January 10th: Wednesday's have a different feel to them now that we've hit middle school.
I think maybe it's having recess at a playground to burn off all the excess energy, we don't have that in middle school. The most we have is lunch and gym class and sometimes Health Class whenever Coach doesn't feel like putting on a movie. We just walk around in laps around the basketball court a couple times if she doesn't feel like putting on some made for TV movie that makes everyone cry.
It was too cold for that today, so she put one on.
This one was about some girl who was really good at the cello who got into shooting up cocaine because her dirtbag boyfriend got her into it. They ended up getting arrested at the end of it after the police caught her and her friends shoplifting CD's at some big box store.
Man, I couldn't help but think to myself that maybe she wouldn't have done cocaine if her parents and her school teachers didn't put all that pressure on her to always be perfect. I'm kinda surprised that Carol isn't on cocaine because she reminded me a lot of that girl on that VHS. But I don't really think that Carol would know anyone who does cocaine. I guess Lori does underage drink, but that's okay since they let kids drink at, like, 14 in Europe.
I bet those cats don't ever shoplift since they can just drink. Mom lets me and Lynn have a diet soda with dinner, I'm just kinda imagining us if we lived in Europe. She'd probably give us one of those beers that always have commercials during superbowls in order to get us to calm down. I'd probably drink mine from one of those cool beer horns like in all the dwarves in King of the Rings have. But from what I understand from texts with Lori beer kinda tastes like the condensation from an air conditioner unit, and that's a pretty good way to get prion disease.
Made me realize that teens kinda have it tough, no wonder those cats showed up this week to do flips on those bikes.
I asked Lori if she ever did cocaine over text and she told me that she doesn't have the money for that. According to her that's "Literally a rich sorority girl thing" and that if she ever finds out I snort it she'll "literally kill me".
I believe her, and have no drive to get arrested for shoplifting, so cocaine is off the table.
From the VHS coach showed us all that cocaine does is make you super hyper and I've got a lifetime supply of those Red Boar cans from that one thing with Lynn so I'm not really in the market for it.
Went ahead and pumped out like half a dozen shirt designs for the Royal Woods Middle School Comicbook and Pop Culture Club during lunch. Luckily, everyone knew not to bother me while I was working.
When I got home Lucy asked if I still had that dagger. Apparently Rocky has been giving her trouble. I untied it from the ceiling above my chair and handed it back to her, she said that I had a knack for interior decoration.
I'd feel bad for Rocky, but I kind of don't.
January 11th: Stella was done with those amps.
Apparently she modded them after some old schematics, they are "Dumblesque" which sounds like they can cast magic spells. Luna and Sam almost broke Stella's back with the hug, I heard her spine pop a couple of times. That's cool of her to help out my sisters like that.
I told her that I'd take her out to that fancy seafood place with the Asiago biscuits after I did a quick joogle search on how much a Dumble Amp costs. Only because she said "no" to me reimbursing her for the parts and labor.
So this Sunday before the movie night thing I'm gonna take her to the Red Herring.
It's not a date or anything, I made sure to reiterate that a million times in response to her questions of whether or not it was a date. I ended up writing a note and underlining the "this is not a date" thing to put it in writing to get her to shut up about it.
I have the inkling that this wouldn't be a problem if she was a dude, but whatever.
We've got another one of those dances coming up this Friday. This one is a charity ball to get the debate team enough money to afford some coaching during the summer so they can be ready for the next season. With it being a charity thing the majority of people attending are going to be people's parents.
I'm heading there with Jordan as my date. I figured this should calm her down for a couple of weeks before valentines day creeps up.
Lucy handed me back the dagger while claiming that she didn't have to use it after all. I was a bit curious and meddled into her business. Apparently Rocky was taking forever to hand her back her blu-ray copy of Hat Man 2, but that was only because he was swamped with homework and projects all this week and wasn't able to give it back on time.
She was a bit upset with herself for overreacting like that, I told her that he could have at least told her what was keeping him so long. Letting your friends borrow things is weird, Zach still has my copy of Porkymon Snap. But I don't really mind too much since I can always just download a rom for it since I jailbroke my snap. Can't get it connected to the internet now without it bricking my system, but I'd rather rot in jail for pirating than spend 60 of my dollars on a game I'll only play for, like, 5 hours.
