a/n: first story in this category for me! it's au-ish (as in, my take on lindy has never been officially confirmed, but it would seem to fit in her character), and ends with the most recent episode 2x01. although the bulk of the story focuses on lindy as an individual, there is most definitely jogan present here. the title was inspired by the song 'all over' by cruisr, whose ep basically got me through writing this one-shot at midnight. i hope you enjoy!
Lindy Watson prides herself on being an observer of the human condition.
The obsession began when she entered pre-school, and she was suddenly exposed to whole new group of people her own age – you know, besides Logan, who she could read emotionally before she could even read actual words. (She later muses that there's possibly some truth to the whole twin telepathy theory; however, Logan had become more and more of a mystery to her as they grew older). Pre-school provided the perfect opportunity for Lindy's curious nature to emerge. While other children became enamored with cars, ponies, coloring, dolls, or sports, Lindy became fascinated with understanding her peers. How could everyone be so similar, and yet at the same time so… different? She let Logan take the spotlight, with him cracking jokes to their pre-school classmates and racing toys with them, allowing her to fade into the background and watch. While Logan spends his time cultivating his Lego-building skills, Lindy cultivates people skills. She is the one who notices that Tyler always pulls on Monica's ponytails, not because he is mean, like Monica believes, but because he is intrigued by the bright blonde shades of her hair that are so different from his own charcoal-colored strands. Lindy is the one who stays behind after they are released for recess to stop Johnny and give him a hug, because she had noticed that his parents that used to drop him off together every morning now travelled in separate cars, never together. Lindy is the one who knew every one of her peer's favorite games and toys. She can't help it. She's only three, and she's already in deep.
By the time the Fantastic Five, as Logan had nicknamed them for a time, had all become friends, Lindy's obsession seemed to have simmered down.
"Thank god, too," Logan would say, "because it was crazy annoying how she thought she was right all the time."
But really, the fascination remains – it's just hidden a little deeper down. Now that they're all about to enter middle school, her curiosity and incessant desire to understand are seen as more annoying than endearing to those around her. So she holds her tongue a little more, and instead keeps a notebook to track observations. She keeps track of all of the mundane crushes in her grade, and the shifting friendships of her classmates, and even of the loving glances of her parents, and marvels at how people are capable of coming together and moving apart so effortlessly.
Her observations and ensuing predictions are almost always correct, and she keeps a tally in the back of her little notebook to track her success. She often has the urge to tell Logan when he insists she isn't always right, because well, she almost always is. But her notebook is her secret, and her obsession with observing people would ultimately just give Logan more ammunition. So Lindy holds her tongue, but continues to write, and write, and write...
It is not until eighth grade that she notices that her carefully cultivated talents of observation may have some side-effects besides provoking Logan's snark, which she has been familiar with all along. They are just now teenagers, and their parents are now starting to let them go grab smoothies after school and ride the subway like other kids their age, providing more exposure to the real world – and for Lindy, exposure to new and different people. She is pleased to realize that her understanding of people provokes an understanding and kindness in return.
Delia and Jasmine have nicknamed it 'the blonde bubble', but Lindy doesn't see it that way. Monica from pre-school didn't get have a 'blonde bubble', and neither did Sherri, who shared the attendance record with her. Lindy has people who hold open doors for her and help her out on tough days because she gives everything her all, and that includes understanding people. She gets 'special treatment' because she believes that everyone is special.
In retaliation of sorts against her friend's misunderstandings, Lindy begins stating ideas, observations, plans, anything in the hopes of having them understand how she sees the world. What's the point in holding her tongue if it just means that her friends will not understand? She still, however, notes things down, but it's more of a mental list than a physical notebook these days. There are some minuet details that she knows her friends will not understand or appreciate, and she compiles them into her head with all the care of an archivist.
She may be far more willing to share her general outlooks now, but she is still aware that her fascination with details and people is better to remain within her thoughts.
