(The following is a nonprofit work of fanfiction and is outside of the original canon. All names, characters, businesses, places, events, and/or incidents of any kind depicted within this story are being used for entertainment purposes only.)
(The Loud House and all related characters were created by Chris Savino and all rights belong to Nickelodeon.)
- Chapter Two -
Forward to the Past
The Loud House, thirty years ago…
Friday, May 29th, 1987.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
The incredibly obnoxious sound of my alarm clock suddenly buzzed nice and loud within the confines of my bedroom. The noise startled my mind—as well as virtually making my heart almost skip a single beat. When my half-asleep mind processed what was going on, I groaned annoyedly under my breath and flopped the side of my white-haired head against my pillow. And there I thought I would have gotten used to it by that point.
"Alright, alright, I'm awake—Just shut up already, will ya?" I grumbled in an extremely low whisper. With all the strength that I was able to muster up, I raised my tired right arm and slapped down on one of the buttons of my alarm clock that rested on my nightstand, shutting the stupid thing up for good. The sweet sound of absolute nothingness came back into my room, making me pretty happy. But despite that, I knew very well that I still had to get out of bed, regardless.
Slowly, I rotated my head to the right to get a good look at the face of my clock. The time was seven oh-three in the morning. A smile crept across my face. Another day in the life of a Loud. I rubbed the tiredness out from my eyes and let out a big yawn, widening my mouth open to its limit, with the addition of stretching my scrawny arms out. I took a quick peek over to my left and locked my gaze on the calendar that hung on the bright, blue-painted wall. It displayed the month of May and all thirty-one days.
So far, there were only twenty-eight X's which I had marked on each one—except for the one numbered day that was within a red-colored circle. In that instant, my eyes jolted wide open when the sense of realization took over my brain.
Is this happening? Is this truly happening? Or am I still asleep? Just to make sure, I pinched myself directly on my rear.
And yes, it really did hurt. But it also helped to prove that I was not dreaming at all. I could not believe it. It was the last day of school. And it was also the day which marked the start of something greater. Something many other kids my age around the world would always look forward to after being forced to trudge through months of brain-rattling schoolwork. The inevitable yet welcoming phenomenon known notably to all as summer vacation.
Excitement began to swell inside of me.
Finally, it was officially the last day of school. And then after that, nothing but three straight months of freedom, playtime, and soaking up the warm summer sun. I hurriedly leapt out of bed and then went over to grab my towel and loofah sponge inside my dresser drawer. Right before heading out, I gleamed over and noticed my Back to the Future movie poster that was spread out from top to bottom, covering up a certain portion of my bedroom door.
"Good morning, Marty!" I greeted the poster, smiling warmly at the printed image of Michael J. Fox. "No time to stick around and chat, McFly! I have to get ready! Today is the last day of school! And boy, have I got some bodacious plans for this year!" Wasting no more time, I swung open my door and rushed out into the hallway. Thankfully, my sisters had not come out of their own bedrooms yet, so this gave me the chance to run a straight line for the bathroom on the far other side of the hallway.
I had always made it my top priority to wake up as early as possible in the morning before anyone else did and use the bathroom as a means to beat the morning rush. Believe me when I say it was much better than having to be forced to wait in an exceptionally lengthy line just to use the toilet and shower. Especially if that aforementioned line consisted of eleven kids—the ten of them being my older and younger sisters. I am the middle child—and the only male of the bunch.
After reaching the bathroom, I closed and locked the door, and then completely undressed from my orange pajamas. I maneuvered over to the bathtub, and I carefully turned on the shower faucet. After a few long seconds of waiting patiently, the ice-cold water finally started to turn nice and hot, just the way I preferred it. And so, I climbed right into the tub, and the warm splashing water quickly relaxed my entire body.
When it came to living in a single house of thirteen people with only one bathroom, having a long shower was a luxury for all of us. So, I tried to do whatever I could to enjoy them as best as possible, like I was doing at that very moment.
"The power of love is a curious thing!" I sang to Huey Lewis & The News as the warm water flooded down my scrawny body. After seven straight minutes of scrubbing myself with my loofah and washing my snow-white hair with shampoo and conditioner, I toweled myself dry and headed back towards my bedroom with my pajamas and loofah in hands. Once after I put my towel away, I stopped for a second and looked over at my clock again. The time was now seven ten.
Dad was going to start serving breakfast in twenty-four minutes. This info gave me the chance to kill whatever some of the spare time I had left until then. So, I went and put on my best pair of clean white underwear and socks, and I grabbed for my Sony Watchman from the bottom drawer of my nightstand. Flopping back onto my bed, I twisted one of the little knobs on the side of my handheld device to my most-desired channel right after pulling the aerial antenna up.
And wouldn't you know it, a rerun episode of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe had just started, much to my great delight. After seventeen minutes of staring at the little two-inch screen, I checked the clock one more time. What I saw almost made my stomach drop: it was now seven twenty-five.
Breakfast will be in five minutes! I quickly realized. Holy smokes! I was so caught up with my show that I almost lost track of the time.
If I had to estimate a guess, I would say that all the girls were more than likely finished using the bathroom at that point. So now, this meant Mom and Dad must have only started getting our breakfast ready downstairs. Wasting no more time, I turned off my Watchman, pushed down the antenna, and scrambled out of bed again. I scanned around through my dresser for a more suitable set of clothing I was going to wear for the day.
Thankfully, I had a delightful selection on my part. In a matter of time, I got dressed into an orange buttoned-up checkered shirt with the sleeves rolled up to my elbows and a simple red T-shirt underneath. And lastly, I wore a pair of light blue denim jeans and my favorite low top white Nike Bruins sneakers with the red swoosh emblem. As I was about to neatly comb my white hair, a grown man's voice rang out through the house, seconds passed the five-minute mark. It was Dad...