Gotta return this charger that I found a while back to Stella. I left a note to take it with me on that Red Herring not-date.
January 12th: The dance was cutting into my tea time with Lola so I decided to buy her and Meli tickets.
Jordan and I are sitting with the two of them in the corner of the gym. DJ Chad just started playing old 80s R&B songs so now the adults have the floor. I'd groove since some of these tracks are pumping but Jordan digs her nails into my shoulder whenever that 808 cowbell rings out.
"If you want to dance just say it, Lincoln," Jordan sighed, "I don't mind you slow dancing with someone else, Mrs. Ramirez looks kind of lonely. Just no holding hands. I'll get jealous."
Lola arched her eyebrow and smiled as she poured tea from a thermos into 4 cups she brought from home, "I see she figured out the sunglasses trick," she chuckled lightly to the blushing Jordan and pushed a porcelain cup to her, "Do you take sugar or honey with your tea, dear?"
I spied a crystal eyedropper full of liquid that Meli placed on the bleachers with a smile and held it up to the light. The red shadows danced on my face and I couldn't help but laugh. I quickly asked Lola if she knew what she was messing with.
"I- I learned it from watching you and Lisa!" She squealed, red in the face.
I'm not really too worried about it since I'm fairly certain Lola is the type to manage her time correctly, her schedule must be packed just as much as mine. I kind of worry about her sometimes. I set the tincture back onto the bleacher and flashed Meli a smile. She looked like she was afraid of the object. I told her to keep an eye on Lola.
She quickly saluted to me, the beads on the sleeve of her sequined dress hitting her in the face, "Will do Mr. Loud!"
My smiled faltered a bit, Mr. Loud is my dad. I turned to Lola and told her she's not in trouble. Lisa is younger than Lola and she's perfectly fine, she just doesn't use the honey as often as me. Probably because she is a bit better at scheduling things that I am.
"You aren't mad at me?" Lola whimpered, obviously playing it up.
She can't get the stuff without getting Lisa on the helm so it's fine. I see a lot of myself in Lola. Or at least me when I was her age. I will admit that she's way more crafty than me, spends way less time being grounded.
"Thanks, Lincoln…" She dropped two sugar cubes into her cup and stirred, "I only ever put honey in my tea if I have a really big pageant coming up I need to prepare for. It makes the hum go away."
Jordan peered over my phone for a couple seconds, holding up her sunglasses.
Her voice was hollow, "What the hell is in the honey?"
It's just honey. A special honey my sister makes. It's a homeopathic sleep aid and it's non addictive.
"Jesus!" Jordan ripped her sunglasses off of her face and rubbed her temples, "You're on drugs! Is that why you've been so productive lately? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
She's been on medication too, so I dunno why she's getting mad at me.
"Quit trying to change the subject, and quit making me out like an insane person!" Jordan screamed, "Why don't you just tell me thing! Why do you have to keep everything a secret!"
"I-it helps with my nightmares and my daymares and helps me pay attention in class." Meli mumbled to her shoes, "Now I don't have to go to the therapist anymore and my parents aren't worried about me…"
Jordan stopped shaking me and softly pet Meli's beehive hairdo, "Oh, I'm not mad at you sweetie. I'm just mad at Lincoln because he needs to turn everything into some clandestine operation because he's too much of a coward to ask help from people who lo- like him."
If she is curious she can have some, if she'd like. It wasn't a secret or anything, I would have told Jordan about it earlier, it just never came up.
"Why can't you just let me in?" Jordan moaned, she cradled her head in her hands.
"I-I thought she knew, Lincoln…" Lola whispered to me, "I didn't mean to put you on blast like that."
I let Lola know it was cool.
I took a moment to tell Jordan that she was officially the only one who knew about the red honey besides the people in my family. I think Lucy knows about it, but doesn't take it because she gives her weird dreams.
"I never got that," added Lola as she sipped her tea, "Lisa kept warning me about the nightmares but I sleep soundly. Same with Meli. I guess it hits everyone differently."
"So," Jordan massaged her temples, "Do you plan on letting anyone else know?"
I told her no. Seeing as she was the only one of my friends who are on medication she was the only one I would trust to not make it a big deal.
