While sleeping on the couch, Lincoln couldn't help but take in the comfort he was feeling. But a certain delicious smell entered his nostrils, so the young Loud boy slowly regained consciousness and awoke from his peaceful slumber. He looked around from the couch and deduced that the smell was coming from the kitchen. Suddenly, all the memories of what happened the other day flooded his mind and he sighed, feeling both happy and sad about the whole situation. He was happy that he had a place to stay with Girl Jordan, a friend from school who cared about his well-being, but at the time, he was still haunted by the bad memories seven of his sisters created. His train of thoughts were soon broken when a woman came into the living room where he slept. She smiled at him, seeing him awake.
"Hello... Lincoln, was it?" asked the woman. Lincoln examined the woman and managed to conclude that she was Jordan's mother, based on the similarities.
"I...I am," said Lincoln. "You're Jordan's mom, right?"
"Mm-hmm," Jordan's mom replied. "I came to check on you since breakfast is almost done." Lincoln took that as his cue and yawned before getting up from beneath the blanket. "I'll go get Jordan. Feel free to have a seat," said the mother politely. Lincoln agreed and entered the same kitchen where he and Jordan talked earlier. He looked at the frying pan and saw that pancakes were currently being made, which explained the wonderful smell he awoke to.
Meanwhile, Jordan's mom knocked silently on the door to her daughter's room. After getting no response, she knocked a little louder, but still nothing. Hearing slow breaths from the other side, she opened the door and found her daughter sleeping peacefully. She smiled and opened the window curtains, letting in the daylight and waking up the girl.
"Just five more hours," Jordan groaned, burying her face in her pillow. Jordan's mom giggled at her stubbornness.
"Come on, sweetie," she cooed convincingly. "Breakfast will be ready soon." Another groan was heard from Jordan, as she seemed too comfortable to even leave her bed. So her mom decided to switch tactics.
"Hey... Lincoln's down there." That did it. Jordan remembered everything with Lincoln from yesterday and her eyes shot open. She practically jumped out of bed and got dressed as fast as a soldier would. Jordan's mom chuckled at the fact that it worked and followed her to the kitchen. When they got there, they found a plate with a mountain of pancakes on it in the middle of the table. And there was Lincoln making more with the frying pan all by himself.
"Oh, hey!" he said, turning to them and seeing them looking at him. So he explained. "The pancakes were about to burn so I thought to step in and help. Also, I wasn't sure if we had enough, so I made a few extras." The three of them soon sat down and began eating the pancakes.
"Thank you, Lincoln," said Jordan's mom. "You really are a good kid." Jordan was amazed at the taste of the pancakes Lincoln made.
"Lincoln, these pancakes are amazing!" she exclaimed. "You're a good cook."
"Th-thanks," Lincoln stuttered with a smile. While they ate, the kitchen was silent, as nobody knew what to say or what to do. But Jordan wanted to have a little small talk.
"So, Lincoln, what did you think of that Ace Savvy movie?" Jordan asked Lincoln. He turned to her and thought back to when he watched it with her.
"I thought it was great," he answered, receiving a smile from Jordan.
"Glad I could entertain you," she giggled. The two kids continued to talk and laugh while eating and soon enough, all of the pancakes were eaten. Jordan's mom got up and brought the plates over to the sink to clean them.
"I'll help," offered Lincoln. So they both cleaned the plates together.
"I do appreciate your help, Lincoln," said the mom. "Could you possibly finish cleaning these plates? I need to talk to Jordan." Lincoln nodded and Jordan's mom escorted her daughter out of the kitchen. Jordan gave her mom confused looks as to why they were here.
"Your father called this morning while you were sleeping. He'll be back in about two hours, so I thought that you and Lincoln might want to do a little something together while we wait," Jordan's mom suggested.
"Like what?" asked Jordan. While she and Lincoln shared similar interests, she didn't know what he would prefer.
"Maybe you could take him to the mall," said the mom. "There's all kinds of stuff there. I'm sure you'll find something interesting."
"Actually, that's not a bad idea."
"Oh, good. Now go and tell your boyfriend and get your jacket," said Jordan's mom with a large grin.
"M-MOM!" Jordan stuttered and blushed instantly, much to her mom's amusement. "We're just... just..."
"Just go and get ready before I tease you some more," the mom joked while full-on chuckling. Jordan left and returned to the kitchen, her blush still visible as she saw Lincoln having finished cleaning the last plate.
