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Chapter 3: Concern
A surprise is something that has happened to us all, sometimes they're good ones and we're happy for the rest of the day. And other times they're bad ones, that cause us the opposite, but sometimes, they reach such a degree, that they leave you speechless.
This kind of surprise is what the Loud sisters experienced when their only brother did what he did. It had been three minutes since the albino went up to his room before someone finally talked.
"That was…amazing." Lana whispered, still surprised by what Lincoln had done.
"No doubt Sis, when does one of his plans work out fine?" Luna asked.
"In an estimated nine point zero four percent. I'll have to turn my brain scanner back on for an update on Lincoln's neural capabilities."
"Lisa, Mom and Dad banned you from using your experiments on us after the incident with the skin cream that gave us all a rash, have you disobeyed them?"
"No." replied the genius girl, though her gloomy smile said otherwise. She knew she was unable to fool Lori.
"We'll discuss Lisa and her crazy experiments later. I'd like to know what happened to Lincoln. I've never seen him so confident before, it's weird." Lynn sat in one of the chairs, the girls noticing she had her hair loose.
"Are you going to honor the bet?" asked Lucy, it was very unusual for her roommate to agree to pay a bet so fast, she was always looking for an excuse not to do them, but ended up doing it in the end anyway.
"I must admit that I'm a little angry with Lincoln for breaking my winning streak, but I remain unbeaten. Besides, Lynnsanity respects a winner when they deserve it…although Stincoln won't be so lucky next time." knowing Lynn, this was a way to recognize her little brother, but she is definitely looking for a rematch.
"OMG Lynn, you look divine with your hair out, if you'd like, I can give you some help or tips on how to take care of it! Don't hesitate to ask me!" Leni came to admire Lynn's hair, which made the athlete uncomfortable.
"Hey, you know what kind of hairdo oceans have? Wavy! Get it?" Luan said, everyone sighing, typical Luan.
"Girls, try to focus on the important thing here. Something is seriously weird with Lincoln. I mean, when has he acted in such a…cool way?" Lori wondered, it wasn't that her little brother wasn't a great guy, but now, it was as if all his insecurities about failing were gone.
"Knowing Lincoln, I'm sure he planned this. You all know how much we've wanted someone to put Lynn in her place, no offense." Lynn simply waved her hand, in a sign that there was no problem with Lucy's comment. She always liked to see how hard everyone tried to beat her and how they'd all fail miserably.
"I don't think so dude" Luna looked next to her, she didn't like the idea of it, but her older sister instinct told the rocker that something was wrong with Lincoln "something must be happening to our bro. Haven't you noticed him acting differently this last week?"
The girls thought about it for a little while, but they hadn't noticed any abnormal behavior from him, everything seemed normal.
"While I have noticed slight changes in the pattern of our brother's unit, there is a high probability that it is for the academic exams that he must participate in these coming days, I haven't observed any conclusive signs that he is behaving unusually."
"What for who?" Lana asked confused. Lisa's tired sigh sounded throughout the room, she always had to lower her level of speech to a more basic one.
"Lincoln may just be focusing on his studies. I doubt he's reached puberty yet."
"Ah, I understand now."
"Dudes, I think we'd better keep watch on Lincoln for a while, just for a couple of days."
"In that case. You should see this first, it's fresh." Lola extended her cell phone to Lori. It had an article open, badly written by the way, however, the cover image caught her attention.
"Come on Lori, read what it says. If it's from Lola's gossip group, it must be something interesting!"
The eldest sister read the article aloud.
"We have an amazing exclusive! with all the merits for our Excellency Lola Loud, absolute queen of the school gossip group, eternal president of the first year group, save the glorious queen" Lori looks askance at Lola, who only smiled innocently, surely she did something. She was the princess of manipulation.
Lori skipped the rest of the flattery and got to the point.
