It was a beautiful summer evening. The heat from the afternoon had died down, and the cicadas had started their daily sundown performance of hums and chirps. At 1216 Franklin Avenue, we see a boy with white hair lying on his bed.

"Sigh..."

Lincoln was lying on his bed in his room, tired from another day of mayhem and chaos at the Loud house. "Man. I love my sisters and all, but sometimes don't you feel that you need a break to do your own things?" Bored out of his mind, he wandered into Lily's and Lisa's room. "Maybe I'll find something of interest here...though I wouldn't count on it." He stood before a Lisa's bookcase, and started browsing for something to read. "Let's see...Biochemistry, Classical Mechanics, Optics, Organic Chemistry, Thermodynamics...Huh. Never knew there were so many branches of science. I thought there was only physics, chemistry and biology." After browsing for a while, he found a textbook titled, " A Brief Introduction to the Art of Engineering". Intrigued by its concept, he decided to take a look at it.

Lincoln wasn't a genius, but he always had a fascination of devices. He was curious how they functioned, and how on the press of a button can a doorbell ring, how with a twist of a key could start a car, and how the car itself moved. Even though the confusing equations explaining their working never made any sense, he always wished to one day be able to understand them, and make devices and inventions like that himself. Even when reading his fictional superhero comics, he often assigned logical and scientific explanations to the powers of the heroes and villains alike. He also read Sci Fi novels at the Library, and sometimes even read books that belonged to his prodigy sister Lisa. He always read at the times when he knew his other sisters were busy with their own hobbies, or when they were collectively scheming at their "Sister Meetings". Cause he knew that if they found out his secret, they would never it go, and of course, Lisa would not take lightly to competition in her own fields of study.

He ultimately decided to give the book a shot. He felt that since his sisters would never let him read in peace and quiet, so he decided that he will read it in the park instead. He quickly grabbed his notebook and pen, just in case if there was something in the book worth noting down. He told Lori that he is going out for a stroll in the park, to which she quickly responded "Yeah sure whatever twerp." He closed the door, and started his walk to the park.

Lincoln felt the aura of the sun, warm and comforting. Just like one of Leni's hugs. The rustle of the leaves coincided with the giggles and the howls of laughter coming from the playground. Lincoln sat at a empty picnic table and started to read the book. He saw many different machines and inventions, from electric generators to MRI and CAT scanners. He was mesmerized by workings of the air conditioners, the loudspeakers, the computers, and the hydroelectric motors. He wanted to read for hours on end, but he soon realized that Lori would turn him into a human pretzel if he wasn't in his room in 5 minutes. He picked up the book, notebook and pen and dashed out of the park. However, he was so petrified by the image of Lori's terror that he ran straight into the park bulletin board.

Luckily, a teen passing by saw and rushed to help him. "Hey kid! You alright?" All Lincoln could do was mumble, "Yeah". They sat on a bench, and soon Lincoln was feeling much better."Owwww..." The teen helped him get on his feet. " Next time try to watch where you are going. Last thing you want is a concussion..." "Yeah... I'll be more aware next time." Lincoln replied. Lincoln brushed off his jeans and shirt, and was about to leave, when the teen inquired,

"Say, you got an Engineering book there?"
"Mm hmm"
"So your one of those geeks huh?"
"Uhhhh...well honestly I-"

The teen laughed a bit, then said,

"Relax. It was a joke. I also love machines. I even made a few myself."
"Oh really? Like what?"
"From really simple ones like a remote catapult to a motorised model of the Solar System."
"Must be real fun I guess..."
"Yeah its fun until the catapult ends up hitting your little sister in the face and gets you grounded..."
"Ouch."
"Yeah...Say are you participating in the County Science Fair this month?"
"There's a Science Fair this month?"
"Yup." the teen said, pointing to a poster on the bulletin board. "Its on the 28th. People from all over the county will participate. The winner and the runners up get a medal, and entry into the Michigan State Fair of Science and Engineering. Once you get there, its every participant's dream! College professors and scientists may accept you on a scholarship to their labs, which I heard that are very high tech. Trust me, you'll give a million to be there."
"Wow, I never knew the about the opportunities!"
"I just hope that prodigy Lisa Loud won't win. At the end of the fair, she rates our projects as "miniscule" and "Nothing Innovative" then she gloats about her knowledge... and how she will be the future representative of science. What does she expect? We build a freaking particle accelerator?"

