For the Whites, Sunday passed without a hitch. The family of four visited many of the city's prominent landmarks, as well as places he had to know for day-to-day life. They passed by the school and stores, visited the park and the museum, and ended their tour with a stop at the tallest building in the metropolis. Despite the grand size and convoluted layout, Lincoln quickly memorized how to navigate about. All he had to do was follow the sound of most traffic and he would find the main street, and from there he knew how to get to everything else. The day was rounded off with a movie night, with him at the reigns.
After the movie was over, the kids left for bed. Lincoln was excited for the upcoming day. He wondered what the new school would be like. Would he be in the same class as Winter? Would he make new friends? Will there be new foes? A mix of all was to be expected, it was a school after all.
Should he wear something different? Nothing was wrong with his current clothes, they were neither dirty nor torn, but it was worth a shot. After all, this is supposed to be the new Lincoln. And how is he supposed to know who that is if he doesn't try? Luckily, his wardrobe didn't just consist of fifteen orange polo shirts. He also had those shirts that Leni gave him.
He examined the first shirt on the stack, an orange T-shirt with black sleeves, and shrugged before putting it over his chair.
With everything for the next day ready, Lincoln clocked in for the day.
Monday started off like any other. Wake up, go to the bathroom, have breakfast, and get ready for the day. It surprised Lincoln just how much not waiting in line, or waking up an hour early, just to use the bathroom helps with the mood. It wasn't enough to completely override the dread of Monday, but it made it feel more like a Tuesday or Wednesday.
Once everyone was ready, the family headed out.
When they arrived at the school, they only saw a couple of students. It was still early, but they had to come so Winter could give Lincoln the tour.
"Are you sure you don't want us to take you in?" Sophia asked her children to Walter's protest.
"No, it's okay, mom." Winter said, doing her best not to roll her eyes. Do they not trust her enough to give Lincoln a tour? She hopes it's not over-attachment to Lincoln. If kids see her being chaperoned around by her parents, they won't let her live it down.
"Okay." Sophia said. "Wait just a moment, I want to get a photo. Say bird!"
The kids smiled at the shot. After Sophia put the phone away, Lincoln looked at Winter. "Bird?"
Winter only shrugged. It was something her mother did with no explanation. It's weirder, so it could be funnier than cheese, who knows?
"Do you have everything you need for today?" Sophia asked.
"Yes." Both kids said.
"Books?"
"Yes."
"Pencils?"
"Yes!" Winter said with annoyance. "We have to get going if you want me to show Lincoln the school."
"Alright. We'll be here to pick you up after school." Walter dragged his wife to the car and left the two alone.
Taking a small breath, Winter led Lincoln inside. What was that? Her parents were never like that. They only drove her from school if it was absolutely necessary and drove her to it next to never. It's probably because it's Lincoln's first day. After all, he was still new to the city, so driving him around for a few days isn't so unreasonable. However, she will be returning with him. She went to school for years; she can bring him home with no problems. Whatever, she gets a free ride for a few days, it could be worse.
Winter led Lincoln through the school, pointing out the classes along the way. For the young girl, it was just a normal stroll across the building she went to every day. To Lincoln, it wasn't much. The only difference he noticed from his old school was that there are more lockers and a different color scheme. Otherwise, it's a pretty standard school. Halfway through, something made both stops, though for different reasons.
"Lincoln?"
The called boy quickly turned around while Winter took her time, slowly moving to face someone she would rather never see again.
Once the two were looking at Ronnie Anne, she looked back, too confused to say anything.
"Hi Ronnie Anne..." Lincoln spoke nervously. He forgot to call her, for over a week now.
Winter looked at him like he shot the girl. "You know her?"
"Yeah, she lived in Royal Woods until recently." Lincoln explained.
"What are you doing here?" Ronnie asked, still trying to decide what she was seeing.
"About that... I moved..." Lincoln rubbed the back of his head.
"You moved? Wait, did you get adopted?"
Lincoln nodded. "It's a long story. Do you know Winter?"
Ronnie bit her lip trying not to laugh. "We go to the same school, Lame-o."
"Do you share classes?" Lincoln noticed Winter's apprehensiveness toward Ronnie Anne. He understood her, Ronnie does have a rough shell. The two probably never properly met, leading Winter to see her as an annoyance at best, which she wasn't.
"A few." Ronnie said. "Come on, you have to meet my friends." Without giving him a chance to say anything, Ronnie Anne grabbed his wrist and dragged him off.