"In the cafeteria, an unexpected fact arose, bullies belonging to the group of Chandler Nixon, of fifth-year, sought to disturb another group of the same grade, in particularly one of the girls, identified as Paige Rivers, but this is not the unusual thing loved readers. Lincoln Loud, not only just an endearing temporary leader, has agreed to fight on the eighth street bridge, the fight being postponed to Monday for Chandler´s request since he still is on his way back to Michigan. We will continue to cover this story in detail, in other news, money is guaranteed in cash to whoever provides information on the new sixth-year boy, Seth White. Will it be another case of a sweet boy trapped in a world of darkness?" Lori opted to stop there.
Shocked Leni spit her milkshake in Lucy's face, who didn't even react, the goth really wished the spirits were on better terms with her these days. If it weren't for Luna and Lori, they'd all have stormed up to Lincoln's room at that very moment.
"What are you doing?! We need to know the details. I'm not going to let a bully hurt my brother on my watch."
"Calm down, dude. You don't want another problem like last time, do you?" remembering what happened, the Loud sisters calmed down.
"Well, I have to admit, I'm very proud of Linc. Taking care of the girls in his group, but he's never reacted this way."
"Agreed. I think for now we'll all try to get information individually, with no tricks!" Lisa looked pointedly at Lola. "If we don't get any results by Sunday, we'll have to be more aggressive.
"Luan, you two are going to a party later, you should take advantage of the opportunity. I would, but I have to cancel my session with Lincoln. I'm going with Haiku to work on a Romanian poem about dark beings. I owe her a favor." Lucy understood her brother was more important, but she has to do this, for her best friend. It would only be for today, and she trusted her family to take care of her big brother.
"Luan, this is serious. Do what you can, no jokes or pranks." The comedian took Luna by the shoulders.
"Hey, I understand. Maybe I've tried to lighten the mood in hard times, but when something happens with my family, the jokes are pushed aside. I'll do what I can, promise." Luna smiled, she liked to see this side of her sister. Luan didn't show this kind of responsibility very often.
"Ok, Luan. We're counting on you, just try to act normal." After listening to the recommendations of all her sisters, Luan prepared for the party.
"I think it's pretty obvious. Something's wrong here."
As irritating as the voice was at times, it didn't negate the fact of it being right.
Ever since they'd left the house, and started the party, Luan had been acting as usual. Once they'd finished and he'd eaten his slice of cake, the comedian finally began to act calmer. It was as if she was trying to speak to him, without knowing how to approach him.
Luan not telling a joke about something for five minutes? Weird, too weird.
"Good morning, Loud kids." Greeted Mrs. Karen, an older woman who'd recently moved to the neighborhood to enjoy her retirement. The only thing Lincoln know about her was that she'd came from Maine, and made delicious pies.
"Good morning Mrs. Karen" Lincoln answered the greeting of the old lady with a smile.
"Would you like some blackberry pie? This one is fresh out of the oven." Before he could accept, Luan took him by the arm, with force.
"Sorry Mrs. Karen, but we're in a hurry, maybe another time." Luan answered with overly forced delight, even for her.
Lincoln noticed this immediately. It was like she was protecting him from Mrs. Karen.
"Oh, ok then. Have a nice day!"
Luan pulled harder on her younger brother's arm, she definitely wanted to get Lincoln out of there.
"You know, ever since the worst sister ever and your parents went to visit her a month ago, your older sisters, and your parents, insist on you not visiting her. Peculiar, suspicious."
"Yes, I remember." Lincoln hadn't forgotten that day. Lori and his parents went over to Mrs. Karen's for a visit, but returned twenty minutes later. His father with an very unusual expression of anger. Lori was visibly uncomfortable, while their mother had said nothing about what happened.
The next morning, all of his older sisters forbade the younger kids to visit her, even though Lana threw a tantrum, as she had been helping Mrs. Karen fix her air conditioner in exchange for a very decent payment. Their parents finished the matter with the argument that she was sick, with a very contagious virus.
"Well, she seems healthy to me. Even more mysterious, how exciting!" Mocked the voice, fate was giving this thing the entertainment it sought.
