Chapter Ten
So I have been gone for a while but I will talk about that at the end of the chapter,
But for now enjoy the new chapter!
Lincoln then wakes up to a soft knock on his door. He still remembers what had happened just only a few hours earlier. The memories stained into his head, which also replayed themselves like a broken record.
"Mom wants you to come down and eat." Said the voice on the other side of the door.
"Alright I'll be down in a minute." Replied Lincoln with a sluggish tone and his head face first into his pillow.
Lincoln then rubbed his eyes as he got up out his bed, and popped a few bones as he stretched his body knowing that he had been out for a few hours. He took a quick look at his face in the mirror, and he saw that his hair was a huge mess. He grabbed a comb off of the floor and combed his hair. When he finished he realized that it didn't fix everything that was wrong, but he really didn't care at that moment. He really didn't care to eat at the moment, but he knew that he had to eat to survive.
He exited his room, and he didn't see any of his siblings so he guess that they were all at the dinner table already. He could hear his family conversing with one another downstairs, and with that he knew that they would want to know what was going on with him and Lori. He still didn't know why he didn't want to tell anybody besides a few people, but for some reason he wanted to keep the real reason away from anybody else. He felt like if he told everybody why they were in a fight they would totally shame her. Even though Lincoln was beat up by Lori she was still his sister.
As he made his way down the stairs, the talking of his siblings got louder and louder and his heartbeat got faster and faster, almost to the point where it hurts.
As soon as he made it into the dining room his mother looked at him, "Hey Lincoln come join us for dinner."
Remember all the talking, well of that was transformed into a horrifying silence that made a shiver travel up his spine. He then took a seat at the table where it felt like everyone was staring him because they actually they were. As he looked around at the table the only people that weren't staring at him were Lynn and Lori. He could understand why Lori wasn't looking at him, but why Lynn. He did see her hitting her pillow in the morning. Lincoln was the master of telling when his sibling aren't being themselves, and Lynn was sending so many signals.
"Maybe they will forget about me if I just start eating." Lincoln thought.
As he started to eat his food he noticed everyone else started to continue eating their food. Lincoln then peered and saw Lynn picking over her food with a fork.
"Is she not hungry?" Questioned Lincoln internally.
"So Lynn how are your practices going?" Asked Lynn Sr., while Lincoln inferred that he caught on as well.
"They're alright." Answered the tomboy in a barely audible tone.
"Come on Lynn there's no fooling anybody. I haven't even seen you take one bite from your food, and plus you have been having mood spikes as well for the last 4 days," continued the father, "are you on your…"
"No I'm not dad! Can we please change the subject?" Lynn Interrupted while her cheeks turned tomato.
"Your father is right, you have been acting differently, and we need to get to the bottom of it." Joined Rita.
"I told you guys I am fine."
"Young lady I know when something is wrong and I know for sure something is wrong with you."
"Can we please not tall about this right now?" Begged Lynn.
"Come on Lynn if something is wrong we want to help you." Leni added.
Lynn then sat at a silence. She looked at her parents and looked at her siblings. She knew that they all cared for her, and that they wanted to assist her and be there for her.
She then took one big breath and started, "There's this guy that's on an opposite team than me. He constantly harasses me and bullies me. He always talks down on me like I am stupid. Every time that we play one another all I see is his face, and it messes up my game. I try to focus on the game, but every single word and every single sentence he says to me gets into my head and it corrupts me."
"Have you tried to tell the coach?" Asked Luan.
"I have, and it didn't work. My coach sees me as tough girl that can take anything, but he doesn't realize that I have feelings too. I even told his coach about the whole ordeal, but he didn't care. I just feel like nobody cares about how I feel." Continued Lynn.
"That's why you have your family. We're the people that you can count on." Stated Rita
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Asked Lynn Sr.
"I didn't want to worry everyone. You guys have other things to worry about than my small problems."
"Honey you need to understand that no matter how microscopic the problem you need to know that me, your father and your siblings will be here for you all the way." Said the middle aged mother.
"Thanks you guys, you don't know how much this means to me." Thanked Lynn.
"Now that this is settled I would like to have a talk with your coach for which sport…. Heck I don't even know the name of this kid." Questioned the father of 11.
