𝓒𝓱𝓸𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓮- 𝒦𝓁𝒶𝓊𝓈 𝐵𝒶𝓊𝒹𝑒𝓁𝒶𝒾𝓇𝑒 𝓍 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓇

Chapter 4

Y/N departed from the group and headed to her dorm. 

She felt guilty, very guilty. Why should she get the luxurious dorm when her friends had to live in a shack and a broom closet? Whenever she offered to swap rooms, her friends always declined.  She felt useless, and she desperately wanted to get rid of the feeling. 

She scanned her dorm. Her bed was neatly made, and her bedside drawer had no clutter on it (all the clutter was secretly in her drawers). Her study desk was a mess, with stationary littered all over and textbooks lying open. She had asked her parents to send over a microwave and some cooking utensils, so she could bake. She had expressed her love of baking with Ms. Caliban, and the librarian had enthusiastically suggested some cookbooks. 

Y/N sat in her makeshift kitchen and pondered. Was she going to sit like this and feel useless? Absolutely not. She got her apron and tied it around her neck and waist. She began to flip through her cookbook until she found the recipe she was looking for. There it was! The recipe for the most heavenly chocolate chip cookies ever to exist. She was going to bake these delicious cookies and offer them to her dear friends, that was all she could do for now.  She tied her hair into a ponytail and began working. She forgot about all her worries and focused intensely on the instructions at hand. She felt at peace in the kitchen. The sound of eggs being cracked, the feel of the flour between her fingertips and the smell of the cookies fresh out of the oven was her happy place. 

She checked her watch. Oh, shoot! There were only 10 minutes before the pep rally began! Why did she always lose track of time? 

She hurriedly boxed the cookies and removed her apron. She checked herself in the mirror one last time and set out her dorm room door. 

She met the Quagmires on the way. 

"Hey!" she greeted. "Why do we even have to go to this stupid pep rally?" she whined as they were getting seated. 

"I have no idea, but we do have some news," Duncan said. 

Y/N was prepared to listen intently since the siblings looked the most worried she'd ever seen them.

"Yes? What happened? Are you guys okay?" she asked. 

"Yes, but we think we saw Count Olaf," Isadora said. 

"YOU SAW WHO?" Y/N shouted.

"Shhh! Keep your voice down Y/N!" Duncan implored. 

"Sorry, sorry" Y/N apologised. "You saw who???" She whispered.

"Count Olaf. He had one eyebrow and a tattoo on his ankle" Duncan said.

"Okay okay, everything's fine. It's fine. Except for the fact that a wanted man is on school premises. It's cool, it's cool" Y/N whispered to herself, in a hyperventilating manner. 

The Baudelaire siblings took a seat next to their friends, Klaus naturally being next to Y/N. It seemed that he was one of the first to notice that Y/N was in a panicked state. He acted on an impulse and placed his hand over hers. Y/N went still and turned her head to face him.

They locked eyes. 

Klaus was able to notice the intensity of her eyes for the first time. They were beautiful E/C eyes. That was the simplest way to explain it. But that description didn't do those enrapturing eyes justice. They were warm, they were inviting. They say, "eyes are windows to the soul", and Klaus decided, that hers was the purest soul he'd ever seen. Those eyes were comforting. They were a shelter in a storm, a hearth in a home. He could get lost in them for all eternity and he wouldn't care. 

Y/N studied Klaus's eyes very carefully. More like got lost in them. She couldn't look away. Oh god, there was this feeling again, this unfamiliar feeling in her stomach. Was this nervousness? Why would she be nervous? Klaus was just a friend, right? Yeah right, keep telling yourself that Y/N, she told herself. Okay, okay, maybe she liked him as more than a friend. That must be why she noticed little specks of amber in his dark brown eyes. They weren't just dark brown, were they? Nope. They were the color of rich, dark, melted chocolate. They were the color of lavish chocolate ganache poured over an exquisite chocolate cake. She felt safe gazing into them.