Author Notes - Obligatory warnings for this chapter. We've got some misgendering from people who are very clearly in the wrong and/or realise their mistakes. But misgendering nonetheless. Also, there's a warning for Lana being gross at the end. Then again, it's Lana. You probably expect it.

CHAPTER NINE - A CHAT WITH THE PRINCIPAL

Now that she was eight years old, Lynn decided to take a chance. A wild chance that could easily backfire on her. The riskier the road, the more fun it was. Right before she left her room to hop into Vanzilla, she popped her hair extension into her backpack and zipped it tight. If any of her family members saw it, she wouldn't be able to get out of it.

Her stomach churned during the whole ride to school, and not just because she had a particularly spicy breakfast that morning. There was no way that this little chance was going to end totally well for her. No matter what, there was bound to be at least one person who made her life hell because of this. But she didn't care. Not that much. If someone decided to make her life a living hell, she was more than willing to give that treatment back.

Like always, she was the first kid to make it to class. Not because she cared about attendance or anything like that, but because she wanted everyone in that class to know that she was the fastest one of all. The rest of the class's students took their seats, and that nausea resting in her stomach just got worse. Why was she only now realising how big this class was? Did they get more students over the weekend? What was up with all the sweat on her hands, and where was that powder when she needed it?

Whatever subject her teacher was teaching her today, Lynn didn't really care. She only half-focused on the task at hand, and only because she'd cause a lot of trouble if she didn't. And if she caused trouble, she'd never be able to reveal herself. But when was the best time? Interrupting class would land her in detention before she was even done explaining, but waiting for a quiet moment could be impossible. Maybe she could–

'LYNN!'

-forget that the teacher had been trying to talk to her this whole time, thus getting thrown out of her brainstorming without a warning.

'ABRAHAM LINCOLN!' She shouted, going with the first answer in her head.

She knew she was dead wrong when the kids started laughing. Even more when she looked at the board and saw a maths equation.

'No, Lynn,' The teacher said. 'I don't think five times seven equals 'Abraham Lincoln'.'

'Sorry!' Lynn said, louder than she intended. 'I'm just thinking about… something kind of important.' She then muttered to herself, 'More important stuff than this.'

The teacher groaned. 'And they wonder why I don't like teaching boys…'

This comment was supposed to be muttered quietly, but half the class ended up hearing it. More than a few actual boys rolled their eyes or even looked offended by such a remark, but didn't say anything about it. Lynn, on the other hand, had to thank her teacher for this. What a perfect opportunity!

'Actually, Miss,' She said. 'There's, uh, something you got dead wrong.'

The teacher cocked an eyebrow. 'Are you telling me that the answer actually is-?'

'N-No, I got that wrong. Really wrong.' She ignored the other kids snickering at her. 'I mean the other thing. The 'boy' thing.'

'Alright. And what makes you say that?'

Lynn fished the fake ponytail out of her backpack and tried her best to put it on. The problem was that it was usually her parents or one of her older sisters that clipped it on, so it was surprisingly difficult. And once she did pull it off, it undoubtedly looked awful. Not that she cared, but still.

'I ain't a boy, Miss!' She said, standing up. 'I'm actually a girl!'

There it was. She did it. It was off her chest. She couldn't tell if she felt relieved or even more petrified. Had she lifted a weight off her shoulders, or had she just leapt from the frying pan into the fire? At first, the only response from the others was silence. Like it was taking a few moments for everything to sink in. To Lynn's surprise, most of her classmates reacted before the teacher. A few kids laughed to themselves, while others just shrugged and looked back at their work like nothing had happened.

'Lynn…' The teacher said with a sigh. 'Of all the stupid things you have done to interrupt the class-'

'What do you mean, stupid things?' Lynn demanded. 'This isn't stupid!'

'You interrupted the entire lesson, just for this dumb joke?'

'A j-? It isn't a joke! I really am a girl!'

The teacher gave her the look that so many stern teachers had, the one that usually shut students up right away. But it wasn't shutting Lynn up any time soon.

