For today's music: "Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac. Try to find a good quality '75 live version, but if you can't, the original studio recording will do just fine. (Trust me, if you're a Mac fan, it's worth it to watch and listen Stevie put her all into this performance.)


Lori, Leni, and Luna pull into Royal Woods High School.

What started as a normal day has quickly escalated into the most bizarre morning of Luna Loud's life.

Lori and Leni have gone back to gossiping about Carol Pingrey and the upcoming Vortex Club party, but Luna couldn't feel anymore distanced.

"I didn't actually rewind time did I? No… That's just stupid… Isn't it? There's no way…"

"But then- what the heck was that?"

"Luna!" Lori hollers, startling her.

"What?"

Her older sisters just stare at her with confused, concerned expressions.

"Luna, you're being really weird. What's going on?" Lori bluntly asks.

Luna rubs the back of her neck the way she always does when she's nervous. "Nothing… Seriously… I'm good."

Lori's expression changes from concerned to suspicious.

Then, excited.

"Oh, I know what's going on…"

"Uhm… You do?"

"Yeah… you're finally gonna ask Sam out aren't you?" Lori confidently speculates.

Luna just mindlessly stares.

"Uhm…"

"O- M- Gosh!" Leni blurts out. "I totally knew it! You're gonna ask him to the concert aren't you!"

And there's that "him" again.

"I uh… I… Uhm…" Luna sputters.

"Relax… He's got no reason to say no…" Lori assures her. "And if he does we'll make sure he never sees Butthead. Right Leni?"

Leni is snickering. "You said Butthead!"

Lori just groans. "Alright losers, I'm locking up," she says, making her way out the door.

Leni complies, but Luna is still nebulous. It's like she's dreaming, and she's just waiting to wake up.

"Luna!" Lori says with an impatient shrug.

She simply gets out of the car, and doesn't say anything more.


Once she's inside, and sees all the familiar faces wandering the Royal Woods High halls, she almost forgets about the incident with the truck.

But sure enough, the image of its headlights fast approaching the van returns to her mind, and it refuses to leave.

Rather than going straight to Mr. Andrew's class for first period, she decides to take a breather in the restroom.

She puts her earbuds back in, and again selects whatever will play from My Mix on YouTube. The 1975 live version of Rhiannon where Stevie Nicks absolutely loses it plays.

Once she's inside the bathroom, she can see Carol Pingrey and some other Vortex Club wench giggling about something she likely doesn't care about. They give her a smug glare, but leave without giving her too much else to complain about.

"Alone… Finally…"

She rushes into the nearest stall, and sits down.

"Holy… I don't even know. There's no way that really happened. I imagined it. I didn't sleep enough last night. Lisa put something in my breakfast. I couldn't have actually- How is it even possible?"

She thinks long and hard about whether or not she's seen or heard anything like it before, but nothing comes to mind. No movies, none of Lincoln's superheroes, nothing.

She takes long, slow, deep breaths as Stevie breaks into the coda.

And in her, she's able to lose herself just a little bit.

She imagines singing like that for a large audience. Her family, Mr. Andrews, the Vortex Club jerks, Mick Swagger, and of course- Sam are all watching. Sam is in the front row, looking smoking hot, and she's totally spazzing out. Luna extends her hand so she can join her on stage. She accepts it, and jumps up to join her. Luna looks into her blue eyes, and Sam looks into her brown eyes, and they close them, pucker their lips, and-

BUZZZZZ

She discovers she's received a new text message.

Sam: Where you at?;p

"Shoot… I'm gonna be late for class." Luna thinks.

And suddenly, she remembers the very valuable tickets she got for her birthday resting on her dresser at home.

She starts typing.

Luna: Tearin' shit up;)

"No… Too douchebaggy." She clears it and tries again.

Luna: omw tell Andrews not to mark me

"No… To spazzy."