"Lincoln…remember how I wanted to talk to you?" Oh no, just when he was hoping she'd forgotten. Okay, he just had to listen to what Luan had to say.
"Yes, what is it?" Lincoln opted to stare at the traffic light in front of him, watching the countdown to cross the street. This was the last block before the residential area where they lived.
"Is everything okay? I mean, aren't you getting overwhelmed by the final exams?" He got the same feeling he had when Luna asked the same question. Part of him wanted to let everything out, to tell her and get help. But that stubbornness of his always stopped him, it's his problem. He had to deal with it. Done
"Don't worry, it's hard now, but I'm focusing on the finish line. Vacations the following week." Lincoln smiled at his older sister, but he noticed the anguish in her eyes didn't go away.
"If you want, I can give you my studio time with Lisa. You seem to need it more than me." Luan knew what Mrs. Johnson was capable of doing when she was in a mood. But a multi-test as a final?
"I wouldn't recommend telling anyone about the study group. Your sisters will go crazy if they find out you're going to a girl's house."
Again, the voice was right. If his sisters found out he was going to a girl's house, who wasn't Ronnie Anne, God, he didn't even want to imagine it. Not to mention the fact that tomorrow he's going to the arcade with Paige, more trouble.
His sisters still believed that it would cost Lincoln to have a friendship with a girl, and in some ways they were right. The stupid situation with Stella, or that time with Girl Jordan when she joined his group in the third-year, to name a few.
"How could you forget it? All of you looked like you'd seen Ace Savvy alive when Jordan came to you with a comic to read together. Haha, ah man. I'll never forget how Zach had milk coming out of his nose like a faucet."
That was embarrassing. Luckily, Girl Jordan didn't take it in a bad way.
It was clear he and Ronnie Anne had formed a strong bond, mostly because of Lori and Bobby's relationship, and the growing relationship between the Louds and the Casagrandes. However, at least for him, it wasn't a relationship as deep as his sisters wanted.
"Shipping people, all so girls can defend their couples."
"Lincoln!" The scream and snapping of Luan's fingers took him out of his mental space. It was the second time this had happened today.
"Sorry Luan, just thinking about how to distribute my study time, but it's not necessary. I'll study with Clyde, so he can help me. But I won't forget that tomorrow and Saturday afternoon I promised to help all of you with whatever I can."
"Covering your spacing out with the same old excuse? For God's sake, have a little more imagination, pal."
Lincoln wished there was a way to keep this voice quiet.
"Fine, but I want you to explain this to me." Luan held out her phone, showing the note from Lola's gossip club.
The voice laughed.
"This was what you were afraid of, can't wait to see how you explain this."
"They were bothering my friends, I just...exploded. Did I really do anything wrong? Are you going to tell mom and dad?" Lincoln could hate the sad puppy look all he wanted, more so when his younger sisters used it against him. But it was effective, especially when you apply it to someone older.
"No, no. I'm glad you defended yourself, It's great that you protected your friends from those louts. Believe me, I understand."
"Luan suffering bullying in the school? I don't want to sound rude. However, it sounds very believable to me. She's the kind of person that bastards and bitches love to crush. Listen, it's a low play, even for me, but consider using that to get out of this."
Oh, the voice knows bad words. Great. Ignoring that, it was a low move, this was a hard topic for anyone.
Come on Lincoln, just do it in a tactile way.
"I understand, though you do have Lynn and Luna to defend you or for support. I'm alone, and I'll stay alone in order to be to avoid Lucy, or the twins, getting in the middle of my problems." Lincoln tucked his right hand in his pocket, to play with the coins he had in there. He needed to keep his hand busy, not just to get out of this, but to avoid saying something stupid.
Seconds after keeping in what was happening in his body, he continued to talk.
"I can understand that this worried all of you, it's normal. Just give me a chance to do this on my own, to overcome it, as you've done before." Moments later he noticed he was walking alone. He turned to look behind him, his older sister was standing still, stroking her arm, looking down. Oh no, had he said something wrong?!
