isadora reached into her blazer pocket and pulled out a pitch black notebook; she flipped it open and recited her poem, "I'd rather eat a bowl of vampire bats, than spend an hour with Carmelita Spats."

"That's a couplet," Klaus commented, "Ogden Nash uses them."

"I know! I've read all of his work!"

Isadora smiled at Klaus as he smiled shyly and avoided eye contact with her. I noticed Sunny rolling her eyes at the scene; she'll understand when she's older. I inwardly snickered, we've only been here for 4 hours and my little brother already has a crush. I also saw Duncan glaring at Klaus a little bit; he must be the older triplet since he looks a little protective. I suppose it made sense; with so many bullies at this school looking out for your only family member is important.

Duncan pulled a dark green notebook out of his pocket, "Listen, if you need help with the crabs in the shack, I took some notes on them. I'm a journalist; I want to be a newspaper reporter someday so I take notes on my surroundings. They hate loud noises, so we taped metal to our shoes so we would make a lot of noise when we were in the shack."

I pulled out my black satin hair ribbon and went to tie my hair back, "Well, I'm an inventor, and I'm sure I can invent something more efficient than noisy shoes. Everyone empty your pockets and I'll see what I can work with."

The two triplets set their notebooks on the table and pulled out some pens, I pulled some pieces of scrap metal out, and Klaus pulled out our spyglass piece... and Isadora pulled out one that looked exactly like ours.

"Where did you get that," They asked in unison.

"From the ruins of the fire that killed our parents," Klaus answered.

They then put the two pieces together and they fit perfectly with a soft click. We agreed that we would talk about this later in the shack.

~…

While we were in the shack with the Quagmires after dinner that day, we talked extensively about this apparent secret organization that our parents were involved in. I finished my invention to keep the crabs from bothering us. You know, with Duncan and Isadora with us here, it actually felt less terrible than it had before. They didn't mind being in here with us either, despite how much grief this shack would have caused them. We told them everything, about Count Olaf and his troupe, Uncle Monty, Aunt Josephine, and about our time at the mill. I then showed them the picture of our parents.

"Those are our parents," Duncan said, pointing to a man and his wife standing beside our parents. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out the same picture and showed it to us, except it had burnt edges, "We managed to grab this one from the ruins of our mansion. The frame kept it mostly intact."

"Why do you have this," Isadora asked.

"We found ours in Aunt Josephine's safe," I answered, pointing at the image again, "That's her and her husband, Ike Anwhistle."

"So our parents knew each other then," Duncan said, "But why don't we know each other?"

I shrugged, "They look pretty close in this picture. Perhaps they were friends?"

Isadora looked out the window, "We have to get going; we don't want to get in trouble for missing Nero's violin recital."

Duncan smiled as he stood up, "Yeah hopefully we can find some seats in the far back so we can be the first to leave when it's over."

I picked up Sunny and the five of us made our way to the auditorium. As we had hoped, Duncan managed to find us some seats together in the very back. I sat next to Duncan, with Sunny on my lap, and Klaus sat beside me, with Isadora on his other side. The Quagmires explained that we should still be able to talk as long as we're quiet. Mr. Remora and Mrs. Bass were patrolling the area, possibly counting out which students owed Vice Principal Nero candy. I noticed the librarian wasn't here; perhaps she didn't need to attend. Wait a minute, the library!

"Hey when can we go to the library tomorrow," I asked.

"We can go after the last class lets out," Isadora answered, "Why?"

"Because we can look for a book that might help us," I said, "It's called The Incomplete History of Secret Organizations. We saw it in Aunt Josephine's safe, but we didn't get to read it before her house got knocked into Lake Lachrymose by a hurricane."

Klaus smiled, "If we find it we can learn everything together."

"That sounds like a great idea! We'll go tomorrow," Duncan said as the lights in the room turned off and Nero stepped out on the stage.

We spent the rest of the recital talking and getting to know each other better. And the whole time I couldn't take my eyes off of my new charming journalist friend. After the recital, the Quagmires walked us back to our shack for the night and promised that they would pick us up in the morning.

~End of Chapter!

You can think of this as a prequel story. The book line about the 3 semesters was visibly removed from the tv show. (Remember the show is still an adaptation and changes like this are non-related to the books' facts)