It was a breezy, slightly chilly Summer Saturday and Lincoln's sisters and closest friends were all gathered in the Loud house backyard, where Lincoln had set up a makeshift stage out of wood.
"Can someone please tell me why we are out here again?" Lori asked.
"All I know, my eldest female sibling unit, is that that stage is very poorly put together," said Lisa. "I'm not surprised that our one male sibling unit constructed it using Cyanoacrylate adhesive - street name, glue."
Lori gave her a confused look, which went away as the lights turned on and smoke appeared on stage. And Lincoln, wearing a tux with an orange bowtie, appeared in a puff of smoke. He tried to make this seem cool...only to end up coughing due to the smoke. This awkward moment didn't last long though as he managed to go back into his "cool" magician pose, garnering a loud clap from the audience.
"Lincoln is either going to impress us or embarrass himself," Lori whispered to Luna. "If he flops, I won't know whether to laugh at him or feel sorry for him."
"I guess we'll just have to watch and find out, dude," said Luna.
Lincoln proceeded to act like he was grabbing for his hat, only to feel nothing but air and his own white hair.
"Hey! Where's my hat?!" he called out.
"You mean..." yelled out a feminine sounding voice from backstage. A smoke bomb went off, and out of it, was Lincoln's visiting from the city, Latina BFF, Ronnie Anne, wearing a tux with a purple bowtie, and was holding Lincoln's orange striped top hat.
"...this hat?!" the young girl asked.
The audience proceeded to cheer and applaud, as Ronnie Anne stopped and looked at the audience, which allowed her to take it all in, as her face lit up with a sense of happiness and pride.
"Yes! That is my hat! Thanks my lovely assistant, Ronnie Anne!"
"You're the most welcome, Lincoln the Magnificent!" she responded with confidence as she handed him his hat as the crowd cheered.
"Ok, maybe this show will actually not be a mess," Lori said to Luna as she and the others kept on cheering and clapping.
After doing that bit of hype, the show officially started. Now, since they were only eleven year olds with a makeshift stage and no money, they couldn't really do any of the crazy or dangerous tricks like you see on TV.
The first trick was a simple card trick, where Lincoln asked Ronnie Anne to pick a card, and Lincoln managed to figure out which card it was.
The next trick was one that Lincoln had practiced on Ronnie Anne before, in which he turned one ring into three and linked them together.
The third trick had Ronnie Anne tie Lincoln's hands together and watch in amazement as he slipped out of the binds. After that trick was done, the two kids went backstage to get the final trick ready.
"Well, said Ronnie Anne, "ready for the final trick?"
She gave him a light punch of the arm, as all Lincoln could do was rub where she punched him and give her a worrisome expression, like he was dreading this final act.
Ronnie Anne caught sight of his expression. "You ok Linc?" she asked.
"Um...well...I…" Lincoln said as sweat practically ran down his face.
But let's back it up a bit.
Last week when Ronnie Anne, her mother, and Bobby decided to visit their old home town of Royal Woods, Ronnie Anne and Lincoln thought it would be fun to perform a magic show for their friends and family, even if Ronnie Anne thought magic was kind of lame, she decided to still give it a shot herself. So they proceeded to practice their tricks on each other, and even asked Leni to make Lincoln a top hat and Ronnie Anne her own hat and tux.
"Man Linc!" exclaimed Ronnie Anne after laughing at seeing Lincoln struggling to free his hands from them being tied by who would be his assistant. "At first I thought magic was lame, but leave it to "Lame-O" himself to make it fun."
"I...ugh...told you so!" grunted the struggling boy. "But could you maybe untie me?"
Ronnie Anne said nothing, bur smiled, rolled her eyes, and walked up to Linciln to untie him with no real problem.
"You know", he said, rubbing where the rope made contact with his arm, "I could be the one who ties your hand up for you to escape".
"And let YOU tie me up Lame-O? Fat chance". she said, punching his arm lightly in the arm as usual.
