It was a warm and breezy that Tuesday afternoon. School had just let out and the Loud siblings were all packed into Vanzilla, eagerly awaiting their return home.
Save for one, who chose to walk from school that day.
Lincoln walked up the sidewalk at a leisurely pace. As he got closer to the house, he spotted Vanzilla pulling into their driveway after it's trek to the different schools his sisters attended. He watched as his sisters scrambled to get out of Vanzilla and run into the house, smirking to himself as the last one entered.
"Great" he thought. "They're all inside."
He stopped in front of Mr Grouse's house, walked up to the door and knocked. His elderly neighbor opened the door after only a few moments.
"Good afternoon, Mr Grouse." he greeted warmly.
"Well if it isn't Lincoln Loud." Mr Grouse said "What brings you over to my door today?"
"I just need to talk to you about something." Lincoln said "About...a favor."
Mr Grouse narrowed his eyes at Lincoln. "A favor, huh." he repeated. "What kind of favor?
"I just need a minute to explain." Lincoln said "Can I come in?"
Mr Grouse frowned bit before stepping aside and letting Lincoln pass by him and enter his home. Lola's forehead scrunched a bit as she watched Lincoln from the window of their house.
"Lincoln's over at Mr Grouse's house today." Lola said. "I wonder what he's doing."
"He's probably going to ask to do chores around his house for extra cash." Luna said. "You know how Linc is about Takin' care of business."
"I dunno." Lola said. "Yesterday he was acting all secret about something at lunch. And today he didn't want to ride home with us. And now he's talking to Mr Grouse about who knows what? I think he's up to something."
"And just what do you believe our brother could possibly be doing while within Mr. Grouse's dwelling?" Lisa queried.
"No idea." Lola replied. "But I'm gonna find out! I'll be right back."
Lola left the house and walked next door. She rang the doorbell and put on her best 'sweet little angel' face. When Mr. Grouse answered, she spoke was a tone so sweet that it could give him cavities.
"Hi Mr. Grouse! I saw my big brother come over and I was just wondering if I could talk to him, pretty please?"
"Well if ya want to talk with him, you can find him upstairs. He's sorting through some old boxes in my attic, helping me figure out what to keep and what to toss out with the trash. Say, what's your opinion on me keeping my old jars of toenail clippings?"
Lola's face started to turn a mild shade of green. "Uhhh, no comment." She said. "Now I'll just be heading back home. I wouldn't want to bother Linky while he's working. Bye!"
The princess bolted back to the house and into the living room. She shuddered a little, grateful to be away from Mr. Grouse and his gross keepsakes. A part of her regretted going over because of that. But at least now she knew what Lincoln was up to, despite the fact she had expected something juicier than him just doing chores for some extra cash.
"So, what's our bro up to?" Luna asked.
"Hopefully he's convincing Mr. Grouse to get rid of an icky old collection of toenails!" Lola said, feeling her tummy churn a little at the very mention of it.
"Cool!" Lana said. "So if Mr. Grouse is getting rid of them, do you think he might give them to me?"
"NO! We are NOT having something that gross in our room!" Lola exclaimed with finality. "And don't you dare even think of trying to start one of your own!"
Lola stormed off into the kitchen, wishing to obtain some comfort food. And as she went to get some milk and cookies, Lana turned to Luna and gave her a knowing smile.
"I'm still gonna do it."
-Later that day-
Lincoln closed his math book, having finished the last of the assigned problems to solve that day for homework. He set his things back into his schoolbag and then took out the notebook pages he'd been storing inside of his comic book box. He had been tearing them out of the notebook as he wrote down more and more, keeping them in order with a paperclip. But now, as he looked over them again, he began to notice how unorganized it all was. It was time to fix that.
Using one of his notebooks that actually had notes from school in it as a decoy, Lincoln began to sort through all of the listed things he and the guys had put together. That way, should he suddenly find himself with an unexpected visitor, he could just close it and leave them none the wiser. After a little more than five minutes, he had set all of his plans into a single, detailed outline.