"I would say something about there being a big difference between pills prescribed by a doctor and meds prescribed by a grade schooler," Jordan sighed and faced me, "But Lisa does have a doctorate. I guess I can trust her. I'm not taking anything without asking my doctor. But you should now know that I can't trust you."
I asked her what she meant by that.
"You keep secrets from me!" Jordan hissed, "How can you not understand that it makes me feel like dirt! I KISSED you! In a BATHROOM!"
Lola slowly shook her head and shot me a pitiful look, "That isn't fair, Lincoln. You won't even make it official and you kiss her and have the gall to keep secrets from her? You're being a very bad role model to me."
I threw my hands up in the air and almost started to complain before stopping myself. I took a deep breath and let Jordan know if she has any questions that she can ask me and I'll answer them. But I get to ask them too.
"I have a lot of questions," she slowly got up and motioned for me to join her as she made her way to the gym floor, "Will you dance with me?"
I gave her my answer and shoved my phone in my pocket.
January 13: Last night was fun but my shoulders kinda hurt from having to haul out all those folding chairs by myself while Jordan and Mrs. Ramirez talked amongst themselves after the dance was over. Trent and Artie thanked me after the event was done on behalf of the Debate Club. Would have been nice if they helped out with the chairs, but they were too busy sweeping up trash. Clyde and Haiku couldn't attend as student chaperones on behalf of the Buddy Group because they had some stuff going on.
I would say that I owe Jordan for helping me out, but I'm pretty sure me and her are past the point of owning each other favors.
Clyde told me during a 1v1 match of Age of Tyranny later that night that communication is the linchpin of any relationship, and that opening up to Jordan is good because it also allows myself to be seen and. And while I appreciated his input I reminded him that me and Jordan aren't in a relationship, or at least what a relationship means in this context.
He reminded me that him and Chloé weren't friendbook official in any capacity. And that is didn't matter what labels other people gave me and my relationships, all that matters is that I'm true to myself and my feelings.
Which struck an odd chord because I'm pretty sure if I was honest about my feelings Luna's accordion and Mr. Coconuts would be shoved in a woodchipper, I would be spending all my time and money on collecting action figures and comic books, and the kid who broke the muscle fish cabinet at Gus's Games and Grub would have disappeared mysteriously. I guess the things that I do at school, the life that I enjoy at home and with my friends, and being on my parents good side all hinge on me playing along with everything and keeping my true longings and feelings locked up.
I kinda understood that a bit more later on today when Lynn and I volunteered to work the dinner shift at Lynn's Table to score some extra scratch for food and drink at tomorrow's movie showing.
The things that customers demand from Kotaro would probably cause me to shake with rage so much that my spine would dislocate. They want the booth seat despite all of them being vacant, they want to sit on the patio even though we don't have a patio, they order to-go and when they arrive to pick it up they decide to change their mind and eat inside. Nobody tips well, either. It's crazy.
Me and the girls have been getting kicked out of way less eating establishments now that dad opened up the restaurant. Getting a taste of our own medicine was a real eye opener.
I've gotta go rinse the smell of garlic bread from my hair before I go to sleep. I should probably tell Lynn to take a bath before the party too, Liam lives on a farm and all so I'm sure he has a lot of experience dealing with smells. But god damn, those breathable athletic shorts Lynn wears work both ways. BO and garlic aren't very conducive to scoring 1st base, I've learned that with Ronnie Anne.
Alright, next chapter is a Stella date and then it's a movie night. Isn't that fun. Go watch Fight Back to School 2 (1992) and Hard Boiled (1992) to study ahead of time. Or don't. It really doesn't matter and there are no thematic similarities between the movies and the narrative. At least for now. A lot of this fic is inspired about my own time growing up in middle school in suburban America all viewed through the lens of The Loud House. I can't imagine what it'd be like to read this without having the context of it all, it'd probably be confusing and a bit masturbatory. But trust me, it doesn't make sense to me either. The only difference between my friends in middle school and the middle schoolers now is that nobody knows how to torrent anything anymore. Also twitch streamers. Just go play a video game your own damn self.
Short chapter, I'm gonna take a break for a bit. I'll be back soonish. Pumping out 3-6k words a day is kinda daunting, but the weather is nice for it.
