Reversal of Fortune: Chapter 4: The Morning After

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3; 8:15 AM
LOUD HOUSE
ROYAL WOODS, MICHIGAN

The Loud House's morning routine started off as expected, with every sibling fighting to be the first to the bathroom.

Lana growled, "LET! ME! THROUGH!"

Lola shrieked, "NO! I GO TO THE BATHROOM FIRST!"

Leni yelled, "NO WAY! I TOTES NEED TO DO MY HAIR!"

Lori threatened, "OUTTA MY WAY, OR I WILL LITERALLY TURN YOU ALL INTO HUMAN PRETZELS!"

Luna roared, "BOGUS, DUDES!"

Lucy snarled, "The spirits command that I need that bathroom."

Lynn Jr. yelled, "I was #1, and it's MY time for #2!"

Luan quipped, "If you don't get in first, just roll with it! Hahahaha, get it?"

Despite the chaos ensuing upstairs, Lynn Sr. managed to block it out and hum a happy song to himself while making breakfast burritos for his family in the Meanwhile, Rita found herself scrambling around the house to make sure her kids didn't forget their school supplies… again.

When Lynn Sr. finished making the last of the breakfast burritos, he realized that he had made 13 burritos, despite there being only 12 people in the house. Worry momentarily crossed his face before he noticed Rita walking towards him. As soon as he saw her, he gave her a "come here" motion with his finger as he picked up his breakfast burrito. When Rita met Lynn Sr. in the kitchen, Lynn Sr. handed her a breakfast burrito, to which Rita punched him playfully on the arm and laughed, "Thanks. Welp, seems like it's time."

Lynn Sr. chuckled, "Yup," and then bellowed, "KIDS! BREAKFAST IS READY!"

When the Loud sisters heard Lynn Sr. call for them, their resulting stampede down the stairs to get their breakfast caused the whole house to shake.

"OUTTA MY WAY!", Luna bellowed.

"NO, IT'S MINE!", Lynn Jr. roared.

If any of the sisters noticed the extra burrito or the missing person in that morning's bathroom line, they didn't show it, immediately going to town on all 11 remaining burritos. Lynn Jr. ate the last one before burping in the rest of her family's face.

"EWW, GROSS!", Lola shrieked.

"Literally disgusting!", Lori shouted.

It wasn't until immediately after Lynn Jr.'s burp that every family member noticed the sound of Lily crying. When they heard this sound, they were horrified as they realized that they had not just eaten Lily's burrito, but they had also probably stampeded over her as well. They all ran towards Lily, lifting her up and checking her for injuries.

"Aww, Lily!", Leni cried.

"We're sorry," Luna said soothingly.

"Stop crying!", Lola yelled.

Rita pushed her way through the crowd of sisters to pick Lily up and advise, "It's OK, girls. We'll give her a milk bottle and she should be good to go."

That made the sisters sigh in relief for a split second before they eyed the door, and each other. They all knew what was happening next: an all-out war for Vanzilla's Sweet Spot. And the brawl lived up to the hype. Hair-pulling, punching, kicking, shoving, slapping, and biting, among other things, ensued. In the end, Lynn Jr. got the Sweet Spot when she fended off the last sister, Lisa, by throwing her out of the adjacent window.

After landing, Lisa got up and shrugged it off with a noticeable limp: "I'm OK! Just an ankle bone bruise!"

Luan then punned, "One 'small limp' for girl, one 'giant landing' for nerdkind! Hahahaha, get it?"

Lisa and the rest of the non-Luan sisters groaned at the joke before tiredly walking to take the remainder of the seats in Vanzilla.

As Rita and Lynn Sr. walked out onto the porch holding a now-happy Lily, they looked at the state of their daughters and sighed to themselves. Rita muttered to Lynn Sr., "No serious injuries today. Well, that's good," before they took their seats riding shotgun and in the driver's seat, respectively.