During her freshman year, her friends point out that Lindy can be a little… well, overhanded at times. She doesn't get it at first; why don't they understand that she is just trying to use her skills to help them out? Their desire to live their own lives, without Lindy's input, drives her to decide to bite her tongue once again. She's kept mental records for years, and upon them she decides she will rely from here on out. She's Lindy Watson, she can do this. She can totally keep out of her friend's lives, and keep her opinions based on years of observation within her own head.
So she watches silently as her brother changes his relationship status on Facebook to 'in a relationship with Jasmine Kang' and Jasmine adds today's date in her Instagram bio with a heart next to it. She tries to keep her nose out of Garrett and Delia's mess involving the football team, which is fortunately much easier than avoiding the fact that Jasmine is apparently dating Logan.
"It's totally fake," Jasmine fills her in after school that day. "You see, I want to make Mike jealous and Logan really has a thing for Jenna, but nobody wants to date a guy with no experience or anything, 'cause that's way too risky. It's a win-win: I make Mike jealous so he'll want me back, and Logan will get to have a chance with Jenna."
Lindy resists the urge to grind her teeth at this. Of course Logan liked Jenna! That has been obvious for months now! And Jasmine, she knew, was really less concerned about Mike than she was about the concept of having a boyfriend. Lindy would be the first to acknowledge that her friend completely lacked chemistry with Mike. Jasmine loved dating and the concept of being in love, not Mike himself. Her promise to hold her tongue holds strong though, and she is left simultaneously pleased that her observations are as on point as ever and terrified that the whole fake-dating scheme would crash and burn.
Her list of observations only grows as she catches Jasmine's eyes searching Logan's face as he speaks; Logan carrying Jasmine to class; Jenna's walk past their cafeteria table being completely missed by Logan, who was busy discussing something on his phone with Jasmine; their smoothie dates after school, where they knew each other's favorite orders; and their constant, cutesy nicknames.
It takes less than a week for her to crack and spill out all of her opinions.
Her suspicions about the whole affair with Jasmine and Logan have faded by the summer after freshman year, despite some events that provoked her to reconsider, like their dance together at the dance-off… even though Jasmine's original partner had been Garrett. However, her meddling in her friend's affairs had taught her that maybe it was better to speak before thinking, rather than just spouting out all of her opinions, so she just filed away this information and decided to continue observing.
Continued observation just put her more on edge though, as she considered the number of her peers who had entered freshman year with a group of friends that was entirely different by the next summer! Her fascination with understanding others has never led her to actual anxiety before, but she now worries… what if she loses her friends, whether it be through fights and strife or just the strain of time and distance?
It's the first time she consciously makes an observation about herself: she is petrified of being lonely.
When they enter their sophomore year, Lindy's observations that she had mulled over all summer manifested in a single question to Jasmine as they leave for Rumble Juice after their first day back at Dikta High School.
"What if our friend group breaks apart, Jasmine?"
Jasmine shoots her a quizzical look. "Where's this coming from? Come on, Linds, we've always got your back. Think about it. We've all been friends since elementary school, and Logan's your twin brother! I think you'd have a pretty hard time getting rid of us."
Lindy smiles at Jasmine as the rest of their friends emerge into the hall from last period.
"Rumble Juice, guys?" Logan asks, casually leaning against the lockers to address Jasmine and Lindy, while Garrett and Delia stand next to them debating the best possible smoothie combinations to try.
"Sure," Jasmine says, with a smile directed at Logan. Lindy can't help but notice the way that Logan's grin widens a bit with Jasmine's smile as the two of them lead the way out towards the group's favorite smoothie shop. She smiles a bit, happy that her friends are happy, happy not to be alone, and just happy to be alive. As her detailed memories prove, life may change all the time, but she's pretty sure she's got the best friends in the whole world – and that isn't going to change.
