"TRRRING"
His alarm went off. Usually Lincoln would be groggy and irritable due to it being Monday, but today was different. Today was the day that he and Clyde would start their research for their science project. He quickly got up and made his bed, tidied his room, and packed his bag.
"Today's the day." He whispered excitedly.
Within five minutes he was brushed, showered and ready for school, which caught the attention of his siblings. Seeing him this cheerful on a Monday raised some eyebrows. Lori decided to find out the reason herself.
"Looks like someone is lively today..."
"Oh hey Lori!"
"Hey Lincoln, What's up? Ronnie Anne ask you out on a date?"
Immediately all of Lincoln's sisters stopped what they were doing and looked at Lincoln with a smug smile on their faces. However, Lincoln was not amused.
"Awww...how cute! Remember me if you need a love song little bro!" Luna remarked.
"After school, Lori Leni, and I will make you look like the most fabulous and fashionable suitor in all of history!"
"Wait, so you mean Lincoln will like, wear a suit?"
"No Leni, what Lola means is that we will make Lincoln literally the best boyfriend ever!"
"Oh, that totes makes more sense!"
"Wait, so you mean you will make Lincoln a better boyfriend than Bobby?" Lynn questioned.
Lori opened her mouth to shut Lynn up, but no words came out. Before the situation escalated any further, Lincoln quickly interrupted the banter going on.
"Guys GUYS...chill out! We are only friends! We are not dating!"
All the sisters stopped arguing and looked and him.
"Wait What?
"We aren't dating. We only hang out at the arcade or park sometimes. I don't know why you think me and Ronnie Anne are still a thing. After mine and Lori's double date we decided not to be romantically involved. I even told you all about it."
Silence was all that was heard as his sisters looked guiltily. Sighing, Lincoln further added,
"Look, if I need assistance from anybody, I will ask you. Please do not jump to conclusions and meddle in my life."
Lincoln then poured himself a box of cereal and milk, and sat down to eat breakfast. It was mostly quiet, as Lincoln's siblings were feeling a little guilty for their "hasty assessment" of Lincoln's enthusiasm for the upcoming day.
However, before climbing into the vehicle, Luna said to Lincoln,
"Sorry bro. We kinda jump to conclusions about you."
Seeing that she was sincere, Lincoln accepted her apology.
"Say, why were you so enthusiastic about a Monday? You never seem to be usually. You have some sort of exciting project?"
"If I may intrude, I may be able to help you on whichever project you are working on." Lisa interjected.
"I don't have any project right now. Its just something...personal."
"Gotcha. I'll leave you be." Luna said.
"Very well, elder brother."
And the trio seated themselves in the modified thirteen-seater van.
By the time it was to roll out Vanzilla for school, most sisters were feeling better and were talking about events that were scheduled for the day. Lisa had to get something ready for the upcoming science fair, Lola and Lana had Hall Monitor duties, Lucy had to recite a poem for Black History Month (Which she confused with the color black and associated darkness and despair), Lynn had a soccer game, Luan had Drama Club after school, Luna had music practice, Leni had a fashion meeting with her friends (something she described as "Totes exciting") and Lori had some school project. In a nutshell, Lincoln's sisters were busy, which gave him the perfect opportunity for his identification of his project and subsequent research of it after school with Clyde.
Soon enough, he reached his destination.
"Bye Lori, Leni, Luna and Luan!"
"Have a good day twerp."
"Hey Linc, what do you call a Owl Magician? Luan asked excitedly.
"I don't know... what DO you call a Owl Magician" Lincoln said reluctantly.
"WHO-DINI! Haha Get it?"
The pun was followed by a chorus of moans from the Loud siblings with Luan laughing at her own joke, which was followed by the sound of Vanzilla driving off.
After seeing the van drive off, Lincoln walked through the entrance of Royal Woods Middle School. The hallways were filled of morning conversations, the opening and closing of locker doors, and the miffy air of a long, boring Monday. After waiting for a while by the restrooms he finally met Clyde.
"Hey Clyde!"
"Hey Lincoln! How was your weekend?"
"Ah you know, the usual."
"You mean going to the mall to help your sisters and helping them again with their hobbies, leaving almost no time for yourself?"
"Yeah, that's one way to phrase it."
"You know Linc, maybe you should stand up to them and tell them that you have interests too, and you can't help them all the time."
"Yeah, but every time I think of doing that, my inner self tells me that they are my sisters, and you should be a good older/younger brother."
