What Happened?
I really feel like I'm rolling the dice with this new story, but I had an idea for a tragedy and bonding piece and wanted to see if I could make something out of it. There isn't any detailed explicit or graphic content her, but different actions are mentioned. I wasn't completely sure I should post this, but I'm always looking for feedback on my work and, with this, I'm hoping that anyone can read this and understand that there are things that happen to them in life that aren't their fault.
When someone asks you about your family or your friends who do you think of? You'd probably think of your mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, best friend, brother, sister, a teacher, cousin and even maybe your pets. Everyone listed is different a different person, and in one case a different species, but what do they all have in common? They are all beings in your life that you trust more than anyone else and would go to for advice or help in your time of need, and they'd be more than willing to give it to you. Trust is something that we build with those around us, so we can be comfortable around them, talk to them and, when we need to, tell them secrets that keep us awake at night. It's almost full-time job to earn someone's trust as well as maintain their trust, but it's easy to lose someone's trust. Lose it forever. Everyone has lost someone's trust at one point or another and this time won't be any different; Lincoln Loud, a fifth grader in Royal Woods Michigan will soon know what's it like to lose trust. He hasn't lost anybody's trust, but someone has lost his and they did it in one of the worst ways possible and worst of all, he blames himself for it. He'll soon learn that he hasn't done anything wrong and that it's okay to seek out help even when you're in a position where you just don't know what to do, and he'll become stronger by the end of it all.
"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" The alarm in Lincoln's room sounded notifying him it was time to wake up and get ready for the day.
"Okay, okay I'm awake." Lincoln said as he reached over and turned his alarm off, "man that thing is loud, but I guess that's a good thing."
Lincoln, like most people, really wasn't a morning person and would rather just sleep in, but today he had a bit more energy than he normally did through out the week. Today was Friday, which meant the weekend was one school day away, and if things couldn't get any better Lincoln would be going to another SMOOCH concert the next night with his sisters Lori and Luna. In the immortal words of Luna Loud, 'This weekend is gonna be rocking!'
After Lincoln turned off his alarm he grabbed the clothes he needed for the day and got dressed, he showered and grabbed his tooth brush along with some tooth paste the night before, so he could bypass the line to the bathroom altogether this morning. They don't call him the man with the plan for nothing. As he got dressed he got dressed he couldn't stop thinking about how awesome tomorrow was going to and how much fun he would have.
"Man, this concert is going to be great. I may have already seen them live, but it's always exciting every time you get to see your favorite band." Lincoln thought to himself excitedly as he finished getting dressed and made his way out into the hallway.
Once Lincoln had entered the hallway he noticed his sister, Luna, waiting at the back of the line for the bathroom, he took this as an opportunity to see if Luna was as hyped as he was for the concert tomorrow.
"Hey Luna." Lincoln greeted.
"Oh, hey Linc." Luna greeted back.
"So, you excited for tomorrow?" Lincoln asked excitedly.
"You know it bro." Luna exclaimed while throwing up the goats, her signature rocker stance.
Lincoln didn't have a lot in common with his sister, but there was always something that stood out with each one of them that he enjoyed as much as they did, with Luna it was their love of music and especially SMOOCH. Luna was more than ecstatic when she found out her brother liked rock n' roll, he wasn't as big a fanatic as she was, but it still gave them something to bond over and spend time with one another. Luna may have eaten, slept, and breathed rock n' roll and it could get on the others nerves from time to time, but that was one thing Lincoln admired about her; she was passionate about what she loved and didn't care what others thought.
"It's gonna be so awesome and I still can't believe Lori agreed to come with us." Lincoln exclaimed.
"Well, after last time mom and pop star want to be sure we don't get into any trouble." Luna admitted while rubbing the back of her head.
"Even so, I'm looking forward to seeing SMOOCH again and getting to spend time with you guys." Lincoln said a little sheepishly.
"And we're looking forward to hanging with our favorite baby bro." Luna said while pulling Lincoln in for a side hug and ruffling his hair.
"I'm your only brother." Lincoln responded through laughter.
"Doesn't make it any less true dude." Luna said with a smile.
"I know, I know. I'm going to go get something to eat and brush my teeth, see you downstairs sis." Lincoln said as he broke from the hug and made his way down stairs.
"Wait, your tooth brush is in the bathroom bro, why are you going downstairs?" Luna asked.
"Oh, I grabbed it last night before bed, so I could avoid the line this morning." Lincoln answered with a sly grin.
"That's pretty clever bro wish I would've thought of that." Luna admitted.