Luna: Awwh, do you miss me?;)

"No… Too- obvious…"

Luna: Sitting in the bathroom freaking out about life. By the way, I like you and I sent those cheesy love letters.

She erases this, and takes a deep breath. Luckily, no one's taken a morning constitution yet. Or at least- it doesn't smell like it.

Luna: omw

Send.

She leaves the restroom, puts her phone and earbuds in her pocket, and makes for room 2211.

As she does, she witnesses something that is all too common in this school.

Hank and Hawk, the lamest, grossest, meanest, biggest freshmen, are ganging up on some poor scrawny kid who's name escapes Luna's mind.

And of course, bystander apathy is the status quo, as no one who passes by takes any action.

And of course, Luna is a hypocrite for even judging those people, because she's going to do the exact same thing.

She can hear their voices, and she can't make out what they're saying to the poor guy, but she knows it can't be good. Still, she doesn't have the courage to stand up these imposing brutes.

BANG!

She turns around, and sees that Hawk bashed the little guy's head into the locker. "Wanna say that again, pussy?" he says, grabbing the starry-eyed kid by his shirt.

"Teach him a lesson, dude," Hank says.

"Yeah… a lesson," Hawk reiterates, and prepares his fist.

Instinctively, Luna steps up and raises her hand. "Stop!"

And just like before, it seems as though everything has frozen into place.

Everyone is standing still, and there's this weird blurry haze in the air.

Time has stopped.

But Luna hasn't.

She looks at her hand, feeling the same weird energy surging through her veins as before.

"No way…" she utters.

For a moment, she just stands there, marveling at the phenomenon.

Then, she feels the same sudden urge from before as those headlights came closer, and she breaks.

*REWIND*

Hank and Hawk, the lamest, grossest, meanest, biggest freshmen, are ganging up on some poor scrawny kid who's name escapes Luna's mind.

And of course, bystander apathy is the status quo, as no one who passes by takes any action.

Only this time, Luna is standing on the other side of the hallway, watching from a new angle.

"Holy… Oh my god!" she thinks, completely baffled.

Not only did she rewind time, but she's teleported!

Okay, so not teleported, but she's not where she was, or she is- but not where she was before she rewound.

BANG!

Again, Hawk bashes the boy's head into the locker. She actually sees it this time, and she can only imagine how painful- and humiliating- it had to be.

"Wanna say that again, pussy?" he says, grabbing the starry-eyed kid by his shirt.

"Teach him a lesson, dude," Hank says.

"Yeah… a lesson," Hawk reiterates, and prepares his fist.

As she watches, she can feel the fear taking over. She's paralyzed.

But then, there's something new. Something strong.

Whatever it is, it pushes the fear deep down where it came from, and firmly asserts control.

And it feels good.

Before Hawk's stupid fist can connect with the kid's face, Luna raises her right hand again.

She focuses on the strange energy coursing through her veins, tuning out all the noise- inside and out.

*REWIND*

She comes to, and sees that the scrawny boy is at his locker getting his books. No Hank or Hawk.

She looks around, and everyone is standing somewhere different.

Carol Pingrey and whatever-her-name-is make their way over from around the bend, and they scowl at Luna.

"Wasn't she just in the bathroom?" she can hear the one girl whisper to Carol.

"Haha, well you know she's Lori's sister," Carol snidely remarks, and they pass her as if she's so beneath them they can't acknowledge her.

It doesn't even get to Luna. Why would it?

She has freaking super powers!

Where there was fear, paranoia, and all these other unpleasant, nauseating feelings- there's now a new hope. She feels strong, shrewd, enlightened.

Like she could fly.

Hank and Hawk make their way around the same bend, and after arrogantly grunting to each other like the jackasses they are, they approach the scrawny boy.

Hawk backs him to the locker.

"So, rumor is you're going around telling people you're sick of my crap, huh?" he smugly says.

The boy says nothing, petrified.

The bullies laugh.

"C'mon dude. Be a man! Did you say it, or not?"