"Oof", he responded, rubbing his arm,"Ok, ok, I guess I'll just have to keep on practicing. As Lynn would say, 'Practice makes perfect, Stinkcoln!'"
Ronnie Anne laughed at Lincoln's impression as she checked the magic tricks book.
"Hmm, ok, let's see what else we have here…"
"Ah-ha!" exclaimed Ronnie Anne as she showed him a trick entitled, "Saw the Assistant in Half Trick!" "We can do this one as the final trick!"
Lincoln gulped at the very title and asked, "Are-are you sure Ronnie Anne?"
Ronnie Anne rolled her eyes. "Come on, Lame-O. It's a trick. It's not like you're gonna saw me in half for real. Now stop being such a scaredy cat and let's look at the deets."
Lincoln sighed, knowing full well she wouldn't take no for an answer. "If you insist."
Which brings us to today…
"Lincoln!" Ronnie Anne yelled, as apparently, forward by a week later backstage, Lincoln had asked a question similar to what he had asked a week ago.
"We've been over this while practicing already! I'll be fine! You don't have to worry about accidentally sawing me!" she said with following that last remark with a scoff, as if she found the idea of Lincoln hurting her as stupid.
Lincoln sighed. "I know it seems stupid, Ronnie Anne. It's just that...I care about you".
And now those words, "I care about you", hit ronnie Anne in the chest like an arrow.
"He...really cares that much about me?" she asked in her head, blushing,which she hoped that "Lame-O" didn't see.
"You...you mean that?" she asked.
"Well of course I do! Why wouldn't I?"
I've cared about you ever since I saw you for who you really are..."
Ronnie Anne's blush intensified more and more as she anticipated what he was gonna say next in her head.
"...an awesome friend".
Those words made Ronnie Anne's heart flutter, her blush to the point that she can make someone think she was sick, those words were words that brought Ronnie Anne's guard down, and made her wanna pick up Lincoln and twirl him around…
...but this is what she did instead.
Lincoln felt her lifting him up into a bear hug.
"Wow," she said, letting go of her hug. "I...I'm flattered Lincoln. But Lincoln. You don't have to worry about me, I'm gonna be A-ok. I know for an absolute fact that you would never ever harm me. I trust you completely. But I need my first real BFF to do the same," she said in a calm and assuring voice.
Lincoln sighed heavily, trying to think of a retort, but knowing Ronnie Anne was not going to budge, he sighed again, "Ok….let's do it."
"That's my Lame-O". she said lightly punching him.
At this point, the audience was starting to grow a bit restless.
"Ugh!" Lori yelled, "What's taking them so long?"
"Yeah! And I need my beauty sleep soon!" Lola exclaimed.
But the restlessness died down as the curtains rose and Lincoln and Ronnie Anne were there for their final trick.
In which Ronnie Anne was in a box, with nothing but her head sticking out on one end, and her feet the other.
Lincoln gulped, as he took out a big saw, and with a reassuring look from Ronnie Anne, he bit his tongue, closed his eyes, and started sawing at a neutral pace.
Saw, saw, saw he went, not daring to look at Ronnie Anne, too afraid that if he screwed up, she'll have a look of sadness, anger, or worst, both.
As he heard the saw reach the end, he gulped one last time, and moved both sides away and…..
….heard the sound of applause.
Lincoln opened his eyes, and saw the audience cheering like mad. And then turned to look at Ronnie
Anne. But she wasn't sad, angry, or both, but happy. Not just happy, ecstatic! Of Lincoln's bravery and the successfulness of the trick.
Feeling a giant boost of confidence, Lincoln put two halves together, and Ronnie Anne practically hopped out and hugged Lincoln.
The two let go and looked deep into each other's eyes. And with both relieved that it worked, they turned to the audience and bowed, as the curtain drew on what was, not only a successful trick, but a successful test of trust.
The End
Written by
Drew Bell
Based on an idea by
Timothy "Raven" D.
With help from
Mr. TyeDye