Bust: Chapter 1: Allow Me To Re-Introduce Myself
Bust (/bəst/): NOUN: a complete failure
See also: FLOP
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary
"No athlete is an athlete with the intention of being a bust."
- Brian Bosworth, NFL Network's Top 10 NFL Draft Busts (2007)
A diverse, albeit primarily Caucasian, crowd of students and teachers filled the seats of a relatively large auditorium. Mundane conversations and chatter about all sorts of gossip ranging from celebrity scandal to the latest leaks for the Christmas season's hottest games flowed freely amongst the students. Meanwhile, the teachers eyed their students suspiciously, ready to strike down the slightest misbehavior at a moment's notice.
Royal Woods Middle School's office staff sat backstage conversing amongst themselves and watching the students… with a very special guest in their midst.
A fair-skinned Caucasian woman with light brown shoulder-length hair donning small pearl earrings, a yellow blouse, a blue pleated skirt, and brown Mary Jane shoes with tall white socks stared daggers into the two people seated to the right of her. To her immediate right was a confident-looking African-American man with a taper fade. The man wore a blue suit above a bright green collared shirt, dark grey khakis, and black dress shoes. To the right of the African-American man was a nervous-looking fair-skinned Caucasian woman with dim freckles, and dark brown hair styled in the manner of a businesswoman. This woman wore a maroon business suit, maroon dress pants, and black heels.
The African-American man turned to the woman sitting to his left. "Jordan, calm down," he requested with an exasperated sigh, the slightest tinge of a Jamaican accent escaping his lips.
Jordan whispered angrily, "It's just… her, Clyde," pointing at the dark brown-haired woman. "Why did you have to bring her here, of all people? You know what she did to him. Margo Roberts could have done this just as easily. She even offered to give us a significant discount on her speaking fee."
Clyde nodded. "I know. It's just-"
"You talk to her at Zhau's, she gives you her sob story, tells you she's super-duper sorry at the end of it, and suddenly, everything's OK. I don't buy that for a second," Jordan hissed.
Clyde groaned, "Just give her a chance, Jordan. It's been 25 years. Let it go. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to start the assembly."
Clyde stood up from his seat and walked towards the podium at center stage, leaving Jordan alone with the dark brown-haired woman. Jordan glared hard at the other woman, who averted her gaze and shrank in her seat in shame.
After Clyde walked up to the podium, he tapped on the microphone to test it. A loud, high-pitched squealing sound burst out from it, causing most of those seated in the auditorium to yelp and cover their ears. After the squealing ceased, Clyde cleared his throat to get the students to stop making noise.
Clyde then addressed the auditorium, "Good morning, students."
The students responded as one, "Good morning, Principal McBride."
Clyde explained, "Welcome to our Anti-Bullying Month Assembly. Today, we've decided to bring a special guest to share her experiences with bullying… from all sides. This guest is one of the best athletes Royal Woods has ever produced. She is a former first overall WLB draft pick, getting picked over Margo Roberts."
The jocks, and many of the teachers, erupted in cheers and applause at the mention of Margo's name.
Clyde chuckled, "Moving on. She's played a couple of seasons in the major leagues, and the story of her life serves as both a warning and an inspiration. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, please welcome to the stage… Lynn Loud Jr."
The crowd applauded as the dark brown-haired woman stood up and shuffled her feet to the stage. Lynn gave Clyde an apprehensive look, and Clyde responded with a soft smile and head-nod. At Clyde's gentle gesture, Lynn smiled, straightened, and walked with a more confident stride to the podium. Her eyes moistened as she took in the applause, but she steeled herself as she remembered what she had to do. The microphone screeched as Lynn tapped it, halting the applause.
"Is this thing on? This thing working?", Lynn asked into the microphone to test it.
While Lynn's first question provided inconsistent volume, the entirety of the second question boomed across the auditorium, making her smile in satisfaction. With any technical issues resolved, Lynn cleared her throat, straightened, and began to address her audience.
"Thanks, Principal McBride, for the intro. Quarter-century since I've been here… wow," she reflected. "Hey guys, I'm Lynn Loud Jr. Second of my name, first with my game. And I-"
Hands shot up, with kids desperately wiggling their fingers to get Lynn's attention.
"Alright, alright, I'll take three questions," she laughed.
Lynn surveyed the room. Almost immediately, her eyes settled on a tall, pale-skinned boy with freckles and curly, reddish-brown hair who looked eerily familar. With a slight nostalgic chuckle, she pointed at the boy.
"OK… you with the white-fro."
