Butterflies | ON HOLD | ASOUE Duncan Quagmire x OC

7 - PEP RALLY ✓

CHAPTER SEVEN - PEP RALLY

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Aileen and the Quagmires were nearing their broom closet, but when they turn the corner, they saw a tall figure looming over them.

"Hello, hello, hello. What are helpless orphans like you doing in a place like this?" he asks devilishly.

"Who are you?" Isadora asks, looking at the man top and bottom. He had salt and pepper hair and eyebrow and was dressed in a dusty suit.

"Don't pretend this handsome face doesn't haunt your every waking and sleeping hour. You will never be rid of me. You'll never be safe. So much to learn orphans, and I am here to school you. The three of you better... Wait. You... You're not the midget? One, two... not the baby." he points.

"Astute observation that I'm not a baby," Aileen says sarcastically.

"You're not the Baudelaires. Who are you?" he asks.

"Who are you, you miscreant?" Duncan retorts.

"Miscreant? Oh, I know who you are now. You sound just like your mother, Quigley." the man sneers. "Duncan." Duncan corrects.

"'You miscreant, never again will you darken the doors of this hangar.' Such a tiresome woman. Always reading Italian poetry and activating trap doors."

"I thought there were one girl and two boys?" he points at Aileen. He snaps his fingers to try and remember. "Sinclair?"

"How do you know me?" Aileen asks.

"Ugh. Your parents were always the quiet ones. The ones that they needed the least. Called for last." He said. "You reminded me of them." He leaned down, smirking.

"How do you know our mother?" Isadora asks.

"Oh, I know everything, orphans. I know the number of hairs on each of your heads, the number of sapphires and jewels in your secret vaults. The number of tombstones in your family plots. Well, well, it seems this trip to Prufrock will triple the number of fortunes I get! And there's nobody who can stop me." he devilishly laughed. The kids tried to back away but backed into a wall instead. Behind the man, the cafeteria worker was chasing Carmelita around.

"Give me back my burrito, you miscreant!" he yelled. The man in front of them turned to watch the action. While he was distracted, the kids' fleed.

"Larry? What?" he questioned. When he turned back, he fumed. He had lost them, but he knew where he'd be able to find them.

"One eyebrow." Aileen points out.

"I bet he has a tattoo on his ankle," Duncan adds.

"We have to warn the Baudelaires something terrible is going to happen, and I don't mean a pep rally," Isadora says.

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Aileen and the Quagmires ran late to the pep rally but managed to find seats near the Baudelaires. Aileen looked up at Carmelita, who was doing a call and response with the school.

"Baudelaires!" Isadora says. "We think you're in danger!" Duncan said.

"What's wrong?" Klaus asks, seeing their distressed faces. "What did you see?" Violet continues.

"We think we saw Count Olaf!" Aileen tries to shout over the crowd. "What?" Klaus shouts.

"We think Count Olaf is here!" Duncan emphasizes. "What?" Violet asks.

"Thank you. Thank you." Nero silences the crowd. "Welcome to the mandatory pep rally. I don't know which I like more, the word 'pep' or the word 'rally.'" he grinned.

"I like 'pep.'" Mrs. Bass says. "I like 'rally.'" Remora says.

"Maybe we should ask our mascot! What do you say?" Nero asks. The crowd cheers.

"What's the mascot of Prufrock Prep?" Violet asks. "A dead horse!" Duncan replies.

"It sounded like you said..." Klaus started.

"A dead horse, but that's not important." Isadora dismisses. Carmelita started chanting again with the school. After a couple of chants, Carmelita kicks the mascot and it falls over.

"You have to listen! We saw..." Aileen started. Mrs. Bass appeared behind her and shushed her.

"I know things seem less peppy since our athletes, cheerleaders and beloved gym teacher vanished on the way home from that away game... but Prufrock Preparatory School has a motto. It's 'memento mori.' and it's an ancient Greek saying..." Nero spoke. "Latin." Klaus and Aileen muttered. "Which means, 'Remember, you will die.' And soon, indeed, the sun will set, the fiery orb of life, leaving me alone! Alone! Alone!" Nero said, looking towards the sky, pausing for 'dramatic effect.' Carmelita looked up with him, scrunching her nose.

"Until, of course, you meet someone who truly understands and supports you with friendship, camaraderie and cash bribes." he continued. Behind him, two very pale women in cheerleader uniforms carry onstage some sort of wall, with memento mori and a dead horse plastered on the front. "And now please, welcome to the stage, a man with no resume, no letters of recommendation, no credit history," Aileen watches Duncan quickly pull out his notebook and write 'COUNT OLAF HERE'. He tries to pass it to Violet, but Mr. Remora takes the notebook before Violet can read it. "but with such a marvelous ear for music that I've hired him as the newest member of our faculty! Your new gym teacher, Coach Genghis!" Nero introduces.

The second 'Coach Genghis' jumps out of the fake wall, the Baudelaires immediately mutter, "Count Olaf."

"So much to learn, and I am here to school you," he says in a funny accent.

Hello everyone-

I wanted to ask everyone their thoughts on the story so far, as I'm scared that I'm being too harsh on myself about it, and since I've reached the end of The Austere Academy 1, I thought it was the best time to ask.

Anything helps!

Thank you for reading my story <3 bye