The dream sequence in this chapter was partially inspired by Manegie's incredibly heartwarming story, Family is Where Love Rings the Loudest. Go to my profile and look in my Favorite Stories if you want to check it out (which you totally should)!
Chapter 12
"You gonna be okay, man?" Clyde asked the next morning as he and Lincoln walked up the front steps of the school. Lincoln's hair was even messier than usual, and he had dark circles under his eyes, which were even redder than normal from crying himself to sleep.
"I-I think so. It'll be rough, but I'll manage somehow," Lincoln replied, and Clyde gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. The pair froze in their tracks when they noticed Principal Huggins standing in their way with a frown on his face (even after a whole week, Lincoln had yet to see him smile).
"Ah, there you are, Loud. I believe this is for you," Huggins said and handed Lincoln a piece of pink paper. Lincoln glanced over the writing on it, and his eyes widened slightly.
"Detention? What for?"
"For skipping one of your classes without prior notice," Huggins informed him.
"I had a family emergency!" Lincoln protested.
"Technically, that's a valid excuse," Clyde piped up.
"When I want your opinion, McBride, I'll ask for it. As for you, Loud, Ms. Johnson will be expecting you after school hours." The principal walked away, and Lincoln's face drooped even more.
"Pay no mind to that cantankerous old goat. I had to miss a whole day last year to help brand and castrate calves, and he suspended me for it," said one of the red-headed boys from their class. "I'm Liam, by the way. Liam Hunnicut. I live on the farm right on the edge of town." He held out his hand, and Lincoln and Clyde both shook it.
"Lincoln, I think I can safely say on the behalf of everyone present that we're all terribly sorry for your loss," Ms. Johnson told him sympathetically after taking the attendance count.
"Not me! It's about time that the old hag bit the dust!" Lester retorted before being pelted with a variety of small objects by the other students, mostly the girls.
Ms. Johnson gave a small cough to restore order and said, "Now, Lincoln, I won't force you to, but you can tell us something you liked about your great grandmother if you want."
"Gee, where do I begin?" Lincoln asked rhetorically. "Great Grandma Harriet was one of the nicest people you'd ever meet. Before Lori was old enough to do it herself, she would babysit me and my sisters when Mom and Dad had to leave the house. She pretty much let us do whatever we wanted as long as it didn't make too much noise. She knew what kind of candy each one of us liked, so she'd give us little treats if, and only if, we were well-behaved." Lincoln faltered, and fresh tears began to form in his eyes. "Back when my parents were trying to press charges on my old bullies, she was there for me while the girls were at school. She made me all kinds of comfort food, sang me a lullaby when I got sleepy, and used her magic to soothe my itchy cast. She even went as far as putting a clumsiness curse on the boys that beat me up. E-except for the cursing thing, s-she was j-just your stereotypical sweet old lady." He began crying once more, and Ronnie Anne from her seat beside him pulled him into a sideways hug.
"Oh, boo-hoo. Now stop crying so we can get this class over with!" Lester demanded. In response, Mollie sitting behind him dumped the entire contents of his own backpack over his head.
...
The minute Lincoln walked into the cafeteria for lunch, Lester and his goons started singing "The Witch is Dead" from The Wizard of Oz. Before they could finish, all three of them were blasted off of their feet by tendrils of green lightning. Lucy walked up to where they lay twitching and groaning, the same green energy arcing between her fingers.
"Defile her name again, and I turn you inside out," she threatened before stepping over them to get in line for the cafeteria lunch. Lincoln just sighed and absently picked at his food until Girl Jordan walked up to him and his friends' table.
"Hey, Lincoln, I'm sorry about your grandma. Listen, I'm having a pool party at my house this weekend to celebrate my birthday. I thought it might make you feel better if I invited you," she said.
"Lester's not gonna be there, is he?" Lincoln asked without looking up.
"My parents want me to invite the whole class, so...yeah. But if he starts making trouble, he'll be out in the street before you can say Ticonderoga." Jordan put a piece of paper with her name and address next to Lincoln's tray. "Just think about it. You don't have to come if you don't want to."
That afternoon, when the last class of the day finished, Lincoln gave Ms. Johnson the principal's note, to which she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I told him to take it easy...very well. I normally make students in detention do their homework, but since you don't have homework, I'll just let you find a constructive way to keep yourself occupied." And Lincoln did just that: upon sitting down at his desk, he put his head in his arms and closed his eyes.
...
Five-year-old Lincoln sat on the floor of his family's living room just staring at the untouched coloring book in front of him. His five older sisters were all in school, his parents were in a courtroom trying to decide the fates of the bullies that left him for dead, and two-year-old Lucy was upstairs taking a nap.