"Luan?" asked the albino, praying he didn't say anything that had upset her.
"When did I say I'd overcome this?"
"Eh?"
"Luna and Lynn take care of me, that's obvious, the problem is…these idiots aren't the kind of bullies who hit me, they fear Lynn too much to put a hand on me. They love to say ugly things, horrible things. I feel so pitiful, they make me distrustful of myself." inadvertently, this had opened up a part of Luan no one ever sees.
"Uh, this time I actually get what Luan means…Huh, miracles do exist."
"What do you mean?" whispered Lincoln, his gaze still on his dear sister.
"Luan has been the most doubtful of your sisters of her passion, on more than one occasion Luan considered giving up her career as a comedian, she takes the bad comments in a different way, more personal. I'll be honest. There may be thousands of designers, musicians, athletes, whatever you want, but, people actually able to make others laugh. Few and far between."
Now everything made sense, he remembered all those occasions where they'd hurt Luan unintentionally, or the time she wanted to be a radical activist as an alternative. Yeah, on April Fools Day she's almost a psychopath without limits, the jokes and pranks become annoying at a certain point, but…
"Luan, look at me." Without knowing it, and ignoring the static sounds in his ears, Lincoln had dragged Luan down to her knees, looking her right in the eyes. It broke his heart seeing her like this.
"We both know how it feels to be like this, how frustrating it is to try to understand why they're so mean to us. But never, and I mean never doubt yourself. You are special. Few people have the talent to make others laugh, to make people smile after a bad day. And I'm sure you'll go far, and make them eat their words. You have the talent I don't have, use it, look for help, don't ever change."
"Ah, too much love, I'm getting diabetes."
"Linky..." Luan had calmed down with the words of her little brother. But she still had one thing to clarify. "Thank you so much for your kind words, but don't underestimate yourself. You have a talent, just be patient. I'd put all my achievements on the line for it."
"Nice, though they don't take into consideration the pressure they put on you without wanting it, and by the way, patience is not eternal."
"All right, just cheer up. The family will help you."
"Only if you let us help you too. Let's do this together." Lincoln nodded, and then hugged Luan. So this was Luan´s soft side. Lucy had told him long ago after her performance in the theater. It was comforting, but like Luna, it wasn't enough.
"You don't hesitate to ask Luan to seek help, but you don't want any help with something similar. That's very contradictory on your part."
"It's different in my case."
"Oh, really? Care to explain?"
Lincoln didn't want to keep talking to this thing, he had to ignore it. He broke their hug, to look at Luan.
"We'd better get home, it's started drizzling, and I don't want to be sick this weekend. Let's go." Lincoln held out his hand, which Luan accepted, rising to her feet. "We'll discuss our problems at the Sunday meeting. We don't want to worry them now, we all have important events coming up."
The comedian looked at her little brother with a smile. Luan had confirmed that Lincoln was suffering from bullying in school, and his words of support had gave her even more courage. She would tell the others that Lincoln was going to speak with them on Sunday, or possibly earlier.
"Hey. Do you know when it rains money? When there's a change in the weather… get it?" Lincoln couldn't help but laugh lightly, he knew it was a basic joke, and it still managed to get a smile from him. But he knew he had to make something clear.
"Let it go…Luan, I'll keep repeating it everyday until you get it, I forgive you." Without the need of any explanation, Luan knew what he meant. That black day, where she'd committed a serious mistake with Lincoln, and ever faithful, he forgave her.
"Thanks" Luan hugged him from behind for a second, giving him a quick peck on his cheek. Then promptly stepping in a puddle, wetting Lincoln, and initiating a chasing game.
Luan was relieved, although the confirmation of the fight still worried her, she knew perfectly well that with the family, they'd be able to help. She had already thought of some cruel pranks for this Chandler kid. For now, she would leave the job of vigilance up to Lucy at school tomorrow.
