Author Notes - To paraphrase Caddicarus, the world right now is bricks. Let's attempt to escape the pain (that we will NOT discuss further) by... reading more about real world issues. Well, at least these issues aren't the ones in the front of everyone's minds right now.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - OUTRAGE, DESERVED OR OTHERWISE

A couple days had passed, and Lynn had mostly forgotten about the whole thing. The Coach made it clear to Megan that she couldn't make any more comments regarding Lynn's gender identity, and that was that.

Or, at least, Lynn thought it was.

Lynn had forgotten all about the 'pretending to be a girl' thing and had only cared about the 'cheating' part. And she sure as heck was going to use that rage to outrun Megan even more than before. Hopefully, that girl would use her own rage to run even faster, so Lynn would still have a challenge. Then, it would be even more satisfying to fight against those accusations. She'd run the whole course backwards if she had to.

So imagine her shock - and despair - when she could overhear people talking about her when she went to the mall with her family. Several people gave her and her parents nasty stares, whispering things that she couldn't hear. For the most part, she was able to ignore them, because who even cared? If she listened every time someone said something mean about her, she'd never get anywhere.

'Look at this one, Lucy!'

She had dragged Lucy in with her to the sports shop, while the rest of her family was rather scattered. Leni was hitting the fashion stores, Lincoln wanted to buy some more nerdy comics, and Rita was trying to wrangle an overly-curious (and still mean) Lisa. Lynn, at that moment, had been admiring some gorgeous baseballs on display.

'They're so cool!' She said. 'Way cooler than the ones I have.'

She gave her father a look, which was easy because he was standing right behind her.

Lynn Sr sighed. 'LJ, I would love to get you the best baseballs that money can buy. Unfortunately, we're a little under budget right now.'

'I can find ways to get more money,' Lucy said. 'But you may not like my methods.'

He shuddered. 'Yeaaaah, that won't be necessary. Look, Lynn, I promise, if we ever have a good disposable income, I'll buy one for you. My awesome girl only deserves the best in the world!'

It was at that moment that a lady in the store cleared her throat, loudly. Lynn hadn't even noticed that she was there until now. She had a little boy with her, about Lincoln's age, who was looking at the hockey sticks.

'Sir!' She said. 'Do you mind?'

Lynn Sr blinked at her. 'Do… do I mind what? Shopping with my daughters?'

The lady rolled her eyes. 'Please stop pretending that your kid is a girl. It's confusing my son.'

The son in question hadn't even been paying attention to the situation until now. He gave his mother a somewhat bewildered look. Lynn Sr, if anything, looked far more confused than this kid did.

'Uh… what are you talking about?' He asked. 'I mean, I know what you're talking about, but-'

'I've seen the news,' The lady said, narrowing her eyes. 'I don't know how you can call yourself a good parent. Didn't you have enough daughters?'

Lynn Sr stepped forward. 'Listen, I don't know who you are, but Lynn is my daughter. Now please leave us alone, because I don't want to argue about this.'

Lynn just groaned and tried to ignore her. This random lady's opinions didn't matter, and there was sporting equipment to buy. Unfortunately, the lady was making it increasingly difficult to ignore her.

'What is wrong with you?!' She cried. 'You're forcing your son to be a girl because of some demented desire I don't even want to guess!'

Lynn Sr was about to respond to this with something along the lines of 'this conversation is over now,' but Lynn decided that she couldn't take this lying down. She turned around, puffed out her chest, and gave this lady the meanest look she could.

'HEY!' She yelled. 'I'll have you know, I'm the one who told my family that I'm actually a girl. They kept telling me that I was a boy, so I had to tell them that they were wrong.'

The lady gasped, and aimed a nasty glare at Lynn Sr. 'So you're going along with your son's delusions instead of telling him that he's wrong?!'

'What?!' Lynn Sr cried. 'W-Where are you even getting that from?'

'It's all so he can cheat in sports, isn't it?!'

Cheat. That word returned. That horrible word. One of the only words, like 'lose' or 'failure', that Lynn hated more than 'boy'. She rolled up her sleeves (that were already short) and approached this woman. If Lucy wasn't there to grab onto her arm, she would've done some serious damage.

'I never cheat!' She shouted. 'No one ever accuses me of cheating and gets away with it. You really think I would go through all of that cos I wanted to win? That's so… stupid!'

The lady huffed. 'Boys can't handle losing. You're so desperate to win that you're taking victories away from real girls who don't stand a chance!'

'If you think boys are that good, then you'd hate to meet my brother. Even my littlest sisters could-'

'Sports are segregated for a reason!'

Lucy stepped in front of Lynn and bore her teeth like an angry dog. Or, more accurately, like a thirsty vampire. The lady barely even flinched.

'Okay, that's enough,' Lynn Sr said, gently pushing them aside. 'There's no reason to get so heated.'

'He certainly has the temper of a boy,' The lady said. 'He's either a compulsive liar, or there's something seriously wrong with his head.'

Lynn could pinpoint the exact moment her father snapped. His eyes went as wide as dinner plates before they suddenly narrowed. He made sure his daughters were out of the way, and he glared into that woman's soul.

