Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Loud House or other franchises you might recognize.

2 weeks had passed since their trip to Dairyland. Now, woken by the birdsong and July sun peeking through the blinds, Linka was getting ready for the arts camp that Luna and Luan had pressured her and Lincoln from going to. Linka was, as she was about a lot of things, apprehensive of going to camp. But this time, she was not without reason. A well regulated environment ruled by two parents of judgment fair, and children who inherited that very judgment from those aforementioned parents, that environment would be a safe one indeed. But a summer camp filled with children from all over, of backgrounds and demeanors of all kinds, one was never sure of whether or not there will be bullies. Linka, though unwilling to open up much about her past, had divulged one secret to her brother: that she had been bullied in the orphanage.

"Linka, Lincoln. You need to come downstairs." Hearing their Rita's call, the twins grabbed their sunscreen and bug spray and stuffed into their bags before descending the steps of uneasiness into the kitchen. The two ate their cereal, got a kiss on the forehead each from Mrs. Loud before being sent to the van, where Mr. Loud sat waiting.

They arrived. Mr. Loud signed them in, hugged both of them, and left. The twins walked a little ways until they saw a group of teenagers, each one holding a sign for a group. Lincoln saw his sign, and walked towards it. A thin boy with a face like Benny's, but extra freckled, owned the hand holding it.

"Lincoln Loud? I'm Joey. I think your sister Leni is in my grade? Anyways, I'm the counselor for the 4th and 5th grade writing sections. If you could come with me, that would be great."

"You'll do fine, Linka." Lincoln hugged his sister before being led away by the Benny lookalike. Linka knew what Benny looked like thanks to Lola showing her pictures of all the sibling's crushes. She recognized now that same Benny and Sam leading similar groups of elementary schoolers, albeit for theater and music respectively.

"You Linka?" Linka turned around to see standing in front of her a purple shirted blonde with side-swept hair.

"Yep."

"Cool, I'm Carol. I'm your counselor for visual arts this session. Why don't you come over here and join the rest of the group while we get ready for the welcome speech." As she led Linka to the bleachers, a short, fat, balding old man had taken to the podium and was preparing for his speech.

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. I am Humphrey, the camp director. Welcome to the Southeast Michigan Regional Arts Camp. For new-comers, and first-timers, this is the way the camp works. Every morning, you spend time with your group perfecting the skills in your art trade. In the afternoon, everyone comes here, and you choose someone in another trade to work with, and you create a piece that incorporates multiple elements of art. For example, theatre and literature can combine to create a script for a play. Literature and painting combine to create a comic strip. Theatre and painting combine for a set piece, etc., etc. On Friday, there will be an art show. The winner for each grade level shall be given a medal and a 20$ gift card. That's all I have for you, you are dismissed."

Linka and the other visual arts children followed Carol out of the bleachers and into a tent set up in the middle of the ground, under which a myriad of art tools and paints sat, ready to be used by them. Linka was ecstatic on the inside, even if outside she maintained her cautious attitude.

"Lets start with introductions. I'm Carol Pingrey, from Royal Woods."

Through these introductions, she learnt of the 16 other kids in her same 4th and 5th grade visual arts program. There was Liam Hunter from Huntington Oaks, Rachel Johnson from Million Creek, Abby Welch also from Million Creek, Madeline Brooks from Hazeltucky, Michael Chen from Huntington Oaks, Anushka Rao from Belton, Trevor Thompson from Hazeltucky, Jennifer Stanton from Hazeltucky, Chandler Daniels from Royal Woods, Tyler Jacobs from Royal Woods, Maggie Lark from Belton, July Buttersberg from Hazeltucky, Diana Hold from Huntington Oaks, Zoe Smith from Belton, Zachary McGoodren from Huntington Oaks, Annabelle Tyson from Detroit, and Kate Cunningham from Hazeltucky.

She was a bit wary of all of them, but especially of Chandler. She knew it was wrong to judge, but this kid reeked… of sewage. He also reeked of a kid who didn't know or care of the difference between good and bad, between right and wrong, between nice and mean. This was who Linka was worried about when it came to bullies.

But Linka's fears proved to be unfounded that day. They were practicing painting landscapes, and Chandler had passed many a pleasant compliment on Linka's farmyard background. Linka had made a friend in Maggie Lark. Maggie was a girl around her age with curly brown hair and thick round glasses. She was interested in art, obviously, but more importantly she was also a fan of the same books as Linka.

Linka's fears were unfounded until Tuesday, that is. During lunch, Linka sat with her twin at the same picnic table, when she was approached by Chandler and Andrew.

"Why's a cool girl like you sitting next to Loser Larry? Come sit with us, instead." Linka, shy by nature, cowered at confrontation. She tried to make herself smaller, until she could disappear.

"She's my twin sister, Chandler. And my name is Lincoln."

"Oh, I feel sorry for you, being related to Larry. Having to live in the same house where you can see that ugly mug every day. And his twin, too. You know, the more I look at you two, the more I can see the resemblance. You've got the same ugly hair, the same ugly skin, the same ugly face, the same -"

"Stop!" The yell came not from Lincoln, but Linka, who was standing now, furious. Something in her had snapped. With tears streaming from her eyes, she stood in front of Chandler then. "I'm going to work with Lincoln in the competition. And we're going to beat you, too."