Lincoln didn't say anything to this.

"What's your name?" He asked.
"Lincoln" "Jack. Nice to meet ya" They both shook hands.
"Well I hope you have a good one then. In my opinion you should participate. Even if you do not win anything, the experience and the fun of participating is always there."
"I'll think about it. See you around" "See ya!" The teen walked out of the park.

"Hmmm...interesting. I can't imagine all the projects and experiments that will be there..." He replied He thought about the different devices at the State Fair. However, when realizing the time, Lincoln dashed over to his house. He slowly opened the door, peeking to see if anyone was inside. Seeing the coast clear, he creeped in and slowly closed the door. Now all that was left was to enter his room, and nobody would notice...

...Unless all his sisters happen to be behind him.

"Ugh, Where were you Lincoln? You know that your curfew is at 7:00."
"Yeah...I sorta lost track of time while walking in the park."
"Next time that happens I will literally turn you into a human pretzel!"
"Okay Lori, I'll keep that in mind"
"You better!"

With that, Lori stormed out of the room.
However, before he could walk to his room, a small finger tapped on his back. He turned around to see none other than Lisa.

"Yes Lisa?"
"Male sibling unit, it appears you have a publication regarding structure designing and subsequent assemblement of a device made up of various constituent materials to provide aid to the human race."

Lincoln stared at her with a blank face

"I mean to say you have a book on engineering."
"Ah yeah, I do."
"What are you doing with it?"

Lincoln started to sweat a little.

"Uhhh...I-I just found this in the yard, and was gonna return it to you, yeah..."
"Hmmm...Very well."

Lincoln handed the book over to Lisa...then made a beeline for his room.

"Apart from the fact that I never bring books into the yard, the increased rate of perspiration and his stutter seem to indicate that he is lying. It looks like I will have to find out myself." Lisa said as she entered her room.

Relieved that Lisa bought his excuse, he sat in his chair, and thought about what the teen had said earlier.
"Maybe he is right. There's no harm in trying, and the experience is always beneficial. Now all i need to do is decide on a topic that I like." Browsing through his laptop, he found many topics of interest, like solar power harvesting, electrical conductivity of salts, Lens magnification etc., though he was unsure of what his project could be based on.
"So many ideas...so less time. How will I find one...?"
A lightbulb went off in his head.
"Clyde! How could I forget. He is the perfect partner for a project like this. We can think and create dozens of projects together!"

All through dinner Lincoln was quiet, excited for his discussion tomorrow with Clyde. This raised a few eyebrows of his sisters, who were confused why he wasn't as attentive as he used to be.

"And that's how I beat Lindsey Sweetwater AGAIN... I always knew I could count on you Lincoln. Lincoln?"
"LINCOLN!"
"Ow geez Lola...you don't need to burst my eardrums..."
"I will if you won't listen to me! You probably don't even know what I am talking about."
"Oh fine, continue..."

Lola's gloating as well as the other dinner conversations drained out as Lincoln's mind slowly drifted from the table to his imagination. He could see himself giving the scientists and the professors a detailed analysis of his invention and recieving applause.

After dinner was over, Lincoln went straight to his room, and rushed past Luna, who wanted his help.
"Hey bro! I need some help stringing my Axe, could you do this musician a favor?
"Sorry Luna, I need to take care of some stuff."
"Alright bro, maybe tomorrow then."
After closing the door, Lincoln decided to message Clyde on his opinion of the fair.

LL: Hey Clyde, you got a minute?
CM: Yeah. What's up?
LL: Heard there is a science fair on the 28th.
CM: Yeah, the county science fair, what about it?
LL: Was thinking of participating. You interested?
CM: Sure. Always wanted to participate in one.
LL: Sweet. Talk to you at school then.
LL: Gn

CM: Gn Lincoln

Lincoln decided to finish up his remaining homework so that he could discuss on what to do at the science fair with Clyde tomorrow.
"Man. I can't wait to participate. I always wanted to do some project unrelated to school. Who knows. Maybe I'll be a runner up and get to visit the State fair.

With that, he switched off his lamp and went to sleep.

Hey guys, Yanwiz here! Hope you liked the chapter of my very first fanfic, "The First Step of Passion". Feel free to review and give out suggestions and constructive criticism. Stay tuned for the next chapter, which will probably be out soon.

See ya! ;)