For the first time that day, Lynn found herself actually working alongside her sisters as they all prepared the house for Lincoln's return. Working together as a unit, they cleaned up all their gear from Phase 2 and prepped Lincoln's bedroom; their mom had said that the boy would be spending most of his time there for the next few days. In no time at all, the house was back to normal.
The girls all waited tensely in the living room until the sound of Vanzilla pulling up made them all squeal again. They rushed the front door and watched with excitment as the knob turned.
The first thing to come into view was Lynn Sr. Like the girls, their father bore the signs of exhastion, no doubt having likely been under even more stress due to his son's illness. Taking notice of the ten smiling girls, he beckoned them aside as Rita slowly came up the porch, gently guiding Lincoln by the hand.
The boy looked just as tired and worn out as his parents. Still in his pajamas from last night, the boy took slow, careful steps alongside his mother, his legs looking both stiff and noodle-like at the same time and his head drooping towards the ground. As he drew closer, the girls noticed that he still carried a less potent, but lingering stench of vomit with him, but showed no reaction to it. As he carefully stepped over the threshold and took notice of their feet, the boy slowly raised his head to glance up to at his sisters. His eyes were baggy, dark, and foggy.
"H-hey guys." His voice was dry and hoarse, a clear indicator that he'd still been throwing up. Nevertheless, they all responded with joy.
"Hi Linky!"
"So happy you're back!"
"We were all so worried."
"Girls, please," Rita shielded her son. "He needs to sleep." Kissing her son on the head, she turned to her husband. "Lynn, tell them everything while I go get Linky settled." Wrapping an arm around her son, Rita slowly lead him up the stairs while Lynn Sr herded the girls back into the living room.
"Okay, so… ," he began once they all sat down. "First thing's first, Lincoln's going to be alright." The girls started to cheer, but he shushed them.
"We weren't actually in for very long, it was the wait that held us up. The doctors did a quick examination and it turns out that Linc's got Salmonellosis."
"Salmon-whaty-what?" Leni asked.
"It's a infection, Leni. Generated from a bacteria called Salmonella ." Lisa explained. "The bateria lives in the intestines of animals, but can be passed on to human through contact with fecal material."
"So you're saying someone pooped in Lincoln's food?" Lana cried, making several of her siblings gag.
"No, Lola," Lynn Sr said. "It's also transmitted through raw or undercooked food, primarily meats. Most likely, one of Linc's corn dogs or burgers wasn't properly cooked before being served to him."
"So it wasn't Lynn's funnel cake?" Luan asked, earning her several stink eyes from the older sisters.
"Probably not," their father answered. "While it's possible to get it from products with eggs, meat is more often the more common carrier. Not to mention, Lincoln was already feeling the effects before he ate Lynn's cake." Her father groaned and rubbed his face. "Look girls, I was tired last night and wasn't thinking properly when I said that. I'm sorry for accusing you, Jr. Think you can forgive your old man?"
' Eh, you didn't try to stop me from winning Jumbo,' the jock thought. "Yeah, Pops. We're cool." "Didn't I say she was innocent?" Lola said. Her sisters all rolled their eyes.
"Back to Lincoln," Lynn Sr went on. "The good news is that salmonellosis typically clears up on it's own after about a week or at worst, 10 days. All we have to do until then is make sure he stays hydrated. Like i said, he's going to be fine."
The girls all breathed sighs of relief and smiled, knowing that their brother was going to be alright.
Their father sighed. "This is where you all come in, girls. I hate to say this, but… your mother and I have to go to work."
"Really?" Lori asked.
"The fair brought in a flood of tourists and Lynn's Table's overflowing with reservations. Plus, all that fried junk they're selling's really been doing numbers on everyone's teeth."
"Such lack of control is to be expected from tourists," Lisa stated.
"I hate to leave Lincoln, but well, bills don't pay themselves," Lynn rubbed his face again, letting out a really tired groan. "Girls, I'm sorry, but for the time being, I need you all to be on round-the-clock Lincoln duty. Check up on him, help him get to the bathroom ("Ew!" "Quiet, Lola!"), and make sure he drinks plenty of water. Think you can do that?"
All the girls saluted their father.
"Don't worry, Pops," Luna said. "Linc's in good hands."
"Good," their tired father smiled. "Oh, and don't worry. It's not contagious. You won't have to worry about him passing it on."
"Oh, he'll pass it on alright," Luan chuckled, "Right on down the porcelain express. Haha!" Everyone groaned.
