(Author's Note: Hello everyone, I'm back with another chapter of "Lena Loud"! I knew what the plot of this chapter was going to be when I finished the prologue and I hope you guys enjoy it:)
(P.S: Sorry if the chapter title isn't good, I couldn't think of anything else.)
Chapter One: Ballet Despair
I was in my room, practicing and enjoying the peace and quiet. For those who are wondering, I'm practicing for my ballet recital. Like Luna's music, Lynn's sports, or Lucy's poems, ballet is something that is very important to me. I got into it about a year ago and have really loved it. I was currently wearing a tutu that was the same fuchsia color as most of my clothes and was practicing along to a radio that I had gotten for Christmas. Along with all of us, my family was also very supportive of my ballet. They would always do all that they can to help me be the best I can be at it.
Lori helps me with my actual routine. Insuring that I practice enough to learn what I need to but, at the same time, knowing not to get too intense.
Leni always wants to make sure that I'm wearing the perfect outfit for whatever ballet routine that I was doing. She always said, "If you're going to do something, you should, like, look your best."
Luna always wanted to give me the perfect "tunes" to practice my routine. Although, it did take a while to convince her that I can't practice to any kind of rock music. Lincoln actually helped her convert her rock music into ballet music, to this day I still don't know how he did it.
Luan would always want to tell her jokes in order to keep me in a good mood. Not all of them were great, but I really appreciated her enthusiasm.
Lynn wanted to make me do some exercises so I would be able to perform my routine to its fullest and she even tried to get me to perform even more advanced skills to "wow" the judges and competition.
Lucy would write poems that would specifically tailor to my routine in order to "put me in the right mindset". While I love my big sister to death, she really just creeps me out sometimes.
Lana and Lola would almost always argue about how to help me. Lana would say that I should practice in the calm and peaceful environment of the outdoors. Lola, on the other hand, would insist that I practice indoors as to not ruin my appearance that she spends nearly twenty minutes getting "just right". This would often turn into a fight between the two twins (and Lola says that she's more mature than me).
Lisa would never really help too much. It's not that she didn't want to, but rather that she really didn't have the appropriate skills to offer. She mainly provided the moral support (huh, never thought I'd describe Lisa as morally supportive).
Lily would also offer moral support since she couldn't do anything else. Most of her contribution involved her laughing, clapping, and talking gibberish.
Now Lincoln was probably the biggest help. He might have been a boy but, as I told you all before, Lincoln was a man of many talents. The main thing he did, however, was fix any problems our sisters might cause in trying to help me. He would calm Lori down if it looked like she was getting intense, watch over Leni during her dress making process to make sure that she makes something that actually works for ballet, help Luna come up with the correct music (see above), know to tell Luan to back off when her jokes can get annoying and I can't focus, ensure that Lynn doesn't try to teach me anything too fancy or that could get me hurt (though she wouldn't on purpose), he would make sure that Lucy goes easy on her poems as to help keep my mind focused, he would always break up fights between Lana and Lola since he knows that I don't like it, and Lisa and Lily weren't really much trouble for him to keep track of.
Due to having to juggle their jobs, housework, and twelve children, Mom and Dad didn't really have any spare time to help me with my routine but they would always make sure to carve out enough time to go to every recital that I had. And we were on our way to such a recital.
Well, not all of us. Only me, mom, dad, and Lily, the others all had stuff to do but ensured that they would be there to see my recital with plenty of time to spare. I had a performance at the Royal Woods Ballet Dance Academy and the four of us had walked there (well, not Lily for obvious reasons) because it wasn't too far from the house and mom and dad had agreed that the rest of our siblings should take the van (which we had so affectionately named "Vanzilla"). I was holding Dad's hand and was so nervous that I was sure that I was sweating through it.
"Hey Lena," I looked up at my father. He had a similar skin tone to the rest of us (excluding Lucy) and was a brunette like me (although he was going bald on top). He wore a sea green sweater and under it had a light-green checkered collar and cuffs and brown slacks. "There's no need to worry, you're going to do great."
"Your father's right sweetie, "I turned to my mother. She had long blonde hair, earrings, a pink shirt with a white collar and cuffs, and purple pants. She also wore lipstick and black low tops. "You've been practicing your routine every day for over a month. I just know that you'll be great." Lily made some gibbering noises and I assumed, from the smile on her face, that she was agreeing with mom. By nature I was a quiet person, so I just flashed them both a small smile as we walked. They must have been good enough for them because they didn't press the issue at all on the walk.
From the house to the academy, the walk took us about fifteen minutes or so and we quickly let ourselves in. Mom handed me the bag that she had brought from the house that contained my uniform and I ran to the dance room as quickly as my little legs could carry me.
