A One Shot Book of Unfortunate Events

Playdate Club

A/N: Slight AU: The Quagmires end up caring for Beatrice Jr. and her name is Karen Jr. (For obvious reasons). They call her Karrie because calling a young child "Karen" sounds odd. And also the Baudelaires have only met Duncan, since he brings Karrie over to play with Sunny.

*Klaus' POV*
I couldn't believe Violet was making me take Sunny to her Playdate Club. We had to raise our little sister ourselves and apparently Duncan wasn't going to be there. It probably had something to do with Violet's mystery plans, so she sent me instead. "C'mon, Klaus!" Sunny exclaimed as I begrudgingly followed.

~*~

I sat on a small bench off to the side with my book after telling Sunny to play with her friends. I assumed that Karrie is arriving with one of Duncan's siblings he mentioned once or twice. I sat and read for several minutes before a heavenly voice caught my attention. "Go play, Karrie!" The female voice encouraged. I peered over the cover of my book. "Hi Isadora!" I heard my little sister call to the girl. The girl - Isadora - waved to her. Isadora had long brown hair in a half up/half down style. I could see she had wide green eyes set on a pale face dotted with freckles. She was quite enchanting. She must've been Duncan's sister; the resemblance is uncanny. Sunny gave her a small hug and pointed over to me with a smile. Isadora managed to see me watching them before I could stuff my face into my book.

"Hey, Klaus, right?" Isadora asked me. She had walked over. "Yes. That's me. What brings you here, Isadora? I'm usually not here either, but apparently both of our siblings are busy." I asked her as she sat down next to me.
"Well, Duncan said he had plans with somebody and my other brother, Quigley, is with his girlfriend, Fiona, today."
"Violet said the same thing. You don't think..."
"They are most definitely on a date. I like that book. I've probably read it fifteen times."

I chuckled and looked at the cover, although I've seen it millions of times. "I've lost track. I know for a fact that I have read all four thousand, eight hundred and twenty five books in our library at least twenty one times."
"That's quite impressive..."

I felt myself blush as she smiled warmly at me. "Yeah... I'm a researcher. Reading is kind of my occupation..." Her face lit up as she explained that she was a poet. I never met a poet. Isadora showed me her small pitch black notebook. "This one's my favorite! It's about this unsavory girl I met at school. 'I'd rather eat a bowl of vampire bats, than spend an hour with Carmelita Spats'."

"That's funny! I especially like the part about the bowl of bats!" I complimented. She had an intelligent gleam in her eyes that was much easier to see up close. I caught myself staring into her eyes as she pulled me back into reality. "Hello? Earth to Klaus?" I quickly snapped out of my trance and apologized; my face felt uncomfortably hot. "Sorry. I was simply admiring your pretty eyes... Um I mean..." Her face turned bright red.

"Thanks... I got them for my birthday."

I laughed lightly. I could tell there was something special about her. "What's your favorite part of the book?" I asked, hoping to lead the conversation away from the my embarrassment. Sure, I had inherited my father's looks, but I was never really good at talking to girls. Mother always said to be a gentleman, and I, living in a house where even my mother's trained bats were female, agreed that girls should be treated with respect. "I like the part where Sammie and Karla try to interrogate their parents as a couple. It just gave me Kammie feels!" I immediately knew what she was talking about. In the mystery, Sammie and Karla suspected their parents for the robbery and went teen detectives on them. It was mine too. "Um it's also my favorite part." I said, blushing.

We sat and talked for the duration of the Playdate Club meeting. And the next one. And the one after that. And the one after that. And about five or six after that. Isadora and I had become great friends, but unfortunately, nothing more. I shared with her my favorite books and she showed me all of her couplets she wrote. We would bring extra snacks for eachother, mainly because Quigley always sent her and Karrie with carrot sticks, while Isadora would much rather have some of my apple slices. I didn't mind; We traded about half of our snacks that we were required to bring. It was around this time that Sunny, Karrie, and some of their friends wanted to play "House".

" Klaus! Isadora! Do you want to play House? You two can be the Mom and Dad. " Sunny asked us. We both started to blush. "Please?" Karrie asked in the way where the asker lengthens the sound of the 'ea'. We still didn't budge. "Help us, Izzie wan Kenobi. You're our only hope." Karrie added.

"Darn it! You're lucky I'm a sucker for Star Wars references." Isadora replied begrudgingly, beginning to walk away. "Are you coming, Klaus?" She asked sweetly. I just couldn't say no, even if I wanted to. I nodded and shut my book. If Violet were here, she'd be laughing her brain out about how funny my crush on this girl is. If Duncan were here, oh lord, I would run. Sunny, that leader of the pack she is, gave us a small tour of the "house".

"Mommy, could you make dinner?" She asked Isadora, beginning the game. Isadora nodded enthusiastically and knelt down next to the plastic kitchen play set and stuck some plastic grapes in the fake microwave, making beeps and boops as she pressed the buttons on the sticker. I decided to set the little table with plastic plates, cutlery, and cups. We didn't need napkins since there would be no actual food. Violet would have died of laughter if she saw me doing this.

*Isadora's POV*

Am I seriously fake-microwaving some plastic grapes because of a Star Wars reference? No. Because of a Star Wars reference and Klaus Baudelaire. Like... Damn what a gentleman! He's smart, funny, adorable; the list goes on and on. "Mommy, is dinner ready yet?" Karrie called, staying in character.

"Just a minute!" I answered. I scooped the plastic fruit, vegetables, and either giant chicken wings or small turkey legs into my arms and brought them over to the table where Sunny, Karrie, two other kids, and Klaus were sitting next to set places. There was one spot left and it was right next to Klaus. I didn't mind, since he is probably one of my best friends, aside from my crush on him. "Thanks, Isadora. This looks delicious," he joked. I smiled and thanked him for the compliment.

"You two should kiss like other adults do!" Sunny exclaimed.

*Klaus' POV*

"You two should kiss like other adults do!" Sunny exclaimed. My face turned bright red as the other three kids, including Karrie, agreed. I kept quiet. "Okay." Isadora said from beside me and grabbed my chin so I was looking at her. She quickly placed a soft kiss on my lips and returned to her original position, popping an actual apple slice into her mouth. I was absolutely speechless. "Now go wash up for bed," Isadora cooed at the children. They skipped away, giggling.

It felt like my heart was about to break my ribcage from beating so quickly. "Um Izzie? Would you like to maybe um... Go on like a... Date or something sometime?" I asked nervously. She sighed in relief, "I was beginning to think you were never going to ask! Of course! Yes!" I sighed a breath of relief as we set up something.

I silently vowed to make sure this date would be perfect.

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1336 words