Oh, there's something I forgot to mention in the last author's not that I put a word limit on my chapters. They all have to be at least 3,000 words from now, and that's not including the author's notes, chapter title, story title, and date. That's why I put the big number at the end of the last chapter. It's the actual word count for the story. It's the exact number because I did edit the chapter a little bit, so the number changed since I took out some words and added some.

Did I warn you about the crappy titles yet?

The Isadora Diaries:

Tutoring Job:

Wednesday, April 4th

So this morning, my mother was acting a little more normal, which was comforting. I really don't need to worry about my mother more than I already need to. With thinking of other odd jobs to do, worrying about Duncan's possibly destructive plan for the party, and wanting to prove to my mom that we're not totally bad kids by paying her back, I don't have any room to be concerned about anything else! I didn't even mention the whole Klaus and Haley thing either!

Speaking of, I saw them together yesterday.

Just let that sink in for a moment. I sure did.

It was almost seven at night when I finished my diary entry. I was having a kind of 'now what' feeling at the moment so I thought that a short walk outside would be a good idea.

I let my parents know where I'd be and they said I couldn't go past the front yard, since it was getting dark.

What's the point of going out for a walk if I can't walk? Just walking in circles between the borders of my yard would make me look like an idiot. It was better than nothing, though, so I agreed.

I wasn't outside for long when I saw this happen. In fact, I had just started walking towards the street when I saw a silver SUV drive up the street and pull into the Clarke's driveway. There was just enough light outside for me to see Klaus and Haley hop out of the car and walk to his front door together. I could hear them talking, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.

I knew I couldn't let them see me (that'd be too awkward), so I started backing away towards my front door as quickly and quietly as possible. I had just made it to the door when the two ended their conversation at his front steps. They hugged and when Haley turned to walk away, I swear she saw me close my front door.

Once inside, I felt kind of paralyzed and had to lean my back on the door for support. What had they been doing together? I mean, I knew they were going to the spring formal together, but that was next week! Where had they gone? Had they started dating?

My chest tightened and my heart skipped a beat at the massive possibility of them having been on a date.

Dating usually led to being an actual couple.

Being an actual couple meant forming a relationship.

Relationships can last a really long time, especially if the two people really like each other. I already know that Haley likes Klaus, but what about him? Does he like Haley?

I almost slapped myself at the stupid question. Of course he liked her! He wouldn't have agreed to do to the dance with her if he didn't!

My mind went back to one time when we were hanging out in his room and I had asked him if he liked her, to which he answered that she was not his type. His reason seemed valid, and I actually believed him, but maybe he had just been in denial. He would have had to been if he's all of sudden willingly spending time with Haley outside of school! Maybe he had hidden feelings for her all this time and he was trying not to.

I thought back to the last night we talked. We had argued about who should make the first move. It hadn't been a bad argument, but it kind of felt like one. He looked kind of offended and hurt, and I had felt guilty for a reason that I don't know.

This is probably going to make me sound like some shallow, conceited whatever, but I something in the back of my mind was telling me that there was a possibility that Klaus might like me. It was just that sort of vibe I got whenever he talked to me and how he would act around me sometimes. Of course I didn't believe that part of my mind…that much.

Still, though, seeing them together really hurt, whether I believed he liked me or not. It was as if this wave of sudden depression just crashed over me without any warning at all. I guess it was the effect of a sudden realization that Klaus never did like me. If he did, he sure doesn't now. Any chance I had had with him had disintegrated, and with it taking all my emotions except for the massive amount of broken hope that was overcoming me.

I tried to tell myself that I never really liked him in the first place and that I should be happy for him for being with someone he liked, if they were together. There could've been a number of reasons why they had been together today that didn't have to do with dating.

Naturally, I couldn't bring myself to believe these things. I stood there at the door, taking deep breaths and trying to fight the upcoming sobs that were well on their way.

I failed and bolted to my room.

I hate crying. I really do. My face gets all red and splotchy, and it gets wet with tears, and I get a runny nose, and UGH. It's annoying! I also feel really stupid when I cry. Why should I cry over a guy? If I really liked him, I would be happy for him or at least feel fine about his decision. Then I realized that I genuinely didn't (and still don't) believe that Haley could make him happy. The possibility just seemed (and still does) unrealistic. I'm actually amazed that Klaus actually accepted her offer to go the dance with her! They're so different. Anyone can easily say that Klaus is a much friendlier person than Haley, and they both definitely do not have a lot in common.

For example, Haley likes flirting with anyone of the opposite of sex, texting, make up, and talking bad about people (like me).

Klaus likes The Avengers, having fun with friends, making jokes, music, playing soccer, and being a nice person. (So nice that he'd watch princess movies with me.)

