This is a story about being a teenager. Specifically, a high school junior. We've pretty much all been there; you feel like the world is against you and you try to rebel, to no avail. Why better to express this than the usually gentle Leni Loud? It's a bold concept, but I think it will resonate with you guys. Tell me what you think, and if I should update this in the future. Now, onto the story…
Royal Woods, Michigan wasn't exactly known for its large population. Sure, they had a decent amount of people, at least 20,000 or so… still it dwarfed in comparison to, say, Detroit or Chicago. No, most people didn't even realize this town existed unless you lived there. For the most part, Royal Woods was a quiet town. And no one really, for the most part, actually cared. It was a useless statistic, after all; no one had any need to monitor who lived where. Unless you were a spy. Then it may be important.
Unfortunately for a lot of people, the town wasn't always quiet. You know how they say one bad apple can spoil the bunch? That was the case at the Loud household.
It was no different than any other house on the street: white walls, blue roof, mailbox, front door, no different than anyone elses. Still, people tended to stay away at all costs. Any house nicknamed "the Loud House" was NOT to be messed around with...and no, it wasn't called that because of the surname. That was coincidence. See, the people that owned that house? They had eleven kids.
ELEVEN.
KIDS.
Wow. And some people thought that ONE was enough chaos… and all on top of the sheer coincidence that TEN of them were GIRLS. Yikes!
It isn't exactly an ideal situation, even for neighbors. No, ESPECIALLY for neighbors. Maybe that was why the house a block behind them was currently being moved into only five months after being put on the market. SOMEONE wanted to get out of there… and quick.
The small red house at 54 Savino Street was currently in the process of being furnished when the new occupants finally pulled up into the driveway in a beat up Ford pickup.
Two people stepped out of the car, each holding a small box with personal belongings in them.
"-sigh- Well, here we are…" the man said, gazing at the house. He was on the older side, gray hair jetting out of his black hair and bears.
"Yep. Royal Woods…" his wife said, putting her box on the passenger seat. She was a short and stout woman, only standing to about her husbands chest. Her hair was neatly tied in a bun in the back of her head, and she wore a small bracelet on her arm.
"Gee, it sure is different than Whitehorse, isn't it, I.K… I.K?"
The man turned his head, only to find his son still in the back seat. He sighed, walking over to the door and rapping his knuckle on the window.
Ikiaq Sulak sat up, startled by the noise. He was too engorged in his music to pay attention to the road… time DID fly on the move.
He got out of the seat, where he was almost instantly confronted by the short lady he called his mother.
"I.K, you know we don't like you on that phone so much…"
"I know, I know…" he mumbled, pulling his hoodie over his face as he walked away. "Long car ride, you know? I had to have SOMETHING to keep me busy..."
"Uhh, yeah, like a book?" she asked, moving at a remarkable speed for her short stature. "Maybe like the one I bought you?"
"-sigh- Mom, there is NO WAY I was reading that thing! It was like, a hundred pages!"
"I, that 'book' is the U.S Constitution! Do you WANT to be uninformed about America?!"
"Well, no, but-"
"-sigh- look, it doesn't matter right now, we GOTTA get settled. SULAK FAMILY, MOBILIZE!"
"Dad…" the teenager groaned, but his father was already barreling towards the front door of the house, arm raised as if charging into a Civil War battle. Even better, one of the neighbors had been peering out the window the whole time. Just great… laughingstock of the neighborhood and they hadn't even been there for three minutes…
I.K Sulak was a typical sixteen year old kid.l, by all accounts. He was on his phone almost 24/7, he played basketball with his friends, liked to play ice hockey in the winter… really, the only thing that stood out about him was that he was from WAY up north in Canada. The Yukon, to be exact. You know, Polar Bear Country?
He was a tall dude, and he had long, wispy black hair that hung down to his shoulders. He wore a black hoodie and a pair of jeans, which was already causing him to sweat in the balmy late summer heat. He hurriedly took the hoodie off, casually tossing it to the ground.
"Is this how it ALWAYS is down here?" he wondered as he sat down on the tailgate of his family truck. "THIS warm? And this… dry?"
He already didn't like it here. Not one bit. In fact, he hadn't even WANTED to move out of Canada. Hell, he didn't even KNOW he was moving until two weeks ago! His Mom had tried to get him insterested, talking about a "business opportunity" and an "quieter school" and what not…
Rubbish! He didn't care about that sort of stuff! Here they were, a group of ESKIMOS living in the middle of Michigan! It was like… like a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court!
(...Yes, his mother made him read classic literature. It wasn't fun, but most of them were easy reads… especially Twain.)
Either way, it didn't make sense. Why leave behind a well paying job to… to CHANGE everything? All of his friends were in Canada, thousands of miles away! What was he supposed to do here, actually LEARN?
"Hey, I.K? You want to go watch the football game tonight?"
His train of thought derailed as his dad tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to him, trying to look as sad and miserable as possible.
"Football?"
"Yeah, football! Well, AMERICAN football, but still! I figured you should get the chance to meet people before you start junior year… and you DO like hockey, don't you?"
"Dad, you already know the answer to the question…"
"Come on, I.K, take a joke! I heard this place has a town hockey team! Exciting, right?"
"Yeah, definitely…" he muttered. Even though school had already started a week ago, I.K was in NO mood to make friends at that point. He would be the outsider no matter WHAT he did...
His dad had noticed the small change in his sons demeanor. He walked over and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Look, buddy, I know you aren't as excited as your mother is about this…"
"You can say THAT again…"
"Yeah, I can, can't I? Buck up, buddy! We're gonna do fine here! We got that Inuit spirit in us, you know?"
