Hey everyone. Sorry I've been gone for so long. A long list of things have been going on in life for me that kept me that kept me from working on writing. Including but not limited too: Work, a new video game, and... something else. But I'm back to update this story. Now, let's get on to business and start the show.

Let's see how Lincoln does with lie practice, shall we?

Chapter 15

[Ronnie Anne's P.O.V.]

"Come on, Lame-O. Where are you?" I whispered under my breath before I took another drink of my chocolate milk. I still couldn't believe what he told me. It was honestly really ridiculous with how much he was able to keep secret about himself despite being a crappy liar. Well, whatever. Now I had to teach him how to tell lies for both of our sakes. That is, once he actually shows up. For now, all I could do was eat some more of my lunch.

While I was trying to spot him, I caught glimpses of a few of the other tables and the people sitting at them. There was Clyde and his dork squad at one, with Rusty trying to fling peas into the air and land his mouth. Then Chandler, his girlfriend Cristina, and their clique at another. They seemed to be laughing about something stupid but I couldn't tell what exactly. Then there was the goth kids. Or as they liked to be called, "The Young Morticians Club". They were always so weird and creepy. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they were linked to the demon stuff Lincoln and his sisters were sent to stop.

Speaking of Lincoln, I finally saw him walking through the center of the lunchroom with a tray of food in his hands as he made his way towards the empty table I reserved for our little chat. "Hey, Lincoln!" I turned my head and saw Clyde calling out to Lame-O. He was waving his hand excitedly and motioning for him to take a seat. Lincoln looked at them nervously for a second. Then he turned back towards me and kept walking my way, basically ignoring them.

He walked over to me and nervously coughed as he sat down. "Took you long enough." I said as he sat down next to me. Lincoln rubbed the back of his head, probably thinking about something to say. After a good five seconds of nothing, he opened his mouth.

"So… Lying. Where do we, uh, start?" He asked.

The way he was talking spoke volumes over his lack of confidence and his dictionary's worth of anxiety. Ugh, this really is going to be tough. "Okay, first thing first: a lightweight like you needs to take baby steps. So we're going to cover something even you can't screw up. It even boils down to two simple words." Lincoln leaned a little closer to me out of curiosity.

"And what are they?"

"Shut. Up." I answered as I counted off each word with my fingers. Lincoln scooched back a bit looking both confused and hurt by my words. "If there is something you don't want to talk about, or someone else is giving you an alibi, you say nothing." I told him. He started to open his mouth again to say something else, but I kept talking to stop him short. "And when I say 'nothing', you don't have to be absolutely silent. You can say 'it's a secret' or something like that." Lincoln relaxed a bit hearing my explanation.

"Huh, I guess that sounds easy enough." He replied as he started to munch on some chicken nuggets. He seemed to be getting a little comfortable with the prospect pretty quickly. But I had to make sure it was going to stick. Other wise he'd probably repeat the deer in the headlights act from recess.

"Well then, let's do a little exercise." I reached out and grabbed his hand, wrapping it in my own. "I'm going to ask you questions. If you try answering one about your secrets, I pinch you. Got it?" Lincoln looked up at me and nodded. "Okay, how many days in a week?" I asked.

"Seven."

"What letter does your name start with?"

"L."

"How many sisters do you have?"

"Ten."

"Where did you come from?" When I asked that question, Lincoln froze up and said nothing. I smirked seeing how quick Lame-O was learning. Still, I had to make sure this got into this head. "Good job, Lame-O. Now, what's your favorite color?"

"Orange."

"What color is my hair?"

"Black."

"What color is your hair?"

"White."

"I'm sorry, didn't hear that. What color was your wings?"

"White." I knew he might fall for that. Once I heard his answer, I kept my word and pinched the top of his hand as hard as I could. He let out a soft cry as he pulled his hand back and rubbed it in the spot my fingers pressed together. "AGH! Hey, I thought you said you'd only pinch me if I answered a question I shouldn't?"

"And you did. You have to pay attention to what people say, Lame-O." Lincoln was about to say something else, but then he pieced together the trick I pulled on him. Then he slapped a hand to his forehead in realization. "Well whenever you want to try again, I'm ready." Lincoln looked down at the little red mark my pinch left on his skin. Then, he glanced up at me before letting out a sigh and reaching out to let me grab him again. "Alright, are you left or right handed?"

"Right handed…" Lincoln muttered nervously. I was about to ask him another question, but then we heard someone else's voice.

"Lincoln, can you help me?" It sounded a little familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Not that I really cared though. I groaned as I turned around to face them, but didn't actually see anyone. Well, until I looked down and saw a little girl in a red baseball cap. Then, I instantly recognized her. Lincoln's little sister with the pet frog she sent down my shirt. She seemed to be looking around in a panic, not really realizing I was even there.

"Oh, hey Lana. What's the matter?" I heard Lincoln ask from behind me. Lana didn't even turn to face him as she started looking underneath our table.

"I'm looking for Hops. I thought he was with me, but I must have lost him in the lunch line." She explained. Oh great, her slimy little friend was on the loose again. Not to mention while people are eating. "Do you think you can help me look for him before something bad happens to him?" Lana begged.

"Sure thing. He couldn't have gotten too far, right?" Just like that, Lame-O dropped everything we were doing to help his sister find a frog. I groaned as I went to picking at my lunch again. Clearly we weren't getting any more lie practice in if stuff like this was going to keep him occupied. I was about to take a bite of whatever the meat on my lunch tray was, when I felt a weird sensation on my neck. A very familiar and slimy sensation.

