Thanks are in order to AberrantScript for his help in coming up with "cutesy" things a secret admirer would do, such as sending roses with...well, you'll find out. Thanks, AS.
"How's it going with the girl?" Clyde asked the next day at lunch. Lincoln sat with his chin in his hand and a faraway expression on his face. The chattering din of a hundred kids all talking at once was lost on him; he might as well have been on another planet, a planet where a freckled, bucktoothed, white-haired dork like him could be fortunate enough to capture a girl's beautiful heart without even meaning to.
"Uh, Linc?"
He could hardly wait to get home and see what she thought about meeting him. The thought of ditching his last class so he could get home sooner crossed his mind, but that would be stupid, since she would probably still be in school and not hanging around his mailbox. Then again, he could take up a position in the front window and watch for her. That felt wrong, though. She would reveal herself when she was comfortable with the idea, and Lincoln intended to respect that.
"Earth to Lincoln." A hand waved in front of Lincoln's face, and he blinked.
"Yeah?" he asked, turning to his friend.
"I asked how it's going with the girl."
"Oh." Lincoln sighed. "It's going wonderful."
He told Clyde about the previous day's message. When he was done, Clyde whistled. "This girl is serious, Lincoln. Three cute cards in a row. Did you hear that?"
Lincoln blinked. "No."
"Those are wedding bells, my friend."
Lincoln hid his smile behind his hand, his face growing red. "Shut up," he finally managed to say.
"I'm going to be your best man, right? Because I have my embarrassing speech all ready to go."
"It's a little early for that," Lincoln said, "I haven't even met her yet." He opened his milk, which had been sitting forgotten next to his tray (which he hadn't even thought about touching) and took a long drink. "It might not even work out." He said this last part calmly enough, but inside, he cringed. Already he would give anything to make it work.
"Maybe you have and you just don't know it yet."
"Then it doesn't count."
"Uh, I'm pretty sure it does."
"No," Lincoln said, "it doesn't, because I didn't know how she feels."
Clyde shrugged. "Alright. Whatever you say, Linc." He took a drink of his milk. "Did that comic come in yet?"
Lincoln looked at him. "Comic?"
"Yeah, the Ace Savvy comic you ordered. You know, the ultra-rare one where he dies on every page?"
Lincoln suddenly remembered. In the midst of the dark emotions after he didn't find a card in the mailbox yesterday, he put it on the end table by the door and completely forgot about it. Then, in the midst of the joy he felt when he found the card on his pillow, he completely forgot again. "Yeah, it came in yesterday, but I kind of...forgot about it."
Clyde's jaw dropped. He reached out and touched Lincoln's forehead. Lincoln swatted his hand away. "What are you doing?"
"Checking to see if you have a fever, because you've been waiting for that comic for weeks."
Lincoln shrugged. "I got sidetracked."
"Hm. I guess this girl isn't the only one who's serious."
At the end of the day, Lincoln rushed home, arriving at the mailbox with a stitch in his side and fire in his lungs. He threw his arms around it and fought to catch his breath. Man, he had to stop doing this.
He opened the mailbox, but there was no card. He felt a rush of disappointment, but then figured one of his sisters might have brought it in the house again. He really had to have a talk with them about messing with his cards. Wasn't mail tampering a federal crime? Inside, he slammed the front door and pounded up the stairs. He burst into his room with a hopeful expression on his face, but it fell when he saw nothing lying on his bed, and nothing on his nightstand either. He went over to the stack of cards by his alarm clock and flipped through them with shaky hands, but there was no new addition. Panic clutched his chest. She didn't send one! Maybe he scared her off by being too forward. He kicked himself for proposing they meet. Why did he have to ruin such a good thing?
Sighing, he trudged downstairs. Lori and Leni were sitting on the couch. They got home before everyone else since the high school let out earlier. Luna was probably up in her room, or in the kitchen getting a snack.
"Hi, Lincy!" Leni said when he came into the room.
"Hi," he said dejectedly.
"What's wrong?" Lori asked.
"Nothing," he lied, flopping down in-between them.