"Yeah, but remember, 'The problem with putting others first, is that you are telling them you come second.'"
"...That's deep."
After a brief pause, Lincoln amused,
"You stole that from the internet, didn't you Clyde..."
"Yeah...well, the internet is a free place so I guess I can."
Their conversation was interrupted by the first bell.
"Oh well, looks like I have to get going then."
Yeah, see you at Lunch. We can discuss the project then."
"See ya later Clyde."
"Later Linc."
With that, Lincoln speed-walked to his class, to prevent being caught running in the halls. When you got a teacher like Mr. Bolhofner, you will realize that you must be prompt in attending his classes. Soon enough, Lincoln made it to the poor excuse for a classroom and sat in his rickety desk.
"You are lucky you made it in time Loud. One second late and you would be standing outside for the whole period."
Lincoln nodded nervously, acknowledging Mr. Bolhofner's warning. He started teaching, and Lincoln had to endure the three dry, dull, and wearisome classes of History, Geography, and Language Arts. The drab topics of the Louisiana Purchase, the feature of mountains and their types, The strain of grammar and vocabulary, was a bit too much for the middle child. Afterwards there was the dreaded Physical Education period, which really pooped him out after dodgeball and cardio exercises. When you have the stamina of a six year-old, combined with really weak reflexes, there is no doubt that you get destroyed in Dodgeball. The former also does not help in Cardio Exercises. Then there were two periods of math, which was a strange subject. Some of it felt boring like algebra, during which Lincoln thought about its usage in everyday life. Where will we use it? Is a receipt from a store written in variables with coefficients? Is it used when measuring the area of a field? He would never figure out this on his own. Things only got worse when he looked at Lisa's Calculus Textbook.
The equation ∫ sec x tan x dx = sec x + C really got to him.
But not all math felt hard and non-logical. Geometry was interesting with all the formulae and areas, volumes, height and lengths, and unlike algebra, it was of everyday use. You could measure the area of places, surfaces, find out how much an object can hold etc. So the two periods of math weren't as bad as the previous four.
Finally, the bell rang to signal it was Lunchtime.
The whole class ran out like a herd of cattle being rounded up by a rustler. To prevent being trampled on like in Physical Education an hour ago, Lincoln waited until most of the class had moved out. Then he set out towards the cafeteria. As soon as he got there, he had to stand in a really long line to get his lunch a.k.a slop to eat. It was as if school was a prison, and this was their so called "Lunch" that honestly looked more like stuff to fill the 'prisoners' stomach with. The analogy between school and prison is quite common in the halls during conversations and is visible with the graffiti on the desks, and Lincoln had no regret for making such a comparison.
Soon as he got his "Food", he walked over to the table where his friends sat, pulled a chair, and sat down.
"Hey Guys!"
Everyone responded with either "Hey Lincoln"/"Sup Lincoln"/"Hey Man".
"So, how is everyone's day going?"
"Eh...not so bad, we were learning about researching tools and the fundamentals of computers during computer class. It is so exciting to learn how computers work, right Lincoln?" Stella asked.
"Yeah, the CPUs are interesting. Also the gradual shift from predated technology to newer ones is also engrossing, like when Floppy Discs were replaced by USBs."
"Yeah I remember getting chided afterwards cause of writing the definition of floppy disc 'A flaccid disc used for storage in the computer'." Rusty joked.
The table burst into shrieks of laughter.
"You actually wrote that? Wow, you must have got an earful."
"More than an earful Liam, Way more..."
"For real Rusty?" Zach inquired.
"Yeah..." He replied, now feeling a little embarrassed.
After the laughing fit ended, Lincoln decided to take up the conversation regarding the County Science Fair.
"So Clyde, about the fair..."
"Hmm? Oh you mean the science fair... I was thinking of doing some research and picking up some books at the Royal Woods Library."
"You guys are participating in a fair? Stella asked.
"Yeah, me and Clyde have decided to partake in the County Science Fair."
"Ah...cool. What topic did you choose?
"We haven't really got a topic in mind, so we were thinking of going to the local library to find out some topics that we can do a project on."
"That sounds interesting, can I come with you guys? I need to check out some books myself.
"Sure. We will go straight to the library after school. I'll call Lori to let her know."
"And I will call my two dads to let them know I am there as well." Clyde remarked.
"Did you two register? I heard that the registration closes this week."
"No, not yet. I think I will tell my parents tomorrow morning before school, and later me and Clyde can register online."