Winter debated if she should intervene. On the one hand, that girl wasn't going to be kind to him, and she was supposed to show him the school. On the other hand, they were friends, or at least on friendly terms. Hopefully, it was the latter, as she would have had to find somewhere else to live if Ronnie started coming over. How can he even befriend someone like that? He's afraid of her, there is no other reason. The way he looked at her when she appeared like a sheep looking at a wolf. That might be an overexertion Ronnie isn't a wolf, but it doesn't make it less true.
They look okay though. He's smiling, she's smiling, everyone is smiling. Does Ronnie hate just her? Or does she like Lincoln? Oh god, no. She won't be leaving them alone if that is the case. She needs to get him back, pronto.
"Are you sure she's not your twin?" A cheery Asian girl asked. Winter had seen her before, with Ronnie, but never heard her name.
"Pretty sure." Lincoln reaffirmed. "You should have seen my parents, they're taller than the door."
"I find that hard to believe." Ronnie joked.
"Lincoln, I need to show you the rest of the school." Winter said.
"Wait, stand by him." A tall blond said. Once Winter was in position, she took a photo and showed it to Lincoln. "You can't deny it, you're identical."
"I know. You think we could fool a teacher?" Lincoln suggested.
"Oh, for sure." Ronnie said. "Tomorrow, you come dressed as Lincoln." she told Winter.
"Why me?" Winter asked. Why not him? It would be the same.
"Duh, his hair is shorter." the Asian girl said. "We'll tie yours into a bun or something and have you walk into a class. Do you think you could talk in sync?"
"I... Lincoln, let's finish the tour." Winter said. Great, his first day, and he's already planning how to get in trouble.
"Why are you in a hurry?" Ronnie asked. "If you have something better to do, you can go, I'll show him around. We have the first class together anyways."
"Okay." Winter huffed and left.
"What's her deal?" Sid asked worriedly.
Lincoln shrugged. "I don't know. She's mostly quiet. And what happened in Royal Woods probably didn't help."
"What happened?" Ronnie asked. "Did your sisters try something?"
"They were a bit... too enthusiastic, but I think it was more about Lynn and Rita. They knew all along." Lincoln explained.
"Wow... Have you tried talking to her? You had ten people worth of practice, you can do something." Ronnie said.
"I don't know." Lincoln looked at the floor. "I don't know her that well, it might be best to give her some space for now."
"We'll be handing out at the skate park later; you can bring her along if you want. All your sisters are my friends." Ronnie stated before remembering something. "Except Lori, for a few more weeks until Bobby calms down."
"I know. Do you think those two will make up?" Lincoln asked worriedly. Lori and Bobby loved each other dearly, but the recent events had made Bobby conclude it would be best if the two cut ties.
"I hope not. Oh, Boo-boo bear, my dearest." Ronnie said in a mocking tone. "Don't worry, in a month, their room will be squeaking again."
While the new group of friends got more familiar, Winter went about finding her own.
What is my problem, Winter thought, what is your problem? She has to show Lincoln the school. Otherwise, he won't know how to get around. And, if he gets lost, she won't hear the end of it from her parents.
"Hi Winter."
Winter returned to reality. Looknig around, she saw her friend was calling her. "Hi Summer, how are you?"
"Okay, you?" Summer's eyes wandered around, as if looking for someone.
"Same as always." Winter answered.
"Are you coming to the competition this weekend?" Summer asked.
"Yes." Winter released a deep sigh. God darn gymnastics.
"Don't be like that, you'll knock it out of the park!" Summer said.
"I guess." Winter looked away and rolled her eyes. She wins medals from time to time, it's just that none are particularly enjoyable. While she's receiving it, it's nice, but after the initial rush wears off, it's just meh.
"Say, I saw you with some boy earlier. Is he your cousin or something?"
"No, that's Lincoln. I told you about him last week, remember?" Winter said.
"Right... You wouldn't happen to know if he has a girlfriend?" Summer asked.
Winter almost groaned. Really Lincoln, my friend too? "I don't know. He's friends with that girl, Ronnie, I think."
"Santiago?" Summer looked surprised. "How does he know her?"
"They went to the same school before she came here." Winter explained.
"How close of friends are we talking about?" Summer asked.
"He knows her friends." Winter shrugged.
"Can you ask him? Please?" Summer pled.
"I..."
"Please!" Summer begged.
"I... fine, I'll talk to him later." Winter relented.
"Thank you." Summer jumped at Winter and hugged her. Winter returned the gesture awkwardly before they broke it off.
"No problem." Winter said.
The two chatted about their day before the bell rang. Since the two had different classes, they split up and Winter went to her own. On the way there, she passed Gabby, the school's popular girl. Whenever the two crossed paths, the bully would send an insult Winter's way. About her hair being white, her parents being tall, her not having many friends, the usual. It became predictable long ago and now she only annoyed Winter because of her repetitiveness. However, this time, Gabby kept silent and walked faster when she passed Winter. She only passed an annoyed glance to the white-haired girl.