Arriving at the house, Lincoln mentioned he needed to pay a quick visit to the Yates to retrieve a game he lent to Beau last week, and as they lived a few meters away, Luan let him go.
As Lincoln was leaving, Luan noticed she had received a new e-mail on his phone.
"I don't like this anymore." another e-mail from this guy, with the same message, the second this week. So this is the cost of success?
Lincoln walked back home with the game in hand, in addition to a USB. Beau translated a Korean comic for him in gratitude for the advice he received from Lincoln in how to deal with sisters. The animated series was good, but he still had the desire for more, and being the rest of the series was in Korean, at least now he would know how the series ended.
"I would worry more about the fact that your sisters know about the fight, than wanting to read a Korean comic."
"I know, I don't consider that Lola's gossip group acted so fast, now my sisters will be even more attentive to me. I have to think of something." Lincoln whispered, covering his mouth with his hand. He didn't know why, but he felt the need to talk to someone on the subject, and what better way than to talk it over with a voice in your head. Great idea.
Lincoln was so relieved when he had received the message about the fight being on Monday. It gave him more time to think, but knowing Chandler, there was a plan in this.
"With your friends you're okay, the worst thing that could happen would be Clyde confronting you in front of everyone. Second, Paige, your date—"
"It's not a date. I'm just hanging out with her."
"Fine, whatever you say. If you're going 'to hang out with Paige', take into account your sisters. You'll have trouble with them, for being unfaithful to sweet Ronnie Anne." the voice laughed slightly.
"I need to think of a plan, now" he bit his finger slightly "a single mistake and I'm done. It'll just cause more unnecessary problems within the family. Just one thing."
"Come on, why do you insist on hiding your mental state? You look like you're hiding someone's dead body and don't want to be discovered. You have more people who can help you than you know."
Lincoln sighed, Luan was waiting for him at the door, and Lana was playing with the mud in the front yard.
"You should know why, after all, you're in my head. Aren't the voices in my head supposed to be evil?" thought Lincoln, watching Lana play with some earthworms she found hiding in the dirt.
"You're more complicated than you seem, but I couldn't care less about that. I'm just a spectator. Of course, I could always give you a hand, whenever you'd like."
"Lincoln, come play with me. I'll make more mud pies!" Lana yelled at him. Perhaps it was some part of the plan to get something out of him, but he didn't care. He wished he still retained some of the innocence of his childhood.
"I would love to." Smiling with all of the happiness he could muster, all for his sister to have some fun.
Suddenly, his foot slid from under him and he falls right into the mud.
"Did you fall?" asked Lana, she hadn't seen what happened, being distracted by the worms.
"No. He's having sex with mud."
"Yes, I'm ok. Don't worry." Responded Lincoln, ignoring the voice's dark humor and Luan's laughs, focusing only on making his sister happy.
That was his role, his position ever since he could remember, to support his sisters at all times. He was willing to go on like this for the rest of his life, because Lincoln loved them. He would do anything for them, anything.
The next morning, all the Loud kids were taken by Lynn Sr. to their respective schools. Although they were all busy with their usual activities, Lincoln still felt they were watching him. That was quite obvious, yet, he didn't take his gaze from the comic he was reading.
After leaving his younger sisters in their respective classrooms, Lincoln began to notice other students were looking at him differently, not like yesterday, but with a mixture of respect and pity. Why?
"Ah, let me think it over. Maybe the act of standing up to an abusive idiot, twice, and accepting a fight with Chandler can create a strong reaction. But hey, that's just my logic."
"Lincoln, there you are!" His group of friends were coming towards him.
"Good morning guys." Lincoln greeted, opening the door of his locker as a shield.
"Are you alright? You left us worried." Liam said, the worry clear in his expression.
"I know, and I'm sorry. I really needed time to myself, I promise to explain everything during lunch." replied the albino kid, who couldn't help but notice the looks directed at him "for now, can you tell me why everyone is looking at me like that?"
