Her mother thought the $15 a week was for some school fundraiser. Her father thought it was for knew sports equipment. Her siblings didn't have any ideas, and didn't care. Only Lynn knew the embarrassing truth. At the ripe old age of fourteen, she'd done something feminine.
A lot of football players took ballet, she told herself, so it wasn't a big deal. It helped with their balance and coordination, which God knows she needed. Lynn had been clumsily tripping over her feet that past month, and her coach had actually recommended the ballet class. At first, Lynn had scoffed, saying there was absolutely no way she'd do something so...so girly.
But she still found herself diligently going to the class every week even after she became more coordinated, and after a while she found herself enjoying it. She was actually good, which Lynn certainly hadn't expected. Not to mention the drastic improvement in her footwork during football games.
Ballet had helped her, as much as she didn't want to admit it. Lynn had been doing so well at hiding it, too. Everything would have worked out fine if Lucy hadn't just barged into their room in the middle of the day, rummaging around their disaster area of a bedroom as she looked for her journal, and bumping into a certain football bag, knocking out a pair of pointe shoes and staring down in confusion. Who took ballet in their house? Lola? No...the shoes were too big. Probably Lori or Leni, Lucy had figured.
Now, she could have just left the shoes there and not questioned it. However, Lucy did something that made Lynn want to rip her head off.
She picked up the shoes by the laces and brought them to Lori's door. Her little hand pounded against the wood a few times, and conveniently just as Lynn was happily walking up the stairs with a sandwich the door opened.
"Ballet slippers?" Lori scoffed. "Literally nobody in this house takes ballet, Lucy. That's funny, though. Where did you even get those?"
Lucy looked down at the shoes in her hands and shrugged. "I was looking for my poetry journal and I knocked Lynn's football bag over."
Lynn heard her name, turned, and saw Lucy and Lori looking over at her with an expression on both of their faces that she'd never seen before. "Hm?" Lynn mumbled through her sandwich, and suddenly noticed what Lucy was holding. This wasn't happening, this was not happening, not now, not ever. Nobody was supposed to know, and now that Lori knew everyone was going to know.
Lori looked at her tomboyish little sister, narrowing her eyes as she examined Lynn's petite frame. Small, thin, good muscle tone...but ballet? Was this one of Luan's practical jokes? "You're taking ballet?" Lori raised an eyebrow, not convinced.
Lynn dropped her sandwich, which fell to the floor. This was exactly what she was afraid of. "I, uh, I'm.., uh..." she mumbled, unable to meet Lori's eyes. "I, uh..."
"No way." Lori said, following her words with a large and probably unnecessary gasp. "You're a BALLERINA?"
Lynn felt herself cringing. She hated that word, and she especially didn't like people using it to refer to her. Even though she knew she technically was one. Now that Lori knew, the entire eighth grade was going to know. The locker rooms were going to be filled with hushed whispers about Lynn Loud taking ballet, and she was going to become the laughing stock of the football team. That was the best-case scenario, in Lynn's mind.
"Not really." Lynn felt the words pouring out of her mouth. She never was great at keeping secrets. "It's just for football stuff. Official athletic business. You wouldn't understand."
Lynn probably would have had to tell them sooner or later anyways. There was a performance coming up, and she was required to give the invitation to her parents, as much as she didn't want to. It was better that she told them instead of waiting for their parents to do so. She could already see how that would play out.
...
"Come on, kids, let's get in the car! Your sister has a ballet recital tonight!" Lynn Sr. would call up the stairs. The girls and Lincoln would exchange a few awkward glances, trying to figure out which sister was missing.
"Oh my God." Lori would mumble, being the first to figure it out. "Lynn's a BALLERINA?" she'd whisper, and the Loud siblings would burst into a fit of laughter trying to picture Lynn in a puffy tutu twirling around on a stage.
"I'm bringing my camera." Luan would laugh. "This is going to be comedy gold!" She'd follow it up with a lame pun, which she'd laugh at herself, and the rest of the Loud siblings would follow suit.
"Make sure you zoom in on her face!" Lola would say, probably checking her face in her little compact mirror. "Ballerinas have to wear a LOT of makeup."
That would instigate an entirely new fit of laughter, and Lynn knew that if Luan had pictures, or...God forbid...videos, she'd never be able to live it down. Lincoln would no longer be the laughing stock of the family, at least not for a couple months until he did something stupid.
...
Lynn claimed she wasn't afraid of anything, but she was terrified of being ridiculed.
Lori motioned for Lucy to leave, and pulled Lynn into her bedroom for a more private environment. "Wait until Bobby hears about this!" she exclaimed, and Lynn put a hand over her sister's phone.
"Lori, you can't tell anyone." she sighed, taking the shoes from Lori's hands. "It's just for balance stuff, and if the guys on the team ever figured it out-"
Lori shook her head. "I don't believe you." she said bluntly. "There's no way you're graceful enough for an art like dancing."
Lynn crossed her arms, and furrowed her eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?" she challenged. Was Lori blatantly insulting her?
Lori shrugged. "Nothing. I just can't see you, of all people, being coordinated enough to be any good at ballet. I don't envy the poor soul who's trying to teach you." Lynn's facial expression was starting to shift to slightly angrier by the second, and Lori knew she'd done something right. If there was any way to get Lynn to do something she was embarrassed by, it was by telling her that a specific sister thought she couldn't do it. Sure, Lori had trouble imagining her tough little sister up on a stage being elegant and graceful, but when Lynn set her mind to something she was usually pretty good at accomplishing it.
"I'll have you know that I've been taking a class down by the park with the weird tree for three months, and my teacher says I'm one of the fastest learners she's ever met. Maybe I can't pronounce some of the French words but I can do the things that the words mean." Lynn hissed back, and Lori smirked. "What are you so happy about?"
Lori smiled. "Oh, nothing. I just can't wait to watch you. By the park with the weird tree, right?" Perfect. Lori knew that she'd get all the information in a matter of seconds if she challenged her sister's abilities, and the plan never failed. Lynn wasn't necessarily smart enough to catch on quite yet.
"What?" Lynn took a step back. "No way! You're not watching." Lori would make fun of her until...until forever. There was no way Lynn was letting her oldest sister come to her ballet class.
Lori sighed. "Okay, fine. You're asking for it, though. If I happen to accidentally tell Luna, and if she happens to sing about it in the shower tomorrow morning..."
Dang it. Lynn knew she'd regret this. "You can watch one class. Just one. I'm not very good, though, so it's not my fault if you're disappointed." she replied. "No inviting anyone. I haven't even told Mom and Dad yet. I was planning on it next week, since I have to tell them about a performance."
Lori sighed. Her little sister was just nervous. "We can tell Mom and Dad together if you want." she offered, and Lynn shrugged, fumbling around with the shoes in her hands.
"Okay." Lynn replied. "Lori, uh...thanks. For not blabbing or anything." This was awkward; this was immensely awkward. Lynn never spent time with Lori and now Lori wasn't using this as blackmail? That was weird.
"You know ballerinas have to wear a lot of makeup, right?" Lori piped up, and noted the look of sheer horror on her sister's face. That was more like it.