Winter almost had an urge to stop and ask her what that was about but decided otherwise. Whatever made her do it wasn't important, Winter was just glad she didn't have to hear another Elsa joke.
In class, Winter didn't see Lincoln or Ronnie - though she did see that Asian girl. She waited outside the classroom, waiting for him to come until the teacher arrived. That Ronnie! she probably made him skip a class. She knew she shouldn't have left him with her! By now, they are probably half the town away, joining a cartel or something. They couldn't wait until the second day at least?
As the teacher took attendance, Lincoln and Ronnie arrived. Running late, they were panting from running to get to class as soon as possible.
"Mr. White, I presume." The teacher looked at the two.
Lincoln looked around before realizing who he was addressing. "Y-Yes... Sorry, we're late, my locker was jammed and we had to get the janitor to open it."
"Don't make a habit out of it." The teacher said. "Miss. Santiago, take your seat. "
Ronnie obliged.
"Well, Lincoln, since you are new, and I doubt anyone is too excited to do math, why don't you start off by introducing yourself." The teacher said.
"Okay..." Lincoln agreed. "My name is Lincoln Loud- White and I'm from Royal Woods."
"Woo-hoo! Go Royal Woods!" Ronnie and Sid cheered. The teacher shot a look that made them settle down.
Lincoln went on to talk about some of his interests and such. As he drooled on, one of the kids turned around to talk to Winter.
"He's your brother?" One of the kids asked Winter.
"Yes." Winter replied.
"You have a twin?" The kid looked surprised.
"No, he's adopted." Winter answered.
"Really? He looks a lot like you."
"Mr. Tomson, would you like to tell us what is so important that it can't wait for your friend to finish?" the teacher asked.
"I was just asking Winter if Lincoln is her brother."
"I am." Lincoln stated.
"Are you twins?"
"No." Both Lincoln and Winter answered though she did so more aggressively.
"How come you look so much like her then?" another student asked.
Lincoln shrugged. "I don't know. We aren't related, but we look similar. We were swapped at birth even."
"So... she's adopted?" someone asked.
Lincoln told the students what he knew of the story, emitting a few details along the way. He transitioned into talking about the Louds and how he got to where he is now. Everyone listened intently, not interrupting him once. Even the initial apathetic teacher was listening fully by the end.
Winter didn't pay much attention to it. She had heard it all before, more precisely she read it. No, her attention was on everyone else's focus of attention. The story was interesting and sad, something that would get many to shut up and listen. But not everyone! Even the usually mouthy kids didn't make a sound. Everyone listened to Lincoln as if he was going to tell them the secret to eternal life.
While she wasn't listening, Lincoln transitioned into talking about some of his family's exploits. The tone eased up and some started to laugh at the shenanigans of the eleven children.
Lincoln had felt slightly uncomfortable at the beginning, especially at the entry. Imagine his luck. Jammed locker, on the first day. He was sure the teacher was going to call him a liar for that. Telling the story wasn't easy either. Mostly for Winter's sake, he just said the swap was the fault on the hospital's part. The incident was also a rough patch. He had gotten over it yet bringing it up made bits of resentment return. But he got through and wasted a class.
When the bell rang, the teacher was just the first to congratulate him on telling the story, as it was supposed to be some herculean task. After that, everyone in the class, even Sid and Ronnie, told him how strong he is for persisting and how his sisters are evil. He thanked them and followed Ronnie to the next class.
Lincoln expected it to go a lot differently. He didn't think they would hate him, but he was prepared for ridicule. This was unimaginably better, however. The first class of his first day, and he's already liked by everyone. They even think he is cool; apparently, no one thinks his locker was really jammed. From that point of view, yes, he can see how cool that would look. The only way he could have made it cooler was if he came in and said he had to give meds to his aunt.
As the class left, Winter sat in her seat, still not sure his eyes were working properly. It was a story! One story! And now, everyone thinks he's some superman? How? Yes, it's sad, but when did everyone become so compassionate? Did they all just wake up on the right foot today? He should have been mocked for his hair, for being adopted, for getting pushed around by girls! She knows it isn't very nice to think that, but it's true! The first day she came to school, everyone didn't shut up about how she looked like a grandma. She was lucky a certain movie didn't come out them, because if it did, she would be getting war flashbacks from that name.
Did they just get their kicks from her? Gabby was the only one that did it nowadays. However, how things are going, the two have become best friends by now.
At least it can't get any worse.