Still nothing.

The bullies laugh some more. "What? Too chicken shit to stand up for yourself?" Hawk taunts.

"Awhh… I think he might cwy!" Hank adds.

"Screw you," the kid finally says.

"You go man," Luna thinks, almost forgetting what happens next.

BANG!

Hawk bashes his head into the locker for a third time. Well, for Luna anyway.

"Dang it."

"Wanna say that again, pussy?" he says, grabbing the starry-eyed kid by his shirt.

"Teach him a lesson, dude," Hank says.

"Yeah… a lesson," Hawk reiterates, and prepares his fist.

Luna channels the energy again by raising her hand.

*REWIND*

Hank and Hawk make their way around the same bend, and after arrogantly grunting to each other like the jackasses they are, they approach the scrawny boy.

Hawk backs him to the locker.

"So, rumor is you're going around telling people you're sick of my crap, huh?" he smugly says.

The boy says nothing, petrified.

The bullies laugh.

"C'mon dude. Be a man! Did you say it, or not?"

Luna decides it's time to finally take action. After all, with great power comes great responsibility, right?

She makes her way over to the bullies.

The very tall bullies.

They turn to face her, and she just stares. "Maybe I'm not as brave as I thought."

"What? Got something to say, dyke?" Hank barks.

And she can't get anything out. These guys are daunting.

She looks into the eyes of the scrawny boy. In them, she sees something familiar. She can't quite put her finger on it, but whatever it is, she realizes where she's seen it before.

Lincoln.

And not just Lincoln, but Lucy, and Lana, and Lola, and Lisa.

And that's enough to light a trailblazing fire inside of her.

She perks up, and gets right in Hank's face. He steps back, clearly surprised.

"Yeah I do, fatass!"

Hawk looks at her with an angry grimace.

"Hey! Who do you-?"

Luna steps to him now.

"Leave him alone asshole! He didn't even do anything?!"

By now, everyone is staring. Of course no one does anything when a defenseless kid is being bullied, but when there's mutual hostility- everyone drops what they're doing.

"You don't- you don't even know what this is about?!" Hawk argues.

"Yeah, mind your own business!" Hank adds.

Now they step to her.

She just snarls as Sam, Mr. Andrews, and other students from her first period Sociology class come into the hallway.

"What?! You gonna hit a girl?!" she shouts. They just look at one another, unsure how to react.

Luna bumps her chest, inviting them to do something. "I'm standing right here dickheads! Come on! Do something!"

Obviously, the boys have decided they won't be provoking her any further, but Luna may not let them slide at this point.

"Enough!" she hears a firm voice call out from behind her.

She turns to see Mr. Andrews approaching, and backs down.

He eyeballs her, then the bullies. "Whatever's going on here, it's done. Luna- go to class," he orders, meeting her eyes.

And she can see that he's not angry. Maybe not enthused, but not angry.

She simply nods, and makes her way to room 2211, seeing all the students and Sam eagerly watching on.

She turns back to see the one boy has a look of relief and gratitude on his face, and the bullies are clearly intimidated by the sociology teacher.

"As for you two," he says directly addressing them. "Don't let me see you in my hallway again, or there will be consequences. And I'm not kidding," he firmly states.

"Yes sir," they both mumble, and they both turn and walk away.

The teacher turns to the boy. "You okay?" he asks him.

He looks to Luna, then back to Andrews. "I am now," he answers.

"Well, get to class then," Mr. Andrews responds, and he turns to head back to his classroom.

The boy looks at Luna again. "Thanks," she can just barely hear him say, and he hurriedly leaves the area.


Luna makes her way through the door, and Sam has a slight look of concern on her face. She moves as if she's about to say something, but she's cut off by all the other students applauding Luna.

She basks in the embrace, softly smiling and giving a lazy wave.

She turns back to Sam, who lets out a tiny laugh.

"What was that about?" she asks.

Luna, still high off her adrenaline, simply replies: "It's been a weird day."