'What did you just say about my daughter?' He demanded.

The tone he spoke in sent shivers down Lynn's spine. Even Lucy seemed to shudder just a teeny tiny bit. Never before had he spoken in such a tone, at least not in front of his children. All the goofiness normally found in his voice had vanished.

'I'm beginning to think there must be something wrong with your head, too,' The lady said.

'Don't change the subject on me,' Lynn Sr said. 'I heard what you said about my daughter. I was ready to just ignore the whole thing and move on, but you have forced my hand!'

The two adults launched into an argument, one heated enough to get the attention of the store owner. Lynn stepped back and stared up at them, unsure of what to do. She didn't even realise the lady's son was approaching her until he spoke up.

'Um… hi,' He said.

'Oh, you,' Lynn said. 'What's up?'

'Uh, I'm Mike. And, well… I kinda like you. You don't really seem to care about what people think, do you? I wish I could be like you.'

'Thanks for the compliment! But why?'

Mike tapped his fingers together. 'Because I… I really wanna wear a dress. They look so pretty and nice. And I bet they're really comfortable too! But Mom told me that I can't. Cos I'm a boy. I like being a boy, but… I don't like not being able to wear a dress.'

The argument between this random lady and Lynn Sr continued for a while, and Lynn couldn't do much to stop it. Her dad was in a proper rage for the first time in years. The store owner was glaring at them now.

'We're so getting banned from this store…' Lucy muttered.

'Do you even know how many daughters I have?' Lynn Sr asked. 'Nine. Nine. And only one son. I don't care that I only have one son, but you'd think that if I could have one more, then I'd take it?'

'Your son thought he could just enter the girls' team and win!' The lady yelled. 'I hope I never see him in the same bathroom as my niece.'

Lynn Sr looked just about ready to punch her lights out. So perhaps it was a good thing that the store owner took that moment to call security to get this fight out of his shop.


The Lynns sat on a bench together, with Lucy hiding in the shadows right behind them. Junior just stared at the floor, hardly able to look up at her dad at all. Whenever she did, she was met with a glare upon his face.

'Dad, I-' She said, before getting cut off swiftly.

'It wasn't your fault,' Senior said, speaking firmly and clearly. 'Let me make that clear. It was not your fault for being who you are. The lady - whatever her name was - was just awful. Maybe she's a perfectly good person outside of that stupid argument. Right now, I don't care.'

'... Her son talked to me. He said she doesn't let him wear dresses.'

'Why am I not surprised?'

Junior watched the rest of her family roaming around the shops. They didn't really react to the Lynns getting kicked out of the sports store. If anything, they expected at least one Loud to get themselves evicted. Maybe Lola broke a display again. Or Lisa stole some 'chemicals' for her work. Or Leni spent a little too long trying to strike up a conversation with a mannequin. Everyone had done something once. Even Lincoln.

'You know that I'm not going through the whole thing just to cheat,' Junior said. 'Right?'

'Of course you're not!' Lynn Sr said. 'I've been watching you go through this stuff for years. Since you were about as old as Lana and Lola are now. No way I would think you were 'pretending to be a girl' just so you could cheat at a sport. Especially with how much you hate cheating.'

Junior looked over her shoulder at Lucy. The little one was barely visible in the darkness, and so silent you wouldn't think she was even breathing. She had her arms crossed, with the faintest hint of anger on her face. And only Lucy's family could've seen that.

Junior sighed. 'You don't think I… really do have an unfair advantage, do you? You know, cos I was born with a boy-ish body?'

That question left Senior speechless. Which Junior saw as even worse than a simple 'no'. At least that would put her fears to rest.

'I honestly don't know,' Senior eventually replied. 'Boys typically are stronger than girls, but it isn't like every boy on the planet is better than every girl. I mean, look at me and your mother! If I tried racing her around the block, I'd just collapse from exhaustion halfway through. And, well, you're pretty strong for a girl your age.'

That made Junior flinch so hard that she almost fell off the bench.

'That's because I worked to get there!' She yelled. 'Do people really think I'm stronger than all the other girls just cos I have a more boyish body? Nuh-uh! If a boy spent all day just lying around on the couch, the girls on my racing team could easily beat him!'

'I completely agree,' Senior said. 'But as far as everyone outside of this family knows, you won the moment you changed teams. Some people will be willing to look further into it, but a lot of people won't be.'

'Because they think some random boy could just show up and instantly beat all the girls? Sounds like these people think girls are worse than boys to me!'

'Sounds bad when you word it like that.'

'Cos it is bad!'

A few more people were glaring at them now. A couple of them muttered under their breaths, muttering things that Junior knew she didn't want to hear. Words like 'boy' and 'cheating' stood out amongst the incoherent mumbling.

'If you ask me,' Senior said. 'I don't think you have an innate advantage or anything like that. You're strong because you worked for it. And besides, there isn't much of a difference at this age. It's only really when puberty hits that there could be a real difference.'

'Sooo…' Junior said. 'If I had gone through poo-bertie, I would have an advantage?'

'Well, maybe? I don't know! This is complicated, and I have no idea. If it was up to me, you should be allowed to compete with other girls! But I don't know enough about this.'