"Hey Lincoln, e-eh, ma-may..." Jordan stuttered again, still having been taken by surprise by her mother's comment. Seeing her daughter stutter and unable to ask properly, Jordan's mom did it for her.
"She was wondering if you might be interested in visiting the mall today," she said. Lincoln gave it some thought for a couple of moments.
"Yeah, sure," he responded. "You don't mind?"
"Certainly not," said Jordan's mom kindly. "I'll go start up the car." She picked up her car keys from the counter and the kids put on their jackets.
"Are you excited, Lincoln?" said Jordan, who was clearly excited herself. While Lincoln had mixed feelings about the mall, though maybe because it would be his first time, he couldn't say no to her.
"Yeah!" he answered energetically. Jordan gave him another smile. Yeah, that's the Lincoln I know! They went out to the car and Lincoln opened a door for Jordan, who chuckled as she got in.
"Thank you, my kind butler," she said. While it was a nice gesture on Lincoln's part, a sour memory suddenly triggered in his mind. The word 'butler' made him think about Lola, one of the meaner sisters who all but forced Lincoln to pose as her butler for her tea parties. Some people would say no, but if they knew Lola, they wouldn't dare. She was considered the family's tattletale and she would easily blackmail a victim if she didn't get her way. It was questionable if this would ever be considered normal behavior for a kid her age, but regarding many of the Loud siblings, there was the impression that their parents never exactly disciplined them properly. Not only did it lead to the girls taking advantage of their parents, but soon enough, it was about to be karma, as the sisters would come to realize that they drove their only brother away. While these thoughts were happening, Lincoln got in the car and sat beside Jordan, his expression not going unnoticed. Jordan looked at him and was worried.
"Lincoln?" she said, putting her hand on his shoulder, which snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked back at her. "Are you okay?" she asked. "You seemed a bit out of touch." Lincoln didn't want to ruin the mood during the ride so he simply smiled at her.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "I just had a random thought in my head, that's all." While Jordan didn't completely believe the white-haired boy, she knew that he would continue to tell her this. Considering that she did know everything Lincoln went through so far, she thought it best not to press him if he had a lot on his mind.
"Well... if you say so. Anyway, what do you want to do at the mall?" Jordan asked Lincoln.
"I don't know," responded Lincoln. "I've never been there. This'll be my first time." Jordan thought about what he would enjoy there before her mind had an idea.
"How about the comic book store?" she suggested. "I heard that they finally released Ace Savvy: Split Deck!" And for the rest of the ride, the children talked about the latest Ace Savvy comic book series that was about Ace Savvy and his team splitting off and fighting each other, almost like a civil war. Jordan's mom soon parked the car.
"Alright kids, I need to go and finish some client papers," she said. "Call me as soon as you're ready and we'll meet your father back home." The kids nodded and entered the mall. Lincoln was amazed by the sheer size of the interior.
"This has to be at least twice the size of the mall in Royal Woods," he said in awe. There were stores everywhere and Jordan smiled seeing Lincoln's face light up.
"You look like a kid on Christmas morning," she joked.
"Yeah, but look at this!" Lincoln motioned at the whole mall. "This place is huge!" Jordan was happy to see Lincoln start to return to his normal self. While in all likelihood, more trials and tribulations would come for him, for this moment, they could just put those at ease and enjoy themselves for the morning.
"What are we waiting for?" said Jordan. "If you stand around here any longer, all the stores are gonna close while you just look at them!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him along, passing a good hundred stores or so with Lincoln still mind-blown. After what seemed to be ten minutes, they came across the comic book store and Lincoln was blown away that it was bigger than he imagined. Jordan couldn't help but giggle seeing the boy's eyes glued on in more amazement. "Come on, Lincoln. It's just a comic book store, right?"
"I know, but look at this!" Lincoln said, pointing at the store.
"I bet you'll say that a lot," replied Jordan. "Let's just go in already." She didn't have to grab his hand to pull him inside this time, but she did it as a reflex of some kind. Once inside, they scoured the shelves for the comic book they sought. "Any luck on your side?" Jordan asked.
"Nope, I think we should ask the cashier," suggested Lincoln. They went up to the cashier, who smiled at them.
"Morning, kids," he said. "What can I do to help you?" They told him the name of the comic book they were after. "Ah, of course," he replied. "Those went flying off the shelves, but we got plenty here in the back. One moment..." He went into the back room and came back with a copy of the comic book they wanted. "Here you go." Lincoln pulled out his wallet to pay, but was stopped by Jordan.