'I get it,' She said. 'You don't believe me, do you?'

'I am not in the mood for your jokes today,' The teacher said. 'Now please sit down and keep doing the work. Or I'll have to have a talk with your parents. I don't think they'll be happy to learn that their son has been-'

'DAUGHTER! Not son. Daughter. I know teachers don't like it when they're corrected, but I had to.'

The look on her teacher's face was incredible. And very red. It was at this moment that Lynn realised that she may have picked the wrong teacher to come out to.

'LYNN!' The teacher shouted. 'I will not have you disrupting the class just for a stupid joke. Now, either be quiet and stop this nonsense, or I will have to get the principal involved.'

'But I am a girl!'

And that was how Lynn got herself sent to the principal's office. She sat in a chair against the wall, pouting with her arms crossed.

Her parents were there too, seated in front of Principal Huggins. Neither looked happy to be here. Normally, a call from the principal would worry them greatly, especially when it was about 'their son'. Lincoln hardly ever acted out, so it was a great concern if and when they did. Then they learned that the 'son' in question was actually Lynn, and that she had interrupted class to declare herself a girl. So they weren't exactly enthused to start this topic.

'Mr and Mrs Loud,' An already-irritated Huggins said. 'I know your son has-'

'DAUGHTER!' Lynn shouted.

'Your child has interrupted class several times before, but today his-'

'Her!'

'-interruption was particularly egregious.'

Lynn may have been very offended if she knew what those words meant. It was definitely insulting, though, so she sat there with a pout. Rita and Lynn Sr shared a glance, silently asking each other how they were going to go about this. Especially since they didn't even know that Lynn wanted to come out to her teacher in the first place.

'It seems there's been a slight misunderstanding,' Rita said. 'While, yes, we do agree that Lynn shouldn't be interrupting class like that, she had a very good reason for it.'

'She told us that she was a girl a few years ago,' Lynn Sr said. 'And we listened. Apparently, she wanted her school to know about it too.'

Huggins groaned. 'Please don't tell me that you're playing along with this charade.'

'If by 'playing along',' Lynn Sr continued. 'You mean treating my kid like the girl she really is, then yes!'

'Lynn,' Rita said with a sigh. 'You're not making this any better.'

'But it's true!'

Huggins's glare softened a little. Now, he just looked confused. Lynn wasn't sure if that was a sign of progress or not.

'Wait, hang on,' He said, putting his hands up. 'You're telling me that this wasn't just another excuse to interrupt class?'

'No!' Lynn Sr said. 'Of course it wasn't! I know Lynn can be a bit of a troublemaker sometimes, but this time it wasn't just a joke. I don't know what made her want to come out today, but she did.'

'Uh… forgive me for asking this, but how can Lynn know this about him… themselves when they're so young? I've heard plenty of stories of adults changing their gender, but, um, Lynn cannot be old enough to make such a decision.'

Lynn Sr cocked an eyebrow. 'She's too young to decide that she wants to wear her hair in a ponytail?'

'Wearing your hair in a ponytail is quite different from changing your gender!'

The Loud father was ready to retort this comment as well, much to the chagrin of Rita who just wanted this conversation to go smoothly. He only got as far as opening his mouth before Lynn Jr jumped out of her seat.

'I never changed my gender! Whatever that means,' She yelled. 'I was always a girl! We just didn't know that when I was really little. Cos, you know, my thingies were all wrong and stuff.'

'Lynn-' Huggins said, only getting as far as that.

'I know I'm little, but I know that I'm a girl. Wanna know how? Because it's just something that you know! I bet it didn't take you… however old you are for you to realise that you were a boy.'

'Well, I suppose you're not wrong, but-'

'Then how is that any different for me? Just because my body was all wrong?'

It was at this point that Rita stood out of her seat, while her Lynns continued to fuel this argument with Huggins. No one even noticed her standing up, until-

*SMACK*

-she slammed her fist into the desk loudly enough to make everyone jump.

'Alright, everyone stop fighting!' She yelled. 'My daughter's identity is not for debate. If we're going to talk about her behaviour, fine. But Lynn Jr is my daughter and we're not going to fight about it!'

