Walking through the almost empty hallways, Wilbur Huggins, the principal of Royal Woods elementary school examined the amount of students still lingering at their lockers even after the bells had ringing. Their chuckling and muttering instantly stopped as soon as they realized the cold shiver slowly crawling up their spines at the intimidating gaze landing upon them. The atmostphere in the air slightly became more tense with the older man's presence watching over them even when they have their backs on him.

With a hard glare from the principal, they quickened their paces and got whatever they needs before heading to their classes for the morning. None dared to look at him as they were afraid at the risk of getting detention for delaying their arrival to their classes.

Needless to say, everyone in the school knew how strict the principal could be if any teacher or student even tried to oppose the rules that he had admonished. And because of that also, most students was afraid to confront him unless it was one of his favourite pupils that he deemed worthy of his attention for the sake of his school.

With a satisfied nod, the older man started to walk again after making sure all students had already went for their classes, and no longer wasting their times with trivial matters. He inspected the condition of the building in his walk, from the cracked paint on the walls, the rustic surfaces of the lockers lining the sides of the hall, and the lesson taking places in each classes he passed by.

A few students were talking at the back but a quick glare from him was enough to silenced them as they quickly looked back to the teacher speaking at the front. They might not realized this but he was doing this for their own sake. He was being strict for a good reason, without discipline these children won't have anything to restrict them from doing whatever they want. As a principal, he can't allow such act of intolerable behaviour being practised by his students, at least not at this school and not under his watch.

He continued walking down the hall and turned at a corner. A janitor was slowly mopping the wet floor with a yellow sign being put to warn people to be careful while passing the place. He looked at the janitor, nodded at his work and make sure the hallway was clean enough before making his way back to his office. He has a reputation to keep.

Although they're only a public school, he still took pride with how many talented students they had produced over the years while he was there. The accomplishment his past students had acquired either from academic or sports was something that he encouraged to most of his students that has the potential to move further.

He is going to help them to see their true potential even if he need to be more strict with the rules. Then they can bring their school's name higher among the rest of the schools in the entire state. They could even rival the kind of private school by defeating them in their own games.

He couldn't help but smiled at the thought. The praises he would receive for his accomplishment for producing so many intellectuals in his school. He would even be announced as the most productive principal in history if he managed to convince the education administration with his hardwork. That might actually happen if not for the incident...

Principal Huggins halted abruptly at a certain class, his smile slowly turning into a slight frown and his glare hardened at a tuft of white hair sitting at the back. He tugged at his collar, feeling slightly displeased at the sight filling his vision.

It was because of him that he not only lost one of the school important asset but also brought the school's reputation down with his act of deliquency. There must be at least one people like him in every school and he despised them for how much trouble they cause no matter where ever they are. The only reason why he was still in his school was because of his younger sister connection with the education administration.

The young prodigy somehow managed to prevent her brother from getting into much trouble than only the occasional suspension he punished him with for his fighting. People like him was like trash in the eyes of society as they didn't bring any good but spreading trouble where ever they go. An irritating pest that he held resentment for ruining his hardwork over the years with the incident. Student like him was the reason why people can't reach their true potential in society. An obstacles blocking their path from achieving their dreams as a functional human being.

Because of the incident caused by the white haired boy, he was called for a meeting about the way he was conducting the school. They were having doubts about his qualification and ability as a principal to keep the students safe. When the truth is they just wanted to throw him away because of his achievement. They were envious with how much control he had over the school and he took pride in that.

His way was the perfect way to keep the students in line and follow the rules. He always knew that with enough discipline, these children would finally be able to realize the rough world waiting for them after they left the school. They just can't see it yet since they were blinded with the happy thought in their youthful life. When they are old enough to realize what he was preparing them for, they would be thankful with the strict education he had provided them. They would no longer see him as only a principal but also as an inspiration to reach their dream that he had helped them to grasp.

Too bad, one of his talented student had also tranfered to a different school after the incident. He was badly injured after being beaten viciously by the Loud boy and was sent to the hospital for further treatment. It wasn't even the end of the day when his parents confronted him about the condition of their son and what actually happened to him. He tried being rational with them but they kept insisting him with threats to sue the school for not doing their job properly.

He wasn't an offensive kind of guy, but when his school's name was put in line, he need to put his foot down to show them who was in charge. They discussed about the uneventful incident taking place that day and the parents immedistely made their decision to move their only son to a different school. If that wasn't enough, they also put salt in the wound by mocking his way of teaching and brought it to the higher up which leading to the meeting.