After everyone was seated and buckled, the Louds drove to Royal Woods High School to drop Lori, Leni, Luna, and Luan off. As the usual conversations started in the car, Lori smiled when she saw Bobby text her:

Bobby: "Hey babe!"
Lori: "booboo bear (lipstick emoji) I (heart) u so much (heart-eye emoji, kissy-face emoji, & lip-licking emoji)
Bobby: "Ik"
Bobby: "down 4 burpin (burger emoji) lunch? ill drive"
Lori: "aww boo boo bear (heart-eyed emoji)"
Lori: "literally pick me up (heart emoji)"
Bobby: "oh i will (sly emoji, lip-licking emoji)"
Lori: "(3 crying laughing emojis) (heart emoji) u boo boo bear (heart-eyed & kissy-face emojis)"

After that, Lori checked her social media page. When she opened Instapic, she was delighted to find that her beach photo from yesterday had received 500 likes. Finally, she thought, something I can beat Carol Pingrey in. She'd literally never go to the beach in October. As she scrolled through her comments, she noticed one asking about someone dressed in a squirrel mascot suit standing in the background. She considered responding by telling them that it was her brother, Lincoln, but upon seeing that the profile picture of the commenter was an acne-covered 10th grade nerd, she gagged in disgust.

Leni, who sat next to Lori, immediately asked, "Lori, what's wrong?"

Lori groaned, "Ugh, some nerd asked about Lincoln… I'd show you, but I warn you, it's bad."

Leni chirped, "Whatever, I can totes handle…" before grimacing and telling Lori, "Yikes."

Lori responded to Leni, "Literally. How does he even still go to our school? I should literally block him. Forget that, I should literally report him for harassment to the principal. That'll teach that creep a lesson."

Leni then asked, "But what about Lincoln?"

Lynn Jr. interjected, "If he's still around, wherever he is, he'd better be in that squirrel suit."

Lisa dryly interrupted, "Considering no unfortunate events have occurred during the last 12 hours, I presume there is between a 90 and 95 percent probability that Lincoln has been dressed in said mascot suit through the duration of that period of time. With a 5 percent confidence interval."

Lynn Jr. exhaled, "Well, that's a relief," before giving Lisa a noogie and smirking at her, "Thanks, uber-nerd."

An annoyed Lisa deadpanned, "Will you stop pressing your knuckles against my cranium?"

Lynn Jr. smirked and continued anyways.

As Vanzilla pulled up at Royal Woods High School to drop off Lori, Leni, Luna, and Luan, the rest of the sisters and the Loud parents sent them off by smiling and waving, "Bye!" The Louds would also do this when dropping the rest of the kids off at their respective schools, dropping Lily off at her daycare, and when Lynn Sr. and Rita pulled into their offices for work.

(Scene Change: Sweetwater Manor)

As Lincoln passed by the dining room in Becky's old Ace Savvy pajamas with a bit of a swaggering walk, Becky, Paige, and Lindsay beamed at him while cheerfully greeting, "Good morning, Lincoln!"

Lincoln looked back at them, smiled, waved, and wished the girls back, "Good morning."

As he walked into the kitchen, Linda walked towards him to also wish him, "Good morning, Lincoln."

Lincoln smiled and softly replied, "Good morning, Linda."

When Linda heard the growl of Lincoln's stomach, she giggled, "Lincoln, there's breakfast here. Don't worry, I'll get you a plate. Do you also want orange juice?"

Lincoln gratefully responded, "S-sure, Mrs. Sweet… I mean, Linda."

Linda cooed, "So polite. Go take a seat at the table next to your friends, sweetie."

As Lincoln entered the dining room, he was again astounded by its opulence and grandeur. The first thing he noticed, suspended over the roof, was a chandelier made to look like it was candlelit. He then noticed the red walls, hardwood floor, and elegant wooden dining table and queen's chairs. Black cabinets surrounded the table, pushed against the walls of the dining room. In addition to the standard dining room fare, such as plates, vases, and commemorative glasses and mugs, these cabinets included photographs of Becky, Paige, and Lindsay growing up, tons of old photographs of a younger Brian and Linda, and even the trophies that each member of the family had accumulated over the course of their lifetimes. With how many there were in there, it almost looked like his ex-housemates' trophy case. As such, the "trophy cabinet" of the Sweetwaters made Lincoln's pupils shrink and his eyes widen as a torrent of emotions flooded through him. Regret, rage, disgust, guilt, shame, envy, embarrassment, and indignation made Lincoln furrow his brows and tighten up his face and body to the point where it looked like he was going to explode.

