Making Plans
The time was now 11:30 in the AM and Lincoln was still out in the park field, laughing merrily. The Frisbee game he and the girls were having with Ajax was the most fun he had in a long time. At the moment, he barely remembered any of the drama that might be going on at home.
Meanwhile, some of the older teens had just finished helping their folks setting up the plates at the picnic area. During that time, they were discussing ideas of what to do during the upcoming Spring Break "So...how should we start things off, everybody" questioned Carol, "anybody got any ideas?"
Each of them began scratching their chins in deep thought, for a minute or two. Then, Whitney decided to offer an idea; "stop me if this feels cliché, ladies" she stated, "but I was thinking about a trip to the be..." Before the girl could finish, her friends quickly clasped their hands over her mouth tight; silencing her.
"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Whit" Carol whispered softly, "after what we heard; I doubt Linc wants to go...there, of all places yet." This reminder caused Whitney to suddenly feel a strong sense of shame. "Well, if not there; why not the town pool" Becky suggested, "that's big enough to fit all of us."
Paige admitted to liking the idea...but quickly shot it down, after reminding everyone that Lincoln's family was banned from there. With that idea tossed aside, everyone feared their Spring Break would be incredibly boring. That was when Jordan's mother joined in on the discussion.
"My daughter and I may have a few ideas" she interjected, "that is...if you'd all like to hear them?" Intrigued, the ladies seated themselves at the table and bade her to continue. Back at the field; Lincoln was prepping for a Frisbee throw, when he soon spotted the ladies whispering to each other.
"Gee, I wonder what they're talking about" he thought to himself, his fingers running against the disk in his hands. Then, he noticed Carol and Becky looking his way; which made Lincoln feel mildly self-conscious. After a second or so of staring, the two ladies returned to the conversation.
More whispers followed, seconds later and then; all the ladies suddenly erupted into a fit of joyous giggles and squeals. Lincoln was taken aback by this outburst, which gave Ajax just the distraction he needed. After letting out a series of excited barks, the pup suddenly pounced on Lincoln from behind; knocking him to the ground.
"Hey, no fair" Lincoln said with a chuckle, "you can't tackle me while I'm distracted, that's cheating." Ajax responded with a proud yip, as if to say "I play to win," collected the Frisbee and proceeded to bring it to his master. After collecting the disk, Jordan did all she could to fight back the giggles she held inside.
After taking a moment to collect herself, she cleared her throat and helped Lincoln back onto his feet. "Don't be discouraged, Lincoln; this has happened before" she stated, "I've lost count of all the times this lil' rascal did that to me." Lincoln, with a soft shrug and a chuckle, assured her no harm was done and affectionately stroked Ajax's head.
"The truth is that I got distracted when the girls over there suddenly started squealing and cheering" he explained, "wonder what got them so excited?" Upon hearing this, Cristina suggested that he should go and ask them what was happening. With that in mind, Jordan collected the Frisbee and they headed over to the table.
Upon their arrival, Lincoln's eyes widened at the sight of the vast assortment of foods presented before him. "Wow, look at all this good stuff" he gasped in awe, "you all really didn't have to go through so much trouble for us." Feeling rather touched by Lincoln's words, Mrs. Pingrey chuckled heartily and gave him a light pat on the shoulder; assuring him that it was no trouble at all.
"With so many people here, we need as much food as possible to satisfy everyone" she stated, "I just hope you all will like it." Wasting no time; all the kids took their seats, made ready their plates and took samples of all the food presented before them. There was potato salad, egg salad, some gelatin, an assortment of sandwiches, a cake, a blueberry pie, some bags of chips, watermelon slices and a pan of brownies that Stella's mother made.
With his mouth salivating slightly, Lincoln quickly seized some of the food. But he quickly stopped himself, seconds later; realizing that it'd be rude to eat before everyone else did. With this in mind, Lincoln offered for some of the ladies to get something first.