"AGH! Eeeewwww." I shouted on reflex and cringed, catching the attention of the angels. I took a deep breath and reached down the neck of my hoodie. Sure enough, my hand came back with the walking wart pile Lana was looking for. "I found your frog." I groaned as I held him with one hand and gave it to her. At first she was happy to get her pet back, but then she took a closer look at me and immediately took a couple steps back in fear. Her eyes growing wide as she held her frog tightly against her chest. "What?" I asked.

The kid didn't answer. She just walked up to Lame-O and whispered something into his ear. No doubt they were talking about me. I let out a fake cough to remind them that I was sitting right next to them. Lincoln turned to face me again. "I think you still owe my sister an apology." He told me.

"Apologize? You mean for the frog thing last week?" I asked in disbelief. "Why should I have to apologize for something that was clearly her fault? She should have kept that slime ball on a leash!" I yelled while pointing at Lincoln's sister. Then, Lame-O suddenly went full big brother mode and wrapped his arms around him in a hug. I was about to continue, but then I took a closer look at Lana. She practically seemed to be cowering in fear next to Lincoln as she took one more peak at me. I barely heard her mumble something.

"I'm sorry." Then, she dug her face back into Lincoln's front.

I couldn't help but slow down as her little display seemed a little familiar to me.

…

"Damn it, Ronalda! Why did you have to do this now? Just look at what you've done."

"Oh, lay off her. It's just one plate! Clearly it was an accident."

"I… I'm sorry."

"Just go to your room and be quiet, young lady. We'll talk about this later."

…

I shook my head and snapped myself out of that flash back. Taking another glance at Lana, suddenly seeing her so afraid hit differently. I let out a sigh and rubbed my arm. "Well, okay maybe you aren't entirely at fault." I reasoned in a softer voice. She peeked her head out slightly from behind Lame-O like a curious mouse or something. "It was just one frog and it was an accident. Looking back, I overreacted a bit." I paused for a second and remembered exactly what happened then. "Okay, a lot. The point is: I'm sorry."

…

[Lincoln's P.O.V.]

Well, that wasn't something I was expecting. What I thought was just going to be a morally awkward experience turned into Ronnie Anne apologizing for what happened during the frog incident. I cleared my throat and looked at Lana, who was as surprised as I was. "Well Lana, what do you say?" I asked. My little sister looked at Ronnie Anne and looked down at the floor. I had a good idea of what she was thinking. On one hand, we angels wanted to count on the good in all mankind. Especially since Ronnie Anne was being influenced by unholy forces at the time. Yet for her, having to play the part of a normal human child. I would be scared and cautious too.

"I don't know. I'll think about it." She answered before starting to walk back to wherever she was sitting before.

"Wait, kid! One more thing." Ronnie Anne called back to Lana and waved her arm to come back over to us. Lana nervously came back, still holding Hops in her arms. "There's this kid named Chandler who's meaner than I could ever be. Keep Hops away from him. In fact, you're better off keeping him home from now on." She warned. Lana took a quick look at me, as if silently asking if what Ronnie Anne said could be trusted. Immediately, I nodded and confirmed what Ronnie Anne said was the truth.

Lana looked at Hops, who let out a small croak, then tucked him away in her overalls as she walked away again. As she left earshot, Ronnie Anne wiped her brow and exhaled. "That was close. Don't want to know what she would have done if she found out I knew what you were." She commented as she started eating some more of her lunch. Me on the other hand? All I could do was smile at her. Ronnie Anne noticed my stare and put her spork back on her lunch tray. "What's up with you now?" She asked.

"That was really sweet of you to apologize." Ronnie Anne scowled at me.

"I just wanted her to go away. Besides, you probably had her do it on purpose for your little demon hunting plan, didn't you?" She countered. Clearly upset with my choice of words. But I figured there was more to her choice to apologize. Her body language suggested something was bothering her, though I couldn't tell exactly what it was. Regardless, I was about to answer her question. But wasn't it the type of question I shouldn't answer? I decided to keep silent and didn't respond to her question. "Hey, I'm asking you something. Did she send that frog my way on purpose or not?" Ronnie Anne scrutinized. I remained calm and looked her firmly in the eyes.

"I'm not saying anything." I replied. She opened her mouth and raised a finger to shout something, but hesitated as she realized what I said. Her anger fizzled out and she folded her arms.

"Huh, I don't know if you're being smug or you're actually picking up on my lessons faster than I thought. Either way, call me impressed." Ronnie Anne smirked. "You're catching on faster than I thought, Loud."

"Uh… thanks?" I replied nervously. Ronnie Anne then scoffed and shoveled some more food into her mouth.

"But that's just keeping quiet about stuff. You still have a long way to go." Sensing that we were done practicing for now, I looked down at my lunch tray and started to eat some more of the meal I had picked out for myself. All the while, I tried to calm my inner worries. I mean, I had gotten through the first little lesson alright. Surely the rest of it won't be so bad.

Maybe?

Ah, feels good to get something done again. Though, perhaps it's been a while since we've seen what Luna is up to. So it might be a good idea to see what they're doing next time. Wouldn't you agree? Well, see you then I suppose.

...

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(All these ones and zeroes are not a mistake or glitch.)