Instead of giving into these emotions, Lincoln decided to distract himself by taking his eyes off the trophy case and looking around the room further. Several paintings that would look like typical upper-middle-class dining room paintings lined the spaces between separate cabinets. The faux-Renaissance-era paintings, especially those of ships arriving at harbors, put Lincoln's mind at ease. He even saw a framed Michigan Wolverines #15 basketball jersey, along with several other framed and signed NBA and college basketball jerseys, hanging from several of these spaces. With the jerseys reminding Lincoln of red, he quickly looked away from them and decided to look at the pictures beside the jerseys. When Lincoln did, he saw two pictures that also gave him unwanted reminders of his family. The first one was of a young red-haired woman in a black midriff and short jean shorts doing rock poses with SMOOCH. Disgusted with how much this pic reminded him of his former household's rocker, he quickly shifted his attention towards the picture next to it, which only made him feel worse. It was a picture of the same young woman with a pageant crown and a trophy. The woman was clad in a light green dress, with a ribbon wrapped around it reading, "Miss Teen Royal Woods 1992". This picture immediately reminded Lincoln of pink, and caused him to freeze in place as he got a traumatic flashback to how Lola used to always boss him around in his old house.

When Brian and his daughters looked up from their plates, they noticed Lincoln awkwardly standing still in the middle of the dining room, and immediately grew worried for him. Becky asked, "What's wrong, Lincoln?"

Lincoln started, "It's just...", before groaning, "Never mind."

Brian gently assured Lincoln, "Sit down, son. No one's here to bite you."

Brian's inviting words allowed Lincoln to calm down enough to take a seat next to him, across from Becky, Paige, and Lindsay. As Lincoln relaxed into his chair, he decided to take a closer look at the Sweetwaters' trophy case. He saw a ton of trophies won by the children over the years: pageant trophies, tournament MVP's, Bluebell Scout patches, and numerous other little trinkets. As his eyes glossed over to the other cabinets, one of them made him stop and do a double-take. It was an entire cabinet dedicated to Brian.

In Brian's cabinet, there were a ton of basketball trophies and the usual commemorative plates, mugs, and younger pictures. There was a basketball team picture there as well, but Lincoln glossed over that. He wasn't a big sports fan like the two Lynn's, so he really didn't care whether his seeming guardian was on a lousy high school basketball team. But beside Brian's wedding photo, he saw an 8x10 close-up photo of a Michigan player wearing #15 rising up for a jump shot. As Lincoln closely examined the photo, his eyes widened. The hair, the eyes, the face… it bore a striking resemblance to… especially with his height… No. It couldn't be, he thought to himself. When he examined the picture closer, comparing Brian's face with that of the man in the photograph, he gasped, thinking to himself, No. Way. If that bitch or that so-called "dad" of mine see this… no way.

Lincoln dropped his jaw in astonishment. His jaw remained dropped even after Linda handed him his food, telling him, "Here you go, sweetie. Now eat up."

Lincoln continued to stare slack-jawed at the cabinet. He asked himself whether he should ask the Sweetwater parents about this before deciding against it due to not wanting to impose on them. Linda and Brian must have seen Lincoln's thousand-yard stare, because they traded a glance at each other and started laughing immediately after Linda gave Lincoln his breakfast.

Brian jokingly asked Lincoln, "Like the handsome man on that photo, huh? Sorry, he's taken." Linda proceeded to put her arm around Brian, and the two continued to laugh at the stunned look on Lincoln's face.

That woke Lincoln up from his jersey-induced trance as he stammered, "S-sorry, sir. It's just… that picture. Is that…"

A smiling Brian confirmed, "Yeah, I know. New people give me that response all the time. Well, I played college basketball at Michigan. That's me. Ever heard of the Fab 5?"

Lincoln gasped before asking in astonishment, "You were a member of the Fab 5?"

Brian proudly said, "Well, yeah. I was on that team. In fact, did your… um… biological relatives… ever bring up the '8 points in 9 seconds' game?"

That made Lincoln laugh. He remembered his sister once wanting to say she could "score 10 points in 10 seconds if she wanted to," but didn't understand the reference until she showed him a grainy YouClip video, looking like it was from an old VHS tape, of a guy scoring 8 points in 9 seconds. With the Wolverines down by 6 and 9 seconds to go, he took in an inbounds pass from a teammate and drained a quick 3-point shot. Immediately afterwards, he stole the inbounds pass from the opposing team wearing blue, raced behind the 3-point line, and hit yet another 3-point shot to tie the game, sending the crowd into a frenzy and drowning out the announcer. The clip then cut to a member of the blue team trying an inbounds pass, only for the same player to steal the ball again, race down the court, and hit a game-winning layup as time expired. Said player in the white jersey was immediately mobbed by teammates and fans as seemingly the entire crowd stormed the court in jubilant celebration, hoisting the player on his shoulders. But they couldn't be the same person… right?

