The darkness was broken by flashes of pinks and purples as the entrance to the yurt blew back and forth in the breeze. However, the thick canvas wasn't enough to block out the pulsing music, and it spilled out all around us like we were in the middle of some sort of festival. 

I looked at our tents, looking little and sad in comparison to the party that was going on just a short distance away, and decided that we had to do something. Klaus and I had banked on Violet and Quigley having a quiet evening, just the two of them, but who could focus on romance when there was a pop medley blaring out right on your doorstep?

"We'll sort it," I said quickly, without considering the logistics of how that could even happen. "You guys go ahead."

"What're you going to do?" Quigley said with a frown, "Ask them to turn it down?"

I shrugged, hoping it didn't show on my face how truly stressed I was. Everything today seemed to be going wrong. I just couldn't understand why. "I'm sure they'll be reasonable if we ask nicely."

Obviously, the others had no idea who was on the other side of that canvas, partying it up and having a blast, and I wasn't about to bring it up. I had thought before that it would put a dampener on everything- with everyone becoming irritable at the sight of the most insufferable girl any of us had ever met- and so I hadn't told anyone then. Then Klaus had done the same, only telling me when he found out, so it was clear he had thought something along the same lines. Klaus and I could sort this out and make it so no one was any the wiser to our biggest enemy being here, all we needed was time and a little bit of luck.

Begrudgingly, the others kept going towards their respective tents, leaving Klaus and I in the cover of darkness, staring at Carmelita's abode. I, for one, mentally compared this to entering a viper's nest- something that no sane person would do. But at the end of the day, Carmelita was just a girl. A very rich, endlessly annoying girl. What was the worst she could do?

"Ready?" Klaus said.

"Not really. But what else can we do?"

"Complain to the camp staff?" He suggested. But that idea was instantly dismissed when the yurt door blew open again and, sure enough, the lady who had been working the front desk only hours before was in there, getting down to some Ariana Grande. 

I gave Klaus a look. Everyone around Carmelita just seemed to bend to her will, letting her do whatever she wanted and getting away with it too. We shouldn't have expected anything different here. Carmelita's parents had probably paid off the staff to just turn a blind eye while their daughter was here. Or, in the front desk lady's case, join in with the festivities. 

Without any further discussion, we entered the party, and I braced myself. Once I got over the intense flashing lights, I glanced around, trying to locate the tiny stature of Carmelita between the other dancing bodies. To my surprise, I faintly recognised the people in there, and it dawned on me that of course everyone here would also be guests at the campsite. I had just assumed that Carmelita had brought all of her cronies along and that they were having some sort of rambunctious, teenage girl sleepover, dance party. I dimly wondered if Carmelita actually had any real friends to invite along and whether that was the reason she had recruited just about everyone from the camp, no matter their age. But before I could consider it too deeply, Klaus rested a hand on my shoulder- a way of getting my attention over the noise. Then he pointed towards the back of the yurt, drawing my eyes away from the dancing campers and over to Carmelita herself, where she was sat on a throne of her own making. 

How I hadn't seen her before was beyond me, but now I had seen her, I couldn't take my eyes away. She was perched on a lifeguard's chair- one of the high up ones where you have to climb up to sit on it- which had been absolutely bedazzled with glitter and had feather boas and streamers hanging off it wildly. Two lifeguards, still in their uniform, stood either side of the chair, fanning Carmelita with inflatable lilos- the usefulness of which I couldn't determine.

Then there was Carmelita herself, sitting pretty at the top and watching over everyone with a sneer, like they were her royal subjects and she was their self appointed leader. She seemed to be wearing zebra print, although I couldn't tell if it was a dress or some other garment from this distance, and huge sunglasses that completely took over her face. 

I grimaced, wondering how we were meant to even get to her, let alone convince her to shut this all down. But then, the music suddenly cut off and the lights that had once been swinging around, sending coloured beams all over the place, all settled on Klaus and I, illuminating us and directing everyone's attention to us. 

"Oh god," Klaus whispered, which wasn't nearly as foul as the curse I had personally been thinking, but it would do. 

The lifeguards had dropped their lilos and were now helping Carmelita down the bedazzled steps. The crowd parted and a couple of lights tracked her progress across the yurt, purposely taking a long time because she was just naturally dramatic like that. Then she whipped the sunglasses off so hard they went flying into the crowd, and fixed us with a disgusted look.

