The League of Unfortunate Events

[TREVOR---BAXTONVILLE HIGH]

"Do you have your eye drops?" My dad asks.

"Uh-huh" I tell him.

"Okay, make sure to apply them whenever your eyes get itchy. I might have to book you another doctor's appointment, I'm not sure where the redness came from." My dad could definitely worry himself into a 6-foot hole one day. "As for you young lady, we're gonna get you an appointment to see what's causing your migraines." He says.

"Dad, we'll be okay." I smile at him as Tals and I give him a big hug.

We wave goodbye, then I put my AirPods in my ears and I let my music blast loudly as I step into that god forsaken school building with Talia. We talk to each other for a bit as we enter, then after a while, we depart so Talia can use the bathroom. A girl I despise walks up to me, but I pretend that I can't hear her. Despite me doing that, she keeps talking to me, so finally I point to my headphones to let her know I'm not listening at all. A frown surfaces on her face, but I obviously can't be bothered. I walk away and towards my locker, nodding my head along to the music in my ears as I twist around the combination lock on my locker. Suddenly, someone smacks my arm, and I get ready to hit them back out of instinct, but once I turn around, it's just Penny. I take out my AirPod and put them away, speaking s I do so.

"Jesus, you scared the living shit out of me Penny," I say, storing the case in my jacket pocket.

"Yeah, I tend to do that to people, but I like being spooky. What class do you have?" She asks.

"English." I tell her as I begin to shuffle around my locker.

"Me too. Just two people who hate people and have the same class right now." She jokes.

Penny and I start laughing, then I suddenly feel a tap on my shoulder, so I turn around to find the same girl from earlier. She waves at me, and Penny stares at her with dark eyes from behind me, because she knows exactly why I hate her. I eye her down as well, and she looks at me with an absent-minded look. My stomach clenches, but I speak anyway, despite my gut screaming at me that this can only end badly .

"Oh, uhm. Hi." I stare at her, trying to get her to go away with my body language. She doesn't take the hint and just keeps looking at me while smiling mindlessly.

"Hi! I was just wondering if you could give this to Wesley Sokolov. I figured that you would be the best person to give this to since you are two of his best friends." She grins and holds out a pink envelope to me.

I hesitantly take it and watch her skip away spontaneously—too much energy at 7 in the morning, to be honest. Penny and I stare at it and examine it, my brown eyes flickering across the paper as I as I skim through it. I flip it over and see her name. Amity Herring. The girl that never has a pencil in class because Talia always seems to be giving her one. I find her to be annoying, but then again if it wasn't already obvious, I find everyone annoying. Everyone, and everything. I'm like that one grumpy cat from the internet. And also, R.I.P to Grumpy Cat. Penny grabs the note and looks at weirdly, scrunching up her face out of disgust.

"I think it's a love letter." She states.

"Well," I say. "That's—weird. Honestly I never expected someone to write a love letter to Wes, I thought that Melanie would get one first."

I shove some books into my locker and put the remaining ones in my backpack. Penny looks at me, so I look at her too. I hope to god it's not a love letter because Wes doesn't know what to do when he is under pressure.

"You wanna open it, don't you?" I quiz.

"You read my mind, Martin." She replies.

I shrug, "I mean, as long as we're careful."

"Do you think he'd hate us if he finds out?" She asks.

"No, why would he?" I question.

"I don't know, what if he likes this girl back?" She says.

"Wow, your gaydar is way off. That kid is fruitier than a fruit basket slathered in strawberry jam." I tell her.

"Hmm, good point."

Penny opens it up and we read the letter. It's long and the handwriting is small and dainty, covering the entire page. There are drawn hearts and other symbols all over it, showing that she really put a whole lot of effort into this. It's not a love letter, but a letter asking him to go on a date with her. I feel as though this method is quite old fashion but eh, whatever works for her.

"I'm not so sure I want Wes to see this. But at the same time, I know we can't keep this from him."

"Wes would want to see this." She tells me. And I know she's right, but something doesn't feel right about the letter.