A curious Lincoln asked Brian, "8 points in 9 seconds… wait… that was you?"

The entire family simultaneously smirked at Lincoln and nodded smugly, "Mmm-hmm."

Lincoln spit out his orange juice and nearly choked on the piece of egg he was swallowing, but managed to keep it down.

Lincoln spit out his orange juice and nearly choked on the piece of egg he was swallowing, but managed to keep it down. When Linda saw this, she rushed to Lincoln's side and shrieked, "Oh my god! Are you OK?"

Lincoln took a deep breath before assuring Linda, "Yeah." Lincoln then beamed at Brian, "Dude… you're a legend! How come you didn't play in the NBA?"

Lincoln immediately covered his mouth in embarrassment, worried that he said the wrong thing to his hosts. Seeing this, Brian put Lincoln's fears to rest by gently smiling at him and chuckling, "Thanks, Lincoln. It's always nice to meet somebody who thinks so highly of me." He then frowned before revealing, "And about the NBA thing... I had scouts from the Pistons watching me, but I blew my knee out in the national championship game senior year."

Lincoln responded, "Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr. Sweetwater."

Brian laughed it off, "It's alright. Besides, with the missus here, my 3 kids, and this big, beautiful house, I can't really complain."

The Sweetwater family complimented Brian with murmurs of "Aww, thanks," and, "You're so sweet!", before everyone at the table continued to eat their breakfast.

As the Sweetwaters ate, Linda asked, "Lincoln… are you sure you're OK to go to school today?"

Lincoln griped, "What choice do I have? The school will call my… um… ex-housemates if I'm missing, so they'll find me. All I can hope for is that I can stay away from them."

Paige quickly comforted Lincoln, "Don't worry. If it's… well… them you're worried about, Lindsay & I will keep you away from them as much as we can. We'll tell you where they are whenever we see you. Well, probably only the twins, but still."

Becky offered, "Also, I'll be driving everyone to school today," causing Brian & Linda to softly & proudly smile at each other.

However, a confused Lincoln asked, "Wait, what? Don't you guys normally catch the bus to school? I mean, I know today's a Late Start day, but Becky, if what… ugh… bossy told me was any indication, your school's supposed to be starting right about now. What are you still doing here?" He then turned to the Sweetwater parents and asked, "And you two, don't you guys have work to go to or something? With a house this big?"

The touched Sweetwaters laughed, with Becky pinching Lincoln's cheek before teasing him, "Jeez, Lincolnovich, you already look like my grandpa, you don't have to sound like him, too," which caused more uproarious laughter to come from everyone at the table.

As Becky wiped sweat from underneath her eyelid, she explained through chuckles, "My first period is Study Hall, so I don't have to be there. As for my second period, I've got Art."

Brian added, "Because Becky's doing well in that class, I called the school and got Becky off from that class due to a 'family emergency'."

Linda then asked, "And Brian & I here… well… do you think we'd have this house if we didn't have jobs that gave us time for 'family emergencies'?"

A wide-eyed Lincoln said in realization, "Oh," which the family again chuckled at. Lincoln then pointed out, "Well, better here than in the school bus, where I know the other kids will laugh at me and my ex-housemates will try to capture & take me back."

The Sweetwaters gasped at Lincoln's frankness before Paige tenderly reassured him, "Lincoln... I promise you, I will personally do whatever it takes to keep you safe from those mean bullies."

As Paige softly and warmly smiled at Lincoln, Lincoln thanked Paige before dropping the subject and continuing to eat his breakfast.

After the Sweetwaters finished their breakfast, they hurried to their rooms to pack their bags to head out the door. Meanwhile, Lincoln, seeing as he had neither school clothes nor school supplies on him, placed his head on the table underneath his arms, sulked, and seethed. As Brian and Linda watched Lincoln, they quickly realized that they would have to tell Lincoln the truth about buying his school supplies. So, they rushed to the basement to bring the cardboard boxes with Lincoln's things in them upstairs.

A few minutes later, Linda called, "Lincoln, can you come to the study, please?"

Lincoln asked, "OK, but where's the study?"

Linda explained, "Where the stairs are, to your right."

