Family Comes First- ASOUE

Chapter 67: The Library

*Klaus' POV*

    As we approached the library, we heard shouting and saw Olivia and Carmelita standing out front.

"Get out of here and give that a decent burial!!!" Olivia spat at her, pointing to the box she was holding.

"Well you told me you like To Kill a Mockingbird, so I did it for you!"

"This is your last chance, Spats! Next time I call your mother and I steal your shoes!!"

Carmelita just laughed and began to sniff the air. She turned around and smirked at us. "I smell people who lost their parents in fires!" She said and giggled.

"I smell someone I won't hesitate to put in a hospital for speaking to my family that way!!" Quigley spat back, glaring at her. Carmelita rolled her eyes and left.

"Quigley, child," Olivia said, removing her glasses to pinch the bridge of her nose in frustration, "I know she's the worst person to ever live but you mustn't threaten her."

"Oh, I could have done worse," Quigley replied, giving her a hug.

"I guess that's true... It's great to see you found your siblings and the Baudelaires." She grinned. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Quigley earlier, children, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise and I didn't want to sound insane..."

"It's alright, Olivia," Duncan promised. "What's important is he's with us now."

"We just finished moving him into our dorm with us," Izzie added excitedly.

"Well that's fantastic," she smiled. "Now, Prufrock is quite negligent to provide essentials for our orphaned students, unfortunately, so please, if you need anything, come to me."

"Thank you for the generous offer, Olivia," Violet said with a smile. "We apologize for not coming around when the library was open. We hope you weren't too disappointed by our absence."

"It's fine; moving Quigley in takes priority," she said with a smile. "Ten minutes goes by real fast anyways."

"Nero said no to extending the time?" Quigley asked.

"I wish I had dropped my book on his head," she said and rolled her eyes.

Quigley turned to us. "Olivia and I get along so well because we both despise the students and faculty here." He explained. "Olivia do you know if there's a copy of the book?"

Olivia thought for a moment and smiled. "Let me see what I can do." She said, and beckoned us inside. We smiled and followed her inside

The library was nice, and it would have been even nicer if the lights were less dim, but I imagined there was more mistreatment to the library than just cutting down on their hours. Some of the tables and chairs were quite dusty, but some couches and one table were nice and clean. Judging by this, Quigley must've been the only student that came in here...

"Vice Principal Nero makes his rounds halfway through the unused part of the day," Olivia explained. "So we should be quick. He'll be here soon." She looked outside and shut the door. "We're not really supposed to file The Incomplete History of Secret Organizations, so I'll have to look in the section with books that have similar titles to know if I actually have a copy."

She went to a shelf and browsed the titles "The Incomplete History of Treachery, The Incomplete History of Pretentiousness, or The Incomplete History of History..."

"Those titles do sound fascinating," I began, "but..."

"I'm sorry, children..." Olivia apologized. "Due to budget cuts, crumbling infrastructure, and the priorities of a certain vice principal, this library has become something of a faltering institution... I want to hope there's one here somewhere for you guys... In every library, there is a single book that burns like a fire in the mind."

"Where did you hear that quote?" Duncan asked.

"I don't know..." Olivia answered. "I must've read it somewhere. Why?"

"My father said that once..." Violet said softly.

Olivia smiled sadly. "It's awful, isn't it? Having people missing from your life? It's haunting, but I've found people that truly understand you can be a sanctuary, and books are helpful too."

"We wholeheartedly agree," I said with a small smile.

Olivia smiled and nodded. "Well, I could ask a friend for a copy, so check in with me in a few days."

"Alright. Thanks, Olivia. Would you mind if we have a look around-"

My sentence was cut off by a fist banging on the door. "Would you mind if we had a look around?" Vice Principal Nero barged in. "This library is supposed to be closed!!"

Olivia hesitated. "It is closed," she said. "And it's empty! You must be having a bad dream..."

Nero blinked, seemingly losing his train of thought, but then glared at Olivia. "That only worked on me once!!"

"Darn it..."

"Get out of here!!!" Nero shrieked. "This instant!!!"

We halfheartedly left the library and stood outside, looking down.

"Miss Caliban, when I tell you the library stays open ten minutes a day, I mean ten minutes a day!!! Understood?"

"Yes, Vice Principal Nero." She said, nodding.

"Supper is in forty five minutes. Directly after that is my nightly, mandatory, six-hour-long violin recital. Do not be late." He said before walking off.

"The only time I lock this door is when he comes to check to see it's locked," Olivia whispered with a small giggle. "It's always open for you, children."

"Thanks, Olivia," I grinned. "Do we actually have to sit through six hours of him playing the violin??"

"Unfortunately, yes. I'll buy you five earplugs too. Welcome to Prufrock Prep. In a world too often governed by corruption and arrogance, it can be difficult to stay true to one's literary and philosophical principles."

"We wholeheartedly agree," Izzie said beside me.

"All decent people do."

Dinner was alright, but the concert was long and tedious... The one thing that made it even remotely tolerable was that I got to sit next to Isadora and talk to her during it. She had fallen asleep with her head on my shoulder at some point during the concert and it made me think about how and when I could ask her that question I've been longing to ask her. Izzie's happiness has been uncontainable since lunch, so hypothetically she'd be in a good state of mind to ask her. Or maybe it was enough change for a while that she had Quigley back... Maybe I could ask her brothers if it'd be too much change all at once for her, and if it isn't, then ask if I have their permission to ask her to be my girlfriend...