'Wait, Dad," Leni suddenly spoke up, "I totes don't want to sound selfish, but… what if one of us has to go while Linky's going?"
"Yeah," Lola agreed, "no offense, but I'm not using any bathroom he's been in after last night." She pinched her nose and fanned the air.
"Then just go use the bathroom in the garage," their father replied.
All the girls looked confused.
"The one Lana set up when Lori moved into the garage last year?" He explained. "It's still there. Your mom and I mainly use it for storage space."
"Ohhhhhhh," they all said at once.
"All this time, we could have been using it instead of nearly breaking our bladders waiting for the one upstairs?!" Lola cried.
"There you go, baby," Rita tucked her son into bed after helping him change into a fresh set of pajamas. "Don't worry about the smell. I'll give you a bath when I get home."
"Mom, I can-hummph-bathe myself," her son weakly protested. "And I'm-hummph-not a baby."
"You're my baby, sweetie," Rita smiled. Leaning down, she planted a long, gentle kiss on her son's clammy forehead and placed Bun-Bun in his arms. "Stay in bed and try to sleep. I'll be back at seven. Don't worry, your sisters will take good care of you."
"I know, Mom," Lincoln snuggled his beloved stuffed rabbit before looking back up at her with a look of remorse. "I'm sorry for all this."
"Baby, don't be so hard on yourself. You had no idea that food would be tainted." His mom rubbed his forehead and chuckled. "I will admit, you do need to cut back on the amount you eat. I was shocked when the doctors gave us that list."
"I guess I need to find a new favorite at the fair," the boy sighed with a smile.
"Yep." Giving him one more quick kiss, Rita slipped out the door. "Bye, Linky."
"Remember to make sure he stays hydrated," Lynn instructed as they started to leave. "Lori, I'm placing you in charge and if I find out you were goofing off on your phone-"
"Dad, it's literally going to be fine," Lori assured him.
"We'll treat Linc as it he was one of our own," Luna added.
"Isn't he already?" Leni was confused. The girls laughed as they shoved their father out the door.
"Come on, Lynn. I want to stop by Spacebucks on the way," their mother yawned, obviously not looking forward to her busy work shift. With a weary smile, she waved to her daughters. "Bye girls!"
"Bye Mom!"
"Bye Mommy!"
"See you later!"
"Take good care of your brother!" She and her husband got into Vanzilla and left, disappearing into the horizon.
"Okay girls," Lori said, "I know we're all super excited to see Linky again, but we have to remember: he's still super tired and sick."
"Yucky?" Lily asked in Leni's arms.
"Yes Lily, he's feeling very yucky," Lori responded, "so we all need to pitch in and help him out while also dialing it back. That means no pranks (she looked to Luan), no experimenting (Lisa), no tea parties (Lola), and no dutch ovens (Lynn) on him, got it?" She ended with a sterner tone, emphasising her point.
"Yeesh sis, what do you think we are, animals?" Luan asked.
"Well, considering what we've been dealing with all day…" Lola glanced at Lynn.
"And no fights!" Lori cut in. "Twins, you'll just have to put up with each other for the time being." "As long I don't find another lizard or snake in my tea pot," the princess eyed her twin, "I can live with that." "Well, as long as I don't find stickers and glitter all over Shelly's shell," Lana glared back, "me too."
"But I'm don't want to be on Lincoln potty duty," Lola added.
"Dude, it's not like we're changing his diapers," Luna said. "It's just helping him walk 20 feet down the hall."
"But if it's that much of a concern for you, Lola, then the older sisters and I will take care of that," Lori cast a disproving glare at the princess. "Still, find some way to help out. And if you even think of backing out," she bared down on the girl and said in a threatening tone, "just remember that we can get Mom and Dad to take you out of pageants."
Lola's eyes went wide, as did some of the other sisters'. This was the first time Lori had actually directly threatened them. Seeing their responses, Lori lightened up and yawned.
"Look girls, I'm just really tired after everything today," she sighed. "I'd really like it if we could all just take it easy and focus on helping Linky."
"No prob, sis," Luna promised.
"Totes," Leni added.
"Can do," Luan announced.
"Acceptable," Lisa nodded.
Seeing her siblings cooperate, Lori smiled. "Good… good."
Lincoln was laying in bed, cuddling Bun-Bun when he heard a knock on his door.
"It's just us, your siblings, Lincoln," Lisa's lispy voice called from the other side.
"Can we come in?" Leni's voice came through too.
"Inky!" There was a tiny tapping on the door, bringing a smile to the boy's face.