"Sweet. Good luck!"
"Thanks Stella."
Soon enough, the bell sounded, signaling the end of Lunch.
"Well, that's the bell. Looks like we gotta make it to our classes now." Zach said.
"See you after school Linc." Rusty replied.
"See ya!"
Lincoln proceeded to trash the paper plate and juice box, and left for his class.
The second half of the day was much more better than the first. All that were left were the three periods of Literature, Science and Spanish. Literature was basically reading, which Lincoln liked doing. It was only the poems that got to Lincoln, and with so many underlying meanings it was difficult to understand what WAS the poet trying to say. Science was interesting with the principles of the scientific method, which Lincoln knew would help in a few hours. Spanish wasn't as hard as before cause Ronnie Anne and Bobby had helped Lincoln by giving him small lessons during their hangouts. Soon Spanish class was over, and Lincoln was making his way to the school entrance.
"Let me call Lori to let her know."
He turned on his phone, clicked "Contacts" and chose Lori's number. Afterward he could hear some sort of song by "Boyz Will Be Boyz" as the caller tune.
"Hey Lincoln. It will still be a while before I come, can you wait for some time?"
"Uh Lori, I actually called to let you know I'll be walking home today. I have to check some books at the Library."
"Okay. Just literally don't be late."
"You got it."
The call ended. Lincoln then stood around, and waited for Clyde and Stella to show up. Rusty and Zach had left early for some activities, so Lincoln had already met and spoke to them while waiting for his other two mates.
"Hey Lincoln!" They both said simultaneously.
"Hey guys! Ready to hit the library?"
"Yup. I called my dads a few minutes ago. They said I can."
"Same for me. My mom allowed me for a couple of hours."
"Cool. I told Lori. She said alright."
"Ok, lets go then!" Clyde suggested.
The three began their walk to the library, which luckily wasn't too far out.
"So what's the plan to keep your sister's out of this Lincoln?"
"..." Lincoln realized that he forgot all about his sisters. Keeping his sisters from meddling wasn't easy, and he decided to be a bit stealthy in his scientific endeavor.
"I completely forgot about about them." said Lincoln as he buried his face in his hands.
"Looks like we gotta pull a stealth mission on this one, huh?"
"Yeah Clyde, it seems that we might need to be extra careful to prevent my sisters from finding out. Cause when they will... let's just say I don't want to talk about the outcome."
After 10 minutes of walking and chatting about various topics, they reached the library, and entered through the front door.
"Well, here it is, Let's go over to the Science Section. There are a few computers nearby, so we can look in them for other topics and a detailed descriptions related to our subject."
After greeting the Librarian, the three put their belongings down at a table, and began to browse the science section. Lincoln took a brief glance at the library. He could see columns filled with books, and some people reading and browsing. Then he looked toward the reception. He saw the librarian they greeted earlier, some teens reading novels, and some carts filled with returned books. However, he noticed something else, which alarmed him.
Lola, along with Luna, were at the reception, asking for some sort of children's book.
Lincoln started to sweat a little and his face adopted a distressed expression. He did not want Lola of all people to tell his other sisters that he was looking and researching at the library. Sure they could assume he is working on a school project, but Lincoln had told Luna and Lisa earlier that he had no project, and that would be suspicious to Luna. It was also plausible that Lori had told the rest of the sisters he was at the Library, so if he hid himself, Luna would tell Lori that Lincoln wasn't there, which will also increase suspicions. Noticing Lincoln's worried look, they began to question him what happened and asking if he was ok.
The only words that came out of his mouth were,
"Oh boy..."
Hey guys! Yanwiz again! I'm back with Chapter 2 of "The First Step in Passion". Yes I am leaving this on a minor cliffhanger. What will Lincoln do? Will the sisters find out? Whatever plan of action Lincoln will take has to be quick. It will be discussed in Chapter 3.
On an unrelated note, turns out some of you liked my story :) I also saw some of your suggestions and will try to add them in as well. As for chapter intervals, I think 4-5 days per chapter sounds good. I appreciate all the reviews, and decided to space out the dialogues so that they are easier to read. Also added more details on who is speaking the lines in some of the dialogue.
As always, leave a review and have a nice day!
See ya!
A/N: In this story the sisters are a bit jealous of Lincoln if he gets more recognition then themselves in their respective hobbies, my story revolves around that particular ideology. Another thing is that I am not writing this story with respect to 100 percent canon. Some of it is there, but majority of it is my imagination and opinion.