Huggins was practically trembling under the might of an angry momma, as much as he tried to hide it. To be fair to him, though, both Lynns were equally terrified. Rita sat back down in her chair, already calm like none of that ever happened.

'Uh, right,' Huggins said. 'Isn't Lynn still a little too young to-?'

Rita held her hand up. 'Not! Up. For. Debate.'

'O-Okay. This changes things a little. Not much, mind you. He- she still interrupted class and yelled at her teacher. But her behaviour is… a bit more understandable. I thought she was claiming to be a girl as part of a stupid joke, but… I get it now. Kind of.'

'We didn't realise that Lynn would choose to come out today. I wish she told us first, but what's done is done. What we need to do now is make sure that all of her teachers know about this.'

'Just my teachers?' Lynn asked. 'I want everyone in this stupid school to know that I'm a girl!'

'One thing at a time, LJ,' Lynn Sr said. 'One thing at a time.'

What followed was a whole bunch of words that bored Lynn beyond belief. Yes, it was an important step towards her being seen as a girl, but it devolved into a lot of 'official' talk involving paperwork and documents and long painful meetings… blah blah blah. This wasn't what Lynn wanted when she announced her gender to the world. She wanted it to be a big and grand event! Not something bogged down by paperwork.

It didn't take long for her mind to wander so far that she forgot why she was even in the principal's office to begin with. Her parents were talking to the principal about something, and she wasn't paying much attention to it. Her mind only rejoined the conversation halfway through something Huggins was saying.

'... have her listed as a girl instead of a boy in the school records,' He said. 'I can't guarantee that the other teachers will listen to it. But it's a start.'

'Yeah!' Lynn said, pretending she had been listening the whole time. 'That way, everyone will know and I won't even have to tell them. But I'll probably need to keep reminding them because no one can ever remember something as simple as that.'

'I also can't guarantee that the other students are going to respect this. God, children can be so judgemental sometimes. Do you know how many nasty comments I've gotten about my hair in the past month?' He leered at Lynn. 'And how many of them came from you? A few of your teachers just accepted it, saying that 'boys will be boys'. I don't think that reasoning is going to work anymore.'

Lynn's smile vanished. 'Wait, that's not fair! You're telling me that my behaviour was okay when everyone thought that I was a boy, but now that people are gonna know that I'm actually a girl, that behaviour won't be okay anymore?! … Well that's stupid!'

'People said that when my brother rough-housed me all the time…' Lynn Sr said, shuddering. 'I never liked that saying.'

Lynn pouted once again, caring none for how it made her look half her age. What a nonsensical injustice. Why was something okay for boys to do, but not girls? Were girls not allowed to be tough? And - an even better question - could Lynn bring herself to care about how 'acceptable' her behaviour was as a girl?

Not to mention the implication that all boys were naturally more aggressive. Her father hated getting rough, and Lincoln only did it when someone else started it. And then there was that Clyde kid, who curled up into a ball at the thought of confrontation and would break his arm punching someone. How come she didn't notice all this stupid gendered stuff until after she transitioned?! The idea that she noticed this because she transitioned was not a thought that crossed her mind.

'Wait, I think there's a more important point to make,' Rita said. 'The other kids… we all know from experience that kids can be judgy little things. This seems like the sort of thing a lot of them would target.'

'I know that,' Lynn said. 'But I can handle it. I'll be happy if everyone sees me as a girl! And if they try to make fun of me for that, well…'

'No hitting,' Rita said, prompting Lynn to pout for what must've been the fifth time that day at least.

'I'm more worried about people who won't see LJ as a girl,' Lynn Sr said. 'You… you struggled a lot when even your own family saw you as a boy. Do you think you can deal with a bunch of kids insulting you by saying that you're not a girl?'

Lynn was silent for a moment. 'I… think I can handle that. I mean, I'm tough as nails! And it shouldn't be so bad if it isn't my family calling me a boy. ... I hope.'

'LAAAANAAAAA!'

