"So then, it turns out Sergio was the one using up all the power throwing ravers every night in the mercado! I'm telling you, that parrot is something else."

"Well, at least you weren't a raging hypocrite about the whole thing like I was."

Ronnie Anne couldn't help but chuckle at that. Ever since she moved to Great Lakes City, it had been quite an adjustment. One of the most difficult challenges for her was getting used to sharing a living space with not just her large family, but an entire building's worth of people. Because of this, she was grateful to have someone like Lincoln Loud to share her experiences with. After all, living with a lot of people was something Lincoln had to do his whole life.

"Yeah, but at least you still have your own room all to yourself. I have to share mine with Sergio now," said Ronnie Anne.

"What? Why?" asked Lincoln.

Ronnie Anne pouted. "'Cause Bobby wouldn't let him sleep in his room. Those two really don't get along."

Lincoln furrowed his brow and stroked his chin. "Have you tried making dinner for the two of them in Bobby's room and convincing them to make up?"

Ronnie Anne blinked. "That sounds… kinda specific."

"I had to do that when Lucy kicked Lynn out of her room, forcing Lynn to bunk with me," Lincoln explained. "Trust me, that was torture."

"Ah," said Ronnie Anne. She then shrugged. "Eh, I have my ways of dealing with Sergio. He's not the best roommate ever, but I know how to tire him out."

"Well, as long as you have everything under control," said Lincoln. "It sounds like everything's going well over there."

"Yep," said Ronnie Anne. "You know, I wasn't sure about this at first, but I'm really starting to like it here in the city. Heck, I haven't even had to use that trick you taught me all that much."

Lincoln's eyes went wide. "Really? Then who do you talk to when things get overwhelming for you?"

"Well, you, obviously," said Ronnie Anne.

"Yeah, but I'm not around all the time. You know that," said Lincoln. "Don't tell me you've been talking to Sergio."

Ronnie Anne scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Him? Please. He might have your back when the chips are down, but he's not really known for his bedside manner. Seriously, we had to remind him countless times to stop making snide remarks to our customers at the mercado."

Lincoln winced. "Yikes. So, who have you been talking to?"

Ronnie Anne was about to answer when she heard a series of garbled chirps and coos come from outside her window. Lincoln overheard the calls and raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't know you had nightingales in your apartment," he said.

"Oh, that wasn't a nightingale. That was…" Ronnie Anne trailed off as a thought struck her. "Wait a minute. How'd you know that was a nightingale call?"

"Lana's been getting into birdwatching lately," Lincoln answered. "So, what was that?"

Ronnie Anne bit her lip and sucked in a short breath. "Just a friend of mine. You wouldn't know her. Actually, I promised I'd meet up with her later today."

"Oh. Well, I don't wanna keep ya," said Lincoln. "See ya around."

Ronnie Anne smirked. "Yeah, smell ya later, Lame-O."

With that, Ronnie Anne hung up and made her way downstairs.

As she stepped outside the apartment building, Ronnie Anne couldn't help but feel a giddy warmth overtake her. Standing right below her bedroom window was none other than her best friend, Sid Chang. As always, Sid had a peppy exuberance to her, as though her very body radiated pure joy. She had her hands cupped over her mouth as she called up to the now-empty apartment.

"Brrrah-ca-ca-ca-koo~!" she crowed.

Ronnie Anne chuckled. "Yo, Sid. I'm over here."

Sid spun around and stared at Ronnie Anne for a moment before letting out a hearty laugh.

"Oh, hey! There you are," she said. "So, we going to meet your friends or what?"

Ronnie Anne let out a sheepish chuckle. Though Sid was her best friend, she wasn't the first friend she made when she moved to Great Lakes City. There was a small crew of cool kids (or at least, she thought they were cool) that hung out with her every now and then. She was hoping that they would accept Sid into the fold.

"Yep," said Ronnie Anne. "Sorry if I kept you waiting. I just had to finish up some stuff, and I lost track of time."

"Oh?" Sid asked, tilting her head. "What kinda stuff?"

Ronnie Anne paused for a moment. In the past, she was hesitant to bring up her previous life in Royal Woods, believing that people would think less of her if they saw her as some hick from the country. But thing had changed since then, and she already told Sid that she was originally from Royal Woods. So she figured there was no harm in opening up a little more.

"I was talking to a friend of mine from back home," said Ronnie Anne. "My first home, I mean."

"Oh, cool," said Sid. "Anyone I know?" She laughed and smacked her own forehead. "Oh, wait. Duh~! I've never been to Royal Woods! Of course I wouldn't know!"

