What Happens Next?

The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Lives

Duncan's POV:

I was standing in the bathroom I shared with my siblings, the Baudelaires, and Fiona, staring at my reflection. My siblings and I were twelve the last time we'd been to school. Grade six, I believe. And now, almost four years later, we were about to be thrown into high school with nothing but the hope that we were intelligent enough to pick things up. I thought about them, Quigley and Isadora, I mean. I was the one who always worried about everything all our lives. First day of grade one? "What if the other kids are mean to us?" They were, but that's not the point. My siblings on the other hand were the opposite. Isadora was usually pretty optimistic and Quigley had a ton of confidence, even if sometimes it was faked. They were probably doing fine right now, but my mind was imagining the worst.

I was torn from my thoughts by a knock at the door. I opened it to see one of the very people I had been thinking about moments before; Quigley.

He gave me a look, "You don't look good."

"Oh, why thank you," I said, sarcastically.

"No, I mean you don't look bad, you just seem worried."

"Aren't I always?"

"Duncan-"

"I'm fine, seriously," I stepped out of the bathroom.

He sighed, "You're gonna be okay, you know. You should really try doing what I do. Just pretend that you'll be okay, and the more you tell yourself that, the more you'll believe it. Confidence always starts out as self doubt."

"And since when are you so wise?"

"I guess this new environment is having a positive effect on me," he closed the bathroom door behind him, saying something about needing to finish getting ready.

I just shook my head and made my way into the kitchen where I found everyone else, with the exception of Violet. (and Quigley, of course)

"Wow, Isadora, you're up early, even for you," I said.

My sister had always been somewhat of an early riser, even though she typically went to bed well past midnight.

"Well, I didn't get much sleep, I'm too excited about today!"

"Yeah, Duncan and Izzie have always been the weird kind of people that actually like school," said Quigley as he walked into the kitchen.

"I thought you had to get ready."

"I did."

"You finished getting ready in, like, two minutes?"

Quigley nodded, "I had to brush my teeth," he said, giving a toothy grin.

"But when we were in our room you said, 'I have to go finish getting ready,' why didn't you just say, 'I have to go brush my teeth,'?"

He shrugged, "Does it matter?"

"No, I just- you know what, let's not split hairs."

"Yes, please," Isadora chimed in.

"Where's Violet?" Klaus asked.

Fiona looked at him, "I don't think she's up yet,"

"Ugh, I'm gonna be the one to have to wake her, aren't I?"

She gave him an innocent smile, "Would ya?"

"You see," Klaus turned to my siblings and I, "one thing Violet and I have in common is the fact that we tend to go to sleep entirely too late, therefore we don't want to get up in the mornings."

"They're both insufferable people to have to drag out of bed."

"Thank you for that, Fiona. The only reason I'm even conscious right now is because Duncan was awake at an incredibly early hour and it woke me up."