Trevor Troy was an excellent student, not only in academic but also sports as he was their star player that always brought their team to victory. He respected the boy for his achievement and gave him some leniency with the rules. He might have done some mistakes from time to time, but he was still a potential student that have a bright future ahead of him. If only he had the chance to nurture such potential, then Trevor would definitely go places in his life and the school will have a new story to encourage the next generation. But that chance was completely destroyed because of him

After checking the white haired boy's record in the school archive, there is nothing much to say about Lincoln Loud except for his talented sisters that once a student in the elementary school. His grade is also quite decent for a student like him, though it was slightly lowering lately, but he was already expecting that. That was the consequences for all the suspension he had suffered and the missed class. It will only go downhill from here.

The corner of his lips curled up a little as he started walking again. When he saw a scrunched paper on the floor he picked it up and threw it into the trash bin located in the hallway.

It wouldn't take long before the white haired boy will get into trouble again. People like him will never change and with how his grade is getting lower, it would only be a matter of time before he would give up. And when that time arrived, even his sister can't do anything to change what will happen next. He is still the principal after all and in this school he made the rules. He will not tolerate bully as there is only one place for trash to go. Finally reaching his office, he opened the door and got into the room.

Now he just need to wait, and wait he will do.


Among the crowd of students heading to the cafeteria for recess, a dark skinned boy in a blue and yellow striped shirt and black pants carried a stack of paper while walking to the teacher's room. When he got there, he placed the papers down on his teacher's desk and began walking out when someone called his name.

"Clyde, can you please come here for a moment." He turned around to see Ms Johnson sitting at her desk. Although he was quite confused with the teacher request, he nodded his head in response.

"Sure Ms Johnson, how can I help you?" He asked while walking towards her.

"Tell me Clyde, what did you know about one of your classmate Lincoln Loud." She questioned, her right legs folded over the other as her fingers interlaced over her chin. The spectacled boy shivered at the mention of the white haired monster of Royal Woods, his eyes widened in shock as he swallowed a lump in his throat but still managed to keep his fear at bay. Sure they are classmate but he does his best to avoid from getting anywhere near the boy out of being cautious. He wasn't a fighter and the sight of blood could easily make him faint. For someone like him to be close with a deliquent didn't suit his nature at all.

"S-sorry Ms Johnson but we aren't close so I can't tell you much about him." Clyde anxiously replied, his voice cracked as a drop of sweat rolling down his forehead. Why did she wanted to know about him anyway. Almost every teacher knew about the incident that raised the boy's name as a hot topic for conversation. But most of all, why didn't she ask the boy herself.

"Oh, if that so, sorry if I bothered you Clyde, you may go now." She nodded her head. As much as he would rather leave, he was curious why the teacher take interest in the white haired student.

"Ms Johnson, if I may ask, why do you want to know about him. If he was in trouble again, I'm sure you would already confront him about it." Clyde inquired.

Ms Johnson leaned her back against her seat and let out a sigh, her eyes drifted to the stack of papers still taking space on her desk. "Say Clyde, between both of us what do you think about him, I want your honest opinion." She said, her right hand reaching for two sheets of paper on the top. She inspected both of the papers with the other, searching for the difference between them.

"Erm, I think he should stop fighting and started taking his education more seriously. Lately, I have been hearing rumors about him running around the school, some student even said that they saw he was being chased by a few people but that is as far as I can tell." He answered.

"I also know about that," She responded bitterly while averting her eyes to the side. "But what I meant is your honest opinion of him as a person." Ms Johnson explained as he was caught off guard by her question.

Clyde never thought about it. He always heard the boy's name in people conversation but other than that, he wasn't brave enough to even speak with the boy himself. He knew what the boy was capable of and almost everyone was afraid of being on his bad side. Who wouldn't, the boy has beaten everyone that ever tried to start a fight with him.

Clyde wasn't like that, he never liked fighting and would avoid it as best as he could possibly do. Even if it means he need to do what they wanted him to do. He never fight back when they threatened him for his money, or when they asked him to do their homeworks, or when they just bullied him for fun. Fighting them would not make any difference, they will only come back later for revenge and he wasn't strong enough to do anything.

Although he was considered as one of the principal's favorite students, he never brought the problem up to the older man. If he did so, he would be a snitch and everyone knew what fate awaited for people like him after that. They would make his life in elementary school even worse that he need to move to a different school just to avoid them.