Ronnie Anne couldn't help but chuckle at that. It was just like Sid to spout off the first thing that popped into her head. She walked up to her.

"C'mon, let's head over to the arcade," said Ronnie Anne. "I can tell you about him on the way."

Sid did a double take. "Him? As in a boy?"

Ronnie Anne arched an eyebrow at Sid's question. "Um, yeah. What about that is so interesting?"

"Oh, nothing," Sid said coyly, casting her gaze upward. "So, uh, what's his name?"

"Lincoln," said Ronnie Anne. "Lincoln Loud."

Sid furrowed her brow and stroked her chin as she kept pace with Ronnie Anne. "Lincoln Loud. Love the alliteration. He must be a really cool guy if he's friends with an awesome girl like you."

Ronnie Anne chuckled and shrugged. "Eh, he can be when he wants to be. Most of the time, he's just a big dork."

"So, he's a cool dork, then," said Sid. "Sounds like my kinda guy. Is he cute?"

Ronnie Anne flinched, her cheeks slowly turning pink. "Uh, I dunno. Kinda, I guess?"

Sid saw Ronnie Anne get flustered, and her lips curled into a sly grin. "Don't tell me. He's your—"

"He is not my boyfriend!" Ronnie Anne snapped, cutting across Sid.

Sid laughed. "Oh, c'mon. You can't pull one over on me that easily," she teased. She started poking Ronnie Anne's cheeks. "Look! You're blushing~."

"C-cut it out!" Ronnie Anne growled. "I-it's not like that!"

"Well, then answer me this. He's a boy, right?"

"Yeah."

"He's your friend, right?"

"Y-yeah."

"There you go! Boyfriend!"

Ronnie Anne groaned and slapped her own forehead. "Dang it, Sid."

Sid let out a hearty chuckle and wrapped her arm around Ronnie Anne's shoulder. "Relax, Ron. I'm just messin' with ya. No need to get so defensive."

Ronnie Anne sighed. It was hard for her to stay mad at Sid, mainly because of her aura of perpetual happiness.

"S-sorry. Just… You wouldn't believe how many times I've had to tell people that we aren't like that," she said. "And believe you me, he's not too thrilled about it, either."

"Oh~. Gotcha," said Sid with a nod. "So, how'd you two become friends?"

"It's… kinda complicated," said Ronnie Anne sheepishly. "You know Bobby's girlfriend Lori, right?"

"I've heard of her. Never seen her around, though."

"There's a reason for that. See, she's Lincoln's big sister. And one time, Bobby broke up with her because Lincoln…" Ronnie Anne's blush resurfaced. "…kinda, sorta, hurt my feelings."

Sid blinked. "Wait, what?"

"H-he didn't mean to. Some boys were teasing him because I kinda picked on him a lot, and he just snapped."

Sid scratched her head. "Okay, I'm getting confused. Did he hurt your feelings, or did you hurt his?"

Ronnie Anne sheepishly rubbed her arm. "Both? Like I said, it's complicated. Look, the point is I liked playing pranks on him a lot, and some of the other boys in our school thought that meant I had a crush on him. They made fun of him for it, and that caused him to snap and say some stuff that he didn't mean."

"And that hurt your feelings, which made Bobby break up with Lori," Sid mused.

"Pretty much," Ronnie Anne sighed. "After that, Bobby and Lori dragged us both to this fancy restaurant so we could make up. And while we were there, I kinda learned that he was… pretty cool. F-for a dork, I mean."

Sid gave Ronnie Anne a cocky smirk. "Right. So you two have been friends ever since, huh?"

"Yeah, something like that," said Ronnie Anne. She then sighed. "Actually, when I first moved here, he was a big help."

"Oh?"

Ronnie Anne cast her gaze downward as her pace slowed. "To be honest, I didn't wanna move away at first. I-I loved my life back in Royal Woods, and this was too much of an adjustment for me. Back then, it was just me, Mom, and Bobby. And, well, you know what it's like now."

Sid gave Ronnie Anne a quizzical look. "Huh? But I've seen you get along so well with everyone in your fam."

"Yeah, and I love them to bits. But living with them at first was just too much for me." Ronnie Anne sighed and slumped over. "I wasn't used to sharing my space with so many people. And when I tried to get Lincoln and Lori to convince Bobby not to stay, that backfired big time."

Sid furrowed her brow in thought. "Hmm. I kinda get why you asked Lori for help, but why did you have to get Lincoln involved?"