"It pays to be the man with the plan." Lincoln responded while making his way downstairs.
Once Lincoln made it downstairs he turned left into the dining room and made his way to the kitchen where he saw his oldest sister, Lori, sitting at the kitchen table texting, presumably her boyfriend Bobby, and drinking her daily cup of coffee. He took this as the perfect opportunity to ask her if she was as excited about the concert as he and Luna were, hopefully her caffeine had already kicked in.
"Hey Lori." Lincoln greeted.
Lori had just taken a sip of her coffee when she heard Lincoln greet her this morning, Lori wasn't much of a morning person, but after some coffee she was a bit more approachable in the morning.
"Good morning Lincoln. You sleep well?" Lori asked her brother.
"Yeah, I slept okay. So, you excited for tomorrow?" Lincoln asked excitedly.
Lori had to think for a second about what was going on tomorrow, then it hit her that she was going to the concert with Lincoln and Luna.
"Yeah, I'm literally super excited to go to a loud rock concert and babysit you and Luna tomorrow." Lori said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.
It wasn't Lori's idea to go with Luna and her brother to the concert, it was her parent's way of making sure they didn't get into any trouble like last time. Lori was defiant at first, but her parents weren't budging; if Luna and Lincoln wanted to go to the concert then Lori had to go as well to keep them in line.
"Don't be like that Lori, it's gonna be fun: we'll get to hear some good music and I get to hang out with my cool older sisters." Said Lincoln.
Lori always tried to be firm with her siblings, she did show affection and love when needed, but this was one time she found it necessary to let her brother know she appreciated the sentiment. Lori got up from the table and made her way over to Lincoln, she crouched down to his level and smiled while ruffling his hair.
"And your cool older sisters are looking forward to hanging out with our favorite twerp." Said Lori, making Lincoln blush and chuckle.
"Thanks Lori and I promise me, and Luna won't be a hand full tomorrow." Lincoln promised.
"You can promise that all you want, but we both know you two are going to go crazy once the show starts." Lori said as she stood up and put her hands on her hips.
"You're probably right." Lincoln said meekly while rubbing the back of his head.
"Well, I know you're excited, but we need to get moving or we'll all be late for school. Finish up and I'll get the others moving." Lori said as she left the kitchen to go check on the others.
Lincoln made his way over to the kitchen sink where he turned the water on and squeezed some tooth paste on his tooth brush and began brushing his teeth, which didn't take him long because Lori was right they all needed to get moving. Once he was done he made his way over to the stairs and began to climb up, once he reached the top of the stairs he noticed that the line to the bathroom had vanished and the door was wide open. He walked into the bathroom and put his tooth brush and tooth paste back and made his way back to his bedroom, so he could grab his school bag. Once he grabbed his belongings from his room he made his way back downstairs where all his siblings were waiting for him.
"What took you so long Stincoln?" Lynn asked.
"Yeah, we're going to be late because of you." Lola accused.
"Sorry guys forgot to grab my bad." Lincoln answered.
"Well, you're here now, so let's get going. Everyone in Vanzilla, now." Lori commanded
Everyone made their way through the front door and into the family van, there wasn't any time to argue about who would get the sweet spot, they were just going to make it on time as it is. Lori drove through the streets, a little faster than she should've, and made it to the grade school first where she dropped off Lincoln, Lisa, Lana, Lucy and Lola first.
"Have a good day at school guys, and Lisa no explosions." Lori demanded.
"Eldest sibling, I promise you if any detonations occur they will be handled swiftly." Said Lisa.
"Lisa, no explosions." Lori said firmly.
"Fine." Lisa pouted.
"The rest of you stay out of trouble." Lori commanded once again.
"We will." The rest said in unison.
"Don't get too distracted about tomorrow, bro." Luna said throwing up the goats.
"I won't Luna." Lincoln said waving her off.
As the family van sped off to the middle school and high school, the younger loud kids made their way into their school and start the day, so they could get it over with as quickly as possible. Lincoln especially felt this way; the quicker today ended the quicker tomorrow would begin, and tomorrow was going to be awesome. Once Lincoln and sisters went their separate ways he made his way to homeroom where he sat next to his best friend, Clyde, and began talking about tomorrow.
"So, you excited for tomorrow buddy?" Asked Clyde.
"You know it dude. It's gonna be awesome; just me, SMOOCH, and spending time with my sisters." Lincoln recounted.
"It should be fun, Luna did make the last concert you were at unforgettable." Clyde pointed out.
"Yeah, she definitely did make that night great." Lincoln said as he and Clyde reminisced about their first concert.
