"Sigh, I told you guys I wanted to get ready for tonight by myself," Lucy groaned in a deadpan tone.
It was a peaceful early spring evening in Royal Woods. Just a few hours away was the annual "Spring is in the Air" dance at Royal Woods elementary school. The only two Louds who were going to said dance were Lincoln and Lucy, with the former getting ready by himself in his room and the latter being the center of her sisters' overly eager attempts at preparing her for that night.
The rest of the Loud sisters crowd around the young goth holding a hairbrush, hair spray, a blow dryer, various hair accessories, and pieces of jewelry.
Lori stares down at Lucy with a serious expression and her hands on her hips. "No way Lucy, we won't hear any of it. You're going to your first dance tonight, and we want you to literally look amazingly beautiful," Lori commanded.
"Especially since your boyfriend Rocky is gonna be there!" Leni squeals in delight.
"Stop saying the word boyfriend. I don't even know if he's really my boyfriend," Lucy mutters.
"What're you talking about Luce? You said he liked you, didn't you?" Lynn asks.
"Yes. But that doesn't necessarily mean that we should just jump ahead and declare him as a boyfriend," Lucy says pessimistically.
"How long has it been since he told you he liked you?" Luna wonders.
Lucy places her index finger on her chin trying to remember, "I think it'll be about 2 weeks today. Why do you ask?" Lucy whispers.
"Lucy does have a point," Lisa jumps in, "2 weeks does seem like a relatively short time for two people to declare themselves as a couple."
Lola looks at Lisa with a raised eyebrow, "You would wait longer than two weeks to call your date a boyfriend? No wonder you're single Lisa," Lola comments.
"Actually, that brings up something else," Lucy jumps in, "Rocky explicitly told me that he likes me as myself. As in, not regular and normal. So all the more reason that I do not need your guys' help," Lucy insisted.
"Oh that reminds me, I made you a special dress specifically for tonight. Let me go get it for you," Leni says with a bright smile. She steps out of the room and heads to her own room.
Lucy was really worried what Leni's dress for her was going to look like. Oh God, I hope it's not an overly pink frilly thing. Cause that worked sooo well the last time. Lucy thinks to herself.
"Besides, can't we at least do your hair?!" Lola whines while clutching a hairbrush tightly in her hand.
"Why? So you could turn it blonde again?" Lucy says snobbishly.
"That was actually my fault. If you don't want to be blonde, that's fine. You can stay black," Lori reassures.
"Hmm. Then I guess you can do my hair," Lucy says.
Luna holds out a small black box, "Look Luce, I found the perfect piece of jewelry for you," Luna squeals.
She opens the box to reveal a silver chain with a silver L attached to the end of it. The L was in cursive and had small diamonds on it.
"Gasp, this is beautiful. Is it yours?" Lucy compliments.
"Actually it was mine," Luan says, "you can keep it if you want. I only wore it once and I don't plan on wearing it any time soon," Luan says with a smile.
"Thank you Luan," Lucy says gratefully.
"Here, let me put it on for you," Lori grabs the necklace and unhooks the fastener from the chain.
She then places the necklace and in the front of Lucy's neck. Lori adjusts the necklace to make sure it isn't too tight, "Is that good?" Lori asks.
"Yes, that's perfect," Lucy replies.
Lori fastens the necklace and everyone else takes a look at the shimmering silver L on Lucy's neck.
"I'm glad I gave you that necklace. It looks so much better on you than it did on me," Luan whispers, stunned.
"Let me see," Lucy steps away from her sisters and looks in her mirror. She holds the L pennant in between her thumb and index finger.
"Ooh. You're right Luan, this does look good on me," Lucy says.
"Hey Luce, I know the perfect hairstyle for you! Come here," Lola squeals.
Lucy hesitantly walks towards Lola, who's holding a hairbrush.
"Remember, I'm tender-headed so please be careful," Lucy reminds.
She kneels on the floor so that Lola could properly brush her hair. After about 20 seconds, Lola is finished brushing Lucy's hair, which is a mini ponytail on the left side of her head while the rest of her hair is down. The mini ponytail is held by a dark gray hair tie.
