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Chapter Text

Violet and Klaus were both sort of dreading starting work at camp Eycandawaunnadie, albeit for different reasons. Klaus was dreading seeing his ex-girlfriend, Fiona, who he had applied for the job with before she cheated on him. Violet was dreading a summer full of reminding Klaus that she had, in fact, cheated on him.

Violet and Klaus had always had different strategies to love. Violet had trouble with commitment. She would date many people, men and women, for a few weeks at the most, before growing bored or scared.

Klaus jumped into love headfirst. Even though he was only fifteen, he had fallen in love three times, twice with men, and once with a woman. No flirtation of his had lasted fewer than two months, and no relationship began without a prior flirtation.

Camp Eycandawaunnadie was situated high in the Mortmain Mountains and ran from mid June to mid August. It was comprised of fourteen residential cabins and a main building for administrators, the cafeteria, and inside activities. Sprawling fields and a lake provided ample space for field games, swimming, and kayaking.

Violet and Klaus went their separate ways when they came to the counselor cabins. Camp Eycandawaunnadie split both counselors and campers into two separate residences for male and female identifying people. There was a current push to add accommodations for non-binary individuals, but the state was reluctant to provide funding.

Violet’s cabin was absolutely decked in pink. She’d had an off and on relationship to the color, initially disliking it because of its femininity before forcing herself to enjoy it when coming into that side of herself. More recently, however, Violet had grown to dislike most shades once more, because she simply didn’t care for the hue.

A pink index card with magenta lettering attached to the top bunk closest to the door read, “Violet B.” The bottom bunk was marked as “Isadora Q.” On each bunk, an assortment of different bright t-shirts were laid out, with a different color for each cabin. The opening day t-shirts had the cabin’s given insignia on the front and read “Counselor”, but the other ones just had the camp insignia (an eye with campgrounds inside). Violet, ironically enough, had neon pink shirts for cabin Aster.

Isadora Q. beneath her appeared to be assigned to Cornflower cabin, if the neon blue shirts with the white cornflower insignia meant anything. Violet began to unpack, placing all of her clothes inside a large cubby that also had her name on it. Once more, Isadora Q. was directly beneath her.

So far, Violet was alone in the cabin. She walked around slowly, surveying all of the other female counselors and their cabins.

There were five other female counselors in the cabin: Esther O, Isadora Q, Carmelita S, Colette V, and Fiona W. To her knowledge, only the last had begun to date another guy while in a relationship with her brother.

The first girl to come in after Violet was Esther O. She had neat auburn hair, which she wore in a bob. She had brown eyes and pale brown skin that barely seemed to stretch over her bones. Her bed was covered with the neon orange t-shirt of Marigold Cabin.

“Hi,” said Violet.

Esther just stared for a second before quietly murmuring a simple “hello” and returning to organize her cubby.

“Where are you from?” Violet asked.

“I live just by the hospital,” Esther said in a quiet, airy tone.

“That’s nice. I’ve been in the city for years. I bet it’s great to have space to think.”

Esther made a quiet hum in her throat as a response, and Violet took at as the other girl excusing her from the social niceties that accompany greeting someone new. Violet was wholeheartedly grateful.

The next person to arrive was Fiona. She and Violet made eye contact for a few seconds, but said nothing to one another. Fiona made some passing remarks to Esther, but could not get her to speak either. Fiona set about unpacking, and placing her white, Daisy Cabin t-shirts in her cubby.

Carmelita Spats entered with a burst of energy. She matched the decor perfectly— a frilly shape, seemingly made entirely out of pink glitter. She was wearing tap shoes already, and seemed to be doing a mini-routine each time she moved. She threw a pink bag onto the top bunk next to Violet’s bed, and groaned a bit upon observing that she did not receive pink t-shirts, but rather the highlighter yellow of Narcissus Cabin (Violet did not yet grasp how fitting that would be.)

“You stole my color,” Carmelita said, looking scornfully at Violet. “Cakesniffer.”

Violet looked at Carmelita, fully taken aback. At first glance, Violet thought Carmelita just had normal theater kid energy- a bit extra or annoying, but really fun and often pretty nice when you weren’t trying to steal their roles.