"Come in,"
The door opened and all ten sisters entered, quickly filling up the tiny room. They all crowded around their brother's bed, huge smiles of relief on their faces. The boy smiled and slowly started to sit up.
"No no, don't sit up, Linky!" Lori put a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him back into bed. "Save your energy. We're just popping in for a moment."
"We really missed you, lil bro," Luna said.
"We were all like SO worried," Leni cried.
"And scared," Luan added.
"Terrified," Lucy said.
"Can't imagine the hospital was very fun either," Lynn brought up.
"Ugh, their service stinks," Lola scoffed.
"Way too clean for my liking," Lana agreed.
"But it's good to see you in a much more stabilized condition," Lisa concluded.
"Winky!" Lily cried.
Usually, the boy disliked it when his sister doted on him. However, given his current state and the flat-out unpleasant nature of his day so far, it was more than welcoming. He smiled back at them all.
"Thanks guys," he said softly. "Yeah, the hospital wasn't fun. Everything was cold and clammy and I kept having to vomit and go the whole time ("Ew!" "Lola!")." He chuckled. "That'll teach me to gorge on fried fair food."
Lynn's eyes widened a bit at this. Lori spoke up. "Yeah, probably for the best, bro."
"Sorry if I got you all stressed out," he added. "Everything okay around here while I was gone?"
"Oh, everything's fine, Linky," Lori immediately assured him. "But enough about us. Is there anything we can do to help you? Just say it and we'll do it."
As hasty as her response had seemed, Lincoln was too tired to care. "Eh, not right now," he replied.
"Well, just in case you need us later, I have something for you." Lisa handed him a small device that essentially was a control panel with a big red button. "In loose terms, this is a buzzer. If you need something, merely press it and one of us shall respond."
The girls all nodded in agreement.
"I also brought you a vomit bucket," Lana placed a large metal bucket aside Lincoln's bed. "In case, you don't feel like getting up. Don't worry about the smell, buzz me and I'll come clean it out."
"And here's some water," Lori placed a large cup of cold water on his bedside table. "It's important that you stay hydrated, Linky, so be sure to drink it and buzz us when you need more."
Lincoln felt a slight blush come to his cheeks. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. "Thanks guys, but I'm gonna just try and rest for a while. I'll buzz you if I need anything."
"Good plan," Stepping forward, Lori placed a kiss on his forehead. "Sleep tight, little bro." "Winky." Lori leaned Lily in close and the baby planted a sloppy kiss on him as well. "Luv wu." One by one, the sisters all came up and kissed him before leaving the room.
"Love you, Linky."
"Love yah, lil bro."
"You're the apple of my eye."
"Best award I ever got."
"You fill my soul with warmth."
"Coolest cat in town."
"You're still a duke to this princess."
"You truly are the brightest spot in our universe."
With ten kiss marks now covering his head, the boy smiled, turned over, and drifted off to sleep as his door was quietly shut behind him.
"Shouldn't Linky know how the Jumbo plan went down?" Leni asked once they were all together in the hall.
"He's got enough on his plate right now," Lori replied. "We'll tell him later. What matters now is him getting-" Yet another yawn interrupted her again. She silenced it and fell into a slouch, her baggy eyes half-open. "better."
Leni placed her hands on her sister's shoulders. "Aw, Lori! You've been on your feet all day. I think it's time you got some sleep too."
"But what about Linky?" Lori weakly protested.
"Lori, there's nine of us and we all have buzzers. We got him taken care of." Luna assured her. "Trust us."
"Ugh," Lori groaned. Glancing around at her sisters, she sighed. "Alright. But make sure to keep the volume down. Mom and Dad are-" Another yawn, "counting on us."
"Come on," Leni took her by the hand and began leading her back to her room. "Let's get you in bed."
"Hey, Lynn?" Lori paused in the doorway to look back at her jock sister. She gave her a weak smile. "Thanks for coming through. Sorry about everything."
' Oh, are you? ' "No prob, Lores," Lynn replied.
As expected, Lucy settled in her coffin with her poetry book after she and Lynn returned to their room. Lynn simply went and lay on her bed, thinking things over.
Her plan was working. She had her sisters all thinking she was over Jumbo and she was free to enact her next money-making scheme.
Still, there were two things on her mind.
The first was that Lincoln was home now. This shockingly hadn't been something she'd prepared for on her bike ride home; in all the chaos of thinking of a plan to outsmart her sisters, Lynn had forgotten about Lincoln's eventual return from the hospital.
