What's poppin, guys? I hope this story isn't very rushed and I hope you enjoy it. I'm sorry, I'm so excited I can't even do a A/N properly, but anyways I hope this appeals to most people and get some good reviews. Thanks!
The South Michigan and Detroit College, not exactly the Harvard of the Midwest, but at least it was pretty decent. Great dorms, great people, good education, atrocious loans...you guess it. It was like any other college in America. Being a pretty brainy kid, Lincoln Loud was lucky enough to get a scholarship into the school. He was extremely popular with many friends from all around the world, be it Asian, Arabic or Canadian. Today, however, was not his usual school day. His family was invited over to the school for his Graduation Ceremony, and of course, like him, they were both elated and excited.
"Lincoln, what's that?" Leni, Lincoln's older sister, asked him in the Family Van. "It's an Academic Dress, Leni. I couldn't borrow Lynn's because she wrecked it up in some mud two years back, so I had to buy a new one for two hundred dollars." Lincoln explained with his voice getting sharper with every word, before glaring at Lynn.
"What do you expect?" Lynn retorted as she saw Lincoln's glare. He turned his head again and looked at Lori, his eldest sibling.
"You know, this is literally the fifth time I'm going back there. Believe me, after a while, you will get sick of hearing that professor say the same thing every year." She deadpanned, before returning to text her Fiancee, Bobby.
"Don't believe that hard-boiled egg, dude. Graduation's always Rockin'!" Luna advised him with a smile, which made him laugh. "I definitely won't forget what Luan did back then." Lincoln recalled and made everyone in the van crack up. "What?" Luan proudly asked her family, "I only sprayed him in the face with gelatin."
After three hours of driving, Lynn Sr, the family's patriarch, pulled up on campus. There were several black teenagers sitting by the curb smoking, some kids scurrying about, and the nerds were hauling their books around. "Seems like it's less busy than normal." Lincoln commented with a depressing tone on it. Usually, there would be gangs going about and lots of picking around, which was what made the place more interesting. Lynn Sr. parked the van and everyone got out and walked over to the main building, but Lincoln ran over to a line of kids.
"Wait up, buddy!" Lynn Sr. called out to his son, who immediately turned around and walked back. "Oops, sorry dad. You and the sisters have to go that way," Lincoln directed by pointing to the Auditorium, "And graduates have to go that way." He continued by pointing to the line of kids. Lynn Sr. nodded his head and send him off.
"See you guys in an hour!" Lincoln waved off as he sped off.
"We love you, honey!" Rita returned the gesture while hugging her husband in joy. Meanwhile, Lincoln carried his box over to the line and got into position. However, he soon got bored waiting in line for the Marshal to take his attendance. "Maybe I came too early," Lincoln thought, but then he was suddenly snapped out of his train of thoughts by a deep, droning voice.
"Lincoln L. Loud, right?" The Marshal read from her clipboard. He nodded in response, and she told him to go to the changing rooms to get dressed, before handing him a card. Lincoln took the card and read it as he walked into the changing rooms and locked himself inside a stall.
"Well, at least I got two distinctions," Lincoln pacified himself as he removed his bright orange shirt and donned his navy-blue dress. Suddenly, before he could put on his hat, he heard noises coming from outside.
"Hey, please, give it back!" a pubic voice was heard pleading.
"Not in a million years," A familiar voice taunted. It sounded like the voice of Lincoln's Elementary School bully that followed him all the way to this school.
"Would you two knock it off?" Lincoln rudely intervened, only for the red-headed bully to drop his victim and turn around.
"Ah, Larry! Look who dressed for the occasion." Chandler, the bully, mentioned as he noticed Lincoln's dress.
"It's Lincoln, you dumbass. Give the kid back his stuff." Lincoln insulted, but Chandler only scoffed.
"Ha! Classic Larry. What'cha gonna do?" Chandler continued as he extended his arms towards the white-haired boy, but it was immediately slapped away.