I heard my mom's voice, "Don't run indoors, Lena!" That was when I decided to walk.
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I was now trying to calm myself down as I sat with the rest of the girls who were in the routine. We were backstage, mentally preparing ourselves to do the performance that we've spent over a month rehearsing. Calm down, Lena. You know this routine. You've probably done it over one hundred times. There's no way you could get it wrong. Besides, your family is out there and you don't want to disappoint them.
"Come on now girls, it's showtime!" I let out a long breath as I opened my eyes to see my ballet teacher, Mrs. Ming Ma, standing there. She was a middle aged woman (about the same age as my parents) with tanned skin and black hair that was tied in a ponytail. She wore a red shirt along with black pants and heels. She held a clipboard in her hand and put checks by our names on a clipboard as she saw us walk.
Being a nervous person by nature, I was always the last one out. I shut my eyes and looked away as I found myself under the blinding lights of the stage and stopped when the others did.
We all turned to face the audience and I let out a sigh as the music started our routine began. I was so nervous that I simply shut my eyes. Even though I wasn't new to this, I was still worried that I'd see the crowd watching and immediately freeze and ruin the routine that we've all worked on. However, I knew that the odds of me ruining the routine were much greater if I couldn't see so, reluctantly, I opened my eyes. It wasn't all the way, but just enough to where I would be able to see all of my classmates and wouldn't trip, fall, or make a wrong move. As the routine went on, I began to feel a little more confident as I remembered how much I knew the routine. I opened my eyes more and more as we continued to dance until they were completely open. Right now I didn't even acknowledge the audience, because I was too busy on my routine.
With one final motion, our routine had concluded and the sound of applause flooded my ears. I opened my eyes and let a big smile form on my face as I saw my parents and little sister clapping. My eyes darted round the room as I searched for my other siblings, but couldn't find them. This left me confused as I walked off the stage with my classmates. As we walked away, all of my classmates were saying how much that it was or how great we did. While I put on a smile and talked, my mind was still on my siblings.
It's not like them to be so difficult to find when one of us as an important event going. They would always be as close up as possible and cheering a lot. After all, we aren't call the "Louds" for nothing. My curiosity getting the better of me, I took out my phone (Mom and Dad waited until they had enough money and bought us all phones as to avoid jealously. Excluding Lily, for obvious reasons) and sent all of my siblings the simple text message of "Where are you"?
Lori: "On a romantic date with my Bobby Boo-Boo Bear. He got a reservation at a very fancy restaurant."
Leni: "At the mall with my friends and about to head home. Hey, did you know that they have a hot dog on a stick cart? If they're putting hot dogs on sticks then, like, what are corndogs then?"
Luna: "Finishing listening to a rocking concert with some friends of mine. Rock on!"
Luan: "At a gig that I booked a few days ago. Just finishing up. Kids can really take the energy out of you little by little. Get it?:)"
Lynn: "Just snagged victory at my baseball game. Yeah!"
Lincoln: At the comic book store with Clyde checking out their new materials. They just came out with the newest Ace Savvy addition!"
Lucy: At my friend's house. We're performing a ritual to try and summon the fallen."
Lana: "Me and Hops are out checking out the animals of the forest. You'd be amazed at how much it can change after only a few days."
Lola: "Just won a beauty pageant. But, is it really a surprise?"
Lisa: "Giving a lecture at the local university about quantum mechanics. It'd be easier if everyone were able to understand such a simple concept."
My eyes widened as I read all ten text messages. They forgot about my recital? I'm not gonna lie, that hurt a little. Olay, not a little, it hurt a lot. They know how important ballet is to me and they've been helping me prepare for this exact recital for over a month, but they forgot on the day of the performance? My cheeks felt wet and I realized that a few tears had made their way through. No Lena, no crying. You're more mature than that. It's fine, they had over stuff to do and that's okay. It's not like this is the last ballet recital that you'll have. I sniffled and wiped my tears away as I put my phone in my pocket, picked up my bag, and walked out to met my parents and Lily.
I saw them waving as I walked out of the building. "Oh, you were excellent honey," my mother complimented.
My father laughed and ruffled my hair a little, "I must admit kiddo, while I'm not really one for ballet, that was some great work you did out there." Lily just babbled, which was probably her way of agreeing with them.
"Th-Thank you," I put a smile on my face, but my mind was still on my siblings.
"Hey wait a minute," I heard dad speak up, "Lena did you see your siblings in there?"
"Um, I talked to them on the phone beforehand. They saw the performance and decided to leave because there was something important going on with Bobby at his job and Lori just wanted to check on him really quickly. So, we'll probably get home before them."