It is a few weekends after they all start their sophomore year that Lindy decides to throw a sleepover. They have all been notoriously bad and she is excited to step up her game this year and prove that she, Lindy Watson, can throw fantastic sleepovers. She arrives home from school beyond excited for the evening's activities, and while Logan decides to lounge around in the basement, Lindy rushes upstairs to finish cleaning her room and prepping for her evening of fun with her friends. She sets her phone down on the bedside table and begins rearranging, returning shoes to her closet, throwing t-shirts in her hamper, and setting up nail polishes so they can give each other manicures and pedicures. In fact, she is so determined to set up everything perfectly that she misses the repeated buzzing of her cell phone on the bedside table.
She heads downstairs to grab the chocolate bars she bought specifically for tonight and is confused to hear other voices in the house. Her parents aren't home and even Logan isn't crazy enough to be talking to himself, yet the voices are coming from the basement, so that is frankly her best theory at this point. With her heightened curiosity, she heads towards the basement only to realize that yes, one of the voices is Logan, but the other voice sounds more like… Jasmine? She cracks open the basement door to see the pair of them huddled together on the sofa over Logan's phone, laughing at a YouTube clip. Logan's arm is draped in a casual manner behind Jasmine on the sofa and she can't help but marvel at the fact that this room is massive and that there's less than three inches probably separating Logan and Jasmine.
They aren't doing anything risqué or even particularly entertaining, but somehow Lindy felt as like she had intruded, despite that they hadn't even noticed her presence yet. There was just something so natural about them being alone together, having fun and sharing something silly. Lindy had always kind of dismissed the idea, but Logan was funny but well-intentioned, while Jasmine was brilliant, both academically and aesthetically, but more high-strung. They were not perhaps an ideal match, but they were better: there was a balance, a sense of stability, a difference in outlooks that ultimately brought out the best in each other.
Eventually Lindy clears her throat and both of them look up, Jasmine immediately jumping up off the sofa to grab her duffel bag and greet Lindy. "Hey sorry, I know I'm early for the sleepover. I texted you about it but I'm guessing you never got it."
"No, no, don't worry about it," Lindy reassures her, leading the pair of them up the stairs to start on the festivities. She doesn't mention that Jasmine had spent the time waiting in the basement with Logan, instead of coming to find her. She doesn't even ask when Jasmine had arrived, how much time she has spent with Logan. Lindy instead files away all of her questions for a later date, but she can't help but notice that Logan's eyes follow Jasmine all the way up the stairs.
They've made it most of the way through the sleepover without incident before the trio begins discussing boys.
"So, what about you Jas?" Lindy asks after Delia finishes raving about the basketball boys. She can't help her somewhat teasing tone – at this point she's about 99% sure that Jasmine is crushing on Logan, and she is unexpectedly pleased with this. (She will not admit, not even to herself, that this is partially because she knows she will never be able to escape Logan and if Logan is dating – or even ends up marrying – Jasmine, it somehow reassures her that she will not be alone).
"Logan!" Someone exclaims, and Lindy turns to Jasmine only to realize that Delia is the one who spoke.
"Logan? Why would you think I have a crush on Logan?" Jasmine said immediately, aiming for a casual tone. She fails miserably, and Lindy is almost tempted to tell her so, until she notices the real reason for Delia's exclamation and decides calling out Jasmine's lie in front of Logan himself is not a smart move.
"Yeah… so I'm going over to Garrett's now," Logan says from the doorway, and they all say their obligatory goodbyes before Jasmine attempts to splutter out a recovery to the whole debacle.
But Lindy just smiles as Jasmine continues to talk, because hey, who is she to judge when the two of them make each other happy? She doesn't push it, because God knows how it went after the fake-dating shenanigans, and just files away Jasmine's complete denial into her observations.
She is, after all, an observer of the human condition, not a matchmaker.
(Though, if you asked for her opinion, based upon years of skills developed through watching and understanding others, she'd say that it's totally obvious that they are head-over-heels in love).
a/n: and tada! please review, or favorite, or burn it in a fire if you're furious i didn't have them kiss [though in all seriousness, having people favorite & leave feedback means a massive amount to me].