"There, much better." he said to himself as he folded the single paper and tucked it away into the hiding place. "Now, what to do with these older papers?"
After a moment's thought, he decided to stuff them into his pocket and make sure to leave them there when it was time to put his clothes into the dirty laundry. He'd start a load himself, making sure the papers would be ruined by the washing machine. The thought of shredding them and flushing them down the toilet came to mind, but he felt that this method would be better.
Lincoln checked the time. It wasn't quite time for dinner yet, and hopefully the same would be true for Ronnie Anne's family. He needed to talk to her next and sent her a text, asking her to have her laptop ready for a video call. Once she replied, he took out his laptop and started it up. He waited a few minutes before calling Ronnie Anne, the girl answering almost instantly.
"Hey Lame-O, what's up?" She asked.
"Not much. I just really needed to talk to you." he replied.
"Oh? Does someone miss me?" Ronnie Anne teased.
"Yup. I'm starting to turn into another Lori." Lincoln joked. "I literally can't go one day without talking to my Boo-Boo Bear." he added, mocking his eldest sister's voice.
"Same here Babe." Ronnie Anne said, mimicking her brother. "A day without you is a day without sunshine."
The two laughed for a moment before Lincoln cleared his throat, wanting to get back to the matter at hand.
"Anyway. I have something big planned and could really use some help. And I knew the best person to call on."
"Aw, thanks." Ronnie Anne said, twirling the tip of her ponytail with her finger.
"Could I talk to your grandma for a few minutes?"
Ronnie Anne frowned at his question before answering with an indifferent sounding 'Sure'.
She took her laptop into the kitchen where her grandmother was chopping onions to add into their next meal. The radio played a sad song, Rosa singing along with the lyrics.
Ay de mí, llorona
Llorona de azul celeste
Ay de mí, llorona, llorona
Llorona de azul celeste
Y aunque la vida me cuesta llorona
No dejare de quererte
"Hey grandma." Ronnie Anne said. "Sorry to interrupt, but Lincoln wants to talk to you about something."
Rosa turned her tearstained face to the computer. "Lincoln," she said happily. "Como estas mijito?"
"I'm just fine." he said. "But are you OK? It looks like you've been crying."
Rosa dabbed at her streaming eyes with her apron. "Oh it's nothing." she said. "Just from the onions and the music. Un momento, por favor."
She walked over to the sink and began splashing cold water on her face to rinse out her stinging eyes. Ronnie Anne set the laptop down on the counter and pulled up a chair to sit in, her mouth firmly set in a frown.
"Aww, what's wrong Ronnie Anne?" Asked Carl as he sauntered into the kitchen. "Having some trouble with your boyfriend?"
Carl puckered his lips and made wet kissing noises at them. "That's not funny." Ronnie Anne said. "And he's not my boyfriend!"
"Well that's good to hear." Carl said. "You could so so much better than someone who's head looks like el trasero de un pato."
Carl snickered loudly at the look on Lincoln's face, just before Ronnie Anne lightly slapped the back of his head.
"Shut up Carl!" Ronnie Anne said. "He didn't choose the color of his hair!"
"And for your information." Lincoln said pointing to his cowlick. "This is called a turkey tail. Not a duck's butt, a turkey tail."
Lincoln stretched out the words as a faint redness crept into Carl's face. "You...speak spanish?" he asked.
"Si." Lincoln said. "Cuando vivían aquí, en Royal Woods. Bobby ... oh, lo siento ... quiero decir Roberto, me mostró cómo."
Carl's jaw lowered a bit as his face turned redder. Rosa had an amused look on her face. While Ronnie Anne struggled to contain her laughter.
"Es por eso que no se debe burlar de la gente directamente a sus rostros." Rosa said to her grandson in a scolding manner.
"She's right you know." Lincoln agreed.
Carl gave a nervous laugh before saying "Tell Lori I said hi!" and running out of the room.
"So, what was it you needed, Lincoln?" Rosa asked.
-Meanwhile-
"I miss you more, Bobby Boo-Boo Bear!" Lori cooed.