"Lincoln, you've caused a huge commotion in the school, because of the fight with Chandler. All the unpopular kids see you as a hero, someone to respect. While some of the popular kids only hope to see you pureed."
"I told you, and look, you're already a repressed idol, where's the harem of girls?"
"Where's Stella?" Lincoln asked, noticing Stella's absence.
"She's with girl Jordan in the classroom, it seems Ms. Johnson decided to have mercy on us and is allowing us to do an activity for extra credit. It's probably a test or something similar." said Clyde, calm because he had already studied yesterday.
"Are you serious?! Damn it. I need those credits!" by Rusty's reaction. He didn't study, so the group walked to the classroom to study in the five minutes they had available.
"Aren't you going to acne face he has his zipper down?"
"Not here, I want to avoid him being embarrassed, again."
In the end, it was only a questionnaire in Kahoot about Social Studies. They'd reviewed the subjects that were going to be on the exam, which were mathematics, biology, chemistry, history, English, and geography. If they got even half a point that would be good.
The suprise news was about Boy Jordan, he was caught trying to steal the exam from the teacher's room during one of his club activities yesterday afternoon, so he had been suspended indefinitely from school.
"I feel bad for Boy Jordan, however, I don't condone his actions. Yeah, the test will be hard, but it's a pretty nasty thing that he did." commented Stella sitting at the table with Lincoln, Clyde, and Liam, waiting for the others to finish in the food line. If you could call what the cafeteria gave them food.
"I know, no wonder they caught him."
"Yeah, I can't believe they caught him. I mean, he leaves the door open as he leaves, the drawer too. Then he forgets his student ID because he was rushing to get out, it was a master plan."
"And how do you know that?" Lincoln asked the voice, trying to keep acting normal.
"Those kids in the back are his teammates, the moron told them everything. I listen to them while you play with those corn grains. I pay attention to details."
"Hey, now that Boy Jordan won't be around anymore, should we just call you just Jordan?" asked Zach.
"I don't know. I've been called Girl Jordan since I was six-years-old. I don't care too much, but if you want to call me just by my name, that would be cool." Jordan answered smiling, finally being called by her name.
"Ok, Jordan." waiting for everyone to arrive and commence the usual exchanging of food brought from home, Jordan spoke again.
"Guys, I talked to my parents and they agreed to let us have the study group. You guys can come over at Saturday noon. We can study, and then relax a little."
They decided to dedicate one hour to each subject. In addition to asking questions, mostly to Clyde and Stella, the best students in the group.
On the other hand, Paige and Rusty were more excited to play the new Smash Bros that Jordan had bought recently, advantages of being from a family with money.
When lunch was almost over Cookie finally decided to talk.
"Hey, I'm sorry to break the good vibe…but" Cookie looks at Lincoln. He already saw it coming. "Lincoln, are you ok?" the concern flooded back on to their faces, instantly remembering what happened yesterday, here we go.
The albino kid looks at the table, taking a deep breath, here goes.
"Yes, and thank you for yesterday Cookie, I really needed it." he paused to take in more air, glancing at the little smile from his friend. "Listen guys, I'm sorry if I scared you yesterday. The pressure from school, plus being bothered by those fools, just created a time bomb. When I saw that they were beginning to annoy you too, my anger grew, and it just exploded yesterday, it's difficult to put in words."
The albino kid put his right hand over his mouth. He didn't want anyone to see him like this, biting his skin. It was hard to avoid being nervous, he wasn't lying, but he didn't like people worrying about him.
Paige grabbed his other hand, as a sign of support. He prayed that he wasn't blushing too much.
"It's fine Lincoln, it was really amazing how you challenged Scott, twice. You're my idol." commented Zach, to which the rest of the boys nodded along.
"Not forgetting how you protected us in the hallway, also Paige from that idiot, it was pretty brave and nice of you Lincoln, thanks!" Cookie also took the time to thank his friend for defending them.