The curly-haired kid shouted, "Yo, why does my dad always say, 'I hope she's not the next Lynn Loud' whenever he learns about a new player?"
Lynn stammered, "Err, I-", before dozens of other kids stretched their arms as high as they could and clamored out to Lynn.
"Yo, Lynn Lame!", a Caucasian boy with freckles and shoulder-length auburn hair jeered. "You're the worst baseball player ever!"
Many of the students laughed loudly at the audacity of the boy's statement, while Lynn narrowed her eyes at the boy.
A Caucasian, freckled boy with an orange bowl cut with purple and blue streaks derided Lynn, "Shee-oooht, mah Pappy says HIS Great Mee-Maw can throw better than ya! 'N she's been sleepin' with the worms!"
Uproarious laughter ensued amongst many of the students, some of whom had fallen out of their chairs pointing and laughing at the disgraced baseball star. The teachers tried to yell at their kids to restore order, but no one listened.
Backstage, Jordan smugly smirked at Clyde, who merely shrugged his shoulders in response. The next instant, Clyde stood up and marched to the podium.
After catching him out of the corner of her eye, Lynn turned to Clyde and whispered, "I've got this."
Clyde shook his head. "No, you don't. Just… let me handle this."
"Right. Like you did back then," Lynn deadpanned.
Clyde gasped before glaring at Lynn. He was tempted to shout at her, but slouched slightly when he looked out to his auditorium and saw his raucous students and passive subordinates.
Lynn crossed her arms and challenged Clyde, "They're your kids. Handle them."
Clyde shook his head and growled at Lynn before storming to the podium.
"Hey! Nize ya beaks, ya noisy yutes! Ya don't cool it, all mans getting detention!", Clyde roared.
The kids gasped as soon as they heard Clyde yell. They immediately rushed to their seats, even going so far as to sit up perfectly straight. No one dared to whisper or move, the students trading nervous glances amongst themselves. Noticing the quiet, still auditorium, Clyde spared Lynn a sympathetic glance and cleared his throat.
"Thank you," he addressed the auditorium. "Now that everybody's settled, Ms. Loud, if you may."
Clyde stepped off the podium, encouraging Lynn to walk back onto the podium.
"Thanks, Principal McBride," she softly said into the microphone. Clyde nodded backstage.
Lynn assured the students, "I was gonna get to all of that. But, I guess you've already heard the stories. Read the headlines. Biggest Disappointment in Sports History. Lynn the Life-Ruiner. Lynn the Locker Room Cancer. We Coulda Had Margo Roberts. Or in your case, Thank God They Took Loud. I've heard 'em all. And believe me, it ties together with what I intended to talk to you about today."
The overhead lights dimmed, and a holographic projector displayed a big, square slide spanning the entire stage.
Closing A/N: Ah... another plot bunny that just wouldn't leave my head. You know, I was reflecting on all the fanfics I've read of Lynn suffering in some way. Lynn going to prison, Lynn suffering horrible physical accidents. I've even thought of the fanfics where Lynn actually achieved her dreams. Of all the fanfics I've read regarding Lynn's future, none of them covered this angle: what if she actually achieved her dreams… but it just didn't work out? I'm a huge sports fan, and growing up, I loved (and still do love) watching sports documentaries and playing the franchise modes in sports games. I also played high school football growing up (the tackle version), and I grew up around guys who went D-1 in sports… even a couple who played pro. So I figured that I could be the first one to capture this angle: Lynn making it to the big leagues… and being a spectacular, legendary flop. The fact is, when you draft a player, as a sports franchise, he/she is far more likely to be a so-called "bust" than a superstar. To put it simply, the superstars and legends of sport are superstars and legends for a reason: they are rare and hard to find. The greatest of all time is… what? One in a hundred million? A billion, maybe? Heck, even making it to play COLLEGE sports is something VERY few people do, let alone professional sports, and that should be applauded in and of itself.
On the other hand, as sports fans, when your top draft pick ends up not being a franchise-changing superstar who leads your team to multiple championships, we usually end up disappointed and angry because of our own unfulfilled expectations. Yelling at the team's scouts, coaches, managers, and owners for making such a 'dumb' decision by picking that player over players who were picked later and became superstars. Most of the time, these sports front offices are doing the best they can with the knowledge they have available at the time; they do not have crystal balls that will allow them to see into the future. Plus, the margin of error at the pro level is razor-thin. So, this kind of thing is bound to happen. And there are many, many reasons that it can happen. This is the story of one of these flops... not from the perspective of the fan... but from the perspective of the flop herself.