"No, I miss you more, Babe!" Bobby returned over the screen of Lori's tablet.
"No, I miss you more!" Lori playfully returned.
"Not as much as I miss you!"
Lori giggled. "Well, if that's the case, then maybe you need to come and see me in person sometime soon!"
"Or you could come to see me instead." Bobby suggested. "You still need to get more familiar with the city and I found a new restaurant we can try!"
"Ooh, we haven't gone out for dinner together in literally forever!" Lori ecstatically exclaimed. "What kind of restaurant is it?"
"Well, it's..." Bobby began before trailing off. He leaned over a moment before looking back at Lori. "Hang on. I'm getting called into the other room. Lincoln needs to talk to me. Be right back."
Lori started blankly at her tablet's screen for a moment. "Lincoln?" She repeated, completely puzzled.
She got up from her bed and left her room. Looking down the hall at Lincoln's room she scowled and stormed her way over. Then she pounded her fist on the door.
"Lincoln!"
The door opened and Lincoln peeked out. His brow was furrowed and his mouth was set into a frown. He opened his door a little more and crossed his arms.
"I'm a little busy." He said. "What do you want?"
"Don't you be rude with me, mister." Lori warned.
"Says the one who's trying to knock down my door." Lincoln countered. "What's got your shorts in a bunch?"
"Are you playing some sort of prank on me?" His sister asked bluntly. "Because Bobby just left me waiting in the middle of our daily video chat to talk to you. You know we talk everyday at this time, so what do you think you're doing cutting into that?"
Lincoln rolled his eyes. "Actually, I had no idea. I just wanted to ask Bobby something important. But if it's more important to you to talk to him this very second, then fine. Just make sure that he gets back to me ASAP. I have to talk to him about it right away."
"And just what do you have that is so dang important?"
"I want to send a present to Ronnie Anne as a surprise and need ideas." Lincoln answered. "And who better to help than her big brother?"
"A present? Her birthday isn't coming up. What's the occasion?" Lori asked.
"Do I need one to do something nice for her?"
Lori's eyes widened a bit. Then a big smile came to her face and she looked at her brother with adoration in her eyes.
"Aww, that's so sweet of you!" She said, her attitude having gone a full 180 degrees. "I'll leave you to talk to him for a bit, but he literally has to finish talking to me afterwards. And you had better let me know what you're doing for Ronnie Anne. I can help you out if you need me to!"
She turned to leave and Lincoln let out a sigh of relief. His diversion had worked. For a moment he almost regretted having said that he was going to prepare a gift for Ronnie Anne. Lori could have very easily insisted on helping him with it and then he'd be stuck. Fortunately it worked out this time. But he made a mental note to put extra effort into his excuses for future occasions.
Lincoln shut his door and sat back down in front his computer. "Sorry for the interruption." he said to the members of the Casagrande family. "So what do you think? Will you help me out here?"
Rosa burst into laughter. "Of course, Lincoln!" she said. "I'd be happy to help!"
"Same here." Ronnie Anne said. "This sounds like it's gonna be a blast!"
"I'll help too." Bobby said. "But...I hope Lori won't be too mad at me after this."
"Don't worry." Lincoln said. "I'm betting she'll be more mad at me that anyone else."
Rosa walked away from the computer. "I better get started." she said giddily as she pulled a book off a shelf and flipped through the pages. "So much to do and so little time."
"Relax grandma." Ronnie Anne said. "You have until Saturday." She turned back to the screen "See you then, Lame-O." she said just before ending the call.
Lincoln smiled and grabbed his notebook off his dresser. He turned to the page he needed and crossed out one of the lines.
"One down." he thought. "Four days left."
-The next day-
School had just ended and the kids stormed out of the buidling like a herd of cattle. Lincoln and Zach walked side by side, chatting with each other.
"So you've got it all covered?" Lincoln asked.
"You bet." Zach said. "I talked to Giggles and she's all set. When should we swing by with your stuff?"
"Make it some time later today." Lincoln said. "I've already cleared it with Mr Grouse, he knows you're coming."