"His name is Evan and it's my baseball coach."
"Alright going to talk to him tomorrow." Claimed her father.
After that whole situation, the family continued to eat. Lincoln was glad that they had figured out what was wrong with Lynn, but he could feel that something was still awkward. If it wasn't him it would most likely be Lori.
"So Luan how is your business going?" Asked Rita.
"It's going well. I have 3 birthdays that come up this week so I'll will be busy." Answered Luan.
Both of the parents went around the table asking all the children what they had planned for the upcoming week. It then narrowed down to only two children, and not to Lincoln's surprise, it was him and Lori. Both Lori and Lincoln could feel the tension build as they sat anxiously in their seats.
"Lori I have something to say to you." Rita announced.
Lori then shot her head up as soon as she heard her name out of the mouth of her mother.
"I just want to apologize for the way I had acted earlier. Sure I was mad, but that doesn't give me reason to just burst out yelling at you in any way. I just want you to understand that what you did was horrible, but that doesn't mean I don't love you." Explained Lori's mother.
"It's okay mom. If anybody should be apologizing, it should be me. You weren't the one who beat him up, nor betray his trust." Clarified the eldest sibling.
As she continued to talk Lincoln saw Luna whom had a face of disapproval as she listened to her words. Lincoln didn't blame her either. On one side Lincoln feels hurt form earlier and wants to try and forgive her, but the other side he feels like everything she is saying is a lie. Right now his mind is rolling a dice that will infinitely roll.
Lincoln then finished his food quickly and asked to be excused. After, he went right back upstairs to take a shower. He entered the bathroom and stripped down his clothes and turned on the shower. For a while he just stood in the bath letting the warm water splash on his back while he thought about what happened that day. For some reason he felt dirty. Maybe because he had just betrayed one of his best friends, or maybe because he felt like he had been betrayed by his own sister.
After the shower he tied a towel around his waist and headed to his room. He dried off and put on his pajamas, and slipped into his bed. Hoping that the next day will be better than the one he was having.
The next day Lincoln woke up the sound of his alarm clock blaring in his ears. As he slammed his hand on snooze button and slowly made his way out of his bed. He didn't understand why he was so tired because actually went to bed earlier than he usually would. The sun that shined through his window hurt his eyes as he just got up. He then bent his back backwards and popped a few bones until he continued on with his day. He took a shirt out of the dresser cabinet and slipped it out after he took off his PJ's, and slid on his jeans as well.
He combed his hair and made sure that it was to his liking. Smiled at himself in his mirror as he tried to start a new day from yesterday. As he gathered his things into his backpack he exited his room for one more thing to do. He then went to bathroom to brush his teeth and like always the bathroom was crowded full of multiple children.
He then grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste and put water on it and left the room. He didn't feel like dealing with all the yelling arguing of his sisters. He then made his way downstairs where he had decided to sit down on the couch. He had realized that he was actually the first person to get ready, while everyone else was still in their PJ's.
While Lincoln sat and brushed his teeth he put his mind on a positive note. He knew that today was going to be a better day than yesterday. He knew that that he had the memories of the fight, but he decided that the quicker that he forgets about it, the quicker he can forgive Lori. Once he forgives Lori things can go back to normal, but he didn't know for sure if things will even happen this way.
Lincoln then heard a couple of footsteps come down the stairs only to see the twins come downstairs.
"Hey guys." Started Lincoln.
"Hey Lincoln, are you okay from yesterday?" Lola asked
"Yesterday is a thing in the past. The only thing I want to worry about is the future." Responded Lincoln.
"But how could you brush it off like that though?" questioned Lana.
"The reason why I want to worry about the future is because I and Lori can't make up in the past can us? The only way we can move on is that we worry about how we will make up in the future."
"Well okay."
After that the twins sat down on the couch and switched the channel to their own show. Lincoln didn't really mind because he wasn't watching the T.V anyway. He was actually planning on how to go throughout the whole day. He had Lori and Ronnie Anne to deal with today and they are what matters most right now. One of things he wants to get right is him and Ronnie Anne. Once things are on the right track with her he will need to worry about Lori. He wondered how he will deal with all of this in the span of just three days, but he must find a way to deal with it.
