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On the first day of school, their teacher assigned each child a number. There was a caterpillar painted on the pavement outside the classroom, and the numbers were painted linearly on the segments of the caterpillar's body. After recess, the students would each stand on their number, and this way their teacher could easily check that no one was missing. The numbers were assigned alphabetically by surname, and this is how Sunny Baudelaire and Constance Benedict became numbers 2 and 3 respectively.
The first day of school was not yet over when Constance and Sunny got picked up, by a surprisingly old man and a surprisingly young woman respectively. Constance's guardian arrived first. He was pulled aside by the teacher, who, accompanied by the school nurse, abashedly explained that the red mark on Constance's arm was a bite mark—that she had been bitten by her classmate. They pointed to her, a dark-haired girl sitting in a chair in the corner, looking defiant.
The last year of school, the week-long class trip was not yet over when Constance and Sunny got picked up, by a surprisingly old man and a surprisingly young woman respectively. Sunny's guardian arrived first. She was pulled aside by a teacher, who, accompanied by a trip chaperone, abashedly explained that the red mark on Sunny's arm was a hickey—that she had been caught in a tryst with her classmate. They pointed to her, a fair-haired girl sitting in a chair in the corner, looking defiant.