As they headed to the door, Dana gave it a knock and the slider on it opened up to show a pair of eyes looking down at the four.
"Who is it?", said the Bouncer, not sounding at all friendly.
"Three ladies and one young man.", Carol answering the nice man. The eyes looked down at Lincoln, who felt some swept coming down his forehead.
"...Alright, come on in.", the Bouncer allowed. The door opened, then Carol and Dana headed in first. But before Lincoln and Carlota could go in as well, Carlota pulls Lincoln aside, at means of talking to him She says to him, "Now Lincoln, this place is gonna be new to both of us. So don't feel bad if you're gonna be a little intimidated."
"I'll be fine, Carlota.", Lincoln says confidently. "You don't have to worry about me."
"Alright, if you say so." Carlota says with relief. "Try to have the time of your life in there. Lord knows I'm going to!" With that said, Carlota excitingly rushes in as Lincoln follows behind. Inside, the place was way bigger than how it looked outside. There were people dancing, a huge food buffet, a few arcade games and even a stage that was meant for the president. All this stuff made Lincoln feel small as he walked in with a nervous small and sweat come down his head. He says to himself. "Sweet, merciful God. What am I doing?" From what he could see, there was a lot of people he's met from here and there. Mostly either friends of his sisters or just from their school. It wasn't long before they all had their eyes on him, recognizing him right off the bat.
Shannon asks, "Is that Lincoln?"
Then Rex continued, saying, "What's he doing here?"
"Shouldn't he be in bed right now?", Lyberti then said. Not wanting to rouse to much attention, Lincoln headed over to the bar, ordering himself a cup of coffee as he notice that everyone was still looking at him in curiosity. He then says awkwardly, "Um...hi?"
"Hey, what are you doing here?", asked Parvana.
Lincoln takes a sip of his coffee, saying. "You guys really want to know?"
"YES!", yelled out everyone.
"...Okay.", sheepishly said Lincoln. "I...kinda ran away from home." Every one of them were shocked to hear that an eleven year old boy had ran away from home. They all wasted no time, barking him with the question "why?"
"...It's all because I just couldn't deal with my sisters at the moment and I just needed to get away from them.", cried out Lincoln,
"Doesn't really sound like a good reason for you to want to run away.", argued Shannon.
"Yeah, even we had a feeling that you were keeping something from us when you told us that.", Carol added on.
"Want to share, Lincoln?", asked Dana.
Lincoln answers, "Not really.", and continues to sip his coffe.
"Come on.", complained Carlota. "You're amongst friends here." Seeing how they were not gonna stop bugging him about it, Lincoln let out a heavy sigh and confronted all of them."
"Okay...", Lincoln started. "The full reason as to why I ran away was because I felt like I wasn't really wanted there."
Dana then asked, "What on earth lead you to think that?"
"My sister, Lynn, called me 'deadweight'.", Lincoln said, growing upset.
Hearing that made all of them start to feel bad for the little boy as he turned away and continued to drink his coffee. It was then that Carol called to everybody to come with her to the stage. But, she then pushed Shannon aside, asking her to go talk to Lincoln while they think of something. Meanwhile, Lincoln decided to look around the club, see if there's anything left to explore. But as he was about to continue, Shannon pulled him aside and began to talk to him. All the while, Lincoln noticed something different about Shannon, though he couldn't yet put his finger on it. He then asks her, "Did you do something with your hair?" It was then that Shannon looked up see her new hairband with a flower on the left side.
"Huh? Oh, yeah.", answered Shannon. "A little. I was going for a bit of a new style."
"How come?", Lincoln continued to ask.
"I think it helps to complete my look.", Shannon answered. "Just wanted to...express myself a little bit more."
Lincoln gave her an awkward smile and then there was some awkward silence between the two.
"So...your sister really called you 'deadweight'?", asked Shannon.
Lincoln answered, "Yep. And I punched her in the face for it."
Shannon then asked, "Was it really worth having to run away from home?"
"You don't know how bad it gets.", Lincoln said.
"Well, not all your sisters treat so badly, right?", Shannon continued ask.
Lincoln tells her,"...No. But, Lori, Lynn, Lola, those three drive me crazy. Lori's a huge prick in all our butts who acts like a control freak, Lola's a spoiled brat who thinks she can have it all, and Lynn...I once thought Lori was the worst out my sisters, but now I see that Lynn fills that category easily. It makes me regret that I didn't run away, after all the crap she put me through!"
"Easy Lincoln.", Shannon says, trying to calm him down. "All that's understandable, but-"
"But what? Should I forgive her?", Lincoln then questioned. "Yeah, that'll be the day."
With that, Lincoln left Shannon, who tried to reach out to him, but failed. He then continued on exploring the rest of the club, and soon found himself at the buffet table. So many delicious looking foods just calling out to him. Despite how late it was, he felt it wasn't a problem just one bite.
"You know, you shouldn't really be eating at this hour.", another familiar voice told the boy.