He knew that both of them would be hard to breakthrough, but he felt like Ronnie Anne would be the hardest. He felt like he betrayed her trust out of anything, just like the same thing Lori had done to him on that very same day. He would need to be on good terms with her before they go away, he has to.
More of the loud children started to come downstairs as the morning progressed. All of them not happy that they needed to go to school that morning, but they had to. The talking ad cacophony of the loud sisters had transitioned to the 1st floor making Lincoln loose his focus.
"All right everybody, into the van!" Ordered Lori.
Slowly all of the sisters funneled into the van outside, and Lincoln returned his toothbrush.
"I can't believe I have to deal with her after what she had did." Murmured Luna.
Lincoln then grabbed his backpack and followed them as well. He then took a seat in Vanzilla right next to Luna. Lincoln then gazed at Luna and she looked pissed.
"Luna you need to calm down." Comforted Lincoln.
"Why should I? She is the one who is bossing us around. Usually I would be fine with it, but I have thin line of patience with her after what she did yesterday dude." Explained the enraged sister.
"Luna it's not that big of a deal." Lincoln responds.
"Yes it is! Did you forget what she had did to you yesterday?"
"I do remember, but I need to worry about how to fix this instead of trying to bring back the bad memories. The only thing I can try to do is forget about it, and try to move on. It may be the only way I can, or at least until I find another option."
"Did you even notice that she didn't even apologies for what she did to you at dinner last night? She may have said that she was sorry for the things that she had did, but she never really looked you in the eye and said sorry." Recalled Luna.
"Maybe she wasn't ready to talk to me yet. Heck, I don't think I can talk to her yet either, but I may need to."
Lori then started the van as they heard the engine roar.
"Look I'll be fine as long as you are fine, but if she steps out of line I'll be there." Swore Luna.
The loud family then made their way to school. Lori then dropped off Lola, Lana, Lucy and Lincoln at their school. Lucy and the twins then made their way to their classes as other kids around them were doing the exact same thing. Although Lincoln wanted to start walking his feet were glued to the ground. They knew that if he walked into the school he will most likely come face to face with Ronnie, but is it actually a good thing though because he actually needed to talk to Ronnie anyway?
Without his feet's consent he moved his legs and walked to the school entrance. In the hallway he saw kids rushing to their classroom on time. He saw kids talking and a few arguing, but his eyes then locked with Cristina's who shot a look of disgust at him as she rolled her eyes. Lincoln still remembers the day when the video went up and nearly ruined his already crumbled reputation.
He then finally made it to his half empty classroom. Two people stood out in the crowd, Clyde and Ronnie Anne.
"Hey Lincoln!" Called Clyde.
As soon as Ronnie heard that name her head shot up and looked at Lincoln. Lincoln knew that she was looking at him, but he honestly didn't want to look back. He then took a seat right next to his best friend and put his backpack on the back of his seat and dapped up Clyde. More students had already came into the class at that time and Ms. Johnson was at her desk most likely grading papers.
"So how was your weekend Lincoln?" asked Clyde.
Lincoln was about to say something but he stopped in his tracks. Should he tell or not tell him?
"To be honest Clyde my weekend was awful." Admitted Lincoln.
"What, why?"
"Well I don't wat to talk about it right now I just want to put it behind me." Lincoln Continued.
"Alright, I won't try and force it out of you, I just want you to know that I'm here for you buddy." Comforted Clyde.
The tardy bell than rung throughout the school, and as on cue, Ms. Johnson hopped out of her seat and began the day's lesson. Lincoln tried to concentrate, but once in a while Lincoln would lose his train of thought and his mind would start wondering. He would try to write thing down as his teacher spoke, but sometimes he would end up writing down what he was thinking instead of taking notes.
After what seemed to be a century the lunch bell rang and the colony of students migrated to the lunchroom. Lincoln grabbed a tray got some food, and walked to where his friends were. He then sat right next to Rusty as he waited for Clyde to sit down.
"Hey Lincoln me and Liam were thinking that we could plan out another sleepover this weekend, and we wondered if you could be able to come?" Asked Rusty.
"It depends Rusty I have a lot on my plate and I really don't know if I can go." Answered Lincoln.
"Well you still have plenty of time to figure things out until then so I'm just going to take that as a maybe." Continued Rusty.