"Don't ask me; that was Lori's idea," said Ronnie Anne. "Anyway, it didn't matter. It turned out after talking about it with Bobby, Lori was fine with him staying in the city. I was pretty devastated after that."

Sid massaged her temples, struggling to keep up with the story. "Hang on, time out. When I first met you, you loved living here. What changed your mind?"

Ronnie Anne sighed. "Just seeing how much my family cared about me. Before I could tell them that I wasn't going to be staying, I found out that they furnished my room just for me. That made me realize how selfish I was being, and it convinced me to give this a chance. But I was still kinda scared about the whole thing. So, Lincoln and I decided to stay in touch so he could give me pointers about surviving in a big family."

"Wait, back up. How would he know how to survive in a big family?"

"He lives with ten sisters."

Sid's eyes nearly popped out of her skull. "Leaping lemurs! How does a family like that even function?!"

"They have their ways," said Ronnie Anne. "Anyway, I always like to check in with him every now and then; especially when life gets me down. It's nice to share my experience with someone who knows what I'm going through, y'know?"

Sid frowned. "Wait a minute. You share your experiences with me all the time, and I never knew about all that."

"I-I know, I know. And don't get me wrong; you're great, Sid," said Ronnie Anne. "But still, Lincoln's really important to me. I don't wanna forget about him just because I have you to talk to."

Sid tilted her head. "Okay, that came outta nowhere. I never even heard of this friend of yours until today; why do you think I would be replacing him?"

"I-I don't know. I-it's not like we stopped talking to each other when you moved in," said Ronnie Anne. "I guess I just see a lot of him in you or something."

Sid blinked. "You do?"

"Kinda," Ronnie Anne said with a shrug. "I mean, you both understand me like no one else does, I can always count on both of you to have my back no matter what, and both of you are the kind of people I wanna talk to when life gets me down."

"Oh. Huh. That's… neat, I guess," said Sid sheepishly. "But hey, there's no rule saying you can only have one friend. What about those guys we're meeting today?"

Ronnie Anne shook her head. "It's not the same. Nikki, Casey, and Sameer are cool and all, but to be honest, there are just some things I'm not comfortable sharing with 'em. Heck, they didn't even know I was from Royal Woods for the longest time."

Sid did a double take. "Wait, huh? Why not?"

"'Cause I didn't tell 'em," Ronnie Anne said sheepishly. "I thought they wouldn't want to be my friend if they knew I wasn't always a city girl. Luckily, Lincoln managed to set me straight."

Sid's expression brightened. "Oh, of course! So that's why you were so open with me when we first met! I was kinda confused for a second there."

Ronnie Anne chuckled. "Yeah, I've changed a lot since I first moved here. And a lot of that is thanks to Lincoln."

Sid smiled and pulled Ronnie Anne in close. "Well, I think this Lincoln kid sounds like a swell guy. And you shouldn't feel like you have to pick between us. We can both be your confidants. Me as your bestie, and Lincoln as your long-distance…"

"If you say 'boyfriend,' I'm gonna bop you one," Ronnie Anne warned.

Sid sneered playfully. "We both know you're thinking it~."

"I-I am not~!" Ronnie Anne whined as she palmed her face. "Sheesh, is this how Lincoln felt when I picked on him all the time?"

"Who's to say?" Sid said with a shrug. "I don't know him like you do. But I would love to meet him someday."

Ronnie Anne gave Sid a dirty look which soon dissolved into a defeated smile. "Y'know what? Maybe I'll introduce you sometime. I think you two would really hit it off. Right now, it's time you met some of my other friends."

"Sure thing!" Sid chirped. "I can't wait to meet these cool guys you told me about! Let's go, Bestie!"

With that, she skipped on ahead humming to herself. Ronnie Anne looked on after her before turning her attention to the empty air.

"Well, this is kinda awkward," she said to seemingly no one. "Look, I'm sure you guys are great. But between Lincoln and Sid in my life, I don't know if I really need to tell you guys all my problems. It's nothing personal; just… I have my own way of dealing with stuff. Just like Lincoln does." She then shrugged. "But hey, let's try to keep in touch, yeah? You never know when I'll need that extra support."

"Hey, who're you talking to, Ronnie Anne?"

Ronnie Anne blushed as she turned to Sid, who was looking on in complete bewilderment.

"I'll explain later!" Ronnie Anne hollered before turning back to the empty air. "Sorry, I gotta run. Catch you on the flip!"

With that, she dashed off after her friend.