My mom looked at me for a second before saying, "Okay, I guess we better start going." Truth be told, I have no clue why I just lied for my siblings. A small part of me wanted to just let the chips fall where they may, leaving whether or not they'll get in trouble up to fate. But, I decided against it. Despite this endeavor, they were still my family. I put on another smile on for my parents and we began our walked home.
I spoke up after about two minutes, "Hey mom? Dad?" Both of my parents turned toward me, "I was kinda wondering if we could not talk about tonight's recital." The shocked expressions on their faces was to be expected.
"Sweetheart, what are you talking about?"
"Well mom, while I enjoyed performing in the recital more than I thought, I think it might help to just leave it alone. I read an article that said that sometimes it'll be best to just not talk about accomplishments and continue on with our lives." I put on a fake and adorable smile, but I could still see my parent's unease.
Dad kneeled down to my level and put his hand on my shoulder, "Are you sure that is what you really want?"
"Yes dad, I just think that it's for the best." I could see my parent's hesitation, but they agreed and I let out a sigh. I just want to forget about tonight and my siblings and I knew that, if mom and dad constantly talk, I wouldn't.
We had arrived at the house and I quickly went up to my room. I took out a book and sat on my bed, reading. It wasn't until another fifteen minutes after we got home that the others had come back.
"Welcome back, kids. Oh Lori, how is Bobby?"
"Oh, he's great mom," Lori was taken back by the question, but accepted it happily.
I heard Luna's voice as I walked down the stairs, "Hey Lena, are you alright sis? You look a little miffed." That was when I realized that I had an annoyed expression on my face, apparently I was more frustrated with them then I originally thought.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Well then, everyone come on. Dinner's ready." My siblings all rushed to the table while I trekked behind, feeling the small pout that was on my face.
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(3rd person P.O.V)
Later that night, the Loud House was peacefully and everyone was asleep. Okay, well that's a lie. While the parents and Lena were asleep, the remaining loud siblings had all gathered in Lori and Leni's room to discuss an important mater: Lena's recent mood.
Lori slammed a pillow (nighttime, people were sleeping) on her desk to get everyone's attention, "Alright louds, I think that we all know why we're here. Lena's been in a strange mood all night and, as her brother and sisters, it's our job to figure it out. So, any ideas?"
"Maybe she's coming down with a cold?" (Lana)
"Maybe there's something going on in school that we don't know about?" (Lynn)
"Maybe she's been possessed by a demon who's changing her very personality?" (Lucy)
"Well," Lori began, after everyone promptly moved a little farther from Lucy, "There's something going on with her and we need to figure out what it is."
"Baaaphphph." All siblings turned to see Lily standing in the doorway and waving her hand.
"I think she wants us to follow her, you guys," Luan commented. The kids all followed Lily as she walked away and down the hall. She then stopped when she reached Lana, Lola, and Lena's room, gently pushed the door, and walked inside.
"Lily!" They all quickly yelled as they raced over and crowded around the doorway. Lily was quietly walking toward Lena's bed as said girl was sleeping.
"Lily, you come back here this instant," Lincoln scolded but the infant didn't listen.
Lincoln turned to Lucy, "Lucy, you're really quiet on your feet. You need to get her before she wakes up Lena."
"Sigh, you're right about that. Fine." Lucy walked normally, without making a single sound, toward her youngest sister who now stood in front of Lena's drawer. She mentioned with her arms, signaling to Lucy that she wants to be picked up. Lucy did so and Lily then pointed to the top of the sleeping girl's drawer. Lucy saw, what appeared to be, some kind of medal sitting on her drawer and picked it up.
"Is this what you've been lookin for?" Lucy whispered to which Lily nodded. The goth girl then walked out of the room holding her baby sister and softly closed the door behind her.
"Well, what is it?" Lola asked as all of the siblings gathered around the medal that Lucy had took.
Lori took it from her sister's hand and examined it, "Royal Woods Ballet Academy Medal, presented to Lena Loud. April 16th, 2017."
Luna then realized something, "Wait a minute dudes, wasn't today April 16th?" It took the kids all but two seconds to realize the truth and their eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.
"Everyone, follow me to my soundproof bubble," Lisa led her siblings into the room she shared with Lily. She then pulled a large bubble from the closet and they all got in, and almost immediately started screaming their heads off. When they let themselves out after a good thirty seconds of panicking, they were still freaked out.
"Oh my gosh," Lincoln said, smacking himself in the face, "I can't believe we forgot about Lena's ballet recital." Lily babbled some more before crossing her arms, pouting, and shaking her head at her siblings.