Startled by another familiar voice, Lincoln turned around to see Sam, and next to her was Mazzy...
"You guys know about this place too?", Lincoln asked them.
Mazzy replied, "Yeah, just about everyone in town knows."
Sam added, "Well, almost everyone."
"Yeah, I'm surprised that none of my sisters are even here.", Lincoln says. "Then again, it's not like my parent's would let them go anywhere. And all the better for it, at least."
The laughs they shared was soon to be brought down by the subject that brought Lincoln to this place...
"So, what are you gonna do about your sisters?", asked Sam.
"Oh my gosh, is everything gonna be talking about them?", complained Lincoln, getting angry. "Nothing! I left home, just to get away from them! The last thing I want is to keep hearing about them."
"Sorry, man.", said Mazzy remorsefully, "It's not like we're trying to tick you off."
Lincoln calmed down, saying, "It's alright. But now you got me wondering what is it that I'm going to do now."
It was then that Sam turned her head towards the stage, at the group of people and saw Carol giving her a wink...
"I think you're about to find out.", Sam then said.
"What do you mean by that?", asked Lincoln.
It was then that Sam saw Carol signal her to give her a little more time...
"Oh, just give it a few minutes.", answered Sam.
Lincoln sighed, "Whatever, I'm gonna go check out the rest of the place."
"Have fun.", said Mazzy.
With that, Lincoln continued to look around the club, starting to wonder if there was anything left for him to see. It was then that he heard what sounded like two excited girls squeals heading his direction. Suddenly, he was caught into a surprise hug by two more familiar faces. And these ones, he knows too well, as he's left an impression on them. Whitney and Becky, they seized the opportunity, showing the comfort Lincoln deserves right now...
"Didn't expect to see you at this place, Lincoln.", said Becky.
"Likewise.", Lincoln said. "Haven't seen you two in a while. Why the surprise hug?"
"Can't just two girls come to show you some love?", Whitney asked.
Lincoln then questioned,"...This definitely has nothing to do with me running away, right?"
"...Noooooooo...", said both girls, awkwardly.
Lincoln already know he was right. But he shrugged it off, wanting to change the subject to something else. Seeing Whitney mess with her hair a little gave that chance...
"Hair trouble?", he asked her.
"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah.", said Whitney. "I'm think of getting a haircut. My curls just aren't with me right now."
"You should totally put your hair in a bun.", suggested Becky. "It would look good on you and you'd have less trouble with your hair."
"Yeah. Maybe I'll try that.", Whitney decided.
They shared a good laugh, but then the girls went back to the subject at hand
"So what are you gonna do right now, Lincoln?", Becky asked him.
Whitney then said, "If you want, you can stay with any of us."
"That's sweet of you guys, but I don't know." Lincoln said. "Lots of people here probably willing to take me home with them."
"You have no idea.", Becky says, looking over at the stage.
"What are those guys talking about over there, anyway?", Lincoln then questioned.
"Oh, nothing to be concerned about.", Whitney lied.
"If you say so.", Lincoln accepted. "I'm gonna go check out the arcade games this place has got."
"Have fun, Lincoln.", Becky says to him, as he leaves.
And with that, Lincoln made himself scarce from the girls and went off to try out the arcade games the club has. He was lucky enough to have some money to spare so he could keep on playing, and the games helped keep him awake for a little while longer. After going through several games, Lincoln decided that he had enough and that he needed some time to blink. But as he turned around, Lincoln was met by more familiar faces. Jackie and Mandee had surprised Lincoln from behind and it made him jump and even scream a little.
"Come on! Is everyone gonna keep doing that?!", Lincoln said, being annoyed by all the surprises.
Mandee laughed a little, saying, "Sorry about that, Lincoln."
Then Jackie said, "I guess you've been getting surprises all night, huh?"
"Yeah.", Lincoln said. "It's even getting harder for me to stay awake. Sorry for screaming."
"It's all good.", said Mandee.
It was then that Lincoln gave a surprise of his own, hugging both Mandee and Jackie unexpectedly. As they hugged him back, they could that it sounded like he was beginning to sob a little...
"Lincoln? Are you...crying?", asked Mandee?"
Maybe a little.", Lincoln says, wiping away his tears.
"Aw. It's okay, Lincoln.", Jackie says. "You can let it all out if you want."
"It's just that...I've been trying to keep a good impression.", states Lincoln. "But, I'm not sure how long I can keep what I feel inside any longer."
Mandee then asks him, "What are you feeling, Lincoln?"
"...Pathetic.", Lincoln replied.
Jackie then said, "No, Lincoln. You don't have to feel pathetic. We're your friends, we're here for you."
"Yeah. You don't to worry about anything.", Mandee added on.
Having the comfort of the two made Lincoln feel a whole lot better, as he even felt them some kisses on his forehead. All this was making him feel happy again...
"In fact...", Mandee started...
It was then that the girls turned Lincoln around and he was then confronted by a huge group of people, lead by Carol...