They were both quickly snapped from their day dreaming when they heard their teacher walk into the room and greet everyone.
"Good morning class. I know everyone is excited for the weekend, but we still have a lot to do today, so let's get started." Mrs. Johnson said.
The day went on as normal; going over lessons, doing work, a pop quiz which warranted groans from everyone, lunch, and then back to class for a little until the day let out. Lincoln, and the rest of his friends, were back in class watching the clock trying to make time go by faster. As their teacher began to go over the results of their quizzes from earlier everyone kid's favorite sound could be heard echoing through out the school: the last bell signaling that school was over. Everyone was getting all their stuff together, so they could make their way to their buses and other means of transportation, except for one student.
"Oh, Lincoln. Could stay a minute please?" Mrs. Johnson asked.
Lincoln was almost out the door when he heard his teacher call his name, he didn't really want to stay, but he figured he didn't have much of a choice in the matter.
"Yeah, sure Mrs. Johnson." Lincoln complied as he began to walk over to his teacher.
"Oh, could you please shut the door as well?" His teacher asked.
"Yeah, sure." Lincoln said as he made his way back to the door and closed it.
"Thank you. Now could come over here so we can talk for a minute?" Mrs. Johnson asked.
"Um…sure." Lincoln said as he walked back to his teacher's desk
On the surface Lincoln was trying to keep his cool, but underneath he was losing it big time; he couldn't think of why his teacher would ask him to stay after class. The entire day had gone off without a hitch and he hadn't done anything to get himself into trouble, why would she want to see him after class?
"Well, Lincoln I bet you're wondering why I asked you to stay after class." Mrs. Johnson said.
"Ms. Johnson if I did anything wrong I'm sorry." Lincoln blurted out.
"Anything wrong? No, you've done nothing wrong. This is about your quiz from earlier." Mrs. Johnson responded.
"Oh, thank goodness. I was really worried I had done something." Lincoln said in relief.
"Well, I wouldn't relax completely if I were you." Mrs. Johnson said sternly.
"Why? Did I do bad on the quiz?" Lincoln asked very concerned.
"Well, I won't lie to you, you didn't do very well. In fact, you didn't get any of the questions right." Mrs. Johnson explained.
Lincoln's heart sank to his feet upon hearing the news; he thought he had aced the quiz and was ready to celebrate his small victory when he got home, but apparently, he didn't do as well as he thought. He was prepared for the worst at this point.
"Mrs. Johnson, I know it's not normally allowed, but if you'd be willing to let me retake the test-." Lincoln began to ask.
"That's what I was going to tell you: I am willing to let you retake the quiz right now." Mrs. Johnson responded.
"Really? Heck yeah, I'll retake it now! Oh, wait, let me just tell my sister I'll walk home today." Said Lincoln.
Once Lincoln was able to fish his phone out of his pocket he texted his oldest sister Lori that he had to stay after school and that he'd walk home after he was done, she was quick to respond with an 'okay' and a 'be careful.' After he was finished messaging his sister he walked over to his teacher and retrieved the new examination and walked over to his desk to begin filling in answers.
It had been about thirty minutes and Lincoln had made it a little more than half way through his quiz, he was filling in answers even quicker than before with what he felt were the same answers he used the first time, but he was confident they were the correct ones. He wanted to do well, but more importantly he wanted to get this over with and let his weekend begin.
"This is even easier than the first time, I'll have this done in no time." Lincoln thought to himself with a smile on his face.
Lincoln was entranced in the retaking of his quiz that he did not notice his teacher looking over his shoulder behind him, in fact he didn't even notice until she placed a hand on each of Lincoln's shoulders. This caused him to jump, but he quickly relaxed when he realized it was only his teacher checking up on him.
"Oh, hey, Mrs. Johnson did you need something?" Lincoln asked.
"Oh, no, I was just checking in on how my favorite student was doing" His teacher answered whilst rubbing his shoulders.
"Favorite student?" Lincoln asked taken aback a little.
"Yes, out of all my students you're my favorite Lincoln Loud." Mrs. Johnson said now rubbing his back with one of her hands.
"Uh… thanks." Lincoln said meekly
"No problem." His teacher said while moving her head right next to his and keeping one hand on his left shoulder and slowly moving her other hand down his torso.
"Uh… Mrs. Johnson what are you doing?" Lincoln asked noticing what his teacher was doing.
"Just trying to make you more comfortable while you take your quiz." Mrs. Johnson answered with a devious grin.
Lincoln may have still been a kid, but he still knew when something didn't feel right and what was going on right now felt more wrong than anything, and he was confused as to why his teacher was doing this to him. He was scared.