His dads won't be happy with how he suddenly make that decision. He don't want to worry them, they will take everything seriously and he can't stand seeing his dads being sad because of him, even if they're only his adopted parents. They already did so much for him and he can't thank them enough for that.

At least Trevor was gone now. He don't need to worry about the boy bothering him anymore. Principal Huggins always thought that Trevor was a perfect student when actually he is nothing like what he seemed like. He was a bully through and through and because of that, Clyde suffered the most when he was around. He don't like him, all the teasing and homework he needed to do for him was something he hoped he would never experince again. And that all was thanks to the white haired boy...

If not because of him, he would definitely still suffer from Trevor's bullying.

"Clyde?" He was pulled out from his thought when the teacher called his name. He looked to Ms Johnson who now has a worried expression on her face. "Are you alright?" She asked with slight concern in her eyes.

"Sorry Ms Johnson, I don't think I can answer your question, I don't know anything about him." He replied. It was the truth, he actually don't know anything about the white haired boy than what he heard from other student.

"Well, he does seems like the kind of person that would be hard to approach." Ms Johnson sighed. "Here take a look at these." She held out both of the papers for him to take.

Clyde raised an eyebrow before examining the papers. They are the result for the math test his class had took the week prior. One belong to him while the other belong to Lincoln Loud, the only thing they have in common was the red marks on the top right of the papers. They both got the same result for their test, shocking him a little. He looked back at the teacher as she nodded in confirmation.

"The only difference between both of you was while you learnt in the class, he managed to study the topic alone." She porinted out. "You both got the highest score in the class."

"But why are you telling me all of this Ms Johnson, I don't understand." He inquired.

"I think there is more to him than what we only see, what do you think Clyde?" She asked but he kept quiet. Seeing that their conversation won't go any further that that, she decided to let him leave.

"Since you already know your result why don't you take the papers with you, when you see him you can also pass his result to him." She suggested.

Clyde nodded at her before sliding the papers into his bag. She watched him left through the door and turned back to her desk with a sigh. Now she needs to figure out how to handle the group of student chasing the white haired boy recently. There must be a way to stop them from keep going on. And since there is no other teacher taking action, she need to get it done herself.


Walking in the crowded hallways, Clyde contemplated if there is a truth in what his teacher stated earlier. Perhaps he was being irrational right now but is it worthy for him to take the risk. From what he heard, Lincoln is like a vicious beast hiding in a mortal body. Anyone who dared to fight him will only receive the same fate as the people before them.

It does sounds like they were exaggerating the rumor but most people actually saw his fight with their own eyes. And the rumor started to grow from there. Some even say that he ate one of his opponent for lunch which definitely sounds fake without a doubt. He is just a normal person like them, he is not a cannibal craving for the bloody flesh of the living such as him...

His eyes widened in alert when a hand suddenly clasped over his mouth from behind and pulled him into the toilet. He struggled to escape from their grasps but his effort alone wasn't enough to escape from both of their clutches. They then pushed him against the wall and cornered him from the exit. Clyde lifted his head and shook under their gazes.

"Long time no see Clyde, I almost thought you're avoiding us if I didn't know any better, but you wouldn't do that wouldn't you?" A male student grinned.

Clyde swallowed the lump in his throat as his gaze lowered to the floor in fear. He knew them, they were the rest of Trevor's lackeys that still left after he transfered to a different school.

"Now give it!" He demanded while raising his open palm. Sighing in defeat, Clyde shoved his right hand into his pocket and pulled out five dollars to give to them.

"See, I already told you, we don't need Trevor to deal with him, he is a coward, he will listen to us no matter what we say." His friend chuckled. Clyde gritted his teeth but made no attempt to counter their insult. They were right after all, he is in fact a coward.

"Can you guys at least be more quiet, can't you see I'm trying to rest here." A male voice startled them. One of the stall opened as a certain white haired boy stepped out, sending a cold shiver down their spines.


"Shit! It's him the white haired monster." One of them exclaimed. Lincoln's right eye twitched at the nickname. No wonder people were scared of him, even hearing his name would make them feels uneasy. Well it would either be that or they would call him a freak, there isn't much option to choose from.

Lincoln fixed them with his cold blue eyes as they instantly froze in fear at the intimidating tension rising in the air. It was as if there is a dark shadow looming over them, waiting to strike when they make their first move.

