As Lincoln awoke the next morning, he felt fresh and ready to face the day ahead of him. He stood up and moved his quilt in the process. He stretched his arms and legs. He got up from his bed and walked over to the window. He put his hands on the blinds, pushing them to the side to get a clear view of the outside.
As he looked outside, the sun's light shined down on his room. He smiled knowing today would be an exciting day. The reason for this is that it was the last day of training for him before his match against Lynn tomorrow.
With his elbow on the windowsill and his hand on his chin, he viewed his street from afar, taking in the surroundings.
With a bright smile on his face, he sighed. "It looks gorgeous outside, doesn't it? With the white clouds floating around in the sky and the cold breeze blowing onto my warm skin. It sure is awesome today, isn't it? What could go wrong?" he asked himself.
After closing the blinds, he looked down at his alarm clock to check the time.
"2.30 pm!" he exclaimed. "Was I asleep for that long?"
Knowing that pondering about the amount of sleep he got was a waste of time he walked over to his door and opened it to check the hallway. He saw that no one was in the hallway and the bathroom door was wide open. Satisfied that he wouldn't have to wait an eternity to use the bathroom, he rushed into the bathroom as fast as he could. To avoid disturbing anyone, he tip-toed to his destination quietly.
But before he could go to the bathroom, he unknowingly stood on a switch which caused a water cannon to slowly rise from the floor in front of him. Wondering what the sudden sound was Lincoln looked to the ground to see he stood on a strange device. He looked up to see he was face to face with a water cannon. But with his improved reflexes, he was able to dodge the upcoming barrage and was able to swiftly duck below the cannon just in time before it could fire the water out.
Even though he ducked under the water cannon, the cannon continued to fire. As the water impact approached his door, he cringed at the thought of walking on the damp floor while returning to his room. But to his surprise, he didn't hear a splash, instead, he heard a thud. Confused he turned around to see Lynn lying next to his door.
Concerned he rushed over to his sister. "Lynn, are you alright?"
Lynn slowly reopened her eyes and leaned back. "I was waiting all morning to get you with that prank, but as I let my guard down for one second, I got dosed with water. I wasn't expecting you to dodge that contraption, Lincoln. Well done."
Lynn smiled, proud of her brother, but had trouble getting off the floor. Lynn offered her hand to Lincoln to help her get back up on her feet. Lincoln seeing that she is in noticeable pain grabs her hand to help her up.
"So… are you still up for the event tomorrow? I don't want you to compete if you're not in the right condition to compete." He asked concerned about his sister's health.
Lynn grinned at Lincoln. "Of course, I'm in the right condition to compete bro. I've suffered much worse injuries in rugby training. Tis but a scratch, Lincoln. "She repeated, "Tis but a scratch."
Lincoln smiled admiring his sister's toughness. "Well alright, then Lynn. Stay safe, I don't want you to be hurt like this again."
They both shook hands and headed their separate ways. Lincoln walked to the bathroom while Lynn walked downstairs. But as he turned around, he saw a mischievous grin on his sister's face. Every time he sees that face, chaos is guaranteed.
Lincoln put his hand on his chest and spoke. "Lincoln, calm down, nothing terrible will happen. "I'm going to have a pleasant warm shower without any disturbances, right?" he pondered, paranoid about his surroundings.
He entered the bathroom and closed and locked the door and brushed his teeth. After brushing his teeth, he picked up one of the towels off the door handle and placed it on the radiator. He walked to the shower and turned the temperature up.
For the next couple of minutes, he had a pleasant and enjoyable shower. However, suddenly the pleasant warmth of the warm water vanished as the temperature dropped to ground zero. He yelped from the sudden contact with the cold water and immediately turned off the tap. He crossed his arms in an attempt to keep himself warm.
"What kind of monster would change the water temperature like that? "He thought.
But before he finished his thoughts, he heard someone laughing outside. When he first heard laughter, he couldn't tell who it was. But as he listened closely, he knew who the culprit was.
"Lynn! What was that for? "He shouted.