Lincoln shrugged his shoulders and walked to Linda and Brian's office. When he opened the door, he was greeted by both parents solemnly looking at him.

When Lincoln gulped in response, Linda started, "Sweetie… are you OK? You're not in trouble."

Lincoln looked down and groaned, "Yeah. It's just that… I'll have to go back to school. Looking like this. With… you know who going to the same school as me."

Linda consoled Lincoln, "Honey, we told you, you don't have to go back if you don't feel like it. We'll be there for you either way. And I'm sure our daughters will be, too."

Lincoln sighed, "Yeah, I know. It's just that I feel like this is something I'll have to face. Better I do this now than later, you know. I'll probably get bullied, but that was basically my life in my old house, anyway. And even if I can't do my homework… nothing I can do about that. My teacher will just yell at me like usual. Might as well get the experience now."

Brian then walked up to Lincoln and said, "Maybe not."

Linda then sighed before asking Lincoln, "S-sweetie, we regret to tell you this. But… remember when you said the Louds sold your furniture?"

Lincoln nodded, "Yeah. But what does that have to do with anything?"

Linda confessed, "About that… we bought it."

In disbelief, Lincoln threw his head back and laughed hysterically, "Hahaha, good one, Mrs. Sweetwater! You bought my furniture during the luck incident? Hahaha… whoo… alright, where's the camera? Did Becky put you up to this? Hahaha!"

Linda and Brian traded glances at Lincoln's laughter. Apparently, Lincoln saw that the Sweetwater parents' regretful facial expressions didn't change, and that they remained silent, giving him the first inkling that they were serious about buying Lincoln's sold furniture. The second sign that made Lincoln realize that they were serious was when they looked directly at Lincoln, and then motioned their eyes to the cardboard boxes in the corner of the study. Upon recognizing this, Lincoln's laughter changed to a shocked look as he asked them, "Wait... you're serious?"

Linda admitted, "Y-yeah. If you don't believe us… look in those cardboard boxes, over there," pointing to the cardboard boxes in the corner of the study that they had brought up a few minutes earlier.

While Lincoln was now suspicious of the Sweetwater parents, he still couldn't believe they would have done anything that… despicable… to him. However, out of sheer curiosity, he slowly walked over to the cardboard boxes to check for any semblance of his furniture.

When Lincoln opened the boxes, his pupils shrunk and his eyes widened in absolute horror. The first box he opened contained all of his school textbooks, notebooks, binders, pencil cases, and other school supplies, in addition to his backpack. He gasped at the sight of all of his school supplies in the cardboard box. He then cried to himself softly, "You did it. You actually did it. You bought my school supplies."

A horrified Lincoln quickly tore open the second cardboard box, and when he saw what was inside, he nearly fainted. On top of his Ace Savvy costume, posters, and calendar lay the toy that had comforted him since he was a baby: Bun-Bun. When he saw Bun-Bun, he fell to his knees and quietly mouthed to himself, "Fucking Bun-Bun. You did it. You actually did it. You bought my fucking school supplies."

Suddenly enraged, Lincoln jumped up and stomped over to the Sweetwater parents before snarling at them, "You bought my fucking furniture?"

Linda gasped before panicking, "W-we're sorry, Lincoln! We didn't know! We…"

Lincoln roared at the Sweetwater parents, "YOU DIDN'T FUCKING KNOW, HUH? MY NAME WAS CARVED INTO IT! That would've been OBVIOUS to you if you HAD FUCKING EYES THAT COULD SEE! And here I thought you were supposed to be on MY side! But no… YOU'RE NO DIFFERENT THAN THOSE FUCKING 'LOUD' COCKROACHES! What's next, you're gonna throw ME out AND re-sell this shit the next time I'm 'bad luck' to one of YOUR daughters? You know what, no. Fuck you, fuck your excuses, and fuck your plot. I shouldn't have to take back stuff from another house that I'm naturally entitled to. I'm out of here. And don't expect me to come back."

Lincoln searched for his cellphone in the box, snatched it while making a mess of the rest of his furniture in said box, kicked the box in rage, and then stormed out of the room in heartbreak.

As Brian and Linda watched Lincoln storm out of the room, Linda cried before Brian pulled her into a hug. As she did, Lincoln turned back to look at the heartbroken Sweetwaters, huffed at them, and continued to stomp his way out of the Sweetwater house. Desperate to salvage the situation, Brian pleaded, "Lincoln... we swear we didn't know. If we did, we never would have bought the stuff. And we would have turned your parents into the police for doing those horrible things to you."

