Lincoln hadn't told anyone, but he was allergic to eggs. Horribly allergic.
Nina knew, of course, seeing how their mother never so much as made an omelet when Lincoln was in the same room. They never had cake, for even then Lincoln could not so much as nibble a crumb without breaking out in hives. Nina had been severely punished when, at age five, she had been mad at Lincoln and had thrown a raw egg at him.
However, Lincoln had a relatively easy time with his allergy, considering how hard it was to avoid eggs. He became good at refusing food politely, saying he was full or had just eaten and pretended that too much sugar made him sick at parties. He never had to tell anyone about his egg allergy until the seventh grade, when it was world culture day.
Each of the students had been partnered up and assigned a dish to make. Lincoln was working with Benny, and they were to make the Italian dish Pasta Carbonara. They had been given the recipe, and Lincoln's ears had turned pink the second he saw '1 egg, scrambled' on the ingredients list.
Benny came over to the Rosarios' later that day, where he and Lincoln spent a good two hours making a pasta dish that would have taken Camila half that time, if not less. Lincoln had put Benny in charge of the egg, feeling very pleased with himself by the time they had finished.
"Looks decent," he said as Benny stirred the completed dish in its pot.
"No duh!" Benny exclaimed. "It took us two hours; it better be good!" And without warning, Benny scooped up some pasta and jammed the spoon in Lincoln's mouth. "Well, how's it taste?"
Spluttering and coughing, Lincoln spat the pasta all over Benny, panic stricken. He clapped his hands to his face, feeling his skin to see if anything had happened. Benny's confused and pasta-covered face looked at his red one, asking, "What's wrong, man?"
Lincoln managed to choke out, "Allergic… eggs…"
It wasn't until several hours later, when Lincoln was able to get over the fact that his best friend had seen him with hives all over his face, that he started laughing. After all, the look on Benny's face had been pretty silly.
((Eggs))