It's not that she wasn't happy to see him. On the contrary, she was relieved that not only was his illness mild and nothing life-threatening, but that her funnel cake was (as she'd always known) not at fault.
Plus, him being here served a practical purpose as well. The sisters would likely be so focused on tending to him that they hopefully wouldn't pay her future actions any mind. On top of already thinking she was completely over Jumbo, this just further pulled the curten down over their eyes.
However, despite all this, she couldn't help, but wonder if him being here could possibly compromise any part of her plan. She didn't know why, but ever since he'd arrived home, Lynn had gotten this feeling, this tempting urge, that maybe she SHOULD just give up her Jumbo plot; that she should take this window of opprotunity to really act on her lie to her sisters and actually move on. It was as if Lincoln had somehow become her Jiminy Cricket.
Maybe she should…?
' No. ' Lynn tried to shake the idea from her head. NO WAY was she about to quit on her plan! Winners didn't quit and she was most certainly a winner! Just like Trish and Mary had said in her dream, she owed it to Jumbo for all the accomplishments she'd made as a result of his gym training. If it hadn't been for him, she never would have become the athlete she'd was today. The least she could do was win him. After all, it was just a stupid ring toss; a silly game for five-year-olds. She couldn't let such a juvenile thing get the better of her.
Besides, as had just been proven, she'd had nothing to do with Lincoln's illness. That had purely been as a result of his own actions (or rather, the fair's actions of hiring a sick vendor), her hands were clean. The sisters couldn't hold that against her anymore.
Which brought her to her second issue.
If her sisters knew now that she'd never been the source of Lincoln's illness… would they have any reason to continue to try and stop her?
Lynn thought back to Luan's trick: her talk of beatings and screetching and "cookies." Lynn truthfully had no idea what she had been talking about. Were they implying that Lynn had somehow abused them in the past due to Jumbo?
That's not how it had gone down, that's not how Lynn remembered it.
Laying her head back, Lynn closed her eyes and thought back to that fateful day.
"Jumbo?" the sound of the TV turning on perked the toddler's ears. "Jumbo!"
Rushing on two chubby, pudgy legs, the two-year-old dashed into the living room, excited and eager to once again see her beloved icon and friend on the screen.
She was only a few steps away from the couch when Leni, Lori, and baby Lincoln suddenly appeared and landed on the couch, right on her favorite sitting spot. Lori greedily took the remote and flipped it to another channel.
"Go away, Lynn!" She rudely scoffed. "It's time for Poppyseed Avenue."
Lynn froze. Looking back and forth from the couch to the TV, she frowned and pointed at the screen. "Bu… Jumbo!" She whined.
"Who cares about Jumbo?" Leni laughed. "It's our turn to watch."
Baby Lincoln giggled and clapped as the girls both threw nasty smiles down at Lynn Jr. The toddler's eyes filled with tears as she turned and waddled away, her sisters laughing behind her.
The same scenario happened the next day with Luna and then the day after that with Luan. Everytime Lynn had tried to watch Jumbo, one of her sisters, always with their baby brother, had snatched up her spot and taunted her to go away.
Why had they bullied her, Lynn still didn't know, but the more she thought back on those memories, the more she began to think the girls were just using Lincoln's illness as an excuse to keep up the act. As if denying Lynn her time with Jumbo hadn't been enough as a toddler, now they had to do it again to her as a pre-teen.
Why? Again, Lynn had no idea, but the more the images of their smug, nasty grins and sounds of their taunting laughs played in her head, the more she realized she didn't care. For whatever reason, her sisters had decided to be jerks back then and now they were doing it again, only this time they had roped in the support of their younger sisters. Probably made up the whole schlock about beatings and cookies just to get them on their side.
Lynn gritted her teeth. Just as she'd declared on her bike ride to the fair, she was not about to let her sisters one up her again.
As for her brother, Lynn decided to leave him out of it. After all, he'd only been a baby back then and probably had had no idea what his sisters were using him for. She wasn't even entirely sure if he was even a part of this whole thing.
At some point, Lynn must have fallen asleep because she was woken by the sound of her buzzer going off. Lucy popped out of her coffin, hers active as well, and they both headed for their door. Several other sisters were also peeking out, but Luna was already on her way to Lincoln's room.
"Don't worry, guys," she said. "I got him."
With the knowledge that their brother was in good hands, the girls all slid back into their rooms. Lucy took a moment to stetch, having apparently stayed in her coffin all this time. "Sigh. I think I've done enough poetry for now. I'm going to head down to the basement and work on my Edwin shrine."
