"We'll be upstairs!" Lynn Jr. calls as she flies through the front door, tossing her shoes and bag to the side of the stairs in one swift motion. The athlete shoots up the stairs without waiting for a response.
"I'm so sorry. She's literally rude," Lori says, looking at the barely noticeable girl in the doorway who came in behind Lynn.
The black haired girl just shrugs it off. "I know how she is by now," comes the monotone response. The girl silently follows up the stairs leaving a very confused Lori.
"She doesn't seem like someone Lynn would hang around with," she says to her siblings on the couch.
Luna laughs, "she seems more like a dude Lucy would flock with."
"You rang?" Comes the monotone response of a head sticking out of the fireplace. The room erupts in shrieks.
"LUCY!" They all holler.
"We need to put a bell on you," Lincoln huffs.
"She'd still find a way to keep silent. She's like a snake!" Lana says while throwing her hands up and making hissing noises.
"Then it wouldn't work very bell huh? Get it!" Luan remarks as she starts laughing.
"I think "I'm sure it would work bell after some chime" would have been a better pun," a bland voice says from the stairs. The room erupts in shrieks again.
Luan blinks a few times then realizes who said it, "that would've been better! HEY! Did you just out joke me in my own house? In my own living room? By my own front door?"
Lynn's school partner just shrugs . "I wasn't trying to. I simply came to get grab a drink before we started. I just saw the opportunity and seized it."
Luan breaks out in a grin. "Every seized opportunity is a great opportunity!"
The younger girl just blinks then walks off towards the kitchen. "Odd clown," Maggie mumbles to herself as she opens up the fridge door. She scans down the shelves with a scowl. Did nothing in this fridge not have sugar in it? She settles for a can of soda. She starts to shut the fridge then grabs two cans instead. She would be damned if she was going to go all the way down here just for Lynn Loud to steal her drink.
"You're bringing Lynn a drink? That's sodarn nice of you!" Maggie sighs. She just walked into the living room.
"Can it," comes the harsh yet witty reply of the younger girl. Maggie smirks to herself as Luan's face falls. Twice. Maggie had out punned her twice.
Luan just stands in shock as Maggie silently makes her way up the stairs. "In my own house she comes for my comedy!"
"Maybe you just annoyed her with some of your puns, Luan. It's not like she is trying to have a joke off in the living room," Lana remarks with a shoulder shrug. "Who even knows. We barely even know that girls name much less if she has a sense of humor."
"Brahs, do we know her name?" Luna asks, sitting up in the lounge chair.
Lincoln starts to think really hard. "I do know it I swear! I crashed into a poster with her name on it at her party! Hmmmmm was it Maddy? No Mandy?"
"There's no way we're doing Charles Dickens for our biology project, Maggie! That dude got paid by the word!" The loud siblings hear this echo through the house.
The dry reply, "I said Charles Darwin. The father of evolution," soon follows after.
"Maybe he also got paid by the word!" The athlete insists, trying not to sound stupid compared to her partner.
"Maybe you have as much air as a soccer ball where your brain should be," Maggie huffs in response.
"You didn't pick me as your partner cause of my smarts!"
"I didn't pick you as my partner at all. You asked me, remember?"
"Well, it was either you or Tony Darvin, and he's dumber than I am! At least you were going to get me an A!"
The argument starts to become harder to hear as it turns to muffles.
"I knew those two literally weren't compatible! Lynn's just using her to get an A!" Lori exclaims, happy she was right.
"That's kind of bogus dudes. Befriending a dame just for a grade?" Luna says, thinking out loud.
"I never said we were friends," a soft voice says a few feet from Luna. The musician nearly jumps out of her skin as she turns to see Maggie and Lynn now in the living room.
"And it wasn't just for a grade! I'm helping her get an A in gym in return! So boom! Lynn Loud Jr is not a user but a giver," the young athlete states as she smiles proudly.
"Gym is a pointless requirement. Biology is actually necessary for us to pass. Are you sure you're not getting the better deal out of this?" Maggie raises an eyebrow to her partner.