"Wait-- take a closer look." Penny grabs the paper and points out the highlighted words, and they spell out a small statement. "Little rabbit, I am watching you... uhm, what?"

Suddenly the bell rings, "We gotta get to class before Mr. England yells at us." Penny says.

Yes, his name is actually Mr. England. An English teacher named Mr. England, my life has to be some sort of joke. Right on cue, the bell rings. I close my locker and walk to class with her. Honestly, if it weren't for her and all my other friends, I'd constantly be in detention for hurting people (and their feelings). They're like my parental lock. They don't let me say rude things to people. Unless they deserve it. We walk into the classroom, and the teacher eyes us down.

"You two are late, per usual. One more tardy and it's a detention." He says, lowering his glasses.

I sigh. "Whatever you say, man."

Penny smacks my arm and drags me over to the two desks in the back of the classroom. She glares at me, and I raise my eyebrows, confused.

"Idiot. Do you want detention?" She asks.

"Maybe." I reply sarcastically.

She rolls her eyes, and I snicker. She puts her feet up on her desk, crossing her arms. For some reason, my eyes and palms have been so itchy today. I don't even know why. I rub my eyes, then itch my palms. They burn as well. It feels as though I pressed them against a hot stove. Like that kind of burning. I raise my hand, making Mr. England sigh.

"What is it now, Mr. Martin?" He stares.

"Can I please go to the bathroom?" I ask, while still rubbing my eyes.

"You look like you need the nurse instead. Go to the nurses office." He points to the door.

"Thanks." I say flatly, then get out of my seat and exit class.

I decide to go to the field instead of the nurse. What are they gonna do, give me an ice pack? Like that's gonna solve anything. As you can tell, I'm not a nice person. I shuffle around my pockets and pull out my phone. My vision blurs, but I have no sort of dizziness. I'm not about to pass out.

But when I'm about to go to the nurse, a red beam shoots out of my eye. I let out a pained scream, even though I feel no pain at all. The beam soars through the air, all from my eyes. And then suddenly, it starts to fire from my hands too. It burns the grass, even splitting in half one of the bleachers on the field. I drop to the ground once the beams stop. A shudder falls from my mouth as I look around, terrified. Nobody saw.

Now, I just need to figure out what the hell is going on.

[NATALIE---BAXTONVILLE HIGH]

Art class. It's enjoyable for me. Probably more enjoyable for Trevor, but I like it because it's peaceful. I mean who wouldn't enjoy it? I like to stay in the corner where I'm alone from everyone. Because this is one of the only classes I don't have with my friends, and I'm very much an anti-social butterfly. Nothing I'd change about that though.

"Now class, this is your opportunity to paint whatever you like!" Mrs. Rojas announces, waving around her brush on her canvas. This woman loves her job so much that she paints with her students.

Thank the lords I don't have to do some weird art project, though. Don't tell Trevor I called art weird. He might drop-kick me with his 6-foot ass. I grab my paintbrush and begin painting. I don't know where I'm going with this painting, but it will get somewhere. After a few moments or so, I end up with a painting of the moon. It looks perfect in my opinion. It's probably something my mom would wanna hang up in our house.

As class carries on, the room falls silent. But I can't help but listen to the faint whispering in my head. I lift my head, looking around the classroom to see if anyone else seems disturbed, but everyone is painting with no problem. Is there something wrong with me? Am I like, going crazy? Or secretly on drugs that I don't know about? All I know is there are voices in my head, and they need to get out.

I drop my paintbrush, startling my teacher. She walks over and starts speaking, but I can't hear her. The voices are too loud. They're overbearing. To the point where I can't handle them. I put my hands over my ears in a desperate attempt to get the voices to quiet, but they don't. They keep going. It's almost like they're the thoughts of the people around me. I only say that because I can hear their voices, specifically theirs.

"Quiet.." I whisper. They don't get quiet. They just get louder.

