Winter left the bathroom. Returning to her room, she passed by Lincoln's room.

She doesn't have to tell him anything profound. "How are you?" That is all she has to say, and it would be enough. Three simple words and he knows she cares about him. Why are they so hard then? It feels like the other three words would be much easier to say. She doesn't have to. Surely, he already knows. She isn't some ice queen; she cares for others. They might not know each other for long, but she does care for him. At least she wants to. He might not be the sister she originally wanted, but he's not nothing.

Does he care about her even? She hadn't tried to bond, but neither had he. Maybe he's just shy. In that case, it is on her to start.

Winter grabbed the door handle. She tried turning it but her hand faltered. "Come on, you can do this." Winter told herself. With a deep breath, she opened the door.

Looking around, she found Lincoln on the bed and screamed. Surprised, he screamed as well.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Winter quickly left the room and closed the door. Great, out of all the times she could have picked, she picked when he was changing. Or was he sleeping? What was he even doing? It doesn't matter now anyways; all that does is that she picked a horrible moment.

"What is going on?!" Walter barged through the front door, Sophia close behind.

"Nothing, everything is okay." Winter told them.

"Why did you scream? Is everything okay? Is Lincoln hurt?" Sophia asked frantically.

"Everything is okay, Lincoln was just changing." Winter said.

Lincoln ran out of the room, his shirt on backwards. "Winter, there you are! Oh, you are back."

"Hi Lincoln. Is everything okay?" Sophia asked. "There weren't any problems while we were gone?"

"No, everything is fine. Winter just caught me reading in m..." Lincoln laughed nervously. "Everything is okay."

"If you say so..." Walter said. Yep, my son, he thought.

"Alright. Did something happen while we were gone?" Sophia asked.

"No." both kids said, Winter slightly faster.

"Okay, good..." Sophia said.

The four stood in dead silence. All waited for someone to say something, but no one did. After realizing no one was going to, Winter went to her room, leaving Lincoln alone with the parents.

"Are you settling in well?" Sophia asked awkwardly.

"I am. The room is great, thank you so much." Lincoln said.

"Don't mention it. You are our son; we weren't going to put you in a c... I mean, we would do anything for you." Walter said, sweating slightly in the end.

"Y-Yeah..." Lincoln laughed nervously. Lynn and Rita said that as well, but it wouldn't be like that this time. Whites aren't like them. "So... ah... my friends called me to go out..."

"Of course. Have you done everything for school?" Walter asked.

"Yes."

"You can go, just be back by eight. Is that okay?" Walter asked.

"Yes, I won't be late." Lincoln said.

"Don't forget your phone, and the keys, and your wallet." Sophia said. "Are you sure you won't cold like that?"

"I think so." Lincoln said.

"Do you have something to wear, a jacket or-" Walter cut her off.

"Honey, it is okay. He knows best if he is hot or cold." Walter leaned closer to his wife. "We went over this already."

Sophia frowned before leaving. "When he gets sick, you'll be taking him to the doctor."

Something was off to Lincoln, she said doctor weirdly. Everything she said was slightly off but that especially. It wasn't too noticeable, but it was an eastern accent, like Russian. That would be cool. If she was Russian, she could teach him, and then he could finally understand what those kids are screaming about all the time.

"I already do that." Walter said, slightly confused.

Since everyone had left, Lincoln went to his room and called Ronnie. She didn't pick up but sent a text shortly after. Fifteen minutes later, the interphone was ringing. After Lincoln let them in, he waited for Ronnie and Sid to climb up before letting them in.

"Hi Ronnie Anne, Sid." Lincoln said.

"Hi Lame-o, you've got a nice deal here." Ronnie said.

"Your shirt is backwards." Sid said.

Lincoln laughed nervously. "Oh... ah... you can go see my room while I take care of that... it's over there."

Ronnie chuckled. "Let's see h-"

"Wait! Can you take off your shoes?" Lincoln stopped them.

"Ah, sure..." Ronnie kicked her shoes off.

Lincoln went to the bathroom to get his shirt on properly before going to his room.

"Yeah, you were right, this is bigger than mine." Ronnie said.

"Told you." Lincoln said playfully.

"Not by that much though." Ronnie said smugly. "What's up with the shoes?"

"Oh, are you Korean?" Sid asked with gleeful eyes, Ronnie's sparking slightly less.