Carmelita surpassed all expectations of chaos. People often joke by speaking childishly or saying nonsensical insults, but it was evident that Carmelita was not doing that. She genuinely thought that either Violet stole her color or that she had something to do with it. Violet would have switched with her if she was allowed, honestly.

Colette came in next. She was gorgeous, with creamy white skin, red hair, and big green eyes. She reminded Violet vaguely of some new pop star. She took the bed beneath Esther and made polite small talk with Fiona, who had the bed adjacent to her.

Isadora was last to arrive. She had jet black hair, pale skin, and preternaturally huge blue eyes. She looked like an ad for Hot Topic, wearing a Green Day American Idiot t-shirt and black plaid pants. Her Coraline-themed backpack had two pride flag pins— one classic rainbow, and the other for pansexual pride. She had also painted her nails with hot pink, yellow, and cyan, with her pinkies and thumbs in a shade of midnight black.

Violet thought she looked incredibly cool.

“Hey,” Isadora said. Her voice was much more soft and melodic than Violet expected.

“Hello.”

“I’d ask your name, but your bed has a name tag, so it’s pretty much unnecessary,” Isadora said with a smile

“Well, it’s Violet Josephine Baudelaire, anyhow.”

“Isadora Elizabeth Quagmire, at your service.” Isadora extended her hand to Violet, who shook it.

“Nice to meet you. Looks like we’re gonna be bunk mates, so I hope we’ll get along.”

“We should,” Isadora said. “I like your vibe.” Violet was wearing a flannel over an old t-shirt that read “Beary Potter and the City Zoo” with sweatpants.

“Really? I didn’t really try at all,” Violet laughed.

“That’s why I like it. Plus you give off a gay air, which is always a good thing.”

“I’m actually bi,” Violet corrected.

“The presence of gayness can override the stain of straightness,” said Isadora knowingly.

Violet laughed deeply. “I feel like we’ve proved a foil to their bogus system,” she said. “Like, no matter where they put us, we could be attracted to someone there.”

“Well, my chances are lessened,” Isadora remarked. “One third of the male counselors are related to me.”

“Did you bring a brother too?” Violet asked.

“I brought two. I’m a triplet, so I rarely go anywhere without Quigley and Duncan.”

“That’s sweet. I brought my younger brother. He’s a genius, a dork, a pain, and he’s actually really sweet and innocent. He’s the type that basically just hands people his heart.”

“Aww. An emotionally available man. How lovely.” Isadora smiled brightly.

“Well, I raised him well.” Isadora chuckled, and glanced at her vintage Mickey Mouse watch.

“Shoot. I’ve got to unpack. Don’t we have orientation in five minutes?”

Violet shrugged. “If it’s 4:55, then yes.”

“Oh, it’s all Quigley’s fault. The idiot doesn’t understand reality.”

“He’ll get along great with Klaus.” Isadora smiled before beelining for the cubby beneath Violet’s. Watching her unpack, Violet became certain that she owned no clothes that did not originate from Hot Topic. Everything she owned appeared to be either black or neon, and a good portion of it was Coraline-themed.

Isadora was still unpacking when a harried woman came into the room. She was pretty heavily pregnant, and looked to be in her late thirties or early forties.

“Hello ladies!” The woman exclaimed. “Welcome to Camp Eycandawaunnadie. My name is Kit Snicket, and I own the camp along with my brothers, Lemony and Jacques.”

At this point, Isadora turned to Violet and mouthed “Lemony?” incredulously.

“If you’ll all gather around, I’d like to explain how the camp works.” Isadora scampered over and sat on her bed, allowing Violet to join her on the bottom bunk. Most of the other girls did this too.

“A Camp Eycandawaunnadie, we have three age groups. Each age group is split into two cabins, and each cabin is split into two residencies: one for girls, and one for boys. Each residency has one counselor— a boy for the male residency, a girl for the female— and one CIT, assigned in the same way. All of you will live here, but you and your cabin partner will watch the kids between their curfew and the CIT curfew. The CITs are permitted to take the kids to the bathroom or to get them water, but are supposed to get you if there is an emergency. We show all the kids how to use the pager that the CIT takes with them when they leave the cabin. Any questions at this point?”