But as he shouted, it only caused more harm than good because the laughter got louder.
"Oh! Goddam Lincoln that was so funny! "Especially when you yelped from the sudden cold shock." She laughed afterwards.
Lincoln expressed his apprehension to himself by saying: "Okay Lynn, you can take your joke out of the prank. You'll prepare me for the cold tomorrow." He said sarcastically. "But can you let me shower in peace now?" I got a whole day to practice my skills." He pleaded.
Lynn frowned feeling sorry for the prank she pulled on her. "Alright Lincoln, I will allow you to shower in peace. But after the shower, I want to talk to you about something very important", she said as she stood outside the bathroom.
Lincoln let out a sigh of relief knowing he won't be bullied by Lynn." Thank you for letting me shower in peace I appreciate it, and yes after my shower I will talk to you about this important thing you want to talk about, but can you leave now, please? I've got a shower to resume."
"Alright Lincoln, I will allow you to continue with your shower," she said and walked away from the locked bathroom door.
As Lynn walked away Lincoln continued his warm shower without interruption. His smile spread across his face as he stood in the shower, knowing he had a lot on his plate today. But after taking a warm shower, he turned off the tap and exited the shower. He picked up his warm towel and washed himself. After being clean he put a towel around himself and quickly returned to his room as fast as he could.
He entered his room safe and sound and looked through his wardrobe. He grabbed himself a pair of boxes, a T-shirt, jeans, and a fresh pair of socks.
With all his clothes in front of him, he put them on one by one. He started by putting his boxes on first. He wore his iconic orange shirt followed by his stylish blue jeans shortly afterwards, but finally, he wore some white socks. With his clothes on he was ready to tackle the day ahead.
He walked to his front door and began his journey downstairs. But as he walked down the stairs, he couldn't help but worry about his sister Loris' safety. With her sudden disappearance. It has made him wonder if she has been found yet or if she is still out there in the royal woods.
Making it to the bottom of the stairs he looked around trying to find his sister. But Lynn was sitting on the couch watching a sports commercial with a smile on her face.
"This serious talk can't be that awful if she's smiling like that." He said.
He walked over to the couch sitting next to his sister. Lynn noticed Lincoln's present pause on the TV and turned to him.
"You want to know why I called you to hear Lincoln, don't you?" Lynn said.
Lincoln nodded, "Yes, of course, and as I saw you smiling over that commercial, the discussions were going to have can't be that bad… right?"
Lynn's smile quickly faded from a happy-go-lucky smile to a sober one. "You see Lincoln. Have you heard about Loris' sudden disappearance?"
Lincoln nodded. "Of course, Lynn, I was the third one to find out before Luna and Leni of course. Why?"
"Leni, Luna, and Lisa have embarked on a journey looking for Lori. Apparently, she disappeared because of Lisa's stupid invention. It was something to do with portals, I think. But I don't know and don't care why she disappeared. I only care about her safety.
"Lincoln's eyes widened. " Wait! I thought Luna and Leni began their search for Lori in Royal Woods yesterday. What happened to that?"
Lynn sighed. The rain was too much for them to cope with. They rushed to Lisa's room and asked her if she could change the weather. This was so that Lori could be found more easily. But because Lisa got banned from using the weather tool because of that snow incident they had to wait until today to begin their search.
Lincoln pondered for a moment trying to remember what Lynn was talking about. "The snow incident? Are you talking about that time when she became absolutely nuts and made it snow constantly for a week?
Lynn nodded, "Yep, that's the one."
For the next couple of minutes, they both sat silently with their thoughts. Wondering where their older sister is. However, as time passes, they become bored with watching television.
Lynn had nothing else to do and said" So Lincoln why did you get up so late today? It's unusual for you to wake up this late in the afternoon. Like bro, it is 3. p.m. in the afternoon and you only woke up thirty minutes ago. You are usually an early bird. Is something bothering you?
Lincoln raised an eyebrow and spoke. "No nothing is bothering me. Minus the Lori stuff, there is nothing getting on my nerves. I think the reason I woke up so late today was that I was so exhausted from my day out with Ronnie Anne yesterday That it made me sleep well.