Brian's words made Lincoln stop in his tracks. Despite Lincoln's suspicions, he decided to give the Sweetwater parents the benefit of the doubt, and began to walk back to the forlorn couple. As he did, he stormed back to them with a furious look on his face. He then pointed at Brian and asked him icily, "What did Linda mean by 'she didn't know'?"

Brian knelt while explaining to Lincoln, "We didn't know. The Louds came to us early Saturday morning with a bunch of furniture. I knew it was them from the yelling in the van. They offered it to us, and… we took it. There was some nice stuff there for all our daughters, and for the price they were selling it for, it was an absolute steal, especially because a lot of it was still in good condition. While we were scanning the furniture, Linda noticed your name on a lot of it, and she tried to ask the Louds why the stuff had your name on it. And they told us, with complete confidence, that for your birthday, they were going to completely make over your room, but the stuff came in today only, and they had no room for your old stuff. They didn't offer us your clothes because they knew we had all girls. So we shrugged our shoulders and paid for it, and they took the money and ran. They just drove off in a hurry, with Lola yelling at us, 'Thank you, have a nice day!' I thought it was to take the kids to one of their games or whatever."

Linda joined in, also kneeling to Lincoln's height, "We're so sorry, Lincoln. We didn't know the truth at the time, but we know now. If we knew then, we would've put a stop to it right there & then, & if we knew where to reach you, we would've gotten you out of there like we did now."

Brian begged, "We're so sorry, Lincoln! Can you ever forgive us?"

Calming down, Lincoln blankly told the Sweetwater parents, "Hey, two things. One, you didn't know. Two, at least it's you guys that bought the stuff. So at least I know where it is, and I can take it with me. But after everything, I just don't know who, or what, to believe anymore. Like 'bossy' used to say, 'actions speak louder than words.' I'll tell you what: Help me make my family pay for this, and all is forgiven."

Brian and Linda immediately assured Lincoln, "We were already planning on doing that when we found out."

Lincoln then hugged the Sweetwater parents while telling them, "Alright, good. If you guys were talking to your daughters about the plan we came up with, that plan's back on."

The Sweetwater parents returned the hug while chuckling in admiration of Lincoln's maturity about the situation. After letting go of the embrace, Brian walked to another cardboard box on the other side of the study.

When Brian returned, he had clasped his hands behind his back as he knelt to Lincoln's height and told him,

"S-son, about your clothing situation, there wasn't really much I could do. I'm 6'7", all my childhood clothes are gone, and I'm the only man in this house. But, I managed to dig through some of Becky's old clothes and furniture, and she practically begged me to give them to you."

Brian then handed Lincoln an Ace Savvy shirt and a pair of blue jeans that Becky wore when she was Lincoln's age. While they were girls' clothes, they also looked like they could be pulled off by a boy. Brian also gave Lincoln a set of his socks, so when his socks stretching to Lincoln's thighs, Lincoln & the Sweetwater parents shared a laugh.

However, Lincoln graciously told Brian, "These clothes fit great! Thanks!"

Brian gave Lincoln a thumbs-up as he chuckled, "You're welcome."

Lincoln then remembered, "Wait, Clyde will likely have a change of clothes for me. He and I have codes for God-knows-how-many situations, and we've certainly got a code for this. While I appreciate all this, you don't have to do this for me."

After the Sweetwater parents shared a fond laugh, Linda professed, "Lincoln, we're not doing this because we have to. We're doing this because we want to. And, we've got a little surprise for you."

Brian then reached behind him to unlock a safe and pull out what was inside. When he presented it to Lincoln, Lincoln gasped as his jaw hit the floor. He had heard about these shoes from Lynn Jr. and Lynn Sr. But being raised in a house of 11 children where every loose dime resulted in World War 3, he couldn't dream of being able to afford, or find, shoes like that.

Brian presented the shoes, "These are my Original Nike Air Michaels 1's. When I was your age, these were the hottest shoes in the neighborhood, and I had managed to save up enough from lemonade stands and garage sales that I was able to get my hands on a pair of one of these. It was one of the happiest days of my life. Try them on, Lincoln."