Not to mention that Haley wasn't exactly an easy person to get along with, and even someone as nice as Klaus has a breaking point.

Does it make sense for me to find it hard to believe they'd be happy together yet? Unless he proves it, then I just can't believe it.

So yeah, I did cry, and I felt really weird. I had never cried over a guy before, and I never thought that I ever would. I never really liked a guy so much before to do that, and I never thought I ever would.

I felt really empty inside when I finished, so I shoved Lilo and Stitch in my laptop, hoping that the movie would trigger some sort of emotion that was hiding inside of me.

It did. Multiple times. Each time it was the sad emotion I wanted to get rid of. Except for at the end, that was when they were happy tears because the ending is so happy!

The rest of the night was kind of a blur. I was really tired by the time Lilo and Stitch finished, so that may be why I can only recall bits and pieces of that night. But I can pretty much gather some clues to what I did because of how I found myself when I woke up. The sequel was in my computer, and the DVD menu was on the screen, there was a chocolate wrapper next to my pillow, a paper plate, and a dictionary turned upside down to keep from closing and losing the page.

I understand the evidence of the food and Lilo and Stitch 2, but I don't know how the dictionary got in my room.

That's just weird.

I got rid of the trash and dictionary and took the movie out of my laptop. It was earlier than I normally got up. In fact, it was so early that my mom hadn't come to wake me up for breakfast yet. That was okay, though. I wanted to sit alone for a while before I had to force myself to be in the company of other people. It wasn't long, however, before my mom came in my room and found me awake on my laptop. She didn't act the same way she did the first time she caught me on it. Instead, she looked confused and asked me if I'd been up all night. I told her no, and followed her downstairs for breakfast.

There was more conversation at breakfast this morning. My dad didn't have to share any stories about his teenage years when he had bicycle wrecks, which I think he was upset about.

Surprisingly, it was my mother who had started the conversation this morning.

"So Gertrude called me last night and told me how helpful you three were yesterday. I'm surprised."

"Really?" Quigley raised an eyebrow. "You're surprised? Not proud in any way?"

Mother laughed. "Yes, I am, too." Her smile fell. "But you're still not off the hook. I want the bathrooms cleaned, the floors swept and carpets vacuumed, the dishes done, and the lawn mowed before I get home. Am I clear?"

"This is for free, isn't it?" Duncan asked, disappointed.

"Duncan!" I nudged his arm. First of all, why would he ask our mother that? That could get him in more trouble than he really needed to be! Second of all, it's kind of hard to get someone you owe money to pay for your debt to them. Thankfully, my mother didn't hear him. However, I'm almost positive that my dad did, because he tried to do a discretely slap his forehead in frustration.

"What was that, Duncan?" Mother asked.

"Nothing!" I interjected. Then I glared at Duncan and said through gritted teeth. "He didn't say anything."

She didn't push any further.

"Gertrude told me about how you three were working to pay me back. I didn't think you would do something like that. I thought you three would wait for your birthday next month and give me the money that comes in. The three of you are acting responsibly."

The three of us beamed at her. We were definitely happy to hear her talk about us differently than she did the other night when she was talking about sending us to military school. That job totally put a point on our side! We just need to keep up being good, and we'll be free!

I don't mean to be free to go back to our old trouble making ways. That always got us in trouble…even though they were all accidents. Maybe we'll learn how to keep from making big mistakes by July. Until then, I had an awful list of chores to do. Don't get me wrong, I was happy that my mother wasn't in her unpredictable phase anymore (I guess she just needed some time to cool down), but I was totally bummed about the chores. How were Quigley and I going to have time to look for jobs if we were going to be stuck in the house working? One hundred fifty dollars can't raise itself! I really didn't need to add anymore situations to worry about to my already fair-sized list of things to worry about. I decided just to take things one at a time, and it would probably be best to skip the three-hour nap this morning and get started on chores.

After my parents left, Quigley, Duncan, and I started talking about who was going to do what.

"There's six bathrooms in this house," Quigley started. "We can spilt that to two each."

"I'll do mine and Mom and Dad's," I said quickly. Those were two of the most important bathrooms in the house to me. I was about to let my brothers touch my bathroom, and I want my mother to at least think we tried to do our chores right. I love my brothers, but they're not that good at cleaning.

We split the three levels of house to sweep as well and I volunteered to do the dishes while Duncan and Quigley chose which yard they'd mow.

I got to work on my bathroom right away; I wanted to finish as soon as possible so that I might have time to look for jobs to do.