Everyone was both silent and still.

“Ok, moving on. Activities are paired week by week, moving on a rotating schedule. You will begin with your same gender partner, who is also your bunk mate. The next week, you will join your cabin partner, who you are with the least, only in weeks two and five. I will post a schedule before I leave.”

At this point, Fiona raised her hand.

“Yes, you,” Kit said, gesturing towards her.

“So what activities will we do with our cabin partner?” Fiona asked.

“With your cabin partner, you will be on patrol outside the cabins between curfew, supervise meals, walk your kids to their activities if you are in the 2nd and 3rd grade cabins, and lead age group activities. It’s not a lot, but we try to keep you moving between people a lot so you don’t get on each other’s nerves.”

Kit went on to explain scheduling and rules, most of which were pretty simple.

“You mean I can’t shove my tongue down someone’s throat in front of a group of seven year olds?” Isadora whispered sarcastically to Violet when Kit explained that PDA was not allowed in front of the campers.

At the end of the instructions, the counselors got released to dinner at the mess hall. The boys had already gotten there first, because apparently Jacques Snicket was a bit more punctual than his sister.

Violet and Isadora stepped in line to serve themselves Velveeta mac and cheese and boiled hot dogs. Isadora grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl, saying, “My doctor is the most annoying man on this planet.”

Violet instantly sought out Klaus, who was sitting with two male Isadoras. The girls made their way over, Violet remarking at their similarities, and Isadora explaining that they had some sort of genetic mutation that made them identical and of different biological sexes. “Although,” she added, “I could easily have been trans.”

“But then you would have had a third pin,” Violet guessed.

“True. I love a specific pride pin.”

“Klaus and I share a room,” Violet said, “and I always kinda wanted to paint it like a huge bi pride flag, but that would be too bright.”

“Not even I am that extreme.”

The girls finally reached the guys’ table, setting down their trays of unappetizing food. Violet took the boys in. They were both attractive, as was Isadora. They all looked wildly different. One brother wore a white polo with a pair of khakis, and had short hair styled with gel, and the other wore an outfit almost identical to Violet’s, except for the color of the flannel (red to Violet’s blue), the fact that he was wearing ripped jeans rather than sweats, and the t-shirt—  David Bowie, most certainly Isadora’s. His hair was a bit longer, falling just beneath his jaw bone.

“Violet, these are my brothers. The preppy one is Duncan, and the ultra-laid back slacker is Quigley. Brothers, this is Violet.”

“Hi,” Violet said, somewhat awkwardly. Duncan waved halfheartedly, and Quigley offered a quiet greeting.

“Isadora, this is my brother, Klaus. Klaus, this is my bunk mate, Isadora.”

“Nice to meet you,” Isadora said, reaching over to shake Klaus’s hand.

They touched, and Klaus’s heart began to do calisthenics. He had thought Quigley and Duncan to both be cute, but Isadora was every syllable of the phrase drop-dead gorgeous. She seemed confident, self assured, and intelligent, which, he realized, was insane, because she’d only said one sentence to him.

“Nice to meet you, too,” he said, voice shaky.

“What cabin are you assigned to, Klaus?” Violet asked, already picking up on her brother’s warning signs.

“Um, Cornflower,” he said.

“Oh, Isadora, aren’t you there too?” Violet asked.

“Yep. Looks like we’ll be partners all year,” Isadora said, smiling warmly. Ok, she had found Violet pretty hot when they first met, but in the sort of way where you realize someone’s attractive without wanting to date them. Klaus, however, wasn’t as much hot as he was adorable . Isadora looked at him, wearing a cardigan with elbow patches in mid-June, with a paperback stuffed into his left pocket, and felt incredibly drawn to him. His voice was soft and shaky, like he didn’t want to overpower or dominate the conversation, and she found herself admiring his awkward air.

“What cabin are you in, Violet?” Klaus asked softly.

“Oh, I’m in Aster. Bright pink for six weeks.”

“No kidding! I’m in Aster, too,” Quigley said brightly.

“Well, looks like we’ll match past today,” Violet said

Quigley smiled widely. “I’m glad I’m not paired with Carmelita at any rate.”