"Yeah, I'm proud of you." Stella ruffled up her friend's hair a little, though she quickly remembered something important "And you're going to fight on Monday?"
"I'll use the brain to create a plan. If I need help from you, I'll let you know. Clyde, would you mind if I come over to your house to talk about it? Besides, I need to talk about other things that are more…personal."
"Of course, buddy." The others were curious, as Lincoln's plans were unique, but they understood Clyde was like a brother to him, hence why he had more confidence in him.
"So, you're not going to the arcade with me today?"
"Of course I will Paige, I'll go over to Clyde's for a little, and then run as quick as a missile to Gus Games and Grub." Lincoln responded quickly, not wanting Paige to be sad.
"Ahh, a date?" Dave mocked, shaming both of his friends.
"Dave, don't be mean." Stella chided right before the bell rang, indicating the end of lunchtime."It's my turn to return the trays, pass them to me, please."
"Well, I'm not letting Lincoln leave me behind, I'll also be a man to respect!" Rusty screamed, raising his fist into the air.
"You should start by pulling up your zipper, little man." Molly set her hand on Rusty's shoulders from behind. Seeing that it was indeed true, the group began to laugh at the boy, even Lincoln.
"Surprisingly, everything went well, at least here. Besides earning points in a certain department, now to the fun part."
The rest of the day continued normally, the bullies didn't bother them at all. Maybe they were warned by the principal, or they were leaving the fun to their leader. They didn't disturb the new boy either, who'd remained a popular topic of conversation in the school. With his solitary behavior, and those dark circles he had, surely something was wrong with Seth.
Lori came to pick them up, Clyde immediately returned to his imitation of a short-circuiting robot when he saw his imaginary lover.
After arriving home, the family went through their normal evening routine. Lincoln greeted his parents, then the Loud family sat down and ate dinner together. Something that was starting to happen less often because of the overtime Lynn Sr. had been picking up to try and cover the money lost from his pay cut. Rita had an ever-changing schedule, depending on the day to day chaos at the dentist's office.
Later, when Lincoln was ready to go to the McBride House, his parents asked him to be careful and to study a lot as he left the house.
It was a semi-cloudy day, according to Lisa, it wouldn't rain until Wednesday, so he didn't bring an umbrella. Within five minutes of starting the walk, the voice returned.
"I'll make something clear to you Lincoln, being as I have to live with you. Sometimes you question your decisions too much, but you'll know if it's right or wrong. But, I'm just a simple spectator looking for a little entertainment...most of the time."
"You want to come up with a solution now? You've been talking a lot lately."
"I only mention this because I'm getting annoyed, and it could ruin all of my future fun."
"What are you talking about?"
"Some of your sweet sisters are following you, and they're watching you very closely."
Lincoln stopped abruptly, looking out of the corner of his eye as a bush moved slightly. It took him a few seconds to keep walking.
"I know they don't know of my existence, but it feels weird. Being constantly observed." The voice had already noticed it, whenever they'd notice Lincoln was hiding something, they followed him around as if they were paparazzi chasing a movie star, taking it to the extreme.
For example, the time Ronnie Anne called him, began with them following him to the Royal Woods forest, and ended with the latina only wanting to talk to his sisters all of the time. Now that they knew about the fight, it seems like they couldn't wait.
The plan of keeping his sisters busy with something the rest of the day failed. He calls Bobby so Lori could talk to him for hours, repair Lynn's favorite baseball, clean up Lisa's mess after an experiment went wrong, among other things. Dang it, dang it, dang it!
Lincoln was getting anxious. It was like out of nowhere he'd panicked his sisters, judging by how they were acting towards him. The actions of the past sowed that seed, flooded with anxiety, only kept, in reality, those coins in his pocket.
"Oh no, don't you dare try to take the victim role here, you are also a selfish brat sometimes with them."
Unable to continue, Lincoln went into a gas station store. He bought the first pack of gum he saw to use the bathroom of the establishment. Once the door was locked, he raised his hands to his head, trying to breathe calmly, and struggling with the tingling sensations and pressure in different parts of his body.