"Gotcha." Zach said "I'll see you later."
Zach walked off as Lincoln pulled off his backpack. He rummaged around for his notebook, pulled it out and opened it to a page.
"Let's see." he said, looking through his list. "Lori and Leni are going to the mall. Lynn has baseball practice. Luna's got band practice. Lucy's with the Morticians Club. Lisa's giving a lecture at the college. Lana and Luan will be at home with Mom and Dad. Lola's at her pageant studio..."
He thought for a moment. "That would be a good place to find..." he stopped. "But if she's there right now..."
He shut his notebook. "It's a risky move." he thought as he stuffed it back into his bag. "But I might as well get this one over with now."
Lincoln hopped onto his bike and put his helmet on, thinking over the route he'd need to take to get to the studio. Lola had gone early, as she often did, to get a head start before the other pageant girls arrived. It was a way for her to focus without any chance of being interrupted or distracted. That and to keep her routines more secret until it was her turn to perform. She often bragged about how it kept her a step ahead of her rivals, including one in particular who was never there at the studio before she was.
And that was what Lincoln was counting on. It was a narrow chance given the current time. But as long as he didn't have any delays on the way there, he was fairly sure that he could make it. Otherwise he'd have to either wait until the were all done for the day, or just try to sneak in and avoid Lola's detection.
Yeah...right. He'd have better luck convincing Lori to play Swords and Cyborgs. Lola was in her element, she wouldn't miss a thing going on around her once the other girls arrived. She'd definitely recognize him, even if he wore a disguise. She was crafty like that. And if she spotted him, she'd defintely come over to figure out what was going on.
He'd just have to make it there in time. It meant taking a few side streets along the way, making the distance a little longer. Luckily his gut instinct paid off as he didn't have to wait to cross at busy intersections. As he neared the studio he slowed to a stop and peeked at his watch, finding himself two minutes early. Now he just had to hope that the person he was looking for hadn't arrived early too.
Approximately ninety seconds later, a car pulled into the parking lot and a young girl was dropped off. Lincoln recognized her immediately and pedaled over while the car drove off, taking a parking space at a nail salon across the street. As he got closer, the girl took notice of him and started to walk a little faster. But he, in turn, just pedaled faster.
"Lindsay, wait up!" he called.
"Do I know you?" Lindsay coldly replied, stopping and turning to glare at him.
"Yeah. I'm Lola's big brother. Lincoln." He said, taking off his helmet. "Is it okay if I talk to you for a minute?"
"It can wait until after I've practiced my routine. You can sit and wait here until then."
"But it's kind of important!" Lincoln insisted. "I would really prefer we talked now, please."
"Don't care." Lindsay said, continuing on her way. "It can't be more important than preparing for the next pageant."
"What if I told you that what I want to talk about is something that Lola wouldn't like?" Lincoln asked.
Lindsay stopped in her tracks. She slowly turned to face him, a wide smile on her face and an intrigued look in her eyes.
"I'm listening."
Inside of Miss Liza's pageant training center, several preteen girls wearing sparkling dresses of many different colors scrambled around. Some were chatting with each other, others were practicing parts of their routines. Lola sat in front of a mirror, lighting spritzing herself with her favorite perfume. She sniffed the sweet scented mist and smiled at her reflection.
"You are one beautiful girl" Lola said.
"Hi Lola!" said a cheerful voice.
Lola looked at the mirror to see a brunette girl with tan skin in a turquoise dress behind her in the reflected surface.
"Roxanne!" Lola said happily. "So good to see you. Pull up a chair, there's plenty of mirror for the both of us."
Roxanne pulled a chair beside Lola and began doing her makeup. "Sorry I'm so late." Roxanne said. "My nail appointment ran a bit longer than I was expecting. But I think it was worth it, don't you?"
Roxanne showed Lola her freshly manicured and polished fingernails. They were polished so well that Lola could see her reflection it each one.
"Very nice." Lola said in an approving voice. "What do you think of mine?"