Duncan blanched. “I hope I’m not.”

“Well, what cabin are you?” Isadora asked.

“Narcissus,” Duncan answered.

“You are,” Violet told him, receiving a groan in reply. “How do you know her?”

“She goes to our school,” Isadora said, “Prufrock Prep. She’s a menace. Just like, imagine a theater kid from hell who’s not gay or an ally. I mean, she’s not outwardly homophobic, I guess, but she’s neutral at best. She’s mean, she slut shames other girls, and just does everything in her power to make our lives suck. I mean, Quigley is the most easygoing guy in the world, and even he finds her terrible.”

Quigley nods, adding, “She sucks.”

“Well, I’ll be sure to keep away,” Violet says, “and I encourage the same for my brother. He should stay away from Fiona, too.”

“Ooh, tea. Why should he stay away from Fiona?” Isadora asked.

Violet looked at her brother, asking for nonverbal permission to tell. When he gave it, she began: “So, Klaus and Fiona had a will they/won’t they flirtation for months. They’re about a year apart, but all three of us did the Science Olympiad together. Anyway, they talk all summer and start dating at the front of this school year. They date from August to April, and are going strong. They even apply for this job together. Then, about three weeks ago, just before graduation, she finally breaks down and tells him that she had been seeing another guy since the May Day fair in the city.”

“Ok, I know this isn’t how I should react, but you guys are in the Science Olympiad? You know that’s really nerdy, right?” Isadora said.

“Yeah. We’re both proud nerds,” Violet answered.

“As you should be.” Isadora smiled as she delivered the words. “Anyway, I’m sorry that happened to you, Klaus. You’re too good for her, anyways.”

“Thank you, but you don’t really know me,” Klaus responded.

“True, but you have a good aura. I can tell.” Klaus smiled at her, and they made eye contact. He noticed how beautiful her eyes were.

The new group of friends continued to eat in peace, secure in the future of their social life in the coming weeks.

Chapter Text

Cabins

2nd and 3rd Grade

Aster: Violet Baudelaire and Quigley Quagmire

CIT: Friday Caliban, Kevin Kelley

Cabin Color: Pink

Cornflower: Isadora Quagmire and Klaus Baudelaire

CIT: Lucy Peters, Edmund Peters

Cabin Color: Blue

4th and 5th Grade

Narcissus: Carmelita Spats and Duncan Quagmire

CIT: Willow Perkins, William Robinson

Cabin Color: Yellow

Daisy: Fiona Widdershins and Ben Butler

CIT: Emma Peterson, Luke Childs

Cabin Color: White

Middle School (6-8)

Marigold: Esther O’Connell and Fernald Widdershins

CIT: Anna Connor, Xander Peters

Cabin Color: Orange

Fern: Collette Victors and Hugo Williams

CIT: Lisa Carlisle, Carl Carlson

Cabin Color: Green

Chapter Text

“I wouldn’t trade places with the boys for a million dollars. It’s way too hot,” Isadora said, entering the arts and crafts classroom, arms laden with plastic cups.

“I mean, I would, mostly because we’ll have to be there eventually. Also, like, a million dollars could be pretty useful,” Violet replied.

It was Monday morning, and Aster Cabin had just left. Duncan and Carmelita’s kids from Narcissus cabin were on their way over.

“So, Vi, what activity are you looking forward to most?” Isadora asked.

“Probably the water fight. Quigley and I started talking strategy, and we’re totally gonna decimate you guys. Also, are we doing nicknames already?”

“Totally, Vi.”

“Well, then, Izzy, get ready for me to say your name incessantly.”

“Why?”

“Because you are the least ‘Izzy’ person I’ve ever met. Izzy.”

Isadora laughed, remarking, “I’ve always felt more like a Dora, but I can’t get anyone to call me that.”

“And I will not break the mold. Maybe it can be like a soulmate test, where the first person who calls you Dora should be your partner for the rest of your life.”

“Yeah, I could definitely see—“ Isadora was cut off as the 4th and 5th graders entered the room. There were about twenty in all, and they all had yellow wristbands to mark their cabin.