"I doubt it. Charlie's great with a mike. But let's make this interesting. If we beat you, you and Larry become my slaves for a day."

"And if we beat you, then you'll have to promise not to bully us for an entire school year." Lincoln was on his feet now as well.

"Only if I can make you my slaves for 2 weeks during the school year if I win."

"Deal." The 2 boys shook on the deal. It was official.

"Lincoln!" A teary-faced Linka hissed at her older brother. She sounded absolutely livid. "What did you do that for?"

"I guess I got carried away in the moment. Don't worry, Linka. With my comic book skills and your drawing ability, we're sure to win."

Linka was unsure, but decided that there was nothing that could be done. Lincoln went to Joey and entered the two in the competition.

That afternoon, Linka and Lincoln outlined and storyboarded several comic strips. They decided to go in a bunch of different styles ranging from short superhero stories to Sunday funnies (They called Luan from clown camp that evening to poll her for her favorite jokes).

Linka could have sworn that Carol had heard about their competition. Why else would she teach drawing book covers on Wednesday and cartoon characters on Thursday? Why else would they cover how to draw a good background for a set piece on Friday? Every afternoon, Lincoln wrote a script which Linka drew the strip for.

Lincoln, though he took it very seriously beforehand, became obsessed with it after one specific incident that week Thursday. He was sitting, once again, with his sister at lunch, though this time some of his new friends and Maggie Lark were there as well. Chandler walked up to them in an effort to intimidate.

"Hey, freaks. I hope you two are looking forwards to scrubbing the sewage smell from my clothes for 2 weeks."

"No chance. We're winning." Linka's calm and matter-of-fact delivery angered Chandler to no end.

"Oh yeah? What makes you think that you're gonna win. You and loser Larry are horrible. You especially. I've seen your drawings and paintings. You draw worse than a gorilla's behind. You think your special, but really your just a filthy little cripple orphan who nobody wanted so they had to -" Chandler's voice had been rising during his little tirade, and as he said the last part he was practically screaming. He was dragged away by a camp counselor, probably Benny, who was telling him off for being extremely mean. He later would be forced to apologize, which didn't really mean much.

Meanwhile, Linka was curled up in a ball silently crying. As Lincoln comforted his sister, he burned the image of her crying into his memory. As the going got tough in the next 2 weeks, it was this memory that gave him the fuel to continue. It was this memory that gave him passion and energy whenever he thought of it. It was this memory that would help the twins in their upcoming uphill battle.

This rivalry between Chandler and the twins swept through the camp. Linka and Lincoln found allies in the Hazeltukans, who as rivals of Royal Woods would stand to gain from a revolution, no matter how small, in Royal Woods. Allies also came in the form of the Huntingtonian and Beltonite lower class, who saw in Linka and Lincoln themselves, underdogs oppressed for the longest time by the aristocratic regimes similar to that of Chandler and co. Allies to Chandler came in the form of the upper class Huntingtonians and Beltonites, who had regimes similar to that of Royal Woods and feared that a revolution would only be the start of many. Being an arts camp, however, the 'losers' who founded themselves represented by the "Loudists" far outnumbered the 'popular' kids who found themselves represented by the "popularists", and so when Martin McKeys polled the entire camp, Lincoln and Linka found themselves with support from nearly 70% of the camp, with 60% from the 5th grade poll.

Joey was very obviously favoring in support of Lincoln and Linka, and both Sam and Benny had a vested interest in supporting their girlfriend or crush's siblings, and so all three were on the side of Lincoln and Linka. With Carol, it was hard to tell. She had some sort of rivalry with Lori (who had taken the news of Linka's counselor rather well), she knew, but she also really seemed to like Linka. At least, she took Linka's side when Chandler was making a fuss in the mornings.

Every night that week, Linka had such terrible nightmares, but Friday evening's was the worst. Her shouting woke Lincoln near immediately, and he instantly rushed to his sister's side and shook her awake.

"You need to tell us about your nightmares. That's the only way we can help you get past them."

"Ok. I guess I'll tell you now. I'll tell you about my time in the orphanage."

Lincoln could see that even opening up this much was tough for her. He leaned in and hugged her, waiting for her to begin.

What Linka's past will hold is a mystery for which one must wait an ungodly period of time

Or: What happened to Linka in the past? Tune in sometime in the next week.

I think I use both of the above writing styles in combination in my story, but I am curious as to which one you prefer.

And yes, I am quite aware that no school is so polarized in terms of popularity, especially not 5th grade. Take it as social commentary on the misrepresentation of school in media, or as a funny joke, or as whatever you want, or be like me and not care.

Also, I am pretty sure the logistics of such a camp as the one in this story the way it is described has never existed, but it was imagined only to serve the plot. I am not as happy with this chapter as I am the others, but I couldn't think of a way to change it and get the same effect. Next one should be much better.