"Wanna wear a bow in your hair? It's up to you," Lola asks as she holds up a small white bow.
"I don't know, let me see," Lucy grabs the bow from Lola's hand and steps towards her mirror.
She places the bow over the hair tie and removes it. She keeps doing this about 3 more times.
"Nah, I don't want the bow," Lucy says as she places the bow on the edge of her bed.
"Lucy! Lucy! Here's the dress I made for you!" Leni runs into the room.
She is holding a black silk dress with thin straps. It also has a white satin sash across the waist with a large white bow attached to it.
"Ooooh," All the girls say in unison.
Lucy's jaw drops and her eyes widen under her long bangs. "Leni...it's...it's beautiful!" Lucy gasps, totally stunned.
"I know, isn't it?!" Leni squeed, "I made it myself. I know that your favorite colors are black and white, so why not make a black and white dress?!" Leni carefully handed Lucy the dress.
"I can't wait to put this on," Lucy says.
She looks up at her sisters and sees their wide eyes and enormous toothy grins.
"Uh, do you mind?" Lucy comments.
"Come on Lucy, we're all girls here," Lori comments.
"So what? It doesn't mean I want to change in front of you. So can you get out please?" Lucy begs.
The remaining 9 sisters, slightly under protest, step out of the room and into the hall. After Lucy closes the door, Lincoln opens his own room and steps out.
Lincoln is wearing a crisp white button down shirt, dark red tie, a jet black jacket with matching trousers, and shiny black loafers on his feet. His white hair was neatly combed and surprisingly shiny, which probably meant that he put grease or gel in it.
After Lincoln exits his room, he walks down the hall adjusting the cuffs of his jacket. Once he finished, he looks up and sees his sisters standing in front of Lucy's door staring at it in anticipation.
"Is Lucy ready?" Lincoln asks.
The sisters look up at Lincoln and admire their only brother looking so dashing and handsome.
"Wow Lincoln, you look good," Lori compliments, giving a hearty thumbs up.
Lincoln gave a look of satisfaction as he adjusts his tie. "Thanks. I gotta look good for Ronnie Anne," Lincoln comments.
"Just like Lucy's gotta look good for Rocky," Leni pointed out.
"Speaking of which…" Lynn starts to pound on the door, "Hey Lucy, you ready?" Lynn yells.
"Just a sec. I gotta put on my shoes," Lucy calls from inside the room.
Luna turns to Lincoln, "You sure Ronnie Anne's gonna be there bro?" Luna wonders.
"Of course. We planned it in advance," Lincoln answers.
"And you're definitely sure Rocky's gonna be there right?" Lori asks.
"Yes. Lucy told me that Rocky promised he'd be there," Lincoln reassures.
"Ok, I'm coming out. Step away from the door," Lucy calls out.
The rest of the sisters and Lincoln stop crowding around the door and form two single file lines next to the door. As the doorknob turns, the sisters all watch in anticipation for Lucy to come out.
When they finally saw her, they couldn't believe their eyes. The black dress that Lucy was wearing was long and flowing. The white sash and bow across Lucy's waist was so bright and it perfectly complimented the black silk. Of course the necklace that was situated on Lucy's neck was practically glittering. On her feet, Lucy wore white socks with white lace on them and black shoes with small flat heels on them.
"Wow Lucy, you look fantastic," Lincoln compliments with wide eyes.
Lucy gives a shy grin and tugs at the side of her skirt, "Do you think...Rocky will like it?" Lucy asks.
"Like it? Oh I think he'll adore it," Lincoln reassures softly.
Upon hearing that, Lucy blushes and places a hand on her heart, "Now I really want to see him," Lucy sighs.
"What time is it?" Lincoln asks his sisters.
Lori pulls out her cell phone, "7:45," Lori answers.
"The dance already started at 7:30. So you ready to go?" Lincoln asks Lucy.
"Yeah. Dad's gonna drive us right?" Lucy wonders.
"Yeah, we can't walk. It's dark out and it'll get chilly later on," Lincoln replies.
Lincoln and Lucy walk down the stairs side by side.
"Bye, good luck, have fun," The sisters bid farewell.