Lola showed Roxanne her nails, neatly trimmed and painted magenta. Roxanne smiled.
"This is top quality work" Roxanne said. "How much did you pay for this?"
"Not a dime." Lola said. "I just happen to have connections with one of the best manicurists in town who will always make time for me."
Roxanne giggled. "Is that code for 'My big brother does my nails for me'?" she asked.
Lola quickly held a finger to Roxanne's lips. "Shhh!" she said looking around nervously. "Not so loud. I can't have any of those harpies hearing any of my pageant secrets."
"Sorry." Roxanne said quietly. "Do you think he could do my nails too?"
Lola narrowed her eyes. "Maybe." she said. "I won't make any promises during pageant season. But when we have a sleepover, I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
"Yay!" Roxanne cheered happily clapped her hands.
"Excuse me." said a voice.
Roxanne and Lola turned to see a tanned girl in a purple dress and gold tiara. "Did I hear you mention something about your brother?"
Lola's eyes darted around nervously. "Uh, no" she said. "Why would we be talking about Lincoln? And...why do you ask?"
"Because I saw him outside." said the girl. "Talking to Lindsay Sweetwater."
Lola's eyes widened and her face went pale. "He's what?" she said quietly.
Lola ran over to the window and looked outside to see Lindsay casually chatting with Lincoln. They both appeared to be smiling and Lindsay handed him what appeared to be a business card. It took all of Lola's self control not to scream in utter fury.
"What does she think she's doing?" Lola said through tightly clenched teeth.
Lola ran to the door and stormed outside, moving as quickly as she could in her heels. The thought of going without them crossed her mind, but she wasn't interested in walking through the parking lot with no shoes on. Plus, the heels would prove useful if she needed to give a certain someone a swift kick to the tushy. So it was even more worth it.
Lincoln noticed his little sister approaching. As he expected, she was very displeased to see him associating with Lindsay. He would need to choose his words carefully as her temper could be as unstable as Lisa's expired chemicals. Especially so if she was in a bad mood. And there was no doubts in Lincoln's mind that catching him talking to her pageant rival would put Lola in a very bad mood.
"Oh, hey Lola." he greeted, trying his best to sound nonchalant. There was a touch of nervousness in his voice though. He'd be ashamed of himself if it were any other six year old who was intimidating him. But this was Lola. And she was currently wearing heels. One mispoken word and he'd be regretting it before he'd even know it was coming.
"Don't you 'Hey Lola' me, mister!" The feisty blonde hissed before thrusting her arm out and pointing at Lindsay. "Just what are you doing out here with her?!"
Lindsay frowned and turned up her nose, as though she had just noticed someone had neglected to pick up after their dog while out for a walk. She crossed her arms and managed to give the other girl a cocky grin. The sight of it only irritated Lola further, which in turn only egged Lindsay into wanting to push her buttons.
"Jealous?" She asked. "I imagine you would be. You have such a generous brother, offering to help me out of the blue like that. I never would have guessed a boy would be willing to do nails and hair and dry cleaning all at once! And for such a modest price too."
Lola's anger vanished and her jaw dropped. There was a moment of fear in her eyes and Lincoln could swear that he saw them getting just a tiny bit moist. Now he really did regret his decision. A heel print on his butt cheek would be far more preferable than making any of his sisters cry. He was a bit tempted to kick himself in the butt just because of how upset Lola was starting to look.
Of course, that didn't last for long. In the next few seconds her anger returned full force, like dying embers being doused with lighter fluid. She turned her attention to him, her fists clenched and her face set into a fierce scowl.
"How dare you! You'd go and help one of my enemies beat me in a pageant and you'd dare to do it for money?!"
"Hey..." Lincoln said, slowly raising up his hands with his palms facing outwards. "I'm not trying to sabotage you or anything. It's not like I'm training her like I do with you. I'm only doing cosmetic stuff. Hair and nails, that's it. I swear."
"But of course..." Lindsay went on, ignoring what the boy had said. "I'm trying to hire him for a job. You have to do what you boss says when you're working for someone else. And I'm sure he'd open up to sharing some of his other pageant secrets for a little extra cash. Wouldn't you?"