I.K. smiled at that one. He took pride in the fact that he was an Inuit; or, as a lot of people put it, "Eskimo." Frm where he came from, people threw each around plenty of times, so it didn't really bother him to be called either. Both his parents had one eskimo parent, which left him with nothing but the slightly slanted eyes and long hair. A reasonable compromise, he supposed...
"Yeah… I guess I'll go with you, if you want."
"Sweet!" his Dad practically yelled, patting him on the back. "We'll unpack and go right after, got it?"
I.K had no time to reply before his Dad disappeared through the front door, probably off to tell his mom the great news...
I.K. smirked. He didn't really like it here yet, but hey, it WAS kind of an improvement in ways! Bigger house, a yard, and a town hockey team… not bad, Royal Woods, not bad at all.
"Maybe this WON'T BE so terrible..." he said, picking up his box and carrying it inside. There was still some house warming to do, but it could wait; this guy had a football game to get to.
1216 Franklin Avenue...
"But MOM!" the teenage girl said as she stomped her feet on the kitchen floor. "Why CAN'T I go?!"
"Leni, we have been over this FOUR times now. I don't want you going off and-
"But I'm sixteen! I'm like, totes sure I can take care of myself!"
"And I'm sure you can too, honey, but-"
"It's ONE football game! It's only one and I haven't been to ANY of them this year! I NEED to go!"
"-sigh- Leni, sweetheart, WHY is it so important that you go? You don't even LIKE football! What would you do with yourself there?"
"Well… I don't know, but I would find something!"
Rita Loud sighed, trying to end the argument as quickly as possible. It was a rare occurrence for her second oldest daughter to raise her voice about ANYTHING, but for some reason she felt the need to let it all out right then and there. As if the laundry didn't need to get washed downstairs...
"My friends are going! Like, ALL of them! You CAN'T say no!"
"Leni, I'm sorry, but I don't think it's a good idea," she said, folding up the dried clothes. "You know how it gets with you in big crowds and what not. Remember the fair when you were 12 and you cried when you couldn't find me?"
"Lori is going, though! And so are Luna and Luan!"
Rita paused. Now that she thought about it… yes, Lori HAD said something earlier that day about it. She had said that Luna and Luan were riding along, but…
"Are you sure they'll let you ride with them?"
"Uhh, duh! They're, like, my sisters! Why WOULDN'T they want to take me?"
Rita sighed, standing up and putting her arms on both her daughters shoulders.
"Honey… are you SURE you want to go?"
"Mom, I TOTES got this! I'm pretty sure I can hang out with my friends for a few hours without getting lost!"
"-sigh- Well… ok, I guess, but-"
"OH, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!" She squealed, startling her with a hug. She let go, and bouncing with excitement, ran up the stairs to tell her sister the 'good' news.
"Oh, this should be interesting…" she though to herself as she went back to loading the washer. Leni was a responsible enough girl, but she tended to be a bit… DITZY from time to time…
OK, a LOT more than time to time. It wouldn't have been too unreasonable if she and her husband wanted her to take an IQ test… see if she actually, well, knew enough to be on her own. But they hadn't done that. She knew what her daughter was capable of! And if they listened to any of those parenting magazines she had been receiving in the mail since Lori was born, she would have NO problem getting her ready for college. Her future was bright, thanks to her and Lynns efforts!
But the present was, of course, the present. Nothing could be done about the football game, but some extra studying that weekend could make up for it. It seemed fair enough. Fun at one time, work on the other end.
"You're doing fine, Rita!" she said to herself as she walked down to the basement. "Leni is a perfectly fine lady! She does well in… well, doesn't do BAD in school. And she's good at fashion stuff, too! I say we did-"
"-pretty bad, I.Y.A.M!"
Leni sat on her bed, texting a friend from school. Her mom and dad may be hard to deal with at times, but having a phone really helped keep her busy.
"Uhh, what does that mean Leni?"
"Umm, if you ask me! Lol, isn't it obvious?"
"No, it isn't, lol. Don't you think that they try their best to help you with college and stuff?"
"lol, no! I like totally know what to do! They don't need to hold my hand!"
"Well MY parents are helping me with that stuff. Why don't you want their help?
There was no answer to that. Leni knew her friend had won, and instead of arguing back, she plopped her phone down and laid face up on the bed.
Leni KNEW that she wasn't smart. Well, she SORTA knew. She realized early on in her life that her parents gave Or that she had spent well over a month teaching her how to ride a bike… it was the minor things like that, small details other people wouldn't notice… besides her.
But one would THINK that as you got older, you would be able to get a little more indepen… indeci… In, de, pen, dance. Independence!
Not for Leni. She wasn't allowed to go out unless it was with them, Lori or someone her parents knew. Her phone had a parental lock applied to do certain things on it, which was odd considering Lori could drain half the families plan in 5 minutes. And since she was a little kid, she had to go see a special teacher every month or so to help her out with stuff… it was little stuff, but that didn't stop her from wondering.
Now that she came to think of it… Leni really couldn't REMEMBER a time she was alone. Well, besides that one April Fools Day… but other than that, she had been under almost CONSTANT supervision. And that was what really frustrated her. After all, she WAS sixteen. That's like, practically an adult, right? She could take care of herself just fine! WITHOUT help.
She stood up, grabbing her phone. Lori would definitely be taking her now; she had texted her and (somewhat reluckyta… resuck… re- you know what, forget it) agreed to drive her.
Tonight, the NEW Leni would debut. The more mature, older, and responsible version!
Or at least she hoped. She definitely hoped...