"No wonder she's been in such a strange mood," Lori said in a glum tone, "And she must have covered for us with mom and dad. How could we literally be so stupid?!"
"I think you mean how could you be so stupid," Lynn barked.
"Excuse me?! How is this my fault?!"
"You're the one who keeps saying that you're the oldest and most responsible. Not only should you not have forgotten, you shouldn't have let us forget!"
"How dare you! It is not my job to make sure that you can all remember to do something." This eventually caused a fight to break out between them all, to which Lincoln and Lily simply stood to the sides.
"Guys?" They wouldn't respond to Lincoln, "Guys?" Still nothing. "(Sighs), time for drastic measures." Lincoln set Lily on the floor and then, quietly, walked downstairs. He pulled out a step stool, reached into a cabinet, and pulled something from it.
He put the step stool away, walked back upstairs to his still fighting sisters, and revealed that he had gotten a chocolate bar from downstairs. All of them were immediately silenced as they stared at the unwrapped candy with wide eyes and drooling mouths, "Chocolate."
Lincoln smirked at the readers, "Works every time." He then broke the chocolate into ten pieces and passed them out to his sisters, "Now that everyone is calm, we need to come up with a real plan. We all messed this up and we all need to find a way to make it up to Lena."
"Lincoln's right," Lana said as she wiped chocolate from her mouth, "But, what do we do?"
"Guys the answer is, like, so simple. We just need to go to Lena's recital," all of her siblings (even Lily) face palmed at Leni's comment.
"Her recital is already over, Leni," Lisa said through gritted teeth.
"Oh."
The eleven of them stood there, thinking and trying to come up with a way to make things up to their quiet sister. Until Lola perked up and shot her hand in the air, "I got it!" Her siblings immediately shushed her, "Sorry, I've got it. Huddle up." The kids then huddled around one another, discussing Lola's plan.
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(Lena's P.O.V)
Rather begrudgingly, I threw the covers off of myself and sat up in my bed. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I looked over and saw that neither Lana nor Lola was in their beds. I then listened closely and didn't hear any noise coming from the hallway. "That's weird." I got out of bed, quickly put my regular clothes on, and walked outside to see no one in the hall. This is really weird. While the house isn't as loud on Sundays, it's never this quiet.
Closing the door behind me, I walked downstairs to see if my family was down there. But they weren't. Okay, now I'm getting a little freaked out. I continued to walk around the house until I saw both of my parents standing in the backyard. Opening the door, I walked up to them, "Mom, dad, what's going...on?" My voice kinda trailed off once I saw an actual stage in our backyard.
"SURPRISE!" I jumped a little when all of my siblings came out from the sides of the stage.
"What's going on here?"
Lincoln stepped forward, "Lena, we know that we missed your ballet recital and we're really sorry. We all know how important ballet is to you and there aren't any excuses for not being there to cheer you on."
"They told your mother and I when we woke up this morning," Dad spoke up, "At first we were angry at them until they told us this plan of theirs."
"Plan?"
I saw Luna hold up a bag and I recognized it as my ballet uniform bag (not good with names), "We wanted to give you a chance to do your routine again, this time with all of us there. It kinda took us a while to agree, but we figured that you'd like it because of how much you love ballet." She wasn't wrong, I did love ballet.
"I don't think I really remember the routine."
Lynn walked over and wrapped her arm on my shoulder, "Aw come on Lena. You've been practicing that routine everyday for over a month, I don't believe you'd completely forget about it in a day." I looked up at my older sister and saw the comforting smile on her face. I looked to the rest of my family and they all had the same expression.
"Well...okay." I walked over to Luna, took my bag, and could hear my siblings cheering as I walked into the house to change. Once I did, I came back out, got on that stage they made, and perform my routine from yesterday for my family. I couldn't help the smile on my face as I heard their applause and cheers of encouragement. That's the Loud family for you. One minute they do something that has you mad at them, and the next they fix the problem and everything's fine. Despite some of their actions and behaviors, I really do have a great family. And I wouldn't trade them for the world.
(Author's Note: And there ends our first, real, chapter. For some of you who might think that Lena forgave her siblings too easily, remember that all she wanted to do was to show her ballet skills to her family. Show off the hobby she loved for the people she loved. So her siblings giving a chance to do just that was actually really touching to her. Just to prepare you guys, some of the loud sibling's personalities and speech patterns might be difficult for me to replicate. Specifically, Leni's naivety, Luan's jokes, Lucy's dark personality, and Lisa's intelligent talk. Just thought I should let you guys know. Hope you all enjoyed. Favorite, follow, review, and I'll see you guys next time:)