"Pointless? Now you listen here duchess of darkness-" Lynn starts, raising her voice.
"I thought I was the duchess of darkness," Lucy says popping out of the fireplace.
"LUCY. THE BELL," Lola screams as she could feel her heartbeat in her ears.
"You are! I didn't mean to- wait, what are you doing in the fireplace anyway? Oh! Are you watching that new movie you were talking about last night? Cause if you are you're getting punches cause I told you it sounded cool enough for me to watch with you," Lynn says aggressively.
"New movie? What new movie?" Leni asks.
"It's the newest horror film. A girl goes missing in the woods. Her parents find only a decrepit and scary doll left behind in her place. They soon learn that the doll is actually their daughter. And she's alive. For now."
"We totes should all watch it together!" Leni cheers, "family movie night!"
"No way no way no way!" Lincoln all but shrieks and he stands up crossing his arms. "There's no way I'm watching that movie!"
"Oh come on you big scaredy baby. We're all here," Lana says almost laughing.
"I'll literally go get bun bun for you," Lori says getting up off the couch.
Lincoln gets red as Maggie softly laughs to herself. "Gosh I'm wussing out in front of a complete stranger!" He thought to himself. "No need!" He says quickly, "I'll happily watch the movie without him." Lincoln plops down in front of the coffee table sitting criss cross.
"What about your project?" Lisa asks, concerned for Lynn's only A ever.
"Oh Mad dog over there has got it taken care. Said she didn't want my paws to mess it up," the athlete replies with a big grin.
Luan hops off the end of the couch and onto the floor in front. "There you go! Now our guest has a comfy place to sit!"
Maggie cocks an eyebrow as she walks over, "why's that? Cause I can't stand you?"
Ouch. Three times. Three times out punned in her own house.
"I'm loving all this harsh humor," Lola says with a big smile as her twin settles in between her and Luan on the ground. Lucy comes down the stairs holding a dvd case.
"When did you get upstairs?" Leni asks quickly looking towards the fireplace then back to the stairs.
"Do you really care or did I just scare you again by my silent moves through this realm?" Lucy asks as she walks towards the TV, popping the dvd in the player.
"I'm going to make popcorn!" "And I'll grab the drinks!" The two eldest siblings chime in unison as they break for the kitchen.
"Milk please!" Lisa yells after the two, hoping her plea didn't fall on deaf ears. She looks around at the odd stares of her siblings. "What? I am low on my calcium."
Lynn shakes her head. "Weirdo." She plops down on the right half of the arm chair. "I totally realized I didn't introduce you guys to Maggie. Red card on Loud. Failure to friendship." She states in her announcer voice.
A chorus of different hellos extend towards Maggie.
"We're totes back and we brought-" Leni is interrupted by a scream.
"Lincoln. That's the title screen," Lucy plains states. "Sigh. Are you sure you want to watch this movie?"
Lincoln quickly fakes composure as the movie starts. "Of course! Who's going to protect these young ladies from being terrified if I'm not here?" He asks, motioning to Lana and Lola on the other side of the coffee table.
The twins roll their eyes in unison. "Big hero scared of the title," they mumble under their breath.
"That girl totes shouldn't be alone in the woods. I know she saw that creepy witch lady in that house in the beginning just like we did!" Leni exclaims.
"No, Leni," Luna sighs, "brah we saw that. Little dude on the screen didn't see it."
"But she's in the movie. How could she not see it?"
The whole room sighs heavily. They were not going to fight to explain this. "Like she's about to get got right now! Run movie lady run!"
A chase scene breaks out on the TV as the girl is running through the woods screaming while the specter is closing in on her. The screen starts to turn completely black as the specter pulls the girl to the ground and slowly over takes her screaming form. Two screams erupt from the living room.
"Is your whole family full of scaredy cats?" Maggie asks slightly grumpy for the surprise.
