A Series of Unfortunate Events One Shots

There Might be More

Three short stories: All the kids are 13. Begin!

Universe*

~Normal POV

"Hey Mrs. Ford," Nikki asked looking up at her drama teacher.

"Yes, Miss Quagmire, what do you need?"

"How does this look so far?" Nikki gestured to the painting she was making.

Nikki Quagmire was working on designing the sets for the school musical with her fellow drama students. Since she was the most artistically talented of them, she had been tasked with painting a background for a particular scene. Her friend Drake Hyde was here as well, since he was going to actually be in the production. He wasn't the lead, but he was an important character anyway.

"It looks good so far," Mrs. Ford replied, "When you're done just come find me and I'll see that it gets put in a safe place to dry." Nikki nodded and continued with her work as their teacher left the area.

Elsewhere on the auditorium stage, Drake was reading his script trying to memorize his lines. He was silently thankful that most of the kids were rehearsing elsewhere after school this day. It was rather tiresome to have to listen to two or three other kids talking at once while he was trying to read. Perhaps his friend Lucas was starting to rub off on him. But as he read over his lines for about the fifth or sixth time, he started to hear something unexpected. From the other side of the curtain behind him he heard a female voice start singing. Since he was alone, he got up and went over to the curtain and pulled it back a bit to investigate.

As it turned out, it was his friend Nikki softly singing "Somewhere over the Rainbow" as she worked on her set painting. But what shocked him the most was how absolutely heavenly her voice was. He had never heard her sing before; in the few years of their friendship it had been something that just hadn't happened yet. He smiled at her as she sung; she hadn't noticed him standing there.

It was funny to think that the two of them met under such dire circumstances as being kidnapped and trapped together inside the Mortmain Mountains, and yet they were here now. Safe and over the experience, and best of all, they were all very close friends to this day; and they intended to stay that way for a very long time. But as this young man watched his friend sing and work her artistic talents, he felt something else; a small, warm feeling inside at the thought of his friend Nikki Quagmire. The thought of her long ebony hair, which she always tied back with a ribbon to think or work, her soft pale face, and her wide green eyes.

"You know, in a certain light... Nikki is kind of...pretty."

He was so busy staring he didn't even notice she had finished her song and had turned her attention towards him.

"Uh, hello earth to Drake," Nikki said giving him a confused look.

He snapped out of his trance and went over to her side, "You say something?"

She smiled at him, "What's up with you? You were like a million miles away."

Drake blushed and ran a hand through his messy hair nervously, "Sorry I just... I heard you singing and you have a really great voice."

Nikki blushed, "Oh, you heard that..."

He knelt down beside her, "Yeah, you're really good. I wish you were the lead in the musical. Chloe can sing, but you're so much better."

Nikki laughed, "You just want me as your co-star, don't you?"

"Maybe," He replied, "But it would be more fun if we were both in the show."