I forgot to mention this:
I didn't do Review Replies, but I just want to say that I did read all of them, and I appreciate every single one that was submitted. Thank you all. Really. Especially if you're still here. I was dead, man. GONE. But you came back anyway. That warms my heart. :3
The Isadora Diaries:
Movie:
Friday, April 6th
Overall, the entire food selling thing we did at the Bingo did was a success! I was worried we wouldn't have enough for everyone, and we didn't. But Mr. Snicket came to our rescue and just bought pizza from the nearest pizza place, and no one had a problem with that. Quigley and Duncan and I wanted to pay him back for doing that, but he insisted we keep all the money, saying we deserved it for working so hard. Bea didn't want anything either, but I guess that's because she was in too much of a good mood since Duncan said he'd be her date to the dance.
No, Bea never told me. But you'd have to be a really daft potato to not figure it out after watching how they acted around each other. Whenever they accidentally reached for the same plate to give away (which happened more often than you think) they would both blush like mad. They also kept stealing glances at each other, and while the game was going on and no one was buying any food, they went for a walk outside. When they came back, they were holding hands! I'm pretty sure they're going to the dance together.
Even Quigley noticed they were acting stranger than usual, and that's a surprise considering he's a boy. No offense, but most guys (or at least most of the ones I know) are kind of oblivious to things happening around them. Well, he plays soccer. Maybe sports like that improve your focus? Whatever. Anyway, even though Quigley saw they were acting differently, he really didn't know why. In his defense, he didn't know what happened earlier that day between them either since I refused to tell him. I don't even know why I didn't want to tell him. Maybe it was just in case Duncan rejected Bea (which I knew he wouldn't, but being prepared never hurt anyone) and Bea wouldn't be embarrassed about Quigley knowing. Even if he would've found out eventually...
I'm going with that because it makes me seem like a good friend.
Anywho...
Duncan and Bea went for their walk around the same Mr. Snicket left to go buy the pizza, leaving me and Quigley alone by our table. Once it was just us, Quigley turned to me and asked, "What's going on with Duncan and Bea? Does it have something to do with what happened today that you wouldn't tell me about?"
"I think so." I nodded.
"Well, what happened?" Quigley asked, sounding really impatient. He's an impatient person to begin with, and keeping something like this from him would make him explode. No one would die if I told him, and Bea and Duncan were going together anyway, so I figured it was okay.
Still, just be safe, I made him swear not to tell anyone before I told him.
"Yeah, whatever, I swear, now spill the juicy details!"
I told him that Bea pulled Duncan out of the kitchen to ask him to the dance and that, even though Bea wouldn't tell me what he said, I believed he said yes.
"Are you serious?!" Quigley shouted so loud that the announcer stopped calling numbers, and everyone in the room turned to look at us. I hate having so many people's eyes on me, so, of course, I start blushing like mad. Quigley, thankfully, is easier with a crowd. "Uh, I mean, are you serious with these numbers? Is there even such thing as B 43 on a card?!"
I guess Quigley's ignorance on their wonderful game made it hard for them to look at them because they turned back around and continued searching their cards for B 43.
"Are you serious?" Quigley said more quietly.
"Yes!"I exclaimed excitedly. "It would explain why their acting this way, wouldn't it? I mean, come on!"
"I can't believe this is finally happening," Quigley muttered, almost looking like he was seriously having a really hard time understanding that it was happening. "I knew it was going to happen sometime, but I didn't think it'd be this soon!"
"I did! They're MFEO!"
"They're what now?" Quigley looked at me with a quizzical expression.
"Oh wait," I said, remembering that it was Duncan that was there during the whole MFEO thing, and not Quigley. "You weren't there; it was Duncan."
Quigley pouted and crossed his arms. I thought it was kind of funny that he looked almost the same as he did when we were five when he did that. "Duncan has all the fun."
"Well, if it's any consolation, you got a girlfriend before he did." That cheered him right up. "Oh, yeah!" he laughed.
"Speaking of," I began, wondering about him and Violet. "Are you going to take Violet to the dance, or are you still going to watch that weird tournament?"
Quigley rolled his eyes. "It's not a 'weird tournament'. It's the championship episode of Monster Jam! Blue Thunder and Superman are going head to head!"
I didn't even try to pretend like I cared. "Whatever, are you taking her or not?"
"Yeah," he said. "Watching the show isn't going to be any fun without Duncan. And Mom was probably going to make me go anyway. You know, she's probably going to make you go, too."
I groaned. "Don't remind me. Was it really necessary for the school to call our house? Believe it or not, I usually have more fun on the internet than at a school event."
He laughed. "Yeah, that's true! This might actually be fun, though. I heard the theme was had something to do with characters. Like, you come dressed as your favorite character."