The applause stops as Mr. Andrews enters the room.

He looks around at his students, and no one is sure how to read him. However, he simply makes his way over to his desk as casually as possible. "I apologize for the delay. Just bear with me as I get the PowerPoint slides ready, and then we'll start class," he says, not even acknowledging the situation or Luna Loud.

And she doesn't really mind. She's got enough going on.

She takes her seat at her table, and Sam joins her, all smiles.

"That was pretty intense," she says.

"You saw that?" Luna utters, not even really thinking about it.

Sam guffaws. "Everybody saw that."

Luna smiles, and feels her cheeks getting red. "Uhm… yeah… It was intense," she simply says.

Sam perks up, and reaches in her binder for something. "Oh! With all that, I almost forgot," she says, pulling out an orange card depicting a wiener dog wearing a party hat.

"Happy birthday!"

Luna is taken back. "There's hope!" she giddily thinks.

"Awh. Thanks girl," she says with a smile, and Sam chuckles.

"Open it!" she says.

Luna does. *Oh yeah… OH yeah…" the card sings with a suggestive tone. She laughs.

"Too cute dude. Thanks."

"So… Other than picking fights with schoolyard tough guys, what's Luna Loud have planned for her sweet sixteen?" she quirkily inquires.

"Be cool Lunes… You can do this…" she thinks, nervously rubbing her neck.

She sees her eyes meeting hers, and freezes.

"Oh god. I'm such a dead giveaway. Either she's waiting for me to make a move, or she's not as bright as I thought…"

"Uhm… Uh… Well, I have this thing… Uhm…"

"Alright class," the teacher interrupts, making his way to the front to begin his lecture. "Everyone take your seats."

"Dang it," Luna thinks, knowing she has to look like the idiot she feels.

Sam just halfheartedly smiles, and turns her attention to the teacher like a good pupil.

"Dang it."

As Mr. Andrews starts asking about everyone's progress with the mid-semester project, Luna loses herself in her own thoughts.

"That was… way too crazy. Whatever it was, whatever this is… I don't even know."

She looks at her hands, like maybe there's physical evidence that something's changed.

Nothing.

She looks at Sam, who's dutifully jotting down notes about her project. She notices Luna, and gives her a soft grin before returning to them.

"Nice going Luna. You had the perfect chance to ask her to the concert and you blew it."

Lightbulb- Duh! She has super powers!

"Can I really rewind time? I guess so… So, maybe I could put my new birthday present to use…"

She raises her right hand forward, and concentrates.

*REWIND*

The applause stops as Mr. Andrews enters the room.

He looks around at his students, and no one is sure how to read him. However, he simply makes his way over to his desk as casually as possible. "I apologize for the delay. Just bear with me as I get the PowerPoint slides ready, and then we'll start class."

Luna hurriedly takes her seat at her table, and Sam joins her, all smiles.

"That was pretty intense," she says.

"Alright, cool. Now I can do this right."

"Did you hear me?" Sam asks, and Luna perks up.

"What? Yeah."

"Okay," she responds with a chuckle. "So what was that all about?"

"Uhm… I don't like bullies," Luna simply answers.

"Yeah, especially the super he-bros. Those guys are jerks."

Luna feels a little lightheaded, but she shakes it off. "I've gotta ask her to this stupid concert already…"

"Hey, so I-" she begins, but Sam cuts her off.

"Oh! With all that, I almost forgot," she says, pulling out the birthday card from her binder.

"Happy Birthday!"

"Awh, thanks," Luna says, trying to pretend like she didn't already receive this today. She just hardly scans it, then puts it down.

"Aren't you gonna open it?" Sam remarks.

"Oh, right!" Luna says, and she does, listening to the silly "Oh yeah-ing" again like it's the first time.

She forces a small chuckle, and puts it away. "Thanks dude."

"So… Other than picking fights with schoolyard tough guys, what's Luna Loud have planned for her sweet sixteen?" Sam quirkily inquires.