"I predicted brother to scream, but you fourth eldest sibling?" Lisa inquires while looking at Luan who now occupied Maggie's lap.
Luan gets bright red as she realizes where she was sitting. "No wait, I-" she scans the floor where she was just sitting. Izzy. Izzy is now sitting on Lana's lap. "That little lizard just crawled across my leg. I wasn't scared of some cheesy special effects!" She tries to spit out but all that comes out is a flustered mess of words.
Maggie just softly laughs. "It's okay. You don't have to be so scared." She tightens her arms around the odd clown, pulling her a little closer. "I got you."
Luan feels her body stiffen. "Come on, Luan. Say something! Anything! That cheesy movie didn't scare you! You're not a baby and you definitely don't need to be held by her strong arms even though she is so warm and is that... lavender?" Luan quickly shakes herself out of her thoughts.
"Come on it's a sunny part. The parents are at the park with the baby doll. Even Lincoln isn't scared of this scene. You don't have to hold me so tight," Maggie says.
Luan almost jumps again realizing that she has her arms tightly around Maggie's neck. "When did I do that?" She thinks to herself.
"You know I'm blackmailing you with this forever, right? Miss Maleficent has a heart of gold for scared comedians," Lynn teases while laughing through buttery bites.
"Then here. You can have her. And you can repeat seventh grade too," Maggie states starting to stand up to hand over Luan.
"Wait you can keep her!" Lynn says very quickly.
Maggie feels nails dig into her the back and a face in the crook of her neck then she glances at the screen to see a raccoon devouring the "daughter's" face. Gruesome. "Hey. I've got you. It's just a raccoon. It's alright," she softly whispers against Luan's ear.
The older girl shudders while turning red. "Raccoon? What raccoon?" Luan looks around then notices the TV. "Oh right. The cheesy movie," she thinks to herself.
"Lincoln. It's only been forty minutes. You still have over an hour left," Lucy states to her quivering brother.
"I'm t-totally cool," He stammers out while holding onto the leg of the coffee table shaking.
"My hero," Lola states sarcastically.
"Luan's in a stranger's lap! Why am I the one getting teased?" Lincoln huffs in response, trying to defend what little honor he had left.
"Because Luan never gets scared of horror movies, and you always do! So we have to tease you cause we knew you couldn't handle it like always," Lynn says laughing.
"The specter from the evil witch doctor ate the daughter! Ate! And she got mauled by raccoons! What baby doll bleeds!" Lincoln screeches while shaking.
"Hey You're right, brah. What's got you so upset about this movie, Luan? You sat through way worse with Lucy on Halloween!" Luna asks ignoring Lincoln. She waits a few seconds then silence. "Luaaaannn? Paging planet clown shoes." Luna claps her hands loudly.
The comedian jumps back to reality. "Huh what?" Luan looks around the room taking in the scene. Lincoln is under the table with his head to the floor, Lana and Lola are holding each other tightly, and Lisa is shaking her head. "What did I miss?"
"I asked why you're so scared of this movie, dude."
"What movie?"
The whole room stares at Luan confused. "The one we just watched, brah." Luna points to the ending credits rolling along the screen.
"Oh! Uh that movie! Who knows!" She laughs nervously.
"As long as you don't keep her up during bedtime, I don't think she cares," Maggie states plainly.
"True that," Luna says with a laugh. "You're vibrating by the way, dude."
"I feel it," she simply replies. She waits a second. "I could grab it if you're done being scared?" She asks almost snarkily.
Luan quickly jumps up turning a light red. "Why was I still in her lap?" She scolds to herself.
Maggie answers her cell-phone. After listening for a few seconds she hangs up then stands up. "Thank you for inviting me over and for including me in movie night." She walks over to the front door and slips on her shoes then exits without so much as a goodbye to anyone.
"That was literally the first phone call I've seen without talking," Lori states in shock. "How do you have a phone call without talking? Literally crazy."
"Oh that was nothing! What's crazy is how like Luan flirted without talking," Leni adds with a big smile.
