Detention (ASOUE)

Chapter Sixteen

"Don't go out the main door!"

I had been minding my own business, as I often was, just trying to read in the empty library when Klaus had burst in and hit me with that statement. It took a second for me to process, mostly because our conversations were random and completely sparadical, yet here he was, running up to me as if his life depended on this specific interaction. 

"Huh?" I said, looking at Klaus as if he was mad. And I suppose, in a way, he looked like he was. He was puffing and panting as if he was an eighty year old man who had never seen a vegetable in his life.

"Carmelita's there," he explained after catching his breath properly, "she's waiting for you."

"So what?" I said with a slight frown. To be quite honest I'd been waiting for something like this to happen. It was about time that Carmelita did something to me again, it had been way too long since the last attack.

He looked confused, as if the answer was staring me in the face and I was just choosing to not pay attention. "It's Carmelita..." he insisted, "I don't know what she's got planned but you know it's bound to be something bad. And who else would she be waiting for but you?"

I glanced at my watch. It was just coming up to the time when I would usually head home. I quickly got up and packed my things away before following Klaus out of the library. I couldn't prove that what he was saying was accurate, as even when Carmelita was doing normal things it always looked like she was being suspicious. But then again, it didn't make sense for her to still be on the premises unless she was up to something bad, which was a big factor in me choosing to believe him. That, and the fact that I didn't like to take my chances when it came to Carmelita. She was ruthless, so if there was an option that involved not going anyway near her, I was all ears.  

"So where do I go instead?" I asked him.

"The back door, of course," was Klaus' reply.

"Hmm," I said, "Is it bad that I didn't even know we had a back door?"

"It'd be a health and safety issue if there was only one exit."

"That makes sense," I agreed. 

"Most of them are locked up by now. I'm pretty sure the back door is the only one still open."

I nodded and decided not to question why he knew all of this pointless information about the school. "Got it. Thanks."

We walked the empty halls in silence, save for when he had to correct me on the way to the back door that I had never seen before. However, when we finally reached it and Klaus went to push it open, he swore under his breath.

"It's locked," he said quietly, rattling the door and trying to see if it would open with force. I tried pushing too, but to no avail. The door was very much locked. 

"Let's just go the main way," I suggested, "What's the worst that could happen? Carmelita's like what, 4'9"? We could probably take her if she attacked us."

Klaus stifled a laugh. "I'd like to see you try."

"Hey, I probably could. I'm not joking."

"Have you ever even thrown a punch before?"

"Well... no but-"

Klaus cut me off. "And I thought you were trying to stay out of trouble. You know that whatever Carmelita does she'll somehow find a way to turn it on you, right?"

I frowned and crossed my arms. "Maybe I want to get in trouble. You don't know me."

He gave me an amused look but didn't question it any further. Instead, he seemed to be weighing up our options. He thought for a second before his eyes lit up. "The science room!"

"What about it?"

"I'm almost certain one of them has a faulty window."

"Window?!" I exclaimed, "If you think I'm climbing out a window, you've got another thing coming mate."

Klaus ignored me and instead started down the hall towards the science classrooms. I didn't have a better idea so I followed behind him as quickly as I could. The first couple of classrooms were a bust, as we found out after pushing on all the windows several times. But then, just as I was starting to think it was a stupid idea, we hit the jackpot.

"Got it!" I heard Klaus say as one of the windows clicked open. "The lock is dodgy so it opens without a key."

"Isn't that kind of bad?"

Klaus shrugged. "Not for us."

In a flash, Klaus was already pulling himself up onto the counter and swinging his leg out of the window. I was just thankful the science department was on the ground floor. I watched as he swiftly slipped out and landed gracefully. It was then that the whole situation hit me and I realised that I now had to do the same. 

"Come on then," Klaus said impatiently.

"I'm wearing a skirt."

"Nice observation. Now can we get this moving before a stray teacher or cleaner comes?"

I huffed and carefully climbed onto the counter. Klaus held out his hand to help me and I begrudgingly took it before jumping down from the window ledge. 

"Agh!" he exclaimed as I accidentally landed in a puddle and splashed freezing cold water up his legs.

"Sorry!"

He shook his head. "It's fine, just bloody cold." 

Klaus paused to push the window closed and back into place to cover our tracks before we started around the side of the school. Part of me was really curious to see what Carmelita was doing, and I knew it would be satisfying to see her waiting with whatever contraption she had in store for me, knowing that she was never going to be able to use it on me. And that was all thanks to Klaus. 

We paused before we turned the last corner, choosing to poke our heads around instead of just stepping out, just in case Carmelita or one of her cronies happened to be looking in our direction. Luckily, all of their eyes were trained on the main entrance so we were clear to look as much as we wanted without being caught.

I couldn't help but smile to myself as I took it all in. Carmelita was stood, arms crossed, staring at the door and impatiently tapping her foot. Her group were split and gathered on both sides of the door, out of view from anyone exiting the school, each holding an orange bucket. I dreaded to think what was in them and tried not to think about how I would be covered in the contents had Klaus not got to me before I left.

"Thanks!" I exclaimed, breaking the silence that had come over the pair of us. "Thanks for warning me. Carmelita will be so annoyed when she realises I'm not coming."

"It's fine," Klaus replied before walking off without any further comments.

"See you!" I called after him. He didn't react so I couldn't be a hundred percent sure that he heard, but that didn't matter to me. I was just happy that I had finally got one over on Carmelita. And I couldn't deny that, although brief, I had enjoyed my time with Klaus that afternoon. 

A/N: Happy holidays and merry christmas to everyone that celebrates it! I really can't believe that christmas is so close, it's literally come so fast! I'll try and get another chapter out for christmas eve or christmas day as like an extra gift for you guys. I'm not sure on an exact time for posting it since these next couple days are going to be super busy but it'll be up on one of those days!! 

Thanks again for all the votes, comments and overall support :))