“Hi everyone,” Violet began, “you can sit wherever you want.” The kids took their seats easily and quickly. Isadora went through roll call briefly, and then they began the lesson.

“Hello, Narcissus!” Isadora greeted. “I’m Isadora from Cornflower,” she paused to allow Violet to speak. “And I’m Violet from Aster.”

“We’re gonna be your arts and crafts counselors for the week,” Isadora continued. Violet took the kids through expectations for the activity, before they got started on day one’s project: watercolors.

Doing an indoor activity was fun: the kids had walls to keep them from running off, and there was no real danger of them cutting themselves on watercolor day. Mostly, Violet went around helping the kids with techniques while Isadora sat beside them and talked to them.

Outside, Quigley and Klaus were having much less fun. “It’s hot, and I’m bored,” Quigley complained.

“Stop whining. At least we don’t have to move.” The boys were sitting in two chairs by the pool. They weren’t even sitting in lifeguard chairs, because the lifeguards, Pip and Squeak Bellerophon, were hired by Lemony, and were actually trained to save drowning children. Klaus and Quigley were essentially unnecessary.

“I guess you’re right. By the time we’re heading field games, we’ll be wishing for swim duty.”

“You’ll find I’m always right, little one,” Klaus said in a deep British accent.

Quigley cracked up, his nose scrunching up as he laughed. “What? Is that a reference to something?”

“It might be, but I think I’m honestly just weird,” Klaus answered, smiling softly.

“Hey, I don’t care. I’m weird as hell. Like, I’m in the art club kind of weird.”

“That’s a good kind of weird. I’m just nerdy and have insomnia, which people like to ignore, cause I do really well in school and stuff. Like I’m in Latin Club, on the Debate team, I participate in Science Olympiad and the Readathon, and everyone thinks that that means that I’m really healthy, when it just means that I’m burnt out, and I have anxiety, which doesn’t help.”

“I don’t think that’s a bad kind of weird. It’s just someone being successful in some areas of life and bad at others. Like me. I’m good at being social with people I like or respect, but not if I dislike someone.” Quigley paused for a moment. “I also suck at chem.”

“It can be tricky. But that’s not to say I’m bad at it.”

“Oh my God, you are so full of yourself.”

“To be fair, I was brutally dumped about a month ago, so this is drastic improvement.”

“That’s depressing, man,” Quigley said, smiling.

“That’s depressing, man,” Klaus mocked, lowering his voice to a cartoonish pitch.

“God, I hate you,” Quigley told Klaus with a laugh. There is an odd occurrence that happens when you tell someone you hate them in jest. Often, it makes the two close friends, as it did for Klaus and Quigley, who continued to joke until the campers needed to get to lunch, and they needed to watch them.

—————————

“Roger, we do not throw food.”

“Mr. Quigley, my dolly gotted sick.”

“Lou Ann, you’re a stupid face.”

“Jenny, you’re not my friend anymore.”

“Lewis, please chew with your mouth closed.”

“I miss my mommy, Ms. Violet. Really, really bad.”

Dinner with the Aster Cabin was chaos. Between breaking up food fights and arguments and actually talking to the kids, Violet and Quigley had their hands full with twenty-two children either wanting their attention, or doing something they should be paying attention to. Friday and Kevin, their CITs, were trying to help as best they could, but it was hard, as they were seen as less of authority figures.

Violet and Quigley sat opposite each other at the large circular table. Occasionally, the two would make eye contact when one of the kids said something funny. A second grader named Lacy, for example, loved to regale the exact details of her doll, who she had named Marionette, and her various maladies. Apparently, the doctors said that Marionette was going to die soon, which, as Lacy said, “Would be sad, but then I get to throw a party for her.”

One of the boys, a six year old named Jackson, was near tears due to homesickness. Violet tried to console him, but it was difficult to have her voice carry across the table, and she eventually delegated Quigley to the task as he was closer.

Klaus and Isadora were having similar issues with Cornflower Cabin. “Jared, that is not nice,” Isadora said to a small boy that had just said his friend was “full of doo-doo.”