"I'm sure no one would hear you scream in here, hell I don't think they would even care enough if you scream for help." Lincoln looked at them with a small smile. His eyes slowly devouring on their souls like a reaper teasing his victim with the edge of his scythe.

"Dude, we don't want any trouble with you, just let us go." A male student nervously said.

"Yeah, we're just joking with our friend here." His friend added.

"Really now." Lincoln cracked his knuckles. "I'm going to count till three, and you better not be here by then...one-" He didn't even get to count till two before they both sped out from the door leaving the spectacled boy behind. Lincoln couldn't help but chuckled a little at the sight, he still got it in him. Perhaps that wasn't a good thing but he was thankful for it. At least he didn't need to use his fists on them.

"Hey, are you al-" he was cut off by his screaming.

"Please don't eat me!" The black haired boy cowered in fear, shocking him a little. Lincoln looked at the boy with his eyes wide open, his confusion slowly turned into an expression of hurts. People has been calling him a lot of name in his life, but what he just said earlier might as well be the most offensive thing he ever heard. What kind of messed up rumor they're spreading about him.

"Seriously, I'm not going to eat you, where did you get that idea anyway?" Lincoln pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

He tried to move forwards but winced slightly before limping on his left leg. "Dang it, it's still hurt." Lincoln hissed as he carefully leaned his back against the wall to keep his balance. Both stayed in silence as neither said anything only making it more awkward between them.

"So any reason why you're still in here?" Asked Lincoln.

The black haired boy shivered and looked at the door. Honestly, he also don't know why he didn't leave yet. He could have left the boy alone and get ready for his next class, but his body won't listen to him. Was he too scared to move?

"W-what happened to you?" Clyde unconsciously said after he noticed the boy's weird way of walking. But that should be least of his worry right now, seriously why is he still here?

"Oh this, I think I sprained my ankle while running away from the guys that kept chasing me lately, still don't know know their reason for that but they're not smart enough to search for me here I guess." Lincoln replied with a shrug. He tried moving his right leg but the pain was still there. Gritting his teeth, he took a deep breath and struggled while walking over to the exit.

"Wait, where are you going?" Clyde asked, finally moving from his spot.

"To the class of course, where else could I be going?" Lincoln remarked.

"In this condition? You can't even walk properly right now, how do you plan to move around until the school is over?" Clyde pointed out. Why did he care what the boy want to do? It's none of his business. He will only get beaten if he keep bothering him like this. Idiot, just leave him alone!

"It's not like I have any other choice." Lincoln opened the door and looked back towards him. "You should also get back to class, recess will end any moment now-" He almost fell but Clyde managed to grab him before he met the floor. The spectacled boy wrapped his arm under his shoulder and helped him to move forwards. Lincoln was confused with his sudden change of demeanor, just a few minutes ago he was like an animal in distress, but now he was getting close to him without any problem.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Lincoln asked with an eyebrow raised.

"We are going to the infirmary." Clyde shortly replied.

"Why?" It was quite for a moment before he answered.

"Because you need to."

They walked in the hallways as a few students stared at them in shock. If he need to guess why he would definitely say that it was because of him. Who would have thought that someone would actually be brave enough to approach the delinquent. This is a mistake, he shouldn't have done this, then why did he still do it? HE wanted to do this.

Upon reaching the infirmary, Clyde assisted him to sit on the bed before looking at the medicine cabinet. Nurse Patty is nowhere in the room but he was already used with the place to know where everything are. After getting what he needed and treating his sprained ankle, Clyde sat on the chair near the bed where the white haired boy rested.

"Thanks for helping me." Lincoln said, his right hand awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's not a big deal, If anything I should be the one thanking you for helping me earlier." Clyde replied with a sigh. "You really aren't like what I expected from you." He chuckled humorlessly. "Why did you help me anyway?" He asked in confusion.

"Well, it's easy, my sister told me to." Lincoln scratched his cheek.


Flashback

"No matter what happen, you need to always remember to help other people when you see them in trouble." Luan once said while he helped her made some banana flavored pies in the kitchen for her birthday gig.

"If they didn't run first when they see me of course." Lincoln chuckled only to receive a blank stare from his sister.

