In this author's note, I'm going to answer questions that I can see appearing in the near future.
Q: Does magic exist, as well as witches and warlocks?
A: The short answer is yes. Only very few people possess magical abilities, though.
Q: What is the difference between a warlock and a wizard?
A: Traditionally, warlocks are more combat-inclined than ordinary wizards.
Q: What are "auras"?
A: An aura is how a person's magical abilities manifest, usually as visible light in colors that vary between people. Harriet's aura was red, Lucy's is green, Lincoln's is orange/gold, and Morag's will be violet (Morag won't be introduced until MUCH later).
Q: Following up on the answer to the previous question, will the story tie into The Loud House Movie?
A: Yes, but there will be several more chapters before it does.
That's all I can think of right now, so on with the story!
Chapter 13
Lincoln woke up later that evening laying in his hammock-bed with the blanket tucked around him. His hair was slightly damp, and not a single trace of the gum remained.
"I wondered when you would wake up." Lincoln turned to see Lucy sitting in his recliner. "You're probably confused as to what happened, so allow me to fill in the details. You passed out after knocking Luna off of her feet with a blast of magical energy. The others took advantage of your unconsciousness and washed the gum from your hair with a special shampoo that Lisa made."
"Wait, I did magic? But how?" Lincoln asked.
"That's where Great Grandma Harriet's parting gift to you comes in. You see, Lincoln, lying dormant inside every human being is a reserve of magic. She used the last of hers to unlock yours. She has given me the solemn task of training you in the magical arts until you have gained sufficient proficiency to forge your own path. Now come; Father has almost finished preparing dinner." With that, Lincoln followed Lucy down the stairs. During dinner, Lincoln recounted how most of his day went. Needless to say, his sisters were filled with righteous fury aimed at both the principal and Lester. They all calmed down when he told them about the party he was invited to.
"Jordan Rosato? Her mom and I go to the same book club! Jesse and I go way back," Rita said happily. "You should consider going, for the experience if nothing else."
"I can fix your swimming trunks so that they're not white," Leni offered. The sisters continued to list reasons that he should go until Lincoln relented.
...
The rest of the week passed like normal. Lester, as usual, only got a slap on the wrist from the principal. When the night of Girl Jordan's pool party came, Lincoln found himself in the family van with Rita and Lynn Jr. parked outside the impressive Rosato abode, which was more akin to a mansion than a house.
"Remind me why you're here, Lynn?" Lincoln asked. "And why are you dressed like that?"
"Your friend hired me and Margo to be her security," answered Lynn, who was dressed like a member of the Secret Service complete with sunglasses. "Just you wait, bro, I'll finally have a valid excuse for pounding Lester!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Junior," Rita warned before ringing the doorbell. The door was answered by a much taller version of Jordan with her hair hanging loose. Jesse gave a wide grin upon seeing Rita.
"Hey, girlfriend!" she said, and the two women embraced. "And this dashing young man must be Lincoln. Jordan was really hoping you'd come!" Lincoln blushed and followed Jesse through the house to the back yard, where the main party was being held. Aside from the blue lights on the inside of the pool, the only light came from the countless tiki torches, and the entirety of Lincoln's class milled about in their swimsuits.
"Lincoln! You actually came!" Jordan cried, tackling him in a surprise hug. "Did you bring a swimsuit?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"Great! The changing rooms are right over there," Jordan said and pointed to the far side of the pool. On his way around it, Lincoln tripped when Lester stuck out his foot.
"Oops! Didn't see you there, White-Out," Lester mocked until he saw Jordan's irritated scowl.
"Strike one," she hissed.
Lincoln exited the changing room a few minutes later, and Leni had kept her promise to dye his trunks. Lincoln had requested that they be dyed black, but she had added her own flair by having a bold, fiery-orange stripe run across the middle of each leg. Lincoln was bare-chested, and the boys were used to seeing him like that every day in the locker room at school, but the girls weren't. Since she couldn't talk, Mollie offered her compliments by sticking two fingers in her mouth and wolf-whistling.