Lynn could already feel her ears aching the second she walked through the door. Lola wasn't much of a talker yet, but she was one heck of a yeller. And she could scream her twin's name like an opera singer. After dealing with all that stuff in school, she was hoping to get home and relax with Lucy.

However - for once - Lynn didn't really blame Lola too much for getting angry. In the brief time Rita and Lynn Sr were gone, with Lori in charge as always, Lana had managed to track an ungodly amount of mud through all of the carpet. The tomboyish twin still sat in a muddy puddle, playing around in it like a dog. Lola's cute little pink dress had been doused with the unsightly brown goop. The goop that everyone hoped was mud, at least.

Of course, Lynn didn't care that much about mud. Her clothes were already soaked with various bodily fluids, mostly but not entirely sweat. Rita and Lynn Sr, on the other hand…

'Lana!' Rita said. 'You're not supposed to track mud all throughout the house!'

Lynn Sr sighed. 'Look, we don't mind you getting muddy outside, but when you're inside the house, you have to be more clean!'

If Lana understood a single word they were saying, she didn't show it. All she did was rub the mud all over her face, much to Lola's disgust. Any doubt that she didn't know what she was doing was dashed when she laughed, pointing at her twin.

'It's alright,' Lynn said. 'I'll handle this.'

She trudged through the mud like it wasn't there at all. Walking through muck was easy; she had played many soccer games on ground much muddier than this. And her clothes were already soaked with sweat, so what was a little bit of mud going to do? She lifted Lana up by her underarms and gave the little girl an irritated look.

'Alright, that's enough, Lana,' She said. 'What do you have to say for yourself?'

Lana responded by (accidentally?) sneezing right in her face. With a rather impressive splatter, much to her own pleasure. And Lynn's displeasure.

'BLEUGH!' Lola shouted, perfectly capturing everyone's feelings about this moment.

Rita swooped in to grab Lana, making sure that their faces were a little further apart. Meanwhile, Lynn tried to wipe the splatter off her face. All that accomplished was getting it all over her arm. So, she wiped her arm on her clothes, adding to the other fluids soaked into it.

'Girls are easier than boys, they said…' Rita muttered as she carried Lana away. 'They're not as gross or messy as boys, they said.'

Despite being the victim of an unpleasant shot, Lynn smiled as she thought about what her mother just said. Lana could be as gross and as messy as she wanted to me, but no one questioned if she was a girl. Sure, sometimes a stranger would be confused at first because they didn't think that a girl would ever be so messy, but most people seemed to know straight away that Lana was a girl. Even if she was coated in mud or eating dog food.

If Lana, the most 'boyish' kid in the world, could be seen as a girl, then that meant that Lynn could too. Those kids at school would totally think that she was a girl!

Right?

Author Notes - I've already mentioned it but I think it needs elaboration. My goal is to write Lynn as in-character as I possibly can. As in, making her loud, boisterous, rough, poor in school, yadda yadda. This may just like something a fanfiction should do, but it's actually important to the goal of this story. It's way too easy for people to write their minority characters as 'perfect', because apparently depicting a minority character as an actual person with human flaws is bad.

Lynn as a character is heavily-flawed, much like the other Loud Sisters and Lincoln. Those flaws don't go away just because she's trans. The same way my own flaws of being anxious or stubborn or lazy don't go away just because I'm a woman or autistic. She has these flaws because she's, you know, a PERSON. There is no such thing as the 'perfect token' because minorities are still people. A woman can be greedy. A black person can be impulsive. A person in a wheelchair can be a dick. And there's nothing wrong with depicting them as such, as long as they're not depicted in stereotypical ways or in a manner any better or worse than anyone else in the cast.

By writing Lynn as she is written in canon, I'm not trying make some sort of dumb point about how trans people as a whole act. That's just how this one trans girl acts, because that's who she is as a person. If anything, it's kind of refreshing to see a trans character who's written as a flawed person much like the cisgender people in the cast, while still being depicted as sympathetic and not being the butt to an unfunny transphobic 'joke'.