"Mrs. Johnson could you please-." Lincoln tried to ask before he was cut off.
"Hey, it's okay Lincoln just relax everything's fine." His teacher assured him and still moving her hand down his torso.
"Please stop touch-." Lincoln tried to plead before he was cut off.
"I told you to relax." His teacher said in a more aggressive tone.
Lincoln had never been this scared in his life, he didn't know why his teacher was touching him so much and now she was starting to tighten her grip on him, he didn't like it, and he wished she'd stop. He decided to try one more time to reason with her and get her to stop, and this time he'd let his anger take the reigns a little.
"Mrs. Johnson just stop! I don't want you to touch me, and if you don't stop I'm going to tell-." Lincoln tried to exclaim.
"You'll tell who? Your sisters or your parents? Listen to me: if you tell anyone about what's going to happen I'll flunk you and make you regret ever opening your mouth." His teacher responded angrily.
"Please, don't." Lincoln pleaded one last time on the verge of tears.
His teacher didn't respond, she only smiled at him and began to follow through with her plan. The next thirty minutes were the longest worst moments of Lincoln's life, his teacher did things to him he'd never experienced before, and he hated every minute of it. After his teacher was done committing some of the most despicable acts on the planet she reminded him of the consequences if he were to speak of what occurred and let him leave. As he walked home Lincoln blocked out the entire world around him, a bus could've hit him, and he still wouldn't have noticed it. It was a long and quiet walk that left him with his thoughts and there was one thought that he dwelled on the entire way home: why did she do this to him? Lincoln couldn't figure out why she decided that he was the one who deserved everything she did to him, and why did she do it after he kept telling her to stop? Nothing made that happened in the past hour made any sense, and Lincoln didn't think it ever would no matter how much he thought about it, but he did have one question that lingered more than any other. Was it his fault?
"Could I have done something that caused this?" Lincoln asked himself.
The more he thought about it the more he believed it, he started to truly believe he was responsible for his teacher's actions, that something he said or did made her do this to him and her actions were his consequences. He couldn't have been further from the truth.
"I guess it was my fault, I mean I let it happen." Lincoln thought to himself almost in tears.
His journey home had ended when he looked up and noticed his house was only a few feet away and his fear began to overtake him, he didn't know what he was going to do when he walked through the door. He was just so scared.
"I can't let any of them know. I don't know what she'll do if I tell my sisters or my parents. She might hurt me or worse, she might hurt my family." Lincoln thought to himself.
Lincoln had to decide right there and after some debating he decided to stay silent to protect himself and potentially his family, he'd protect his family at any cost no matter what it was. No matter how much he hurt.
"Well, here goes nothing." Lincoln thought to himself as he reached his front door and opened it.
Once he opened the door he was met with the usual chaos that his siblings brought to the Loud House, he was hoping no one would notice him and it seemed that no one would as he made his way to the stairs and began to climb them. It seemed like the cost was clear and he'd be able to make it to his room without anyone noticing him, but luck was not on his side today because his sister Luna was leaving her room just as Lincoln was entering his.
"Hey bro, how'd the quiz go?" Luna asked.
"Oh, hey, Luna. It went well." Lincoln said a little nervously.
"That's good to hear dude. So, you still excited for tomorrow night?" Luna asked excitedly.
"Yeah, sure am. Luna I'm kinda tired I'm gonna lie down for a bit." Said Lincoln.
"Okay, you okay bro? It looks like something's bothering you?" Luna said as she reached her hand towards her brother.
"Don't touch me!" Lincoln commanded while flinching away from his sister's hand.
"Woah, dude. I'm sorry, you sure you're okay Lincoln?" Luna asked now very concerned.
Lincoln didn't mean to react like that towards her, but after today he didn't know who he could trust, and he was still on edge after everything. He didn't know if what happened earlier would happen again and he wasn't going to take a chance.
"Oh, yeah I'm good. Sorry, Luna. I'm just really tired, I'll see you at dinner." Lincoln quickly said as he hurried into his room and locked the door leaving Luna alone in the hallway.
"Okay, see you at dinner Linc." Luna responded to his bedroom door.
After he entered his room he turned off his light and dropped face first onto his bed. When he rolled over he found himself curling up into a ball, trying to make himself as small as possible. He just stared at the wall and when he knew he knew no one could hear him he let everything he was holding back out and cried his eyes out as quietly as possible.
"What did I do wrong?" Lincoln asked himself through his tears.
Please review, favorite or follow. Thanks to everyone who read the first chapter or just stopped by.