"Have fun," Lynn watched her sister leave the room and went back to lying on her bed. Moments laster, she heard the sound of Luna and Lincoln's footsteps as they exited his room.
"Just try and hold it in, bro-bro," Luna was saying in a soothing tone, "We're almost there. I'll get Lana to clean the bucket."
Lincoln retched and moaned in reply. Lynn sighed with pity.
' He's gonna' be like this all week, isn't he? ' Her thoughts were followed by the distant sound of her brother violently puking into the toilet. As if she wasn't already pitying him enough. ' Yep. Poor guy .' More puking. ' Dang, now I feel real bad for knocking him down yesterday. Mustn't have felt real good for his stomach. It's a wonder he still gave me his tickets to- "
Lynn was suddenly paralyzed as something struck her mind. of thoughts sudden realization paralyzed the girl.
The first time she'd rediscovered and tried to win Jumbo, Lincoln had been with her. He'd seen her go nuts over losing. He'd given her his tickets after she'd begged for them.
Now, this thought wasn't really anything new. She'd known this detail since day 1; it had merely been pushed to the back of Lynn's conscious while the insistance that she hadn't poisoned Linc, the urge to win Jumbo a second time, second money-making scheme, and discovery/foiling of her sisters' plan had been at the forefront. The fact simply hadn't had any direct significance or relation to the current issue at hand.
Until now.
In a milisecond, a string of thoughts had swarmed Lynn's brain and fallen around that tiny detail like pieces of a broken puzzle all coming together.
The inane nature of the sisters' plan. Their attempts to hog the conversation at dinner last night. Their immediate reaction to the monkey scene during their viewing of Hot Fuzz…
And-
'"Shouldn't Linky know how the Jumbo plan went down?"'
"He's got enough on his plate right now. We'll tell him later."
The puzzle finished itself and left Lynn with a new, shocking conclusion.
Lincoln had always been involved in this plot against her. He'd ratted her out to their sisters after leaving the fair, he'd helped created the whole "distract Lynn with random activities" plan, and he'd planned that movie as attempt #1. Him getting poisoned hadn't been the cause of the plan, but an unforseen bump that had left the sisters leaderless, leaving Lori to step up and take his place, exhasting herself out in the process.
"Son of a b****!" Lynn croaked, her throat just as dry and hoarse as it had been last night.
She didn't know what was harder to believe; that this realization had taken this long to register with her or that the person she'd spent the whole day thinking of as an innocent bystander was actually one of the masterminds (if not the head mastermind) behind the whole scheme!
Lynn was furious, at both herself for not noticing the obvious and at Lincoln for daring to invoke her pity while secretly plotting against her all this time. This was Lucy's lie times 100! Clenching her hands into fists, the jock felt a overwhelming urge to march over to the boy's room and pumble him into a bloody pulp, and then maybe tracking down Lucy to give that decieving duchess of darkness what she deserved for messing with her heart!
Thankfully, the sound of returning footsteps shook the girl back to reality and her rage faded. A brief wave of shame and guilt crashed over the girl as she turned onto her side and curled up into a ball.
She couldn't hurt her brother, let alone when he was sick and stuck in bed. Jumbo or no Jumbo, that was one line she knew in her heart she couldn't cross.
Besides, she thought to herself (possibly in an attempt to ease the guilt), what challenge could he pose? Like she'd said, the boy was stuck in bed, too sick to do anything but throw up and go. She already had all her sisters fooled, after all. There was nothing now to stop her from trying again and again until she succeeded.
Still, as Lynn lay there, she couldn't help, but find herself wondering how and why Linc had ratted her out. What had motivated the boy to tell their sisters about her newfound goal, much less conspire with them to ensure she failed it?
As much as Lynn didn't want to admit it, she honestly wouldn't be surprised if it was out of a need for revenge. Out of all her siblings, Lincoln had always been her perferred target when it came to a flash wrestling match or flash karate match or any other flash contact sport that had left him brused. At the time, she'd seen it as no big
deal. Linc was a boy and boys liked sports, right? They were built for them. It didn't matter what wrestling move she'd used on him or how many times she'd knocked him to the ground with a roundhouse kick. He'd just get back up, brush it off, and go on about his day. It's not like she actually hurting him… right?