I finished my bathroom in an hour. I was able to keep my mind off of my life by blasting music as loud as possible the entire time. However, after I started working in my parents' bathroom afterwards, my iPod died, and I didn't want to go get the charger because it was all the way in my room and my hands were dirty, so I didn't want to touch anything. So I sucked it up and kept cleaning. I really wish I hadn't though. I wish I'd sucked it up and gone and gotten my iPod charger. That would've been a lot better than what I had to go through in the hour it took to clean my parents' bathroom.

I would start out thinking that I need to hurry up so I could look for ways to get more money to pay off the thousand dollars. Then I would feel rushed and stressed. Then I would remember that I had absolutely no clue how to make more money which stressed me out even more. That's when I thought of the idea of consulting my brothers, then I remembered that Duncan was already busy with the party without the chores, and I didn't want to disturb Quigley because he was busy cleaning. I thought about asking my friends. I thought about Violet, who was sure to have some good ideas, then I thought about Klaus and—my heart fell.

I remembered seeing Klaus with Haley and how crappy I felt afterwards. The mixture of emotions (hurt, depression, anxiety, uneasiness, and kind of delusional) was all rolled up into one big volcano inside of me that could erupt at any given time. And I definitely didn't want anything to erupt out of me. That would be messy. And kind of gross.

When I finished cleaning I bolted for the iPod charger in my room and blasted loud music to keep myself from thinking as fast I could. And I kept that thing in my pocket for the two hours it took me to finish my chores.

Quigley and Duncan were done around the same time I was. Duncan shooed us outside and told us to 'do our thing' while he worked on ideas for the party. He still refused to tell us anything he came up with for it because he wants us to be surprised. I really hope it's a nice surprise.

"Any ideas?" Quigley asked me after Duncan shooed us outside.

I shrugged. "We could maybe do the lawn mower thing again."

Quigley groaned. "I am so sick of cutting the grass. You're a girl, don't you have some sort of money-making ideas in that girly head of yours?"

I rolled my eyes. "In case you've forgotten, I've grown up with two brothers whose biggest masterpiece was a picture of Mom and Dad as stick people. I'm not exactly creative."

"Well," he began. "What would you pay someone to do for you."

I said the first thing that came to mind. "Homework."

Quigley was silent for a second, but the n his face lit up with excitement. "Iz, that's a great idea! We could start tutoring! Do you know anyone who needs help?"

That's an easy question. "Oh, yeah."

I think it's actually a good thing that's Bea isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer because she was (and is) the perfect person to tutor. I didn't want to take her money, with her being my best friend and all, but Quigley wouldn't have any problem. Besides, once she learned why we needed money, I was certain she would help us out. With that, the two of us hurried up the street to Bea's house. When we knocked on her door Bea was the one who answered.

"Izzy!" she exclaimed. "It's been four centuries and a day!" She tackled me into a hug.

I laughed. "Bea, it's been three days." I hugged her back. Although it hadn't been that long since we talked, I had missed her, and I was at a point where I seriously need a friend.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Quigley asked crossing his arms.

Bea let go of me and looked at him quizzically. "Why would you wonder a thing like that?"

Oh, boy.

"Bea," I said, wanting to get straight to the point "we need a favor."

She shrugged. "Sure. What do you guys need?"

I explained to her what happened at my Craig's house and at the zoo to both of which she laughed hysterically at.

I rolled my eyes. This was so like Bea. "Come on, Bea, will you help us out or not?"

"I *laughter* sorry I *laughter* I *cough* okay, I'm fine *cough and laughter* I'm good now, honest *cough*."

We looked at her expectantly. "Oh, yeah! I'll help! I'll have to ask my dad, though. I can't afford anything right now. Everything at Soaked Otter was on sale yesterday! I just couldn't resist.

Figures. Soaked Otter was her favorite clothing store, and it always ran her dry whenever it had a sale.

"Come on in," she said. "Let's go talk to my dad."

We followed her inside and into Mr. Snicket's office. "Hey, Dad, Quigley and Isadora are here. They have something to ask you."

I didn't really know if Mr. Snicket would be okay with paying us for tutoring Bea, but he seemed to like the idea. He told us he would pay us ten dollars (!) every hour. After we explained our predicament, he really wanted to help us out, which we were more than thankful for.

"Quigley, could you help me out with something else while the girls go and do homework?" Mr. Snicket said.

Quigley shrugged. "Sure."

I didn't get to hear what Quigley was going to do because Bea dragged me to her room, complaining about the massive amount of math problems that her teacher assigned her, and I had come at the perfect time.

Knowing Bea this tutoring job was going to be a reoccurring job, and it would definitely stretch past an hour.

At least something was going right.

3,114

"So lift it up like a banner
Hold it up over me
If this war is never ending
I'll take this love down with me
Like a banner
Like a banner..."

~ Banner by Lights

It's a really good song.

You know you want to listen to it.

;)