"Quit it, Chandler. I don't want any trouble, but just to set things straight..." Lincoln threateningly droned, before suddenly picking up Chandler by his collar, "Me being in this shirt doesn't mean I won't do anything to you."
By now, Chandler was terrified. Being one of the easily-threatened kids, he dropped what appeared to be his victim's own dress-coat before slowly backing away. "Good," Lincoln nodded his head, "Now SCRAM!"
Upon hearing Lincoln, Chandler immediately ran into a stall and locked it. "thank you so much. Th-This belonged to my dad, a-and I can't risk losing it." The Victim thanked Lincoln for his help.
"No problem, kiddo." Lincoln said as he wore his hat, "Now let's go before it's too late."
One hour later, all the students were lining up in the backstage corridor, while the principal walked up to the stage's podium. Since the school predicted the immense amount of heat the students would emit, they turned the air-conditioning to the coldest possible temperature. However, though, it proved to be a big waste of electricity as the youths were shivering and gritting their teeth to the cold.
"I'm pretty sure I now know there the school's budget went this year. Also, I don't think that cold air should be a priority over that cancelled field trip to the Aquarium..." Lincoln joked at the seemingly cold temperature, only to get a collective roar of laughter and warnings from the teachers.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the South Michigan and Detroit College. My name is Principal Jonas, and I will be your emcee for today." Principal Jonas greeted the crowd of adults and kids. Meanwhile, everyone was getting bored at the back, and some kids were even stopped from whipping out their phones. Lincoln, on the other hand, was getting more and more sleepy by the moment. Soon enough, he was out like a light.
"Lincoln...Wake up, Lincoln." The Discipline Master slapped Lincoln awake. He woke up with a start and a gasp, before running up on stage. He received his certificate and looked over at his cheering family, who were wildly clapping and cheering for their only brother and son. After a second, however, he shook hands with the Principal and walked off.
"What were you thinking!?" A Marshal angrily questioned, dragging Lincoln by his dress, "You were supposed to glance at them, not stare."
"I'm sorry, ma'am. T-They were my-" Lincoln tried explaining, but was abruptly interrupted.
"Kid, I know they're your family, but please, don't 'indulge' yourself." The Marshal lamented. Lincoln, defeated, bowed in apology and walked off.
"Stupid teachers. Why can't you just let kids look at their parents?" He thought to himself while he was making his way to the exit.
Just then, by the Loud Family, a man walked towards Rita and Lynn Sr and called for them to go to the back.
"Um, who are you?" Lynn inquired as she was kind of confused and weary of this man.
"My, where are my manners?" The man looked over at Lynn, "I'm Mister Colt, Lincoln's English teacher. Now, if you'd excuse me, I would like to have a word with your parents."
Lynn Sr and Rita nodded and followed him to the back of the auditorium. It was dim, spacious and empty, making it ideal for a casual conversation to take place. "Mr and Mrs Loud?" Mr Colt confirmed. The two of them confirmed their identity, and he reached into his coat.
"Over the past few years, I noticed that Lincoln has shown great improvements in both his physical and mental strength. I feel that this should be a career recommendation." He explained as he handed the parents a brochure for the United States Army.
"And...how is this gonna help my son?" Lynn Sr inquired. Mr Colt chuckled and kindly explained the situation that was happening in the East. Apparently, Ivan Kushtof, the new leader of Russia, has brought the country back into communism, and he has gathered together all the Communist countries to conspire against all the governments in the world. Rita gasped in alarm before crying into her husband's shoulder, making him put on a stern face.
"Are you saying you want my son to die?" He sternly demanded an answer.
"Oh, no, no! I would never want that to happen! I just thought it would be...good of your son to serve our country, and nothing else." Mr Colt calmly clarified, decreasing the amount of alarm the parents had. They thanked him and walked back.
Another three hours slowly ticked by, and soon it was time to leave. Lincoln walked out with his family with a sense of accomplishment. Finally, he thought, he was able to get past that one stage of life he hated the most. "Wait up, dude!" Luna called out to her jovial little brother.