"Lookin' good, Linc!" Ronnie Anne praised. Other girls marveled at his well-developed musculature, quickly flustering him. Haiku remained silent, but both of her cheeks turned pink, which was the hardest anyone had ever seen her blush. It seemed that everyone knew about her crush on Lincoln except Lincoln himself. Lester figured this out, and it gave him an idea.
"Think fast!" he yelled and shoved Lincoln into Haiku so that they both toppled over. Haiku landed flat on her back in the grass, while Lincoln landed on top of her. Their noses were touching, and Lincoln turned beet-red before scrambling to his feet.
"Wow, aren't you the bold one?" Cristina cackled catching onto her boyfriend's prank. Jordan, however, wasn't quite as amused.
"Strike two," she snarled. Haiku still lay on the ground, red-faced and breathing heavily, so Jordan knelt down and patted her cheek to bring her out of the trance that resulted from being in such intimate contact with her crush.
...
The party went smoothly for a while. Mollie challenged Lincoln to a cannonball contest and would've won if it weren't for Lincoln's bigger body mass. While the partygoers took a break from swimming and games to eat the provided pizza and sandwiches, the small group of the kids' parents came outside for some fresh air and so that Jesse could cut Jordan's cake.
"Oh, look, Rita's brought her little runt," said a snarky voice that Rita had been actively avoiding talking to: her sister-in-law and Lester's mother, Leanna Tetherby-Loud. Leanna was all for Lester's mistreatment of Lincoln, calling it "a healthy dose of roughhousing." Lincoln was to her what Quasimodo was to Frollo, an abomination to be looked down on and despised. Unbeknownst to her husband or anyone else, she and her father Lord Tobias Tetherby regularly attended secret Neo-Nazi meetings.
"He sure don't look like a runt to me. Just look at the meat on his bones!" said Georgia "Meemaw" Hunnicut, Liam's grandmother and the owner ofthe family farm.
"Oh, please, that boy is pathetic! All it takes is a little teasing to drive him to tears!" Leanna scoffed.
"He's only like that because he's been bullied his whole life by you and your brat," Rita spat angrily. "You insult my sone one more time and I'll have Luan prank you to oblivion!" Leanna began to sweat, as she knew all too well what Luan was capable of. The party, and the adults' conversation, continued without a hitch until the children's fearful shouting drew the adults' attention to the pool.
Liam had jumped off the diving board, only to get tangled in the oversized net the Rosato family used to clean leaves out of the pool. Now he was going to drown unless he got untangled.
Without hesitation, Lincoln ran over to where Jesse was cutting the cake, snatched the knife out of her hand, and dove into the pool with the knife clenched in his teeth. He swam to Liam, who had lost consciousness, and cut him loose in less than thirty seconds. That done, he put the knife back between his teeth, wrapped an arm around Liam, and dragged him to the shallow end. Once out of the water, Liam coughed and spluttered before his eyes fluttered open.
He looked at Lincoln and said, "You saved my life. I can't thank you enough, pardner." The other kids surrounded them and praised Lincoln's heroism for the whole world to hear.
"No! No! No!" Lester shouted angrily. "It was Lincoln who was supposed to drown, not Liam!" He clapped his hands over his mouth once he realized what he blurted, and everyone gasped. Jordan shared a look with her mother and nodded.
"SECURITY!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Lynn ran onto the scene with her friend Margo, a skinny, freckled girl with dirty-blond hair in a ponytail. "Detain him until the proper authorities arrive," Jordan commanded, pointing at Lester. Both girls frowned behind their sunglasses, and Margo pulled out a length of rope. Lester yelped and tried to run, only for Lynn to tackle him and Margo to hog-tie him.
The police came and arrested Lester for attempted murder after allowing him to get dressed. Leanna protested this and got herself arrested for assaulting an officer. Jesse, Georgia, and Rita gladly pressed charges.
Leanna looks like your stereotypical Karen, if any of you were wondering.