An orange-tinted leaf spiraled downward to the autumn ground. Eleven-year-old Lincoln Loud watched this work of nature from outside of the window in his sixth-grade classroom at Royal Woods Middle. He drummed his fingers on his desk, which was decorated with graffiti added by students from the past. Even his eighth-grade sister, Lynn, had once contributed to the senseless scribbles.
It was the conclusion of day one of a brand new school year. As his teacher, Mrs. Johnson, dismissed the class, he caught up to his best friend, Clyde. As the two departed from the building, Lincoln looked back at the large window. More orange leaves tumbled down. They had all been vivid shades of green once but they were now a range of colors like fire. Little did the young Loud know that the leaves were not going to be the only things changing today.
As he strolled down the sidewalk home, Lincoln noticed that Clyde was staring worriedly at a photo of Lori, Lincoln's oldest sister, taped to his dark hand.
"I was thinking about Lori…" he mumbled. "She's going to graduate high school this year. What if she forgets about me when she goes to college?"
Lincoln stared at the fourth wall for sympathy. Clyde was a hopeless romantic when it came to Lori. She was six years older than him and already had a boyfriend. He would also shut down when in close proximity to her.
After a few more minutes of walking, the duo arrived at the Loud residence. Lincoln and Clyde parted their separate ways.
It was surprisingly quiet in the living room. All of the joyful sounds were faint from upstairs. The TV had a blank face, which meant no one else was watching it. Lincoln slunk onto the couch and grabbed the remote control, so he could turn on his favorite show to watch. He suddenly noticed that he was not alone. Next to him sat his oldest younger sister, Lucy. At age eight, Lucy had just started third grade today. Her ebony bangs were in her eyes and her striped stockings were crossed. This was normal for her.
"Sigh." Lucy sighed.
Then, Lincoln did something he rarely ever did. He put down the remote and asked Lucy about her feelings.
"What's the matter, Luce?" he asked.
Surprisingly, Lucy answered.
"The kids in the third grade don't like me." She explained in her depressing voice. "They say I'm too…"
Lucy paused.
"...saddening."
Lincoln placed his hand on Lucy's shoulder as fourteen-year-old Luan came downstairs and twirled the pink squirt flower pinned to her shirt.
"Today, I found out that Royal Woods High School is very fancy. It has a lot of class." She joked, before bursting into her well-known laugh.
A chorus of groans was heard from upstairs.
"Oh, come one! It was funny!" Luan whined.
"Now's not the time for that, Luan…" Lucy grumbled as she knocked Lincoln's hand off her shoulder. She buried her face in a new library book entitled "Darkness and How to Overcome It."
Lincoln looked concerned about the title of his sister's book. Was Lucy really trying to change her tune to impress her classmates?
This was something Lincoln feared. A sister was beginning to change. He feared a domino effect would occur and possibly change the remaining Louds.
He hid his face in a nearby Ace Savvy comic on the coffee table. That was when Lynn climbed to the top of the couch and peered down at him.
"Why are you hiding?" Lynn asked, being nosy as usual.
"I'm worried that the book Lucy's reading will cause a domino effect." explained Lincoln.
"Pfft… How will reading a new book be of any major effect?" Lynn rolled her eyes. She slid off the couch and wandered along but ended up tripping over a book: one of Lincoln's many science fiction novels. The book flipped open to a random page. As she pushed herself up, Lynn's eyes skimmed over the words and they widened.
"I forgot how fun reading is!" Lynn called out. She picked up Lincoln's novel and showed it to him. "Can I read your science fiction novel? Just for the day?"
"Lynn! I was right! It's starting a domino effect!" Lincoln cried.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'" She walked away with the book and began reading.
Lincoln sighed. "I'm going to bed early…"
He slumped up the stairs and ran into his fifteen-year-old sister, Luna, who stopped playing her purple electric guitar to worry about him.
"What's wrong, bro? I've never seen you so down in the dumps since Ronnie Anne gave you an awful shiner when you tried to smooch her."
"I don't want to talk about it, Luna…" Lincoln mumbled. He entered his linen closet bedroom and planted his face into his pillow.