"I'm sorry, Luna. It's-It's just that...I've never been so happy before!" He squealed, much to Lynn's disappointment. She scoffed and called him a wuss. Deflecting that insult, Lincoln just walked towards the van and hopped on. Lynn Sr caught up after a while, and drove out of the campus. Rita then looked at her husband before turning back to face Lincoln.
"Lincoln, sweetie, I know you're very happy, but I want you to perhaps consider this job." Rita handed the brochure to Lincoln, who's smile immediately faded away at the sight of the word 'Army'. It was never in his list of dream jobs, and he never wanted anything to do with it.
"I know you're bummed and all, but I think living with all your sisters will come in handy in Bootcamp." Rita tried cheering her son up, but he just looked like a depressed man on a Sunday.
Another few hours flew by in the car, and soon, the family pulled up on their driveway. Lincoln was the first to get out, but instead of running into the house, he walked back into his room with a stunned expression stuck on his face. After shutting his door, he sat down on his bed and opened the brochure. It featured numerous pictures of men doing all sorts of drills, obstacles and practice missions. He started contemplating if he should take on the military whilst considering all the negative factors that could arise. If he died, will his sisters miss him? Will they still love him if he lost? There were just too many things to consider.
Lincoln then looked around his room for something. He then looked under his bed, and apart from all of his hand-me-downs, there was his old laptop. Somehow, he had lost it a month ago and he has never found it since. He then gently pushed the power button, waiting for a response. When there wasn't any buzzing or whatsoever, Lincoln was ready to give up hope on the laptop. Suddenly, a buzzing noise came from the machine, and the computer brand's name flashed on the screen.
"It works!" Lincoln squealed in joy and excitement as he logged in and opened the Camera Chat application. After he clicked on his best friend Clyde's contact, he sat back and watched the computer load.
"L-Lincoln?" Clyde spoke through his webcam, shocked to see his childhood best friend on the other end of the line. The two of them were separated when the two of them left High School and Clyde moved to Ohio, but they have always kept in close contact through online means.
"Clyde, I have an emergency" he calmly said.
"What's wrong?" Clyde responded with concern in his voice. Lincoln flashed the brochure at the webcam, which made the African American gasp. He inspected the text and replied, "Dude, I think you should go." Lincoln asked him why, and Clyde just listed all the reasons as to why.
"What if I...die?" Lincoln wearily responded to his best friend, and he told him that they would miss him, of course, but they also had faith in him. Lincoln felt much better and thanked him, before ending the video call.
Meanwhile, down in the living room, Lincoln's sisters were lamenting their mother.
"Mom, you just had to ruin everything for Lincoln." Lynn paced around the room in frustration. Rita grasped her head in distress and profusely apologised. Ever since Lynn turned eighteen, the siblings were much closer than ever. If one of them was bullied, everyone would give the bully a hard beating. If one of them was upset, they would try everything to cheer them up.
"That's it. We're going upstairs." Lori announced as she and everyone marched up the stairs, leaving behind a much distressed mother.
"Linky, can we come in?" Leni asked as she knocked on her brother's door. Lincoln allowed them in, and they sat on his bed.
"I have one question," Lincoln requested, "will you guys miss me if-if I go to bootcamp?" Everyone laughed, but it soon died down as Luan said in a monotonous voice, "Oh, you're serious."
"W-What makes you think not?" Lori responded, followed by her sisters who bombarded Lincoln with encouragements and assurance. This made Lincoln smile, and he looked down at the brochure. He had made up his mind.
Hello again, before you comment, I just want to let you know that I've tried my best to make this good, and the next update won't be up for about a week or so.
So...for this chapter, I included Chandler bullying a kid, as just letting Lincoln get by without any trouble would seem too unrealistic. Anyways guys, I do hope you like it, and I'll see you guys next time.(ch0pper voice)