"What?" The whole room sighs in unison.
"What are you on now, woman," Lisa says, adjusting her glasses.
"Huh? Wasn't it totes obvi? Luan liked Maggie!"
The comedian in questions gets bright red.
"Uh not likely! She just got scared of a movie, dummy," Lynn says rolling her eyes. "Goof."
Leni tilts her head to the side confused. "You guys are so silly! Luan wasn't paying attention to that movie! She got scared of Lana's scaley thingy!"
Lori blinks a few times. "So she literally got scared of Izzy? That's what made her jump into Maggie's lap?"
Luan gets a darker red. "Okay yes I got scared of Izzy running across my legs!" She exclaims. "Then I accidentally jumped on Maggie and then she wrapped her arms around me and-"
"You accidentally sat there the whole movie you didn't pay attention to?" Lincoln asks confused. "If you weren't scared of the movie then why did you sit in her lap the whole two hours?"
Lola's jaw drops, "BECAUSE LENI WAS ACTUALLY OBSERVANT AND RIGHT FOR ONCE."
"Gasp," Lucy says as she pops up by Luna accompanied by a little chime.
"Aww you got the bell, brah," Luna says with a grin, happy to not be jumping out of her skin.
"So you like Maggie?" Lynn asks raising an eyebrow. "Weird."
"N-no no I don't! I don't even know her!" Luan defends trying to figure out actually why she did sit in her lap the whole movie.
"But you want to," Lori sings happily, "she's just got a crush guys!"
"Any pair of strong arms that wraps around a girl is her next crush," Lisa states, rolling her eyes at her eldest sibling. Love. How trivial.
"How did you know her arms are strong?" Luan asks curiously.
"Why were you feeling her arms?" The young scientist retorts back.
"Touché."
"So you turned family movie night into a flirt fest? Barf!" Lincoln claims, secretly happy that they were teasing Luan now instead of him.
"You turned it into a coffee date with the table!" The comedian remarks back, now that Maggie was gone her comedic edge was back.
"At least I was table to watch the movie would have been a better insult," says a soft voice from the front door. Luan jumps.
"We need to put a bell on you too!" Luna shrieks, feeling her heartbeat race.
"Didn't mean to scare you. I just forgot my backpack," Maggie states as she grabs her bag from the side of the stairs.
"I'm going to need you to quit one upping me in my own house," Luan says while pretending to be hurt.
"And I'm going to need your number," Maggie remarks almost playfully. "Later Louds." She walks out the door leaving a dumbfounded Luan to ponder if she was serious or not. Now she really was going to keep Luna up, but with questions, not fears.
"Four Times!" Luan exclaims to a very confused room. "Four times she out punned me in my own house!"
"Is that what you're bringing up after your crush just asked for your number is her puns?" Lola asks, facepalming.
Luan grins as she strikes a pose, "nobody out puns Luan Loud! I have to write some new material stat!" She quickly escapes up the stairs.
"OR YOU COULD LITERALLY CALL THE GIRL YOU LIKE!" Lori yells after the young comedian. No response. "She is literally something else."
"I know right? Oh a girl likes me I have to write comedy!" Lincoln teases in his best Luan impression.
"Oh you're one to make fun of someone Mr. Oh my god I'm going to get turned into a doll!" Lana says, dramatically throwing herself into the floor to cover her head, imitating Lincoln under the table.
The whole room breaks out in laughs. "You know. Tonight was pretty fun. We're gonna have to do this again next family movie night. Maybe not a horror movie though, Stinkin won't be recovered from this movie by next week," Lynn says laughing.
"And you've totes got to invite Maggie over for Luan."
"What type of movie will we watch?"
"What kind of snacks?"
The rooms floods with questions and concerns over the next movie night.
Lincoln smiles and looks at the screen, "well one thing's for sure, next family movie night will be a lot more fun than this one, if that's even possible!" He smiles around at all his sisters, "and between you and me? I think the bell on Lucy was a great touch."