"No he wouldn't!" Lola said in outrage.
Lincoln's eyes flitted over from his sister to her rival. "Uh..." he began in a shaky voice. "How much extra cash?"
Lola gasped loudly as Lindsay grinned. "Oh no." She said. "No way. Not in this lifetime. So help me, he wouldn't work for you no matter how much you paid him."
"Well that's for him to decide now isn't it?" Lindsay asked. "What do you say, Lincoln?"
Lincoln looked over at Lola's slowly reddening face. Biting back the urge to laugh, he shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno.." he said. "Can I have some time to think about this?"
"Take all he time you need" Lindsay said as she walked past the two siblings. "But just know if you ever want to use that pageant know how of yours to earn some extra money, you can look me up."
Lindsay turned back to give a friendly wave to Lincoln, and a sly wink to Lola. Who began to grind her teeth angrily.
"How could you?" Lola asked. "How could you?!"
"How could I what?" Lincoln asked. "I was looking for extra money and Lindsay just offered me a job. What's the big deal?"
"If you needed money, you could've just come to me." Lola said.
Lincoln rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right." Lincoln said. "Like you'd actually give me money without a catch."
"I'd sooner give you money without a catch than lose my pageant coach to Lindsay Sweetwater!" Lola shrieked.
Lincoln stepped back at the force of Lola's voice. "Do you realize just how much of my pageant career you were part of?" she asked grabbing his collar"How many of my victories you had a hand in? How hard it is to find someone who can brush hair, paint nails, and steam clean a chiffon dress ALL AT THE SAME TIME?!. I can't afford to lose my pageant coach!"
"Wow, Lola." Lincoln said. "I didn't know you cared so much."
"Of course I care!" Lola shouted as she shook him back and forth "Those pageant girls are selfish, catty, backstabbing vultures. And they're always looking for a leg up on thier competition. You turned Lana into pageant material in less than a day. LANA! If any of them found out about you, then my pageant career is as good as over!"
Lincoln's eyes narrowed. "Oh.." he said. "So that's what you care so much about."
"Lola." Roxanne called out from the studio. "Miss Liza is here. It's time for practice."
Lola turned back to her brother, whio flinched at the angry look on her face. "Don't think we're done talking about this yet, mister!" she said hotly.
Lola stormed off towards the pageant studio, trying her best to pull her angry face back into her signature, pageant-winning smile. Lincoln shook his head at her as she left, and pulled out the business card Lindsay gave him earlier. He looked it over to find her phone number and e-mail address. He smiled as he walked back over to his bike.
"Got it." he thought to himself. "That's one down."
Lincoln added the new information to his phone's contacts list and then he hopped onto his bike's seat. He began to pedal his way down the street, making his way into a more than familiar neighborhood. Eventually the McBride residence came into view and he picked up a little speed to reach his destination sooner. As he got off of his bike and removed his helmet, he took notice of two other bikes that happened to be set on their kickstands by the garage. A sign that things were working out well with Clyde's end of the work.
Setting his bike beside the others, Lincoln went up to the front door and rang the bell. The door was opened shortly after by Harold McBride who greeted Lincoln warmly as he always did.
"Lincoln, how nice to see you. Please come on in. Clyde has been expecting you."
He led the boy into the house and into the spacious living room where Clyde was entertaining some company. Polly Pain, Tabby and Haiku were all seated by the coffee table and enjoying a snack tray of apple slices and grapes. Clyde waved at his best friend as he came into the room, the three girls all turning to greet him as well.
"Good to see ya, Lincoln!" Tabby said in a chipper tone.
"Hello Lincoln." Haiku said in her usual monotone.
"Heya Linc! How ya been?" Polly asked, extending her fist to give him a playful punch on the arm.
"I'm good, thanks. It's nice to see all of you again too." Lincoln replied, rubbing the sore spot on his arm. "So, I take it that Clyde told you about what we're up to?"
"Yup!" Polly said. "And you can count us in!"
