Beatrice Baudelaire II

Chapter the Seventh

The next day, Sunny and I got up, went down to the classrooms, when we found a surprise.

"Violet! Klaus! Quagmires!" I yelled, and ran over to them, giving them a hug. Sunny looked in surprise and came to them too.

"Larry and Jacquelyn did say that we could visit anytime," said Violet. "Are you free right now?"

"I wish," sighed Sunny. "We're meeting our friends Evan and Flynn in the cafeteria. We have to start our mission today."

"Mission?" asked Klaus.

I quickly explained to them about our practice missions and how far we've gotten since yesterday.

"What brings the Quagmires here too?" asked Sunny.

Isadora explained, "It's a bit of a long story, but in short, the Baudelaires took us here because we wanted to meet you."

I spotted Evan and Flynn walking towards us in the hallway. I waved them over.

"Evan, Flynn, these are my siblings, Violet and Klaus, and these are the Quagmires: Duncan, Isadora and Quigley. Guys, these are Flynn Widdershins, Fiona's brother, and Evan Anwhistle, nephew of Aunt Josephine," Sunny quickly introduced them.

"We're all very close," I added.

"I've been wanting to meet you since forever, Baudelaires!" Evan said. "You have?" asked Violet, a little overwhelmed.

"Yup, Bee and Sunny's told us all about you, the Quagmires too!" said Evan.

"Nice," said Klaus.

I turned to Sunny, Flynn and Evan. "Why don't we postpone our practice mission for just a few hours?"

***

"And then, the stars showed brightly, lighting up the sky. I could see all sorts of constellations!" finished Flynn, talking to Klaus, Duncan and me about his first night at Prufrock. They had bonded quite well. Violet, Sunny, Quigley, Isadora and Evan were talking about other things.

We were walking around the fresh green grass, heading towards the garden. We had already given them a tour of our school and they had been impressed so far.

We stepped inside the garden, and found the usual herbs and flowers we learn about, as well as many people chit-chatting as they watered the plants.

"All of us students take care of the garden," I explained. "The teachers just remind us and tell us what plants to water and fertilise." Isadora nodded in satisfaction. I could tell she had a couplet coming on.

"Psst! Denuemont!" I heard someone hiss. No one had ever called me Denuemont before. "Denuemont!" someone whispered again. I looked and saw the blonde girl beckoning me over. I looked at the others. Isadora was reciting her couplet. There wouldn't be any harm just to go to the other side of our garden, right?

The blonde girl was with her two friends. One had sleek black hair and one had brown freckles.

"Hello," I started.

"You're such a sweet little girl!" the blondie said, in a girlish voice, squeezing my cheeks. I scowled. "I'm just seven," I said. "Aww, isn't she cute?" the black-haired one said.

"Did you call me here just to talk about how cute I am?" I asked. "I know I am. No use calling me over."

"See, I told you she'd be perfect," said the girl with freckles.

"Perfect for what?" I asked curiously.

The blondie leaned over. "Proper introductions first. I'm Tabitha Sebald. These are my friends Cristy and Anna. You're Beatrice Denuemont."

"I prefer Baudelaire," I said. "See, they adopted me."

"But that's not what I called you for," Tabitha said. "Speaking of the Baudelaires, look at them." She pointed across the garden to where the rest were, laughing and talking.

"So, ordinary, aren't they? Random. Why do you hang out with them, if there are so many others in this school?"

"I made friends with them," I said. "And the Baudelaires are family."

"Aww," Cristy gushed.

(Don't judge me for being blunt and oblivious, remember, I was only seven years old.)

"But what do you see in them?" Tabitha pushed. "Are they only friends with you because you're rich? You are rich, Beatrice. You have inherited the Snicket and Denuemont fortunes. What if they're planning to backstab you?"

"Sunny's my sister," I said firmly.

"But what about the rest?"

I thought hard.

"You know, Beatrice, I really admire you. You're pretty, smart, kind, and sassy. Just as perfect as we are. What do you say to joining our group?" asked Tabitha.

"We could be called the Four Musketeers!" Anna exclaimed.

"I like that name," I smiled. "I wouldn't say no. But it still means I can hang out with my other friends, too, right?"

Tabitha scowled. Then she said, in a falsely sweet voice, "Of course, you can, Bee. Can I call you Bee?"

"Sure, the others call me that too," I said.

"Yay!" she gushed. "We're besties!" She gave me a very tight hug and let go just as quickly.

"From now on, we'll always be together!"

I had no idea what I was falling into.

***

Sunny's POV

I looked around and saw Bee talking to a bunch of girls. I'd seen them in classes, and they were always in the back of the class, gossiping instead of paying attention. Beatrice was laughing along with them. Then a horrible thought struck me. What if she decided to become friends with them and forget about me?

Forgive me for being too overprotective, but she was like my little sister, and I couldn't let those girls take her away from me.

"Um, I'm gonna go check the roses for a while," I told the rest, and then ran towards Bee and the girls.

"Hi, Sunny!" Bee yelled. The other three girls scowled at me. "I made friends!"

"That's...nice," I told her, scowling back at the girls. "Bee, will you come with me for a second?"

"Uh, we were planning on hanging out together right now," Beatrice said.

"Oh," I said, disappointed. "Ok then. Bye!"

I went back before she could say bye to me. And even then, I heard Bee and the girls talking about the latest trends in fashion, as if she forgot that I was talking to her two seconds ago.

Don't get overboard, I told myself. Beatrice just made new friends. I shouldn't be acting like this. After all, I've got Evan. And Flynn. Beatrice can also hang out with them, it's not like they're mean or anything...

But I still scowled and joined conversation again with my siblings and the Quagmires.

That's the end of the chapter! What do you think about Tabitha and her friends? Was Sunny right in suspecting them?

Please vote and comment!