"I don't think so, neither of my parents looks Korean." Lincoln said. Russia and Korea are close to one another, so maybe he has a grandfather that is Korean, or maybe Japanese, that would be even cooler. He could learn to understand Japanese media and trash talk people like a pro. He could do that no matter where Sophia was from though.

"Maybe you have a grandfather, your eyes are a bit wider." Sid said.

"I'll ask and get back to you later." Lincoln said.

"I'm calling it now, you're German." Ronnie joked.

"You can't do that, that's like betting he will get more than a D on a test." Sid said.

"Why is this important?" Lincoln asked. It wasn't, right? Who his parents were isn't that important, but who his great-grandfather's great-grandfather was certainly isn't.

"It's not. Wanna hit the park?" Ronnie suggested.

"Sure." Lincoln picked up his phone and keys.

The kids left the apartment.

"I'm calling Italian." Sid said.

"Heh, mafia Lincoln." Ronnie said.

On the way to the park, the two girls labeled Lincoln as everything but Scottish. He mostly laughed along with the jokes and made an impression from time to time. When they arrived, it was somewhat of a surprise that it was a skate park.

"You said we would be going to the park." Lincoln said.

"This is a park." Ronnie said. "Come on, don't be so dense, you'll like it."

"I... Sure!" Lincoln said. New Lincoln might like skating, who knows? Hopefully, the new Lincoln is also good at keeping balance, as his body would appreciate it immensely.

"Great! We just have to get my board from Nikki and we'll teach you to skate in no time." Ronnie said.

"Great, you're here." Nikki came to them. "Here's your board. My mom called, I gotta run. Hey Lincoln."

"Hi." he waved back.

Ronnie took the trio to the side where she found a flat surface. She showed Lincoln the basics before telling him to: "Try for himself." With no protective equipment, it went as expected. On his first try, Lincoln set one foot on the board before it slid away, and he fell. The second time he managed to get on the board before falling when he tried to ride it. On the third try, he almost fell down a flight of stairs. The fourth try seemed to be lucky, as he managed to ride for twenty feet without falling.

"Good job, now let's do the pit." Ronnie took the board.

Lincoln only gulped as he watched Ronnie perform a simple trick he feared would make an ambulance come for him. "Maybe I should get some pads for this one?"

"Nah, you'll be fine." Ronnie shrugged his concerns off before doing the trick again. "See, simple, just don't stop."

Lincoln took the board. "Just don't stop." Ronnie added.

With a deep breath, Lincoln put the board in place and imitated Ronnie Anne's stance. "Here goes nothing." he said before starting. To his, and girls', surprise, he managed to get to the other side in one piece. Since he could barely ride as it was, he only went from one side to the other. After seeing he was still alive, he repeated it to get back.

"I'm starting to like this." Lincoln admitted despite the pains in his knees.

"I don't like being that person, but I told you so." Ronnie mocked.

"Yeah, you did." Lincoln said.

"Now that you have started your skating journey, we need to get you your own board." Ronni said.

"I guess..." Lincoln smiled but a frown quickly came to his face.

"What's wrong?" Ronnie asked.

"I don't think I can afford it right now." Lincoln said.

"You don't have to get it this very second." Ronnie laughed. "But if you really can't wait, you can ask your parents for an advance."

"I can't, I don't have an allowance." Lincoln said awkwardly.

"You could try asking them to buy you the board then, or just ask them to start giving you an allowance." Ronnie suggested.

"Ronnie, I just got here! I can't ask them for stuff right away." Lincoln thought for a moment. "Oh, I know! I can earn some money. I already have some I saved up from before I moved, so it shouldn't take that long. I can babysit, or clean windows, or-"

"Walk dogs?" Ronnie said, looking at a guy walking a pack of dogs.

Lincoln saw the same thing. "Even better! Since no one has a yard, there are a lot of people who need their dogs walked."

"I'm in." Ronnie said.

"Me too!" Sid said.

Ronnie and Lincoln jumped. After he calmed down, Lincoln looked at Ronnie Anne. "Does she do that all the time?"

Ronnie shook her head. "No."


I'm sorry for not posting for so long. There was a bunch of family gatherings for the past few weeks, and I had an idea for another story that I couldn't get out of my head. The good news is that that story should be done soon. Unless something else comes up, the next chapter will be on time.

Have a nice day and I will see you then.