Then, there'd been the infamous "Lincoln is bad luck" accident. That had ended so badly that they'd all made it a rule to NOT talk or even mention it. It was a dark time that the whole Loud family wished had never occured and were still working on putting behind them… and it had all been her fault. That alone validated Lincoln's reason for revenge, no matter how much she tried to deny it.
Whatever it was, that reason was now eating Lynn up inside. She'd stated multiple times that her siblings' motivation for wanting to stop her didn't matter, but now, at least in the case of Lincoln's, it did. She had to know why he was against her. Maybe it was out of pity for him being sick, maybe it was out of guilt for hurting him, or maybe she actually had a deeper connection with her brother than she thought and the idea of him being against her was too much for her to bare… but she HAD to know. For better or worse, she just had to.
Would it stop her from continuing her plan to win Jumbo? No… or at least, Lynn hoped not. While she could freely plot against her sisters, knowing that their true reason for trying to stop her was nothing more than some sadistic sense of pleasure, she wasn't sure if she could do so with Lincoln, especially if it turned to be in retaliation for something she actually had done to him.
Bottom line, for the time being, the future of her plan to win Jumbo hinged on her knowing her brother's motivation. And there wouldn't be much time to find out. The fair wouldn't be open forever.
However, at the same time, Lynn knew she couldn't just directly ask him. For one, he may not even remember, given the ordeal he'd been enduring since last night. For another, he may lie or deny it altogether out of fear of her hurting him (that fact alone was also now stabbing her in the heart). Finally, the whole idea of barging in and
interrogating him while he was in such a vulnerable position just came off as unmistakablely and extremely rude, even to her, the girl's whose idea of a valentine was throwing a jockstrap in the face of her crush.
No, if she wanted the truth, she'd have to look elsewhere.
"Hey Luna, is he alright?"
"He'll be fine, Leni."
And what better place to start than the girl who'se loose lips and scatterbrain had helped lead her down this new path?
Knock knock
The door creaked open.
"Oh, hey, Lynn," Leni greeted her with a smile.
"Can I come in?" Lynn asked. "I need to talk to you."
Leni glanced over at something before turning back. "Okay, but shhhhhhh," she quietly pulled the door open, revealing Lori fast asleep in her bed. "Lori's sleeping."
"Got it."
Leni shut the door behind them and the two quietly went over to Leni's bed (now partially crowded by the girl's collection of prizes from the fair).
"So, wha'cha need?" Leni asked as they both sat down. Her tone was hushed, but still brimming with it's usual positivity, "Fashon points? A repair job? Maybe just a hug?"
Lynn chuckled. This would be easier than she thought. "Actually," she said, making sure to sound as non accusatory as possible. "I wanted to ask if Linc was ever a part of your whole Jumbo plan?"
Leni's smile faded and she grew tense. "Uh," she asked, now a bit nervous, "what makes you think that?"
Her change in attitude was exactly what Lynn had been hoping for… and dreading a bit. While it proved her theory right, it also threatened her with the possibility that the blonde may see her probing as something suspecious and would later report it to the others, thereby revealing her own scheme to them. Thankfully, Lynn knew just the steps to take to ease the blonde bimbo's tensions.
"Well, I was thinking back to all the fun things you guys were offering me and I couldn't help, but realize just how… Lincoln-y the whole plan seemed."
Yep, Leni speech. What better way to come off as relatable and non-confrontational to the ditzy girl? "You know, how much it sounds like something he would come up with. Know what I mean?"
Her tactic worked, as Leni appeared to calm down and relax a little. Exhaling, she gave a small grin and replied, "Yeah, totes."
' Jack-flipping-pot! ' Lynn thought. "And since we're all shopping in the same store now, I thought it wouldn't be too much trouble to ask."
"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt." Leni said, now sounding much more at ease. Relaxing in her seat, the blonde smiled at her sister. "So yeah, Linky was part of the plan. Or, at least the first part. After he got sick, Lori pretty much took over."
' I KNEW IT! ' "So," the jock twiddled her thumbs, "How'd you guys find out? Linc rat me out?" She made sure to keep her tone light and playful.
"Well, there were no rats. Linky and I were just talking about it on the way to his room and he mentioned how when he'd left, you'd been trying to win some stuffed monkey. It was totes causal. We just freaked out when we realized what he was talking about. Lori, Luna, Luan, and me, that is."
"Really?"
"Yeah, due to like, you know, all that stuff you did to us back then?" Leni wiped her forehead. "We were worried you were going to start doing it again if you won Jumbo, so we convinced Linky and the others to help us try and stop you." Giving a bit of a nervous laugh, she added, "Sorry."