'Well, find me someone who does. Maybe any 'advantage' I have is just because of how hard I've worked, but… but maybe I'm wrong.'


It took only a couple weeks of encounters such as that for Lynn to reach her breaking point. So many accusations of doing this cos she was apparently 'cheating' and 'desperate to win'. It never made any sense to her. As if any random boy off the street could possibly beat any of the girls on her team! That, in her opinion, was easily the worst part. If those people ever met her brother, they'd rescind those thoughts immediately.

And yet, it kept nagging at her.

'How is my daughter supposed to enjoy sports if her opponent is just going to be some boy in a dress?'

'You don't belong with the girls. You'll just dominate them and they won't have a chance!'

'I can't believe it. Your parents and school are going along with your delusions, and for what? So you can have a cheap chance at winning?!'

Just a few of the many things she had heard. The school had decided that she could stay in the girls' team, because the only one who had any objections was Megan (who started this whole mess in the first place). Still, the comments didn't stop. They pushed her to a point she had never expected to reach.

And that point was standing right outside Lisa's bedroom, trying to work up the courage to knock.

It wasn't because she was worried about Lisa calling her 'brother' yet again. Absolutely not. For the past year or so, Lisa had been calling her a 'male' so often that the word lost all meaning. It was more the possibility that the super-smart scientist in the family was going to say that Lynn did have an inherent advantage.

It didn't take long, forever, before Lynn threw away the idea of knocking in the first place and just barged on in anyway.

'Hey Lis!' She said. 'Got any spare time to-?'

She arrived just in time to witness an explosion on the other side of the room, loud enough to make the whole house shake. If Lynn wasn't so used to Luna's explosive way of rocking, she may have been surprised. Of course, loud explosions were a dime a dozen from this room. In the middle of the ashy impact site was a little girl whose face was covered in soot. Lisa groaned and wiped her glasses with the cleanest rag on the 'work table'.

'I hope this interruption is worth my time, elder sibling,' She said, giving Lynn that irritating and patronising look. 'I had come very close to a major breakthrough before you barged in.'

Any other time, Lynn would have pointed out that whatever experiment she was doing was bound to end in an explosion anyway. Now, however, wasn't the time for that. She waltzed into the room with as much nonchalant confidence that she could muster.

'I need you to do research on something important,' She said.

Lisa scoffed. 'What, the amount of bacteria required to have festering in your pits for the optimal odour to keep opponents away from you?'

'What? No! … I mean, that sounds pretty cool too, but that's not what I want. See, a lotta people in this town are angry with me cos I joined the girls' team. They say it's cos I have an advantage or something. You know, because I was born a boy.'

Lisa's 'annoyed cat' expression hadn't changed once. It hardly ever did. Apparently it was part of her 'autism', but Leni had that too and her expressions were wild. The never-changing expression didn't make Lynn feel any more confident.

'So,' She continued, 'I want you to do some research on that. I don't think I have an advantage, but if I do…' She sighed. 'I wanna know. Cos the last thing I wanna do is cheat. If I have an advantage, then I need to know.'

That expression on Lisa's face didn't change. After a while, Lynn expected a 'no' followed up by a new word for 'idiot' she had never heard before. That was not the answer she got.

'Hm… normally, I would deny your request because it is rather frivolous,' Lisa said. 'But it appears that there are, indeed, stakes. It will be low priority, mind you, but I will indeed do research on the matter.'

'Wait, you will?' Lynn asked. 'That's, uh… thanks, I guess? So, um, when should I expect the results?'

'As I have already explained, it will be a low priority study. I have far more important matters to concern myself with. Do not expect results any time soon.'

'... So, should I keep racing with the girls, or-'

Lisa sighed. She must've gotten fed up with this conversation minutes ago. It was somewhat astounding to Lynn that she bothered to hold it for this long.

'Yes,' She said, annoyance creeping into her otherwise emotionless voice. 'If the school believes there is no harm in letting you compete with females, you should be alright to do so. Now, please, leave my residence at once.'

Lynn wasn't sure if she was happy about this or not. At the very least, it was a far more successful conversation than most people had with the littlest Loud. So, she left the room as soon as possible. The last thing she wanted was yet another lecture.

Author Notes - It's shockingly common for parents who claim that people are 'pushing their trans agenda' onto their kids to push strict gender norms on their OWN children. Because transgender people and bullcrap gender norms are so tightly connected that it isn't even funny. Which means I get to use this story to rant about gender norms, which I have hated ever since my primary school forced me to wear dresses instead of pants just because I was a girl. Nothing wrong with dresses on other people, but I DESPISED them as a kid.

One thing about the 'trans women in sports' debate that always irritates me is that it can get rather misogynistic at times. A lot of people seem to think that some random dude who lays around all day could 'pretend to be a woman' and proceed to absolutely destroy his female competition. Because apparently, women who have literally TRAINED THEIR WHOLE LIVES could easily be defeated by a rando man! It sounds like they think ALL women are inherently weaker than ALL men, which is obviously not the case. Now, I'm a bad example because I'm a cis woman with noodle arms, but you get my point.