"STOP!" Once I scream, a concussive blast of green energy is sent out of my body, shattering all the windows, then putting everyone to sleep.

When I open my eyes, everyone is on the floor, hiding from me. The voices stop, resolving my issue. I'm hearing people's thoughts. The real question here is; how? How am I hearing their thoughts? Reality sinks in, and I realize that I have just shattered all the windows and knocked out the people around me. I need to get out of here. Running out of the building, I keep my hands over my ears. I run out, to see Trevor, Chris, and Wes. I come to a full stop, noticing that Chris and Wes are holding hands. But it doesn't matter, that's probably the least of our worries. There's a look on their faces, so I know that something happened to them too.

"Are you guys okay?" I ask, helping up Trevor.

"Where are the others?" Wes quizzes.

I turn around to find the others, running out of the other doors right on cue. I look around and spot my girlfriend. She runs into my arms, and we hold each other tightly. When we pull away from each other, I stay holding onto her hand. As I look back at the damage that has been done to the school, I grip her hand tighter, holding our threaded fingers to my chest. There's fire, burnt grass, shattered windows, parts of the building even being crumbled. Something that I could have never imagined in my worst nightmares. Penny turns my face to hers, wiping my tears.

"We're gonna be okay Natie, I promise." She kisses my forehead gently, and I can't help but cry even more. What's okay about this? But most importantly, do the others have the same issues I do?

[TALIA---BAXTONVILLE HIGH]

"Okay well, I don't see the point of wearing glasses if you can just wear contacts." Melanie looks at me, and I furrow my brows out of confusion.

I look back down at my work and continue doing it. "Contacts are scary. What if they get stuck in my eye?"

"Then I can help take it out." She says.

I glance up at her and pause. "That sounds even more terrifying," I say.

I look back down at the assignment sitting in front of me, continuing to do my work. She starts to finally do her work, so I give her a small pat on the back. Melanie isn't too famous for doing her work in class, she usually prefers to do it in the comfort of her own home. Sometimes she does do her work in class, but not often. A girl walks up to us, and my face meets hers. It's the biggest b-word in the whole school. And no, I'm not gonna say the actual word.

"Hey Melanie, is it true that you're dating the schools loner, Donatello?" She asks.

"Excuse me?" Melanie says, tearing her attention away from her schoolwork.

"Is it true that you're with the biggest loner in the whole school?" She repeats herself.

People's gazes fling in Melanie's direction as they hear Amity's loud talking. Melanie feels the gaze of everyone on her, yet she doesn't look like she feels the least bit awkward. Instead, she looks extremely enraged. I know that Melanie and Donatello have chemistry, but I didn't think anyone else knew it either. Not even our closest friends know. So how could she know anything about it?

"Why are you asking her about this?" I question her.

She scoffs, "Why are you talking to me? I'm not talking to you."

"Walk away, Amity." Melanie urges her like she's gonna do something if she doesn't.

"Or what?" Amity laughs in a taunting way.

That's what pushes all of Melanie's buttons. I watch her get up from her seat abruptly and step close to Amity. There's a look of pure regret plaster on Amity's face. They have some sort of stare-off, and I'm too scared to say anything. Melanie clenches her fists tightly, and I begin to hear creaking. Almost the sound of metal bending.

Then all of a sudden, a chair flies in the direction of Amity. At the same time, a few pipes in the walls burst, causing a bit of water to leak from the walls. I get up and finally grab Melanie, immediately snapping out of her angry state. She looks at me, furrowing her eyebrows. Amity looks at me and furrows her eyebrows too, while I just stand there looking as confused as I usually am.

"Tals.. you're glowing." Melanie whispers to me.

"What? This isn't a time for compliments." I whisper back at her. Suddenly, she starts to disappear. Go invisible. Like she actually is turning invisible.

"And you're invisible!" I shout.

"WHAT?!" She freaks out then reappears.

"Oh, you're back!" I shout once again.

"We have to go, now." She says, and before I can react she's already grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the building.