"Why you apologizing? I'm the one who ended up broke," Lynn replied. "If anything, I should be sorry for not listening."
"Yeah, I guess," Leni laughed. At that moment, Lori snored, startling them both. They watched her roll over on her side. "Poor thing. We hards got any sleep after Lucy came out of the vents."
Lynn nearly exploded as her mind raced back to the memory of seeing Lucy sleep-crawl out of her coffin last night. As this wasn't the first time the goth girl had done so, the jock had assumed it was just another occurrence… but it had really been an act? So, they all DID know about her plan to use her savings?!
"Oh," she responded, her body bursting with energy. "I thought she was just sleep-crawling."
"Nah, she came to tell us all about your nightmare." Leni replied. "Though I totes understand if that bothered you. I'd sure be angry if Lori went around telling everyone about my dreams."
Setting aside any possible curiosity about her sister's dreaming habits, Lynn came to two important conclusions at that moment.
One, she now had even MORE reason to be pissed off at Lucy.
Two, she had even LESS reason to be so at Lincoln. The boy wasn't plotting against her out of spite or revenge for some past deed she'd done to him, he'd just been fed all those lies of monkey cookies and stuff, just like all the younger sisters. And it made PERFECT sense that he'd believe them, given Lynn's treatment of him in the past.
Well, Lynn knew that those stories were all lies and swore to herself that once she'd won her beloved Jumbo, she'd never lay a finger on her brother again. The worst punishment the boy would recieve in the end would a flattened ego, knowing one of his master plans had failed, and Lynn was sure he could live with that. It wouldn't be the first time after all.
"So…" she spoke up again, "Linc doesn't know how it all ended?"
"Lori said it was for the best for now."
"Oh," Lynn pretended to sound disappointed. "Well, I hope he's not still worried about me. Gianni knows how much he cares about us."
Leni frowned a little. "Yeah, he does. Linky and Gianni, I mean." For a moment, the two sisters stared at each other. Then, Leni broke the silence by saying, "You… want to tell him? I won't tell Lori."
Lynn smiled. "Really?"
"Yeah," her sister nodded. Lynn reached over and gave her a squeeze. "I'd rather him not be worried about it. He already feels yucky enough."
"I will. Thanks for the talk, sis." She quietly made her way past the sleeping Lori and opened the door, Lincoln's room in her sights.
With his stomach now empty of vomit (at least for the moment), Linc was settling back into bed when he heard a knob on his door
"I said no thank you to the lullaby, Luna," he said.
' Lullaby ?' Lynn chuckled. "Dude, it's Lynn. Mind if I come in?"
"Sure."
Lynn pushed open the door and walked in. There her brother was, looking just as sick as he'd been the last time she'd seen him. Nevertheless, two exchanged smiles.
"Sup, Stincoln," Lynn walked over to the edge of his bed and sat down. "How's it hanging?" "Pretty crappy," he replied.
Lynn sighed. "Bro, I'm really sorry this happened to you."
Lincoln shrugged, "Come on, Lynn. It wasn't your fault. I probably deserve this for eating all that junk."
Lynn blew a raspberry. "For what, having a little fun? Come on bro, I saw tons of land whales that probably deserved that salmonella way more than you."
"I guess it was just bad luck then," the boy concluded.
Lynn froze. "But you're not-"
"I know!" The boy rolled his eyes. "People don't just get bad luck because they are bad luck. It's probably some superstition thing, I dunno. Go ask Lucy."
Lynn felt a huge urge to hug her brother. "Still was stupid of me to do that, though. I mean-"
"Lynn, let it go." The boy assured her. "Sides, you know how the others will act if they hear you talking about it."
Lynn chuckled. "Yeah."
Lincoln smiled. "Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I've got a small secret to tell you." "What?"
"Well on the topic of rumors," the boy began, "Remember that rumor about you wearing a butt plug?" Lynn raised an eyebrow, confused. "Y-yeah?"
His smile turned coy. "I know who started it."
Lynn's eyes went wide. "Really? How?"
"Well," Lincoln drummed his fingers together. "remember a while ago, when I got detention for letting loose that chicken coop in the school with Liam?"
"Yeah."
"Well, as punishment, I had to clean the bleachers after school for two weeks and one day…"
We see Lincoln cleaning behind the bleachers in detention. He pauses when he hears two girls walk out of the locker room and sit down on the bleachers. Peering through the gap, he recognizes one of them: a tall, tough looking (but kind of pretty) girl in red shorts, tights, and a white tank top. It was Taylor, one of the eighth grade bullies who used to bully him and his friends on the bus.