"Lincoln you okay?" Probed Liam.
"Why do you ask?" Lincoln said back with a sweat coming down his face.
"Maybe it's because you haven't touched a bit of your food and also you looked stressed dude." Confirmed Liam.
"Well if you really want to know I don't know how I am feeling. I feel sad, angry, betrayed, stressed and depressed at the same time." Explained Lincoln looking down at his food.
"Hey guys!" Exclaimed Clyde as he sat across from Lincoln.
Clyde then looked at Lincoln then at Rusty and Liam who had the same face that he had.
"Lincoln you sure you don't want to talk about what happened last weekend?" Requested Clyde.
"Guys it's alright I'll be fine."
Lincoln then continued to eat his food in silence for the rest of the time he was at lunch, while earning the worried thoughts of friends. Lincoln went through the rest of the school thinking and not even talking to anyone. The only time he talked was when Ms. Johnson caught him dazed out in his own wonderland. The more the day went on the more time went slower the day went by for him. The final bell rung and at that moment Lincoln was already done with anything that was school related. He didn't even want to say goodbye to Clyde or any of his friends for that matter. All he did was get up and leave.
He still had the plan to talk to Ronnie, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. His mind juggled between if talking to her would be too soon because knowing Ronnie Anne, she would need more than a day to cool off, but Lincoln didn't have that much time to do anything. On the other hand he thought that he should just straight up talk to her and try to make amends to her, but he felt that wouldn't go very well. He didn't even want to get started on Lori, but sooner or later he will need to face her as well.
Lincoln then continued his walk home from school with his head still in the clouds of infinite possibilities. That was until he bumped into to someone. That someone made his heart stop.
"Hey watch…it" Complained the kid.
"Sorry I didn't know where I was…"
Lincoln stood staring at Ronnie Anne and just from looking into her eyes he could tell that she was already rising in her anger level.
"So are you stare at me because are the last person that I want to look at." Ronnie Insulted.
"Ok look Ronnie we got off on the wrong start yesterday." Started Lincoln
"I don't want to hear it Lincoln, you've told me enough yesterday." Interrupted the tomboy.
"If you could listen to me for one second you would realize that didn't want to stop your family from doing anything they wanted to do." Continued Lincoln.
"Then why did you say what you said yesterday." Questioned Ronnie Anne.
"I told you already that it wasn't me that wanted to do it. I was only doing it for Lori because she wanted me to try and convince you to convince your father to not move." Repeated Lincoln
"And I'm going to say the same thing that I said yesterday, why didn't you tell her that why didn't you stand up for yourself?"
"My sister Lori has nearly all the authority of all my sisters including me. You need to understand that I just cannot not do what she tells me to do. May I remind you what happened when I did try to tell her that I didn't want to it? She just launched me out of her room with no sympathy, but you wouldn't understand how that feels because your brother isn't 5 times stronger than you!"
Ronnie Anne just stood there on the sidewalk. Her face showing multiple emotions at once. When she stood there as she looked at Lincoln, and what she saw really made her think. She was so angry at him that she didn't even notice the bruise mark on his nose and he was also starting to tear up as well. She really didn't know what to say.
"I..." She started but never let the words come out of her mouth.
"You know what, its fine, I'll just let you believe what you want to believe and let you walk home in peace." Lincoln stated as he walked by with tears going down his cheeks leaving a paralyzed Ronnie behind.
Lincoln then continued home only to hope that things would take a sudden turn towards the better.
A/N
Wow 3,721 words (not including author's notes)! That's the most words in a chapter so far in this story. This is my favorite chapter so far because I had so much fun writing it, and editing it. Speaking of editing I took a lot of your guys' advice and started to fix my common mistakes in my stories during editing them way better than I used to do. Happy New Year by the way, I haven't talked to you guys since last year (Ha had to fit it in somewhere). The main reason why I was gone for so long is because my schoolwork started to pile up and I wanted to get this chapter out by Christmas, But that didn't happen. Winter break was the only break that I didn't have to worry about school work at all and it felt very weird to be honest. Anyway I read all of your comments and I would like to thank for all the good and constructive feedback when I really needed it. I hope the next chapter won't take too long, but I'm not making any promises. See you later.