"Thanks, Linc" chimed Carol, "it's rather sweet of you to do that." Several of the other ladies murmured in agreement, proclaiming Lincoln to be a rather thoughtful young man. "Aw, shucks; ladies" he chuckled while blushing, "I'm not that great...I'm just being me."
"Well, young man; you're great to all of us" said Jordan's mother with a smile, "and our girls here seem to agree; don't you, ladies?" All the girls, young and old shouted with great fervor; which made the boy blush harder. "Think of it, Lincoln; you've been through so much in the past few weeks alone" Carol stated, "and yet...you still find it in your heart to try and forgive, forget and be a good kid."
Upon hearing all this, Lincoln's slightly welled up with tears; appearing flattered that so many people would think so highly of him. "On that particular note, we're all pleased to inform you that our daughters have come up with a proposition for you" Mrs. Pingrey stated, "something you might find to your liking." Intrigued, Lincoln took a sip of lemonade and asked what the proposition was.
"Well, Linc; let me start by asking you a question" Carol stated, "do you have or did you have plans for the upcoming Spring Break holiday." Lincoln was slightly taken aback by this inquiry; his mind had been so frazzled from past events, he hadn't even thought about Spring Break. "Actually, ladies...I've never come around to making any sort of plans" he admitted, "you know...due to current issues and all."
Everyone nodded slightly in unison, fully understanding his predicament. "Well, we've been making some plans of our own...and we'd be honored if you would join in on the fun" Carol said with a bright smile, "that is...if you want to or feel up to it." Lincoln gasped slightly at this revelation, mildly surprised that a High Schooler would want a kid like him to take part in her plans.
"That all depends" he murmured softly, "what sort of plans do you all have in mind for Spring Break?" Upon hearing this, the ladies all squealed softly with excitement; as if expecting to hear him ask such a question. "Oh, we've got loads of ideas in mind" Jordan chimed, "to start things off, I was thinking of spending the day at Dairy Land."
Stella beamed with glee at the idea, while Cristina remained respectively silent about it. Lincoln quickly took notice of her discomfort and said if she felt uncomfortable about the idea, she could remain behind with some of the others. "That's okay, Linc" Carol assured, "she may not be on board with Dairy Land...but how does a spa day sound?"
Upon hearing this; Cristina, Stella, Paige and some of the older girls squealed with delight. To say Lincoln was surprised by the spa invitation would be an understatement. Now, by no means was he resistant to the idea of spa treatments or pampering.
In fact; during more happy days at home, there were many occasions where he'd join Lori and Leni for mud mask treatments. Still, he had never been to a spa even once before. "You sure you want me there with you" he asked, "I'm worried I might cramp your style."
Becky scoffed at the notion, assuring him that a good spa day would be just the thing to help ease his mind and spirit. Then, she reached into her backpack and revealed a small red envelope to Lincoln. "Pardon me for being nosey...but what's that" he asked, "is it an Easter card for someone?"
With a sly chuckle, she neatly tore open the flap and revealed four passes; each one bearing the image of an ace playing card symbol. "Snagged these last week after becoming the winning caller on a radio contest" she chuckled, "no doubt you might've known about it?" Lincoln's mood dampened slightly, remembering how excited he and Clyde were to try and get the passes.
He even had a plan to help gain more chances at victory, which involved using Lori's vast assortment of phones. Sadly, before he could even get a hold of even one of them; Lori caught him in the act. As punishment for attempting to take any of her phones, she gave him a wedgie that lasted the entire afternoon.
"I've heard about that contest and so did my friend, Clyde" he murmured, "sadly, we were unable to make a call...due to a number of reasons." Becky smiled sympathetically at him and handed Lincoln one of the passes. "Lucky for you, each of these passes is redeemable for two tickets" she announced with joy, "you get one, I have one, Chaz will get one and Joey will get one."
Lincoln stared at his pass with silent joy, knowing Clyde would immediately accept the offer to come with him. But he wondered who Becky and her friends would bring with them. Before he could think more on that, Haiku offered Lincoln to join her for a poetry reading at The Burnt Bean; Fern Valley's most popular café.