What would happen if his sisters discovered he was going out with Paige? That he still had a crush on her? Will they scold him and tell him to stop being her friend? Would he be forced to plead with Ronnie Anne? What if she says no, or they end up on bad terms? Bobby could break up with Lori because of him hurting his little sister, and Lori would hurt him, so many things could go wrong. It was unbearable, he just wanted to go on living his normal damn life, just—
"Geez, I'm sorry Lincoln, but you're done, this time, you´re going hear me out."
Static resounded in his ears, now stronger than before. No, not again, he had to keep this thing from taking over, but once again, he failed. Lincoln saw how his sight began to fade. Colors brightened until it was almost unbearable, before finally reaching an absolute black.
As his son had told him earlier, around three o'clock his best friend, Lincoln Loud, came over to play.
"Hello Lincoln, Clyde is in his room. I'll bring some fruit up in a few minutes." Howard greeted Lincoln, with a big smile.
"Thank you, Mr. McBride. By the way, you look awesome with that shirt." Lincoln continued walking to Clyde's room, hearing a "Thank you." in the background.
When he reached Clyde's room he knocked on the closed door.
"Clyde, it's me." the door opened, letting him in.
"Come in Lincoln. I'll light some incense. Dr. Lopez said it would help me relax from the I pressure at school. What did you want to talk about?"
Lincoln laid his body down on the bed, looking around for a few moments before looking at his best friend.
"My sisters are following me right now, and I want my date with Paige to go perfectly. I have a plan, and I want to talk it over with you." Clyde found it weird that Lincoln recognized that it was a date, at least for him. He wasn't even showing any nervousness, he must've reached his breaking point in wanting to improve his relationship with the gamer girl.
"Sure, I'll help you," Lincoln pulled out his cell phone, after a few clicks, he held it to his ear "are you calling someone?"
"Yes, I'll need her help to achieve what I have in mind." After the fourth ring, the call was answered.
"Hey, Lame-O"
"Hi loser, I need your help with something important."
If this is what Lincoln really wants, it would give him a hand. About time to kill two birds with one stone.
After explaining the problem to Ronnie Anne, it heard the words it wanted to hear.
"Count me in"
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A/N: Thanks for reading, is time things got interesting. And to confirm one thing, this NOT gonna by a Loudcest fic, sorry, not my thing.
A/N 02/08/2019: Sadly, my beta cant continues to translate the fic. So if you are interested in helping to update the next chapters, please send a PM!
I decided to use Luan to have the first serious talk with Lincoln for two reasons. First, because she is my favorite sister (even when the fandom doesn't like her for being a psychopath in the April fools days episodes. A thing I like about her, my likes). Second, because I know the character have more to offer than just tell jokes, hopefully, we saw more about her, like with Lynn in the Middle Men episode (also helping to clean a little of the hate she gains in the NSL episode).
How is gonna end the 'date' with Paige? At least here she gonna have more participation than in the show, another "QT background character" used just once, like Christina, Haiku, Polly...and Tabby...and Cookie...and Giggles. Shit, the show created a lot of this, only Girl Jordan has more appearances, but since they are not Ronnie Anne, meh. Hopefully Stella don't follow the same path...please?
Remember to review, I always respond to what you comment, see you soon, and happy 2019.
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Answering reviews of the last chapter
364wii: You will see what happens. And that's the way Lincoln is, he still has a lot to prove.
MrNonsense: I will take it into consideration, the name to the voice will be something relevant in the future. If you want to check that past, watch No Game No Life chapter 2, they explain the base of the game Lincoln uses.
Goemon1086: Glad you like it, this the way Lincoln would act to solve his problems, yeah, a great anime, a little too ecchi to me, but great. Wait for you review.
Just4FunIction: I know, Lincoln always can surprise us.
Guest 1: Thanks, hope you like this chapter too.
Guest 2: Here is the new chapter, wait for your chapter