She's pulling me all around the school, desperately looking for an exit to flee out of. She eventually finds one, and the whole time she is hiding me. I'm not sure why she is, but we exit the building and I take a glance at my hands that are glowing. Like, glowing bright pastel rainbow. She's still pulling me out of the building, so I don't have any time to fully take in the situation I've been placed in. We make it to our friends, reuniting with them in a hurry. We have so much to discuss.

[PENNY---BAXTONVILLE HIGH]

Trevor has been gone from class for a while. I don't worry about many people, and I'm good at not worrying about many people, but when it comes to my friends I worry a lot. My teacher walks up to me but I don't even notice until he starts speaking.

"Ms. Reyes, I would appreciate it if you actually did your work, and if you took your feet off the desk." Mr. England clears his throat, obviously scrambling his brain for some sort of authority.

I look at him, quirking my eyebrow. "What? Sorry, can't hear you."

The words that come out of my mouth make me understand why Trevor and I are practically best friends. Not practically, we are. I turn my head away from him, not interested. He taps my shoulder, so I finally pull off my headphones and look at him. The only way I could describe him is nerdy.

He probably looks like how you picture him. Thick rimmed glasses, no facial hair, wacky tie, khakis, and slicked-back hair. Also, has that weird nasally voice. He fits his name so well it makes me feel like it's a pseudonym. No way would someone name their child Simon England. Just doesn't seem real to me.

I begin ignoring him again because he's just standing there like a damn weirdo. His hand taps my shoulder, and I have enough. I grab his hand, and when I look down a black mist is emitting from my hand, and there's a look of utmost horror on my teacher's face. He backs away, the black mist now releasing from my entire body.

I get out of my chair and start patting down my body, trying to get it to go away. Everyone's eyes are on me, so I run out of the classroom. People are walking down the hall, who don't even notice me.

"Oh my gosh, Penny, are you on fire?!" Amity shouts, and that's what pulls everyone's attention to me.

"Dude, what is your deal?!" I shout back at her before running down the halls, trying to avert the gaze of everyone.

I luckily find an exit, flying out of it immediately. It just so happens that the exit I found is to the stadium. I find Trevor, a few of my other friends, and my girlfriend. I run over to her, a few of my other friends running out at the same time.

We embrace each other warmly and stay like that for a while. When we pull away from each other, she stays holding onto my hand. As she looks back at the damage that has been done to the school, she grips my hand tighter, holding our threaded fingers to her chest.

[DONATELLO---BAXTONVILLE HIGH]

I hate gym class more than anything in the whole world. We start by running 1 lap around the field, but this kid named Drew decided to walk, causing everyone to have to start over. So here I am, running one more lap than I need to. It's annoying honestly, that they let such brutish people be teachers. Anyways, I'm just running laps and minding my business, when I get bumped into by someone. I stop in my tracks, obviously upset.

"Hey!" I shout.

He turns around, walking up to me slowly. "What do you want loser? We don't got time for this."

"I don't appreciate being shoved by a big dumb ape like you." I say.

Ian stares at me and begins furrowing his brows. "What did you just call me?"

"I called you a dumb ape. Dumb ape." I say, quirking a brow. "Dumb and deaf, wow."

"I don't know who you think you are but--" He begins speaking but I cut him off.

"You need to stop acting like you have any kind of authority. So I suggest you walk away." I step closer to him, and he sees how truly tall I am.

His eyes widen, but he still tries to look tough. "What would I walk away for?"

"Ooh, making Charles look small." Amity says as she jogs past me.

I shake my head and walk away from Charles since people started looking over at us. I start jogging again, but he starts beside me as well. This guy makes me just wanna trip him. I grab him and stop running, then finally push him. I hear the blowing of a whistle, right before the gym teacher starts yelling nonsense.

"Boys!" He blows the whistle again and walks up to us. "That's enough!"

Charles apparently doesn't know what enough is. He pushes himself off the floor with his elbows and once he gets up he pushes me back. I get back up in a hurry and push him right back. When I raise my fist to punch him, roots grow out of the ground, wrapping around the feet of my gym teacher, and the torso of Charles.