"That sounds pretty cool" Lincoln admitted, "but...I'm not much of a fan of coffee and poetry is more Lucy's thing." Haiku smiled softly at him, which he thought was rather rare, and she patted his hand lightly in understanding. "There's a poet inside of everyone, Lincoln" she stated, "even the simplest of topics can be described with beautiful words."
Lincoln gasped softly, apparently surprised by the young Goth's passionate spirit. "Gee, I guess I never really thought about it like that" he confessed, "I may give it a shot...just to say I've tried it." The girls all clapped at his declaration, pleased to see him wanting to try something new.
"On the next day; I was thinking of, maybe taking up some golf" Whitney interjected, "how does a round at the Hole in One-derland mini-golf course sound?" Lincoln smiled slightly, apparently pleased with the idea. But softly confessed his golf skills were weak, when compared to Lori's.
"Don't worry about it, dude" Carol chuckled, "golfing's all about the fun...plus; if you want, I can help teach you." With a soft, bucktoothed grin on his face, Lincoln happily accepted the offer. Cristina quickly chimed in, after that and offered to have a picnic/barbecue get-together here at Ketcham Park.
Her father quickly agreed to the idea, proclaiming he'd been itching to break out the grill for months. After that, Jordan appeared so eager to bring up her idea; she looked ready to burst with excitement. "I asked my parents and they've agreed that sometime, during the break, we could have a pool party at my house" she explained, which earned a collective joyful murmur from everyone.
"There's enough room for us all and as an added bonus, we could follow it up with a sleepover" Lincoln added, "that is, if it's okay with everyone." All the ladies (young and old) looked at one another, then at Lincoln and responded by each giving him an enthusiastic thumbs' up. Afterwards, they turned to their parents; hoping they would permit them to go.
"As long as it's fine with Jordan's parents, you can go" murmured Becky's father, "and promise us you'll all be responsible and call if anything goes amiss." With that settled, everyone placed their hands in the middle of the table; like a sports team would. Only one hand was missing from the stack, Lincoln's.
As each of his new lady friends urged him to join in, the boy hesitated; as if fearful of something. "Sorry, ladies...I just can't shake off this sense of dread in my chest" he sighed, "I keep thinking...'what will happen, if any of my sisters find out I'm at any of our activities?'" In that instant, the girls suddenly realized their error in not thinking of a way to deal with the Loud Sisters.
It was here that Mrs. Pingrey chimed in and offered to help put Lincoln's fears to rest. "Don't you worry too much about them, young man" she assured, "the other parents and I will all take care of all that." After all this was said, the girls decided to seal the deal with a quick "hands in the middle" moment; all while excitedly urging Lincoln to join them. With a soft chuckle and a light yet playful shrug, he placed his right hand atop the ladies' own.
After that, they counted down to three in unison and all broke apart with the loud outcry of "Spring Break!" This outburst caused everyone to let out a fit of joyful giggles, with Lincoln's being the loudest of them all. As the ladies all continued giggling and chattering amongst themselves, he turned his head back slightly to address his thoughts to the viewer.
"Looks like things are starting to look up for me, everybody" he sighed softly at the viewer, "but I can't help but wonder what else might be in store during Break." As he looked over each of his new lady friends, who were all still giggling with excitement; Lincoln dreaded the idea of any of his sisters coming after either any of them or him. At the same time, he took a leap of faith and decided to trust in the parents' promise to help him.
"Don't think about the bad stuff too much, Lincoln" the young Loud boy encouraged himself softly, "once school's out for break, you'll finally be able to cut loose a little." With this thought in mind, Lincoln was awash with a slight feeling of optimism; leading him to think that things might be looking up for him now. Little did he suspect, however; Lincoln's struggles would swiftly return in full swing.
(AN: Lincoln raises a very good question, Loud Crowd; what will be in store for you in the days ahead? Will it be all fun in the sun or will something happen to rain on his parade...and what about the family? Are they still caught up in their own drama to notice Lincoln's absence?
Tune in next time, to find out.)