"You're awfully quiet over there. Is something on you mind, little one?" Lincoln turned around to look at his great grandmother, who was sitting on the couch knitting a sweater. She wore a red long-sleeved blouse, a black leather vest with gold buttons, a black skirt that reached her ankles, and black pointy-toed boots. Knowing it was pointless to lie when she could see the most likely immediate future, Lincoln nodded. Harriet smiled and set her knitting to the side. "Here, now, come sit on Grandma's lap." Bracing his good hand against the floor, Lincoln stood and walked over to the couch. Once he was in front of her, Harriet was able to put her hands under his arms and lift him onto her lap without any difficulty (as tall and well-built as he was now, it was amazing how small and scrawny he used to be: only eye-level with the arm of the couch and thin as a promise). "Now then, what troubles you, my sweet?" Harriet asked.
"I-I had another scary dream last night," Lincoln squeaked. "These slimy monsters that had the faces of the boys were chasing me. One of them threw a ball of slime that glued my feet to the ground. They caught up to me and made fun of how I look. I woke up right when they opened their mouths to eat me." The poor boy was close to tears. "I-I'm scared, Grandma! W-what if they come back? I don't want them to hurt me again!" He buried his face in Harriet's chest and cried until he hiccupped (for the fourth time that week). Harriet reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of the strawberry-flavored, syrup-filled hard candy that she knew was Lincoln's favorite. While Lincoln sucked on the candy, Harriet imparted her wisdom to him.
"Not many people know this, Lincoln, but whoever came up with the notion that divination involves the interpretation of dreams was very misinformed. Dreams are nothing more than the product of an active imagination. You control them, not the other way around. I'll let you figure out for yourself how to control what happens in your dreams, but just know that they have no effect on your future whatsoever. You get to decide your own fate." Upon finishing the piece of candy, Lincoln's eyelids grew heavy, and he drifted off to sleep in his great grandmother's embrace.
...
Back in detention, Lincoln sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Why he'd revisited one of his fondest memories in his dreams, he didn't know, but he did recall the dream he had immediately following Harriet's lecture. The slimy monster bullies had once again come after him, but after gluing him down, a tall knight wearing black-and-gold armor appeared. The knight threw a chain that wrapped around Lincoln's waist and pulled him free of the goo. He then drew an enormous two-handed sword and proceeded to hack the monsters into pieces. Lincoln had woken up right as the knight turned around and was about to remove his helmet.
The sound of snickering stopped Lincoln from thinking about dreams from nearly six years ago. He turned around to see Lester and his friends exchanging congratulations. Ms. Johnson was nowhere to be found. Fearing the worst, Lincoln began to inspect himself all over. His torso seemed clear, but when he patted his hair, he felt multiple damp, sticky masses. The top of his head was dotted with the contents of a whole pack of chewing gum. He couldn't help but start crying and, pulling his hood over his head, he ran from the room right as Ms. Johnson returned, leaving the other three boys to deal with the livid teacher. He ran all the way back to his house, up the stairs, and into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
His rush attracted the attention of his sisters, and the congregated outside the bathroom door, worriedly listening to the sounds of Lincoln struggling to pull the gum from his hair.
Luna lightly knocked on the door and asked, "Lincoln, are you okay in there?"
"Do you need more toilet paper?" Lynn asked before Lori swatted the back of her head.
"Judging from his sounds of exertion, rather than inducing a b.m., our brother appears to be attempting to extricate a foreign object from higher up on his body. Most likely, his hair," Lisa deduced.
Luna knocked again and said, "Lincoln, I'm coming in, okay?" She opened the door to reveal the boy standing in front of the mirror, tugging fruitlessly at his snowy locks. The gum had become even more entangled, making his hair stick out in minty blue spikes. Luna took a few steps forward, and Lincoln whirled around. In that moment, his face shifted to anger, and his eyes turned pitch-black with orange irises.
"Leave me ALONE!" he yelled, and Luna was blasted backwards by a wave of bright golden energy that originated from his body. She landed flat on her back near the other end of the hall, then sat up and shook the stars out of her vision.
"Wowzers. Never had that happen before," she said right as Lincoln collapsed.
"LINCOLN!" the sisters shouted and tried to cram themselves into the small bathroom. Lucy was the one to reach his side first.
"He's fine. I passed out the first time I used magic, too," she said.
"Alright, Miss Spooky, explain precisely what Great Grandma Harriet did to him," Lori demanded.
"As you wish. Harriet used the last of her strength to unlock the hidden reserve of magic that lies dormant in all human beings. Like it or not, Lincoln is a warlock now..."
The gum-in-the-hair part was based off of a scene from the animated movie The Son of Bigfoot. This chapter ended up being almost twice the length that I usually make them, but I guess that's the way the story decided to flow.