"I knew I could smell some Cakesniffers," she sneered, and a couple of the people around us gave nervous laughs, as if they weren't sure if that had been a burn or not. After all, who the hell really knew what a Cakesniffer was? "To what do I owe the displeasure?"

I ignored the way she was snickering at her own comments. "Carmelita, do you think you could give partying a rest, please?"

Klaus side eyed me like he couldn't believe that was what I had gone with. But what else was I meant to say? I had been caught off guard, and thinking on my feet was never something I excelled at. 

Carmelita just chuckled loudly, making everyone else around her join in in a slightly creepy wave of confused laughter. Then her face dropped back into a sneer and her hands snapped out, silencing everyone in that one movement. 

"No," she said, and then with a snap of her fingers, the music blared again and the festivities continued on like there hadn't been an interruption at all. 

Klaus and I stood frozen for a moment as everything else around us went back into motion. Just like that, it was as if Carmelita never spotted us, never put her party on pause and never denied our request. She hadn't even banished us from her yurt. She had just gone back to her throne, bopping her head to the music and sipping on an indistinguishable beverage. My word had been a mere drop in the ocean; not enough to sway her in the slightest. But what had I expected? I didn't exactly have a compelling argument, nor did Carmelita usually listen to anything I had to say. 

"What do we do now?" Klaus said, frowning as he took in the scenes around us. 

I shrugged, because what else could either of us do in that moment? I was about to suggest that we just go back to our tent, apologising to the others on the way, but then I remembered what awaited us and the words fizzled out on my tongue. The sooner we went back, the sooner I'd be laying next to Klaus Baudelaire, side by side in the dark. It made me feel sick with nerves, which was why I said the first thing that came to mind instead. 

"Let's stay?" It came out as a question, as if even I couldn't believe what I was saying. 

"What?" Klaus exclaimed. 

"There's no way we're going to get Carmelita to stop. So we either go back and be annoyed by the noise and the flashing lights, or we stay and make the most of it. We could even get the others, although they probably wouldn't be very impressed."

Klaus looked at me for a long moment. "Are you even hearing yourself right now?"

"Well not really," I quipped, "considering how loud it is in here."

He ignored my attempt at a joke. "You're telling me you want to stay and party with Carmelita Spats, the most horrible girl we've ever met?"

I didn't. Not really. But if the alternative was going and spending extra time being awkward, laying in bed with my best friend, then this felt like the better option. I knew I would have to do it sooner or later- if I didn't want to completely mug it off and sleep outside in the wilderness- but all I knew was that I couldn't do it right now, right this second. If hanging out in Carmelita's yurt was my only option to buy myself time to calm my racing heart, then so be it. 

Klaus took my silence as an answer and his frown deepened. "Well, have fun," he said bitterly, before turning on his heel and stalking away through the crowds of partygoers. 

I watched him go, unsure what to do now. I wasn't sure why but I had assumed, stupidly, that he would stay with me and that we would have a good time together- so good that we might just dance all night and forget about sleeping all together. I could deal with a weekend of no sleep and catch up by napping all Sunday and Monday if that's what it would take to avoid the awkwardness. Because deep down, I knew that that might be all it would take to ruin the boundaries I had mentally set out for us and our friendship, and I wasn't sure if I was ready to deal with the aftermath of them falling apart. 

So instead of going after him, I threw myself into the party. I wasn't really the sort to let loose and dance in front of strangers, but I knew I couldn't just stand there. If anything, that would be more awkward. So I danced and I ate crisps that had been set out on a table off to the side, despite not being hungry. And then, when I got tired of that, I settled on a spare camping chair and watched the others.

I was tired, and sitting down really made that settle in. It had been a long day, yet I was sat in Carmelita's yurt, surrounded by strangers, wondering what the hell I was doing. I got up, deciding I couldn't avoid the situation any longer, and headed out, walking promptly to my tent before I could change my mind. I would go in, apologise to Klaus for being stupid, and then just get on with it and sleep. I would be mature. We were just two friends sleeping beside each other. Other people did it all the time. 

Taking a deep breath, I unzipped the canvas and stepped inside. 

A/N: I'm so sorry this took me so long! I wasn't well, then it was my birthday and everything was a bit crazy, so sorry for the delay. 

Hopefully this chapter flowed alright considering I stopped and started it so many times! ❤