“Where do we go when we die?” Klaus repeated, staring at a third grade girl with wide eyes. “Well, Rebecca, I don’t know. I haven’t died quite yet, and there’s no way to know for sure about something you haven’t done.”

Isadora and Klaus made eye contact. It was going to be a long six weeks.

—————————

Getting the girls ready for bed proved to be easier than watching them at meals. After the bonfire, the little girls were sleepy, and most of them were rubbing their eyes with their knuckles. It was only then that Violet could memorize their names: Anna, Lou Ann, Vicky, Jenny, Lacy, Raegan, Fran, Maria, Tanya, Lily, and Jaime. She only got it after mixing up Anna and Lou Ann for a solid half hour. Friday then watched the girls as Violet doubled back to the female counselors’ cabin to change into her pajamas, a cerulean pinstripe set with a short sleeve button down and shorts.

Violet walked through the cabin to ensure lights were out at nine before going to the folding chairs between the girls and boys cabins to sit with Quigley.

“Hey,” he said, grinning warmly at her.

“Hi.”

“So, I think we should just address it— those kids are insane.”

“They’ve certainly allowed me to ascertain that I will not be having twenty two children.”

“Oh my God, can you imagine? It would be like this but twenty times worse cause it would be constant. No breaks or anything.”

“I know. I have crazy respect for people with that many kids. It’s like a Herculean feat.” Violet smiled and took in Quigley’s face. He was handsome, with sharp cheekbones, jet black hair, and wide blue eyes. His lips were a soft pink, and they were pulled tight against his teeth as he beamed at her. She glanced at his outfit, remarking, “Beetlejuice, huh?”

“What?” Quigley seemed confused for a moment before remembering that he was wearing Beetlejuice pajama pants. “Oh, yeah. It’s my favorite Halloween movie, although I don’t really save it for the season. My siblings and I are really into that stuff. Isadora is obsessed with Coraline, and Duncan’s favorite is Frankenweenie.”

“Beetlejuice is my favorite, too, although I can’t watch it too much. My baby sister is only seven, and I think she might be a bit young for most of the humor.”

“Oh, yeah. Can you imagine any of these kids with that movie?”

Violet grinned. “I personally think it’s right up Lacy’s alley.”

“You know, she reminds me of Isadora at that age.”

“Really?”

“Totally. Our relatives used to give Isadora Barbies all the time, and she would either have them act out a high school plot line on par with Euphoria, or have them all brutally murder each other. Or both.”

“I never got into dolls. Sunny likes them, though. She only has about four, but she likes to play family with them. She likes to make ‘normal families’ with the dolls.”

“Your family isn’t normal?” Quigley asked.

“Well, our parents got divorced two years ago. They didn’t split custody of the three of us, though. They split us up. I live with Mom full-time, Klaus lives with Dad full-time, and Sunny alternates every other month. If Klaus wasn’t in high school, I would barely know him by now.”

“That sucks.”

“I guess it’s not super abnormal, but it is for Sunny. She has to constantly cycle around, and it feels to her like she has two completely separate families that are irreconcilable with each other. I think she plays with the dolls to escape that.”

“Yeah. My family’s ultra normal. To a fault, I’d say. We’re this perfect, model family. We have millions of dollars, two parents sickeningly in love, and three attractive, matching children. It’s great, and I’m lucky, but it can also feel stifling sometimes. Like, we’ve  been coming to this camp since we were seven, and it’s always the same. It’s great, because we don’t have to be polished while we’re here, but it’s also hard, because when we get back it’s back to photos and charity balls and prep school and Catechism classes.”

“Oh, you’re super rich too?”

“Yep.”

“Did Isadora have a debutante ball? I might have been there.”

“No. She opposed to it so vehemently that we got her to do a charity based one instead. You know, service and shit. She agreed to do it since there was some merit she was being applauded for.”

“I wish I’d known about that. I felt ridiculous, getting dressed up essentially just to say, ‘I’m up for marriage now!’ I’m not, by the way. My longest relationship was three weeks.”

“Oh, you’re one of those people. I knew you had to have a flaw.”

“You haven’t noticed any of my flaws yet?” Violet asked, smiling.