Lynn grinned knowing what she will say next is going to embarrass her brother" Are you sure the reason why you slept in was because you were tired? Or was it because you dreamed of Ronnie Anne?" she said with a smirk.
Lincoln blushed and quickly fired back" No of course not! I'm not ready for that kind of relationship Lynn and you know it!" he said getting defensive.
Lynn grins as Lincoln denied his feelings for Ronnie Anne. She knew that if Ronnie Anne asked Lincoln out, he would accept it on the spot. Despite Lincoln's protest. She knew that Lincoln was in denial about his feelings about Ronnie Anne.
As they both continued to relax on the couch Lynn said" C'mon Lincoln, just admit it! You can't resist Ronnie Anne's charm, can't you?"
Lincoln rolls his eyes and says, "I'm not ready for a relationship now. You really think that an 11-year-old should have a relationship with a girl that lives so far away from us."
"C'mon Lincoln, it's not like we live in the 19th century. We have technology such as phones and computers to interact with people. Taking a look at Loris and Bobby's relationship, they are just fine talking over the phone.
Lincoln responded with" That's true, but those two had many years to talk to each other in person before Bobby moved to Great Royal Lakes. I've known Ronnie Anne for a couple of months.
Lynn grinned at Lincoln's excuses. "Classic Lincoln makeing excuses. You know what? Just like how Mom helped Lori admit to Bobby that she liked him. I'm trying to convince you to confess to Ronnie Anne that you like her."
Lincoln stared back at her dumbfounded" What are you saying?"
Lynn mischievously grinned "I'm saying that when you win you have to ask Ronnie Anne out on a date".
Lincoln began to feel nerves flow through his veins. But he smiled remembering one key detail. "Are you sure I have to ask Ronnie Anne out on a date? There's nothing in that contract I signed that says I do?" he said with sheer confidence.
Lynn laughed at Lincoln as she couldn't wait to unravel the information she had. "You really think so? That's not what the contract says."
Lincoln stared at her blankly, but before he could counter back Lynn suddenly picked the contract from her pocket and read the bottom part of the contract.
"Well Lincoln it says, that if Lincoln Loud wins the bet, he asks out Ronnie Anne." She stops reading. "You checked and marked it as true."
She hands Lincoln the paper. He snatches it and skims through the paper, hoping Lynn pulled some sick prank on him. But as he reaches the bottom of the page his face turns pale
"But... I don't remember signing that piece of paper!" he said perplexed by the situation he had been put in.
Lynn grinned. "Of course, you don't remember signing it. That's why I got Lola to cover your eyes when signing the paper. It was all a ploy. We both heard that Ronnie Anne was in town, so I told Lola to act bratty so you could sign the extra paper. That's why she told you to step outside and take a break. It all makes sense if you think about it. She wanted you to leave so you could talk to her."
Lincoln stared at Lynn like he saw a ghost. "Wow Lynn, I didn't think you could plan out ahead like that" he said almost out of breath. "But damn, I guess Lola was right! There would be no impact on the competition itself due to the extra part of the contract".
"Exactly, that was the intention. A couple of days ago Lola complained about kings and queens. I jokingly said that Lincoln and Ronnie Anne would make a great pair of kings and queens. She agreed and because I told her about her being in town, she wanted to set you both up and I agreed to it.
Lincoln looked at his sister wondering what to say. But as he thought about Lynn's explanation he looked at the floor with a frown." I appreciate you and Lola trying to help. But with my own relationships, I don't want you to get involved." He said coldly.
Lynn looked at her brother surprised, feeling the quilt wash over her immediately" ok I'm sorry. I will remove it from the paper immediately."
But before she could Lincoln snatched the paper back from her" it's okay Lynn I will make my mind up about later" he said as he stood up" But now I just want to be alone."
He walked away from the couch and made his way upstairs leaving Lynn behind as she watched him leave upset with forcing him to make a move in his love life.