"It's not nothing," Lori said, her brows knitting. "What is it?"
Lincoln sighed. "I didn't get a card today."
"Oh," Lori said, her eyes softening. "Well...the day's still young. Maybe she's just running late."
"No," Lincoln said, "I think I blew it."
A puzzled expression crossed Lori's face. "How?"
"I left a note on the mailbox saying I wanted to meet her. I think that scared her off."
"Poor Lincy!" Leni cried, throwing her arms around him and drawing him into a hug. "You're totes too hard on yourself. This girl obviously likes you. Asking to meet her is not going to scare her off. It –"
A knock at the door cut her off.
"I'll get it," Lincoln said heavily. He got up and crossed the living room. If he was lucky, it would be a hitman; a bullet sounded really good about now.
He opened the door, and a man in blue overalls was standing there, a glass vase filled with red roses in one hand and a card in the other. "Lincoln Loud?" he asked.
"That's me!" Lincoln said, his spirits lifting.
"Here ya go," the man said, shoving the vase into his hands. "Don't forget your card." He slipped it in-between the fore-and-middle fingers of Lincoln's left hand.
"Thank you!"
Lincoln kicked the door closed with his foot. Leni and Lori were looking at him and smiling. "Wow, Linc," Lori said, "things are starting to get really serious now."
"Thanks!" he blurted and carried his prize upstairs. In his room, he sat the vase on the nightstand, sat on the edge of the bed, and ripped open the envelope. This one had a number one on the front. It had eyes, dimples, and a smile, and was wearing gym shorts and a jersey. Appropriately enough, the caption was YOU'RE # 1.
He opened the card and read what was written inside: Lincoln; my love for you will last as long as the final rose.
Lincoln blinked. He wasn't a botanist, but he was pretty sure roses didn't last very long. He bent over the vase, and noticed something: One of the roses looked slightly different from the others, its coloring a deeper red, its texture not as smooth. He reached out and touched it.
It was fake.
Fake roses last forever.
Below the rose comment, she added: I want to meet you so badly it hurts, but I'm so scared you won't like me. Soon though. Very soon. Just let me down gently if you don't want me. Please?
Lincoln's heart ached.
I won't reject you, he thought, and meant it. You're beautiful...and I think I love you.
He wished he could tell her this and assuage her fears. He wished he could take her hand in his, look deeply into her eyes, and make her understand how he felt. He imagined the warm smile that would cross her face, and the light that would touch her eyes, and his heart pounded faster.
At dinner, Lori looked at him with a smile in her eyes. "So...flowers, huh?"
Lincoln blushed and looked down at his plate. "Yes. And a card."
"She sent you flowers?" Lola asked. "How romantic!"
"Sounds like someone's in love," Mom said, and Lincoln blushed even harder.
"If she's sending flowers she must be," Dad said.
After dinner, Lincoln grabbed a quick shower, the hot water feeling good against his body. Wrapped in steam and shivering delightedly under the pounding spray, he thought of her. Wow...he realized that he didn't even know her name and yet he was already in love with her.
With a contented sigh, he got out, toweled off, and got dressed. In his room, he snapped the light on and froze when he saw it: A stuffed Teddy bear sitting in the middle of his bed along with a box of chocolates. On top of the chocolates was a slip of paper with purple handwriting. Sweets for my sweet. Enjoy!
He grinned. Taking the chocolates in his hands, he went downstairs. All of his sisters were gathered in the living room. "Who put this in my room?" he asked. "Did you see her? Was she here?"
Everyone looked at him strangely. "No one was here," Lori said.
Lincoln cocked his head. "So...who put this on my bed?"
"Not me," Luan said.
Luna shook her head. "Not me, bro."
"She's sending you chocolates now?" Lynn asked with a snicker. "Wow."
Lincoln was so thoroughly confused he could hardly think. "But...how did this get in my room?"
"Maybe she broke in," Lori said. "Which is kind of creepy when you think about it."
"Either that, or it's one of us," Luan quipped.
Lincoln laughed.
That was silly.