Lincoln, face flushed and eyes watering, walked up and slowly took the shoes from Brian. He slowly put the right shoe on and felt his foot get used to it. His eyes widened, thinking: They're the perfect fit. He then tied the shoe and repeated the same process with the left shoe. He managed to put on the left shoe a little faster.

When he finally stood up, he looked up at Brian, who asked, "Are those a good fit for you?"

Lincoln told Brian, "Yeah."

Brian explained, "That's one of the reasons I got them for you. I knew they would fit you. Second, I tried to give these to Becky and Paige, but neither of them were takers. Like their mom, they're flip-flop girls."

Lincoln and Brian shared a chuckle at that while Linda jokingly pouted at them. Brian then told Lincoln through sniffles, "A-and third, a-a kid like you d-deserves them. I-I never thought I'd see a kid that I felt was worthy for me to give these shoes to… until today. I know what your sisters put you through, and in spite of that, you still would have gone to the ends of the earth for them. Don't let anyone tell you you're a bad kid, Lincoln. You're smart, friendly, kind, and loyal to the core. You're a great kid. Anyone would be lucky to have a brother and son like you. And we're so glad you're staying at our house with us. And if your former guardians can't see that, then that's their problem, not yours."

Touched by Brian's words, Lincoln hugged him, and Linda quickly joined in. A few seconds later, their warm embrace was interrupted when they heard a car horn honking from the driveway. When Brian heard the honk of the car horn, he told Lincoln, "Now get out there and have a great day."

Lincoln gave Linda and Brian a scout's honor salute before putting the Rip Hardcore backpack on, opened the door, and began to briskly walk to the car. Linda and Brian smiled as they watched Lincoln walk towards the front door and out of the house.

Once outside, the constant honking of the car horn grew increasingly louder and more irritating to Lincoln's ears, as Becky jokingly yelled, "Come on, Lincoln, move it or lose it! You got 1 minute or I'm driving off!"

Lincoln laughed and sprinted across the huge driveway to Becky's car. Once he got there, he got ready to climb into the backseat of a modest red 4-door sedan before Becky looked back at him and wagged her finger, "Uh-uh. You get shotgun today, White Russian."

The other girls looked to Becky, then looked back at Lincoln, smiling and nodding at him. Lincoln softly smiled back at them, walked out of the back seat, and took his place next to Becky riding shotgun. The four then drove off.

(Scene Change: Royal Woods Elementary School, 9:50 AM)

As Becky pulled up at Royal Woods Elementary School's Kiss-and-Ride to drop off Paige, Lincoln, and Lindsay, she exhaled softly to herself, "This is it. We're really going to start doing this."

Becky then reminded the children, "OK, make sure you pay attention in class, stay out of trouble, and remember what we talked about. Paige, you're going to be walking Lincoln and Lindsay to class. Once you guys are finished, stick together, go out the back doors, and I'll pick you up just beyond the park at the back of the school so no one sees you."

Lincoln asked, "That's on Maple, right?"

Becky murmured, "Mm-hmm," before reminding Lincoln, "We're going back after school to Huron Beach to retrieve your squirrel suit." Becky then cast a general gaze in the children's direction and suggested, "So try to get your homework done early today. I'm gonna stay over at the library at my school today to try to finish my homework, and I suggest you 3 do the same. I'll text you to let you know I'm picking you up. If you absolutely have to deal with Lincoln's sisters, remember: the Louds never locked Lincoln out of his house."

After the children told Becky, "OK," Becky then wished, "Now, have a good day at school! I love you!", before driving off to Royal Woods High School.

Lindsay, anxious to keep up her reputation as a "model student", quickly raced ahead of Paige and Lincoln and called out to them, "COME ON! LET'S GO!", before quickly dashing through the school's entrance.

Paige called towards Lindsay, "We're supposed to stick together!", before sighing in frustration.

As Paige and Lincoln turned to look at the brick walls of their elementary school, they gulped in fear at the thought of being mocked by everyone in school for the luck incident. As they did, Paige nervously asked Lincoln, "You ready for this?"

Lincoln sighed and responded, "Ready as I'll ever be."

After taking another deep breath, Paige reassured with a soft smile, "Good. Remember, I'm here for you."