"Alright. Take two."

She takes a deep breath. "Actually, my parents got me tickets to see Butthead tomorrow night," she calmly states.

Sam's eyes widen. "No way! I thought it was sold out!" she says, preening a strand of hair behind her ear.

"That's so hot…" Luna thinks.

"What?" Sam says with a look of surprise on her face.

"Wait- what? Ohhhh…" Luna thinks as she realizes she blurted her thoughts out loud.

Sam's blushing and giggling, and the other students around her are laughing.

Luna face palms, "Idiot…"

She raises her hand forward.

*REWIND*

"That was pretty intense," Sam says.

"What? Oh, yeah it was," Luna responds, feeling more sluggish.

Sam picks up on this.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"I'm fine, just- that was more excitement than I needed," she says, playing it cool.

"Alright Luna. Don't screw it up this time."

"Sam," she firmly says.

"Luna?" she responds with a smile.

She takes a deep breath, and smiles too.

"I was wondering… I got tickets to see Butthead tomorrow night…"

"What?! No way!" Sam exclaims, cutting her off.

"Yeah way."

"I thought they were sold out?" Sam replies, again doing the hair preen that triggered Luan's slip up.

She gulps.

"Yeah, I did too. Anyway, the 'rents got me tickets, and, I was wondering… If you don't have plans…"

"Shut up!" Sam interrupts.

"That was sudden," Luna thinks.

"If you're asking me if I want to go with, you know what I'm gonna say."

Luna just looks at her like a fool.

Sam guffaws. "Yes! Of course I want to go!"

"Oh thank god!" Luna thinks, feeling her heart burst in her chest.

"Alright, cool," she responds, doing her best to keep a poker face. "I'll text you later and we'll work out the deets."

"That's so cool of you Luna. Do you want, like- money or something? I feel kind of bad just taking your ticket," she says.

Luna laughs. "No way bro. You're doing me a favor. This way I don't have to go with my dad."

As she says this, she feels her heart sink. "Did you really just say that? Jeez Luna… Get a grip!"

Apparently it wasn't so bad though, because Sam laughs. Not like Luna's done something wrong, but like it was a humorous anecdote.

"Alright, cool. At least let me get you a shirt or something," Sam quips.

"It's a deal," Luna says with a smile.

"Alright class," Mr. Andrews begins, making his way to the front to begin his lecture. "Everyone take your seats."

Sam gives him her attention like a good pupil, and Luna does the same.

"Luna Loud- you are a badass."

As the teacher asks everyone how they're doing with their projects, Sam slides the birthday card in front of Luna.

"Happy Birthday," she quietly says with a grin.

And Luna smiles as she opens it, forgetting it will sing "Oh yeah" all pervy like.

Mr. Andrews and everyone look at her, and she nervously smiles.

Mr. Andrews grins. "Wow. I didn't realize classwork was so exciting," he quips, and everyone laughs.

"So birthday girl, how's your project going?" he asks her now, and she almost doesn't receive the message.

"Uhm, it's good. I mean- I'm finding stuff," she says.

Mr. Andrews mockingly pretends to look surprised. "Well that's good. I mean what kind of stuff."

Luna wants to compose an answer, but it's become increasingly difficult. For whatever reason, she can feel this throbbing in her head, and it's getting worse and worse.

Her nose is bleeding.

"Luna," Sam says, pointing this out.

"Too much blow?" Mr. Andrews jokes, and everyone laughs. But his demeanor changes as he realizes something may be seriously wrong.

"Uhm… I- I'm gonna get a tissue," Luna says, making her way out of her chair.

"Let me!" Sam says, doing the same.

It doesn't matter though, because Luna nearly falls over.

The others gasp, and Sam grabs her back.

"Luna?" she says.

She looks into Sam's blue eyes. Those pale, wonderful blue eyes.

They're the last thing she sees before she falls to the floor.