Quigley looked at her for a second, her dark brown hair frizzy and wild from wind. Her cheeks were flushed— it was still around 85 degrees outside— and she had a thin sheen of sweat across her ivory skin. She didn’t have any makeup on, so her skin showed a few small blemishes, and the color was uneven and blueish at some parts.

“None at all. You’re intelligent, pretty, funny, and kind. I should’ve guessed that you have commitment issues. Makes sense, too, with divorced parents.”

“I am equally offended on behalf of all children of divorce and flattered. Besides, Klaus doesn’t have commitment issues. He has, like, reverse commitment issues.”

Quigley smiled. “I think those still count.” Violet looked at him again. His jaw, his hair, his smile, his eyes, and wanted to be closer to him with an intense pulling sensation she’d never felt before. She wanted to kiss him, or hold his hand, or simply be in his arms, held safe and strong.

Quigley felt a similar urge, and felt himself gravitating towards her. “Sunny doesn’t have commitment issues,” she said in a small voice.

“She might,” Quigley responded breathily. They leaned towards each other, as if to kiss, before Violet got a hold of herself, and slowly, slowly, fought against the rope pulling her towards him in her chest, and leaned in back in her chair. She leaned a bit too far, though, because she fell backwards.

“Vi!” Quigley exclaimed. She sat back up, and the two burst into laughter.

Klaus and Isadora sat about seventy feet away, glancing at their siblings with fond exasperation.

“Two weeks,” Isadora said.

“Three,” said Klaus.

“Deal. Twenty bucks?”

“Sure.” Klaus shook her hand, trying to ignore the tingle that went through his hand upon contact. She was really, really, really pretty.

“So. We’ve been sitting out here for what, ten minutes? And you haven’t yet to tell me your deepest, darkest secret. I simply will not stand for this kind of behavior.”

Klaus chuckled softly. “I don’t really have any deep, dark, secrets. I’m an open book.”

“I don’t buy it. For instance, my deep dark secret is that I killed a man.”

“What?” Klaus exclaimed, alarmed.

“He was getting a bit too friendly with Duncan, so I just stabbed him in the heart and peeled off his scalp as a trophy.”

Klaus stared at her for a second. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

Isadora rolled her eyes. “Of course I am, idiot. Duncan needs to date more. I’m not gonna kill the only guy who’s shown interest. It’s cute that you actually thought that I would, though. In a twisted sort of way.”

“Hey, I have anxiety. Sometimes I’m just walking out of Starbucks on a beautiful spring day and suddenly feel a sense of menace stemming from absolutely nothing.”

“No way,” Isadora said. “I have anxiety too. It’s the worst.”

“Oh yeah, totally. And I think the movie on your shirt is what gave me mine.”

Isadora glanced down at her Coraline t-shirt.

“Really?”

“Definitely. I saw that when I was five or so, and I started being terrified by any noise or sound during the night, afraid the Beldam would take me away.” He waited for a beat. “I still have that problem every time I watch it.”

“I think it’s the coolest. I know I’ve found my soulmate when they’ll dress up as the black cat to my Coraline. We’ll be so freaking cool.”

“I’ve always had two couples costumes I’ve wanted to try. If I’m dating a guy, Apollo and Hyacinth, and if I’m dating a girl, Hades and Persephone.”

“Shut up. That is the coolest couple’s costume. You could go all artsy with it and make Persephone a wreath of dead flowers and give Hades like a chiffon robe, like really light material.”

“I know, right? It’s perfect. Fiona really wanted to be Emily and Victor from The Corpse Bride, though, and that’s my favorite movie, so I went along with it.”

“That’s a great movie, but honestly a terrible couple costume. Like, Victor spends the entire movie in love with Victoria. He never loves Emily romantically, he just feels for her.”

“I tried to explain that! Fiona just didn’t want to listen, I guess.”

Klaus and Isadora chatted for the rest of the time, about movies, exes, siblings, and diet soda before they went their separate ways to the counselor cabins.

When Duncan heard from his brother and Klaus about how much they were getting along with their cabin partners, he groaned. “The last few hours have been torture. Carmelita decided to show me the tap routine she’s been working on. For an hour. On loop.” Klaus and Quigley grimaced sympathetically as they slipped, at last, into bed.