Chapter 4

The next morning, Lincoln woke up to the sound of his alarm clock ringing, and he quickly silenced it before it could disturb Lori, who was still sound asleep nestled against his chest. He took the clock off of his dresser, then lifted it to his face to see what time it was. It was time for at least Lori to get up, since none of his sisters had gotten expelled from school like he had. Pushing the bitter memory to the back of his mind, he put his alarm clock down before brushing Lori's bangs to the side and kissing her forehead. The little girl squirmed and groaned before groggily opening her eyes.

"Hi, Linky. Is it morning already?" she mumbled. He nodded with a soft smile. Resigning herself to her fate, Lori put her arms around Lincoln's neck. The half-human teen sat up with Lori cradled in his arms, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and carried Lori down the stairs. The closer he and Lori got to the kitchen, the stronger the scent of their father's cooking became. Sure enough, Lynn Sr. stood at the stove flipping pancakes while two plates on the counter nearby were piled high with bacon and scrambled eggs respectively. Even with Lily and Lola away at college (Lily for an art degree, Lola for a theater degree), there were still plenty of mouths to feed.

Lincoln deposited the still-drowsy Lori in her chair at the dining room table, the scales on his chest having left an imprint on her cheek. Lincoln liked to sleep shirtless, usually wearing olive-green lounge pants to bed. Starting about an inch and a half below his collarbone, the skin and scales on his chest and abdomen were much lighter in color than on the rest of his body, more of an ivory shade or very pale yellow than grayish-green. He had the lithe, toned body of a swimmer, not too buff, but with prominent pecs and a six-pack. Whenever he worked out or went jogging, he got more than a few passing glances from his female peers.

After his sisters (with the exception of Lisa, who worked from home in her makeshift laboratory in the attic) left for school and his father left to work at his restaurant, Rita sat down with Lincoln to discuss the Hunnicuts' offer to have him work for them as a farmhand. He told her he would take the rest of the day to think about it, then went upstairs to take a shower and get dressed.

...

At lunch, Ronnie texted Lincoln and asked if he wanted to hang out at her house after school, to which he eagerly replied in the affirmative. Smartphones were hard for Lincoln to use because of his claws, but he was getting better with practice. Having a smartphone at all was incredibly useful, since not all of his friends knew Sign Language and even less of them were familiar enough with his body language and facial expressions.

It was also a rare day that one of Ronnie's parents had a day off of work, the hospital constantly keeping them on their toes. Maria was a Nurse Practitioner, and her employers kept putting her on the graveyard shift as well as double shifts despite her numerous protests. Arturo was an Emergency Room physician. Like his wife, he frequently received nighttime shifts from the hospital director. As a result of being overworked and underpaid, Ronnie and her little brother Bobby lived in a small two-bedroom house that was showing wear and tear due to both Arturo and Maria being absolutely exhausted at the end of every shift. It got to the point where Ronnie would regularly ask Lincoln (or whoever was available at the time) to help her mow the lawn and fix things around the house that were broken. She did that so that her parents could catch up on precious sleep.

When Lincoln arrived at Ronnie's house, Ronnie let him in and took him to the living room, where Cookie, the girl he'd rescued the previous day, was waiting for them. She was small for her age, only coming to Lincoln's midriff, and was very slender, almost skeletal. She wore a baggy purple sweater over a lavender dress, white ankle socks, and purple slippers. Her light-brown hair came nearly to her knees, and she had a round "baby face" dotted with freckles, with the biggest periwinkle-blue eyes Lincoln had ever seen. She had been born prematurely to a cocaine-addicted teenage mother who gave her up for adoption, and her fragile health made her an easy target for predators like the three boys Lincoln had fended off.

"Cookie here felt bad about your expulsion and wanted to talk to you," Ronnie explained when Lincoln looked at her inquisitively. Cookie stood up from the couch and walked toward them, rubbing her arm with an awkward smile.

"Hi, Lincoln. I...I've seen you around, between classes and stuff, but I've never really taken the opportunity talk to you or anything, and I'm starting to regret that now. From what Ronnie and the others have told me, you seem like a really nice guy. I don't understand why everyone seems to hate you. I mean, you saved my life when nobody else would have. Thank you so much for that," she said. The longer she talked, the more her face turned pink. Lincoln smiled and started signing with his hands.

"He says not to worry about it, and it was the least he could have done. His father and grandfather both taught him from a very young age that it would be his solemn duty as a man to protect those weaker than himself. Also, he's pretty much numb to everyone's insults by now, so they don't bother him as much as they used to," Ronnie translated. Cookie was about to reply when something with brown skin and black hair streaked past them, giggling hysterically.

"ROBERTO ANTONIO TIMOTEO ALFONSO SANTIAGO! YOU COME BACK HERE AND FINISH YOUR BATH!" they heard Maria scream from the bathroom. Lincoln cracked his knuckles, then reached down and grabbed Ronnie's buck-naked four-year-old brother around the waist right as he ran past them again. Maria had come out of the bathroom to give chase, the crow's feet around her tired eyes looking deeper than ever, and gladly took back the squirming preschooler Lincoln held captive with a curt nod of gratitude.

"Maybe we should continue this conversation somewhere else," Ronnie suggested. The three friends started walking to the nearby park. Lincoln had to tap Ronnie's shoulder and signal for her to stop when he noticed Cookie lagging behind, limping slightly with a pained expression.

"Sorry, guys. Too much walking makes my legs really sore," she apologized. Lincoln smiled once more, turned around, and dropped to one knee, offering Cookie a piggyback ride.

"He does this for his sisters all the time. He can carry both of Liam's prize pigs at the same time, so you'd be light as a feather to him," Ronnie said when Cookie looked at her. She reluctantly let Lincoln carry her the rest of the way to the park, where he set her down at a picnic table.

[Who wants an after-school snack, on me?] Lincoln asked, pointing to a nearby food truck selling ice cream and funnel cakes. They agreed on a large funnel cake with strawberry and chocolate syrup for the three of them to share, so Lincoln went up to the window and ordered. Unfortunately for him, none of the employees knew Sign Language, so he had to type what he was trying to say on his phone screen and show it to the cashier. Immediately after he paid, he whirled around when he heard Cookie scream, with Ronnie angrily shouting in Spanish.

Ronnie was in a fistfight with one of the bullies from the previous day while the other was dragging Cookie by the ankles toward the woods at the edge of the park. Lincoln clenched his fists and made a menacing growl deep in his throat, baring his teeth in a snarl.

So they want a rematch, huh? Fine by me! he thought. He pulled the zipper of his hoodie down and shrugged out of it, revealing that his T-shirt was sleeveless. He took a runner's pose, then bounded across the grass like there were springs in his feet. The boy with a hold on Cookie went down when Lincoln rammed into him with the force of a train, sending him flying a full twenty feet. The one in a fistfight with Ronnie saw Lincoln and froze in terror, leaving himself open for Ronnie to sweep his legs out from under him. When both boys had a chance to regroup, Lincoln puffed out his chest, opened his mouth wide, and let out a booming lion-like roar. Both boys turned white as a sheet and ran into the woods.

The food truck employees had seen everything and called the police. When the police arrived, Ronnie told them everything and pointed out the general direction the boys ran in. Meanwhile, Lincoln retrieved his hoodie and sat under a tree, Cookie's tiny form curled into a ball in his arms, bawling her eyes out and thanking him profusely for saving her life yet again. When their funnel cake was finally ready to eat, the food truck employees were nice enough to include three large lemonades for free.