"Not with that attitude you won't." Luan sprayed some cream over her pie. "But seriously, it doesn't matter if it was a little or big problem, when you see the chance of helping someone just take it and do your best. There is a lot of way to be happy, but the most effective one was to make the people around you to be happy first even if you aren't close with them." Luan said in a wise gesture as Lincoln narrowed his eyes at his sister in suspicion.

"Who are you and what did you do to my sister?" He asked seriously. Luan looked at him with a fake frown.

"Ouch Linc! I'm offended if you think your great sister can't give a good advice from time to time." She faked the hurts in her voice.

It didn't take long before she threw a pie at him which he easily dodged since he already see it coming from her. What Luan didn't expect was Luna coming into the kitchen as the pie landed on her face instead. The rocker girl stopped in her tracks and instantly fixed her roommate with a withering glare.

"Um Linc, you still remember what I said about helping other people when you can? I think now would be a good time to practise that." Luan nervously chuckled as Luna approched her with a pie she took from his side of the table.

Lincoln smiled and put his finger into a pie before bringing it up to his mouth, tasting the flavour and was happy with the result. "I can help you but I don't want to." He smirked. A pie was smashed into her face afterwards as the filling splattered onto the wall. Luna looked at her roommate with a satisfied grin as Luan wiped the cream from her face.


Lincoln slid down from the bed and checked his footing before looking at his bandaged leg. Although the pain was still there, it did feel a little bit better now. "The next class is going to start soon, we better get going now." Lincoln said as he walked over to the door.

"Wait, I have something to give you." He halted when Clyde stopped him. The spectacled boy opened his bag, pulled out two sheet of papers, and held one of it to the white haired boy. "Ms Johnson asked me to pass this paper to you, it was the result for the math test we took last week." He explained.

"Seriously, that was sooner than I thought, I wonder what I gets." Lincoln looked at the paper and was surprised with the result. "Yes! I didn't fail." He pumped his fist to the ceiling.

"We got the same score." Clyde showed his paper to him. "How did you do it? You're absence during the lesson but you still managed to answer the question." He curiously asked.

Lincoln averted his gaze to the side as a small frown plastered on his face. "I needed to." Images of his mother crying flashed in his head. "I don't want the same thing to ever happen, not again." He replied absently.

Clyde looked at him and extended his right hand out. "Hey, you're Lincoln right, I still didn't properly introduce myself yet. My name's Clyde, Clyde Mcbride." He said with a small smile.

Lincoln looked at him and shook his hand with his own smile. "Lincoln Loud, nice to meet you Clyde." He responded.

"Nice to meet you too Lincoln."

They went to their next classes together and talked for awhile before their teacher arrived. Some students were shocked at the sight but decided to ignore it off since they were still afraid of Lincoln. It was the beginning of their friendship and they have a lot in common to share that they didn't know about. It would take some time but he could already feel the change slowly affecting him. For the first time since the incident, he felt better with himself.


After the school was over, Lincoln returned home with his sisters as they went for their usual activities before their parents got back for dinner. Lynn went upstairs to get her brother to practise with her only to stop in the hallway when she saw her sisters gathering infront her room.

"What are you all doing here?" She asked but was silenced by Luna who put her index finger over the jock's lips. The rocker then pointed at the door where Leni, Luan, Lola and Lana were eavesdropping the siblings in the room.

"Stay still Lincoln, I'm trying to wrap it now." Lucy's monotone voice spoke.

Lynn raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Ouch! Lucy can you please be more gentle." Lincoln hissed.

Lynn's eyes widened as her heart sank deeper in fear.

"Sorry, I'm trying my best." Lucy said.

"It's fine, you know you don't need to do this right." He softly inquired.

"I know, but I wanted to." She replied.

"What did I do to ever deserve a great sister like you." He teased.

"You're also a great brother too Lincoln." She responded.

Lola looked at her older twin with a skeptical look as Lana shrugged her shoulders.

"Shall we continue?" Lucy asked.

"Sure" Lincoln answered.

Leni scrunched her lips in thought as Luna and Luan discussed what they should do.

"Shit Lucy... It's too tight." Lincoln suddenly moaned, shocking all of them.

Lynn quickly shoved her sisters aside and slammed the door open. "What the hell are you two doing in here!?" She yelled. Her eyebrow raised to see Lucy wrapping a bandage around her brother's ankle. The rest of her sisters soon followed her into the room.

"Hey Lynn, what are you talking about?" Lincoln asked.

Lynn's eyes frantically darted everywhere around the room. "Uh, nothing?" She nervously answered.