"Thanks for the extra eye shadow, Kells," Taylor said. "No way I'm taking Anderson to junior prom with this shiner."
"No prob," her friend named Kelly replied, "Lynn nearly took your eye out with that spike in volleyball." "Ugh, that girl's an animal!" Taylor groaned. "All brawn and no brain."
"Or hygiene," Kelly smirked, "Seriously, she stinks up the locker room after every game. Pee-Yew."
"You know why? I actually heard her say to her friends," Taylor put on a deep voice to impersonate Lynn, "'if I go number 2, we won't be number 1.'"
"Ew!" Kelly grimaced, "That's disgusting!"
"And hard to believe. She pigs out on meatball subs every lunch before gym. Heh, maybe she wears a diaper." Kelly giggled, "Or a butt-plug."
Taylor was silent for a moment. "You know… I bet people would believe that."
"Ugh! Taylor and Kelly are such bitter losers!" Lynn scoffed. "Thanks, Linc. I'll make them pay."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier," her brother responded. "I was worried that if you tried to get back at them, they'd find out I snitched and start bullying my friends and me on the bus again."
"I guess that makes sense," Lynn said. "Honestly, it didn't bother me all that much. You hear a lot of stuff like that in the locker rooms. Teams will do anything to get each other down."
"Yeah, they're crazy," Lincoln sighed.
"Does that make me crazy?" Lynn asked, playfully insistent.
"Guess so."
"Well, watch your mouth, Stincoln," she teased. "You're not going to be sick forever." Playfully jabbing him, she was about to get up and leave, only to remember what it was she'd come to tell him in the first place.
' Relax, Lynn. It'd do him more good than harm .' "Hey bro, you remember that day at the fair? Where I introduced you to Jumbo?"
Now it was Lincoln's turn to be confused. "Yeah… it's how I got like this."
"Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but… I… figured out your whole plan," Lynn made sure to keep her tone casual and free of aggression. The boy's eyes widened in response.
"P-plan?" He stammered, a bit unnerved.
"Yeah, the movie, the games? All that stuff you and the others tried to rope me into doing?" She put her hands on her hips. "You were trying to distract me from going back to the fair and winning Jumbo, weren't you?"
Lincoln gulped. "We… uh…"
"Relax bro, it's fine," she assured him, chuckling at his scared face. "Well, for you guys at least. I ended up blowing through my whole savings before I realized how stupid and pointless the whole thing really was."
Relief and surprise appeared on the boy's face. "Really?"
"Yeah, I mean, Mom was right, it's just a silly stuffed animal from a silly show for babies," Lynn blushed. "If anything, I should probably feel embarrassed for wanting it so badly."
"Oh… well," Lincoln seemed flustered. "Don't be too beat up over it. I mean, I'm the guy who reads Princess Pony."
"Yeaaaaaaaaaaah," Lynn said, adopting a coy smile of her own. "I still find that pretty hard to believe." "Hey, we have a four-year-old sister with a PHD," Linc replied, calming down. "Give me some credit." "Okay, Pony Boy," Lynn teased, playfully ruffling his head.
"Okay, okay!" He shooed her hands away. "Don't make me sick again. Lana's still cleaning out my puke bucket."
"Ew, TMI," she cringed. "I just wanted to let you know that the whole Jumbo thing is over. And that your crazy plans failed… again."
"At least I'm not broke," her brother shot back.
Lynn grew an offended face, causing the boy to whimper, only to replace it with a smile. "Wow, guess I was wrong. There are balls in this room."
Lincoln blushed.
"Seriously, I almost tripped over these," Lynn picked up a pair of golf balls. "Must have fallen out of Lori's pocket. I'll give them back to her when she wakes up." She stuffed them into her pocket. "So… we cool, bro?"
"Yeah," he replied. "We're cool."
"Awesome." She headed for the door. "Sleep tight, bro-bro. If you need me, you know where to find me." "Thanks Lynn." He smiled. "And hey, thanks for coming around. Smart thing to do."
"Oh, I'm a lot smarter than you give me credit for, bro." She hide a smug smile from her bro's glance as she shut the door behind her.
Heading back over to her room, the jock fetched a pencil and roll of paper from Lucy's poetry gear, made herself comfortable on her bed, and pulled open her laptop. She did a search for "Babe Ruth's signature," a devious smile spreading across her cheeks.
"A lot smarter."