Tabby nodded. "That's right, we'll be happy to help out!"
"Happy is a strong word. But regardless, I will also participate." Haiku replied.
"Awesome! And you gave Clyde your contact info?" Lincoln asked.
"They sure did!" Clyde said, holding up his phone. "We're all set. And I managed to take care of my list too. Did it first thing after school."
Lincoln gave his best buddy a thumbs up. "Perfect! We should be able to take care of the rest tomorrow at school. Then we just need to wait for Saturday. Thanks Clyde. Sorry I can't stay, but I need to get back home soon so I should be going."
Clyde began to look a little disappointed. "Aw, man. Well, at least take some fresh fruit with you. Hang on, I'll get a baggie for you to put them in."
The bespectacled boy got up and left the room. While Lincoln waited, Tabby and Polly also got up from there seats, Polly grabbing a handful of grapes before she dashed towards the door.
"I actually have to get going too. I got practice in a little while. Thanks for the snacks Clyde!" Polly called out before leaving.
"I'll be off as well." Tabby said, slinging her backpack over one shoulder. "Got a test to study for. But we need to meet up sometime and jam again, alright Lincoln?"
"Sure. Sounds good to me." Lincoln said, waving to Tabby as she went out the door.
The door closed and Lincoln was left alone with Haiku in the living room. The goth girl let out a sigh and reached out for an apple slice.
"Finally." she breathed, taking a small bite.
"Something wrong?" Lincoln asked.
"It's nothing. I just thought that when Clyde invited me over, that I was the only girl who would be here." Haiku flatly stated.
At first, Lincoln wasn't entirely sure what the problem was. But as the gears in his head turned, it suddenly occurred to him just what was going on.
"Ohhh." he said with realization. "I had no idea you felt that way. Does Clyde know?"
"Of course not." The girl replied, her eyes falling onto her half eaten apple slice. "I'm aware of his feelings for another woman. I know I cannot compete with someone who he holds in such a high regard."
"Well...maybe you should tell him anyway. Who knows? Maybe things will turn out differently than you expect."
"I'll take your advice into consideration."
Translation: she wasn't going to do it anyway. Lincoln frowned a little and turned to face Clyde as he reentered the room with a ziploc bag of apples and grapes for him to take home. An idea popped into his head and he smiled at the thought.
"Here you go, buddy." Clyde said, holding out the fruit for Lincoln. "I'll see you later. Maybe online?"
"Sure, after dinner we can play something." Lincoln said, accepting the snacks. "See you later, Haiku." He said to the girl, giving her a wave. "And don't worry about talking to Clyde about what's going on. Trust me when I say he's a great listener."
Lincoln left, practically grinning ear to ear as he got to the door. Haiku sat wide eyed, the faintest touch of pink on her cheeks as she figured out what the white haired boy had just done. But he was already gone before she could say anything, leaving her to turn her attention to Clyde, who was sitting beside her.
"Did you need to talk to me about something Haiku?" he asked politely.
Back outside, Lincoln got back onto his bike and put on his helmet. He kicked up the kickstand and began to ride towards Franklin Avenue. Things were going pretty smoothly. He would make sure to look over his plans again when he got home to be sure, but he was certain that he was practically ready to put everything into action come Saturday. Just a couple more things to take care of and that would be that.
Yup. Everything was going according to plan.
Suddenly, somebody stepped in front of him. Lincoln hit the brakes, skidding to a stop just in front of him. A very large, burly boy with a mullet had cut him off. It was Hawk, the bully from Hazeltucky. And he seemed a little too pleased to see Lincoln at the moment.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the little weasel who tricked us last Halloween."
"What a coincidence." came another voice, just before Lincoln found himself being picked up by Hawk's partner in bullying, Hank. "I was just thinkin' I'd like to give someone an atomic wedgie."
Lincoln swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. "Oh, hey guys." he weakly said as he began to break out in a cold sweat. "I don't suppose that either of you would be interested in just talking? Would you?"
Please review
And dont forget to send some love to my co-writer Twisteddarkness225