"Really?" he dance committee was full of girls that cared more about being pretty than anything else. The fact that they picked such a cool theme was surprising. "That actually sounds pretty cool!"
Quigley nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I already know who I'm going as!"
"And what's that?"
"Zeus!" he replied excitedly. "I get to wear a toga and carry around a lightning bolt that I can stab people with!"
I laughed at my brother's brilliant oddness. "Very nice! Where do you think you'll get a lightning bolt?"
He shrugged. "I don't know, but I'll find out some way. What about you?"
"I don't where to get a lightning bolt. Gosh, Quigley, that was kind of implied when I asked you if you knew where you were going to get one."
He shook his head. "No! I meant who are you going as? If you're going, that is."
"Well..." I let my voice trail. "If I go...let me think about that for a moment, since it's such an important question." I laughed a little.
Quigley laughed too. "Don't stress it. You've got until next week, and there's a chance that Mom might let you stay home."
"Yeah," I agreed, "but it's a very slim chance."
We were quiet for a moment, with only the sound of the announcer calling numbers and people in their seats messing with their dot-maker thingies to fill the open air. It was the perfect opportunity for Quigley to catch me off guard with his next statement.
"I know you're upset about Klaus and Haley going to the dance together."
I froze.
What was I supposed to say? I never told anyone except Bea how I felt about Klaus, and the most I've said was that I really like him. Could I really tell Quigley the truth: that I was really was upset about Klaus and Haley? It's been a couple of months since Quigley and I stopped fighting, but I never told him such a secret before then.
The silence between us felt kind of awkward with that question lingering in the air. I really didn't want to lie (or tell the truth), but I knew I had to say something. So before I could stop myself, I shrugged and gave my brother a helpless look. Suddenly, the same feeling of misery and unworthiness returned from the night before, and my eyes uncontrollably began to water.
"Don't," was all he said before he wrapped his arms around me in a tight embrace.
I couldn't help it, so I cried a bit into his shoulder before I was strong enough to tell myself to suck it up. Even though I had quieted, Quigley still didn't let me go. He didn't say anything, but he didn't really need to either. Sometimes, a hug is more than enough.
And at that moment, I felt excessively grateful to have Quigley as a brother.
This morning after our parents left for work, Quigley, Duncan, and I gathered all the money we earned on the kitchen table to count. We earned two hundred and ninety dollars (!) from the food we sold, and they were reasonable prices! No, five bucks for a ham sandwich stuff! I had ten dollars from tutoring Bea. Even though I was there for three hours, the amount of time we actually spent on her math added up to one hour, and I didn't want to be paid for time I didn't work.
Quigley's job at Bea's house was to organize Mr. Snicket's list of files of clients in alphabetical order. He got paid fifteen dollars per hour, because the stack was half my height-no exaggeration. Altogether, he ended up getting paid thirty seven dollars and five cents.
I think Mr. Snicket really wanted to help us out, and added a bunch of old clients that don't even see him anymore to that list, because I honestly can't believe that he currently has that many.
Anywho...
We added up the money with the hundred and fifty that Gertrude was so generous to pay us with and got the amount of $487.5! We were almost halfway to our goal! The three of us agreed to hit Bingo night again next week, because that place was like a gold mine! Until then, we needed a new plan. Duncan was working on Grayson's party, obviously, but Quigley and I didn't know what else to do. I remembered I could still tutor Bea, but I knew for a fact that she wasn't awake at seven in the morning on Spring Break.
Duncan was to caught up in his party planning to help us out, so we were on our own. I think he's actually making some progress, but he said he had the perfect spot for the party and went to go check it out. Considering the party is supposed to be in two days, I hope he's made a lot of progress.
Since Duncan had gone, Quigley and I were on our own to come up with ideas to make more money. We were having a hard time thinking of things, so Quigley suggested, "Do you think Violet could help us come up with something? Like, maybe she could build something we could charge people to pay to use or something?"
I shrugged. "Maybe. Is she even up at this time in the morning?" I know pretty Violet pretty well, and if there's anything that she hates doing, it's waking up early.
"She should be," he said. "She told me last night that she's been waking up at six every morning since Tuesday to have a superhero movie marathon. I'm pretty sure she's on Iron Man 2 now."
"Would she be all right with us interrupting her movie?"
Quigley made a face. "Probably not. I'll text her to find out when it's finished and we can head over there then."
Violet's movie ended close to eight o' clock. Quigley and I hurried across the street to where Violet lived and knocked on her door. "Hey guys," she said perkily, giving Quigley a quick hug when she answered the door. "Come on in." We followed her inside and shut the door behind us. "Quigley told me you need raising money to pay your mom back. How much have you got so far?"