Lincoln looked at her, gave her the thumbs-up sign, and the two began walking towards the school slowly. They made sure to focus on their breathing to make sure they could walk at a normal pace. To avoid teasing by the other students, they made sure not to hold hands, and Paige made sure to walk behind Lincoln as opposed to alongside him. Due to Lincoln and Paige's nerves, each of their steps seemed to sink into the concrete, threatening to swallow them whole. As the two approached the door, their knees threatened to buckle under the weight of their stress, and the faintest glimmers of sweat could be seen on their foreheads as the morning sun beat down on them. Patchy Drizzle had warned of hot weather lasting throughout the month, but even they couldn't have anticipated it feeling this bad. With each additional step, they felt an ever-so-slightly increasing urge to collapse, but refused to give in.

When they finally approached the door, a sweaty Lincoln looked at Paige and gulped, "Well… here we go."

Lincoln took a deep breath before pressing his sweat-covered thumb on the trigger of the door handle and pulling the door towards him to open it. His thumb was so sweaty it almost slipped off the trigger, but it thankfully did not. He considered holding the door open for Paige, but ultimately decided against it before pulling the door open.

As soon as Lincoln opened the door and took his first footstep inside the school, just as Lincoln feared, the hallways immediately burst into a loud cacophony of laughter. Every single student that saw him immediately stopped whatever they were doing, turned to Lincoln, pointed at him, and laughed at him. Many of them flashed their phone screens at Lincoln, showing him the now-infamous picture of him in a squirrel suit. The chants rang through the hallways.

Papa Wheelie bellowed, "SQUIRREL BOY! SQUIRREL BOY!"

Flat Tire mocked, "I knew you had those buckteeth for a reason!"

Chandler taunted, "Imagine being Lincoln Lame. He's a squirrel… who can't get a nut!"

As the insults and mocking laughter continued to echo through the hallways, Lincoln's fists and teeth clenched together in rage. Lincoln's fury nearly boiled over when he spotted his so-called friends, Liam, Rusty, Zach, and Girl Jordan, his former dates for the Sadie Hawkins Dance in Tabby, Giggles, Polly, and Haiku, and even his former crush in Cristina, also laughing at him. Surprisingly, Lincoln saw neither Ronnie Anne nor his sisters, but knowing them, he figured they had already set up a prank for him at his locker, and were lying in wait for him there. As Lincoln heard those he thought he could trust most laughing at him, his pace slowed, his eyes started to water, and his feelings of betrayal had pushed him to the brink of tears.

Meanwhile, Paige closely followed Lincoln, watching the situation in heartbreak and horror. While she wanted to cry and yell at the other students until the taunting stopped, she knew that this situation was about cold, carefully calculated revenge, and that yelling at the other students wouldn't help her position. So, she decided to keep her posture as straight as possible, keep her eyes focused straight ahead, and pretend to ignore the insults as if nothing had happened.

Unfortunately for Lincoln and Paige, the taunting continued for at least a good minute, even as the opening notes to the song chosen for that week's "Music Monday" blared through the school's PA system. Right before the first rendition of the song's chorus started, a shadowy figure slammed the front door to the school open. What that door revealed immediately took all the attention off Lincoln Loud. Even Lincoln himself, with everything he had dealt with up to that point, could have never in a gazillion years anticipated something like this.

Closing A/N: Holy… it's been a month since I updated this. But this is the biggest chapter I've had to write so far, and I've suffered massive writer's block doing so. I was flipflopping on which direction to take the story, and then I realized I was still, relatively, at the beginning. I became perfectionistic with my plot, with my writing, I felt like I was writing too little, then too much, I felt insecure about whether I was really writing the story how I visualized it in my head. I don't know… I just don't feel as strongly about this plot as I used to. And my perfectionistic side kicked in. But, I'm back.

A/N 2: On the comments I've received, thanks for the support, & some of your ideas have really inspired me!

A/N 3: I got the idea for "Music Monday" from the fact that at my real life high school, they used to do "Music Monday" every Monday, where they played a popular song, and the chaplain would explain what that song meant to them as part of morning prayers (yeah, I went to a Catholic school growing up). So I figured, why not incorporate that here as a cheap excuse to put fitting music into my story?

A/N 4: I checked the actual Royal Oak school calendar (the real-life basis of Royal Woods), and found out that most Wednesdays, they have this "Late Start" thing where school starts an hour later than usual. I decided to move it to Monday because I felt like it would be way better for the students' body clocks than Wednesday.

Anyway, who, or what, is on the other side of that door? And what song is playing in the background? Find out next chapter on… REVERSAL! OF! FORTUNE!