"Don't worry, I'll pay for us both this time," she said. "My treat." Lincoln wanted to refuse, but Jordan quickly paid for the comic book.
"You didn't need to do that," said Lincoln.
"I know, but I wanted to," said Jordan with a smile. "Now let's go and find a place to read."
"Alright, then. Is there a library here?" asked Lincoln. Then he remembered gawking over how big the mall was and facepalmed for just asking the question. Jordan simply chuckled before taking his hand again and leading him to the mall's library. Once inside, they found a secluded place to read the comic together. With only one copy, they shared it and read together, having no problem to do so.
"I can't believe One-Eyed Jack and Ace aren't on the same team," said a surprised Jordan, keeping her voice at hush-hush while fully focused on reading.
"Me too," said Lincoln. "But you gotta admit that their fight was pretty awesome."
"Mm," Jordan nodded. After a while, the duo finished reading the comic book, so they got up and left the library. They talked about some of their favorite moments from the comic, but to their surprise, the moments were exactly the same. Their talk was interrupted when Jordan's stomach slightly growled. "Ooh... Hey Lincoln, should we get something to eat?" Lincoln thought about it for a moment only for his stomach to growl slightly.
"Yeah, sure," he said. "In spite of all those pancakes we had, I could go for some more food." Jordan was deep in thought, deciding where they should go, until her mind was made up. Lincoln saw the place and this time he grabbed her hand instead, causing her to smile a bit.
I can't believe how many times we held hands today already, she thought. What is this feeling...? N-no. She snapped out of it quickly. No, we're just friends. At a small restaurant, they sat down at a table to look at a menu. There didn't seem to be anything too special or even fancy, but Lincoln wasn't complaining because everything looked good.
"So, what are you choosing?" he asked Jordan, who seemed to be having a bit of trouble deciding.
"Don't know," she said. "What about you?" Lincoln took one more glance at the menu and found what he thought looked the tastiest.
"I'm choosing the kebab special," he declared.
"Ooh, sounds good," said Jordan. "I guess I'll have the same."
"The same?"
"I'm taking your word that this will be good," Jordan joked, giggling.
"Nah, this is totally disgusting," said Lincoln with lots of sarcasm, smiling at Jordan. "By evening I'll be busting!"
Moments later, the waiter arrived and the kids placed their orders. It took roughly half an hour before their food arrived and they began to dig in and enjoy it.
"Mmm, you lied, Lincoln," said Jordan slyly. "You said this would be disgusting."
"Oh, I'm sorry for the food actually being to your liking," the white-haired boy joked and they both chuckled.
"Hey Lincoln, may I ask you something?" said Jordan. Lincoln sensed a shift in the conversation tone, but thought to at least give her the benefit of the doubt.
"Yeah, sure," he answered casually.
"What were you thinking about in the car on the way over?" Jordan's curiosity didn't let her leave the question unchecked and maybe now would be an okay time for an answer. But Lincoln, in spite of not being surprised at the question, still wasn't quite ready to give his answer. He didn't exactly know how to.
"I-I... thought back to a memory... with one of my sisters," he said.
"Was it a good one?" Jordan hoped, but with no answer, she concluded that wasn't the case. "Want to talk about it?" Lincoln thought before answering, afraid that he would inadvertently hurt Jordan's feelings.
"Nah, I don't want to think about it," he said. "That's one reason I agreed to come with you here. I needed to do something to take my mind off of them... at least for now." He resumed eating his food.
"I guess I don't blame you," Jordan replied. The kids soon finished their food and Jordan did feel a little bit of pride for helping her friend from school relieve his mind of any bad thoughts. The waiter returned and left a bill, but by the time Jordan got her wallet out, she saw that Lincoln had already paid the waiter.
"Too slow this time," said Lincoln, waving his wallet. Jordan simply smiled. After they left the restaurant, Jordan felt her cell phone going off and answered the call.
"Hey sweetie, how's everything going?" said her mom on the other end.
"Really great," said Jordan. "We went to a comic book store, bought a comic book, read it in the library, and got something to eat at a small restaurant."
"Good to know. Your father's back, so I'm coming to pick you both up."
"Of course! See you in the parking lot!" Jordan ended the call and Lincoln had heard the whole thing. Jordan held out her hand, urging Lincoln to take it and he didn't hesitate to do so as they left the mall together.