"Almost 500," I said.
"Cool, you're almost halfway there then!" she smiled.
I nodded. "Yeah! Um, actually, we were hoping maybe you had some ideas on how to make more money. Besides tutoring Bea, we're fresh out of ideas."
Violet furrowed her brow. "I don't know. Let me think about it..."
"Is Klaus here? Do you think he might have an idea?" Quigley asked.
When he said that, I had a sudden rush of mixed emotions come over me. I wanted to see Klaus because I just wanted to talk to him. At the same time, however, I didn't want to see him because we weren't exactly on talking terms (especially whenever he and Haley were together), even though neither one of us has said that.
"He's not here."
My mood dropped because I figured he was probably with Haley.
"He's at one of his friend's house practicing for soccer tryouts."
And my mood suddenly got better.
"Hey, Vi, what movie were you about to watch before we came?" Quigley asked suddenly.
"The Avengers. Why?"
"We could play the movie outside on a projector tonight and charge people to come and watch it!" he said.
"Quigley, that's a great idea!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Violet agreed. "We can show it on my garage! But how do we get people to come?"
Quigley shrugged. "We could try going door to door, handing out fliers."
None of us had a better idea, so we just went with that. We made fliers on Violet's computer and printed about fifty out. Then we hit the neighborhood at the first house we knew had kids. From there on, it was easy. Some kids already had plans, but the younger ones agreed to come (after they asked their parents) and actually seemed excited. In a couple of hours, we had made our way around the neighborhood and passed out all the fliers. It was about ten then, so I thought it'd be a good idea to see Bea about tutoring her. I knew she wouldn't be awake, but I was bored and se had homework to finish! And Quigley and Violet were getting a bit oo comfortable around me, and I didn't want witness anything again. The first time was enough, I really didn't need a replay!
Mr. Snicket answered the door for me. He was on the phone with someone, so he just pointed to Bea's room and closed the front door. When I got to her room, I was surprised to see her awake. That was definitely unnatural.
"What are you doing up, Bea?"
She was lying face up on her bed, playing with her stuffed dragon. At the sound of my voice, she jumped up into an upright position. "Don't scare me like that, Iz!" She threw her dragon at me.
I laughed. "Sorry, Bea. But seriously, what are you doing up? You're never awake this early."
She shrugged. "I couldn't sleep."
"Why?"
"Because I can't get over the fact that Duncan is going to the dance with me!" she squealed and did a spazzy little dance on her bed.
"I knew it!"
Bea averted her gaze. "Yeah, I think it was kind of obvious."
I nodded. "Just a bit."
"I'm so nervous!" she said. "I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to wear!"
I remembered what Quigley told me about the dance's theme, and what Bea had told me about how long it took her to figure out stuff at school. "Quigley told me he heard that you're supposed to go dressed as your favorite character. Who's yours?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. They're are so many! I love them all! What's yours?"
"I don't either, but it doesn't matter because I'm not going."
Bea rolled her eyes. "Stop saying that. You're going to the dance, and you're going with a date! Even if I have to kidnap you and a random stranger and drag you there by your ankles! Besides, your mom is so going to force you to go. She already knows about it."
I sighed. She had a point. "Well, if she does, I'll sneak away after she drops me off to...to...the movies. It's only a few blocks away, and there's a movie playing that I really want to see."
"Isadora," she whined. "I really need you there! It's my first dance with Duncan and I need you to keep me sane! Well, semi-sane."
"I don't know, Bea, I-"
"Iz, stop," she interrupted me. "I know the real reason why you don't want to go to the dance."
There was a reason besides wanting to be on the internet rather than being forced to in a room full of people I didn't like?
"You don't want to go because you don't want to see him with her."
Actually, I hadn't even thought of that until she said it. Now that I knew if I went to the dance, I would be seeing them together, I wanted to go a lot less. A sickly feeling formed in the pit of my stomach, and I thought I might actually throw up at the idea of Klaus slow-dancing with Haley. Ugh, just typing it makes me want to be sick!
Without giving me a chance to say anything, Bea said, "Look. If I can find you a date to the dance, do you promise to go and not run away to the movies or whatever?"
I thought about it. There was no way I'd agree to go with any of the guys at are school. The few I wouldn't mind were already taken, so she really didn't have any options. I honestly didn't believe for a second that she'd find someone, so I wasn't worried at all when I said, "I promise."
3,092
"Don't let me tumble away
Into the throws of the shadowy bay
I clung to the rock
And it's crumbling off
Toss me a heavy rope
It's a slippery slope
Come bail me out of this God forsaken precipice
Come bail me out of this God forsaken precipice..."
~ Heavy Rope by Lights
Did anyone catch the ASOUE reference in that?
;)