"What the hell?!" They both yell, and I realize that trees are starting to sprout from the ground, all around.

I look around, my terror settling in. The more terrified I get, the more trees start to grow. They suddenly stop, and the ground starts shaking instead. I close my eyes and sit on the floor, pulling my knees up to my chest and burying my face into them. A few deep breaths later, the rumbling finally stops.

I get up and run off of the field, around the building to the stadium. I look through the fence and spot my friends. I open the fence and run in, all the way to my friends. Melanie rushes toward me and takes me into her arms immediately. We hug each other tightly and I start to feel much better.

[WES---BAXTONVILLE HIGH]

The library. A great place to be when you don't wanna be in class. The best part is that no teacher questions it. I grab a book off the shelf and begin reading. I always forget that I have no classes with my friends in the morning. Leaving me completely and utterly bored. Not great. I sit at a table and open up the book, getting completely lost in the literary beauty. So lost that I don't even notice when Chris sits across from me. Until he speaks.

"Hey, Wes," He says.

I jump, then lower my book. "Oh shit- Hey, Chris."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He smiles at me, and my god.

His smile is heavenly. Beautiful, if you will. His eyes too. They look so sweet, like coffee filled with caramel. And in the sun? They shine as bright as topaz. Punch me if you ever catch me simping for anyone else's eyes, because they all pale in comparison to Chris'. I often find myself just sitting there, and admiring the hell out of them.

"Wes?" He looks at me and waves a hand in front of my face.

I snap out of it. "Oh—sorry, huh?"

"I was just asking what you're reading." He lets out a soft chuckle.

I find myself grinning at his small chuckle, "Just this novel called 'They Both Die In The End'."

The room falls silent and soon after, I notice that he and I are the only two in the library now. There's an opportunity there but then I have to ask myself; is he even into guys? He's never expressed any kind of interest in them, but we did kiss once. I don't know if he enjoyed it, seeing as he did run away immediately after. He's also never talked about it since.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

I look at him and nod, "Yeah."

"Well, your hands doing a weird thing... It's frosting." He tells me.

"What?"

Dropping my book down, I look at my hands. They're emitting a weird frost and making a crackling noise. This being brought to my attention makes my hands start to shake, only worsening the frosting. Chris seems to be having his own problems too because when I look at him, there are burn marks on the cuffs of his jacket. Then his hands suddenly burst into flames, both of us falling back.

My hand makes contact with the floor, so the floor begins freezing over. Chris and I get up quickly, sliding around the ice together. We grab each other's hands for support and get the hell out of the library before anyone can see us. The nearest exit is to the field, so that's where we go. And we happen to find Trevor in the middle of the field, on his knees and rubbing his eyes. We jog over to him.

"Trev?" I say.

He looks up. "Chris? Wes? What are you doing out here?"

The door near the Art room flies open, and Natalie rushes out of it. The door didn't open by her using her hands, it opened by a weird blue force. She stops when she sees us, pulls a confused expression, then snaps back into reality and runs toward us.

"Are you guys okay?" She asks as she helps up Trevor.

"Where are the others?" I ask.

And just like that, the rest of them come running out of the other doors. We gather in the middle of the field. But of course, it doesn't stop there. Helicopters fly over the school at the call of the school's handy fire alarm. There are police officers, EMTs, firefighters, all that.

"Uhm, guys?" Talia points to the sky. We all look up at the helicopter coming our way. "Under the bleachers!" She shouts.

The helicopters don't notice us yet, so we dart toward to bleachers. All of us use long strides, our hair flying back as we hurriedly rush away. The wind is in my eyes and the air smells fresh but my heart is beating like there's no tomorrow. Now, I do play baseball, but I usually don't have to run after having a weird, unable-to-be-explained-by-science, experience.

"We just caused millions of dollars of damage to the school. What are we gonna do now?" Chris asks.

"Run." Penny says.