"Kids! Breakfast is ready!" he called out to us from downstairs.
Upon hearing that, I dropped my comb and made a dash back outside into the hallway. Before I even had the slightest smidgen of a chance to reach for the stairs, each and every one of my older and younger sisters came out from each of their own respective bedrooms. They all stood right outside their doorways, all clean and refreshed and they were dressed up in their own personal choice of clothing, ready for whatever today had in store.
Coming up first, there was Lori, the first-born oldest, tallest, and also the self-proclaimed "leader" of our many siblings. She was eighteen years old, and her blond hair was done up in a curly shag style. Her main choice of clothing consisted of an oversized light blue sweatshirt, a pair of light gray high-waist jeans, and white Adidas brand tennis shoes.
Following closely next to her was Leni, the second-born, and she served as Lori's roommate. She was seventeen years old and was a total fashionista in every meaning of the word. Her long pale-blond hair had a mild perm, and her clothes came in two colors: the seafoam green of her off-the-shoulder crop top, nylon belt, and leggings, and the bright pink of her leotard outfit and matching leg warmers.
Coming up in third was Luna, a sixteen-year-old rock and roll fanatic as you would not believe, and the clothes she was wearing strongly reflected this persona. She was dressed in a sleeveless black denim jacket with some rock band buttons, a purple-colored tiger-print shirt, and a pair of black acid-washed jeans and leather Doc Martens boots. Her brown hair was shaggy and shoulder-length, and covering her forehead was a purple-colored headband.
Right along with her was Luan, a fifteen-year-old plucky and aspiring comedian in the works. There were two things she loved in life: her boyfriend, Benny Stein, and getting a good laugh from other people. Adorned over her brown-haired, ponytailed head was a yellow hairclip, and her clothes came with a white buttoned-up dress shirt and a yellow sweater vest. A brown tweed skirt trailed down past her knees. Just like Lori and Leni, she and Luna were also roommates.
Lynn Loud Jr, a fourteen-year-old girl who possessed a deep religious-like passion for sports. Her feathery brown hair was tied into a high-short ponytail, and her main attire consisted of a white athletic top that was worn over a red short-sleeved shirt, a pair of red gym shorts, and black Adidas running shoes. Red-and-white elastic wristbands covered both of her lower arms, and a red sweatband crowned around her head.
Following next to her was Lucy, who was really something else. She lived and breathed all things gothic and spooky. Just by looking at her made me shiver at times. She had deathly pale skin and long black hair, her bangs concealing the top half of her face. Her attire came in all black, those being her maxi dress, knitted cardigan, and black-and-white-striped stockings. Overall, she appeared like she was a nine-year-old version of Ally Sheedy from The Breakfast Club.
The Loud twins—seven-year-old Lola and Lana Loud—could not be any more different from each other than they were already, in regards of both tastes and personalities. Lola had an incredibly enthusiastic interest in beauty pageants, as clearly evident with the shoulder-padded, long pink dress which she was wearing. A light pink sash was slung across her little torso, and her blond hair was long and feathery. And also, she was missing her two front teeth.
Unlike her identical twin sister, Lana was an utter tomboy to the letter. Her blond hair was pretty short with little pigtails and covering the rest of her head was a red-and-white trucker's cap. She wore a red padded down vest and a murky green T-shirt that was nicely tucked underneath her light blue jeans. One thing she and Lola did have in common though, other than having the same face, was that she too was missing her two front teeth.
Lisa was something of a surprise to all of us. At just five years of age, she was already a bright-minded child prodigy with a ridiculously high IQ, and she was a total scientific genius. I wish that I were exaggerating on that last part, but I was not. As she wore a pair of large, rounded eyeglasses, her brown hair was tied up with a little green scrunchie, and her clothes came with a green sweatshirt and a pink skirt that reached down to her little shins.
And then finally, there was the newest addition to our family, the smallest and youngest of us all. The ever-adorable Lily Loud, only two years old and was just starting to speak in full sentences. Her creamy blond hair was nice and grown, tied up at the top of her head by a little pink bow, and she was garbed in a small lavender dress with short sleeves and four little purple buttons that went down.
"Last one to the bottom is a rotten egg!" Lana shouted.
And so, instead of going in a straight and organized line from oldest to youngest, they all eagerly raced over to the stairs at once in a very tight crowd, pushing past each other in a daring attempt to be the first one to make it to the bottom floor. Well, almost all of them. I said that because I had to be the one to safely carry Lily in my arms so that she would not get trampled on. She may have been only two years old at that point, but she was still a little baby, you know.
"Coming through, slowpokes!" Lynn yelled competitively, sliding down the wooden rails past the other girls and me.
When we finally reached the bottom of the stairs and turned sharply to the left towards the dining room, with me in last place—I guess this makes me the rotten egg for today—we were greeted with quite an amazing sight. The dinner table was all organized with glass plates and silverware, as well as brown glass cups that stood closely next to the plates. Carefully arranged around in the middle of the table was none other than the culinary craftsmanship that made up our morning breakfast which Dad had cooked up for us all morning.
On some special occasions like this one, whether it was on the first and/or last day of school, our dad would go all out and create a feast that was large enough to feed an army. And believe me when I say that he made some of the best food we could ever have. At the very center of the table, there was a large pot filled to the top with scrambled eggs. The rest around the table included grilled sausage links, buttermilk biscuits, pancakes and waffles with chocolate chips inside, a pile of oven-baked bacon, a bodacious gallon of orange juice and carton of milk, and also thick and juicy slices of ham.
There was even a large porcelain bowl filled with freshly baked chocolate chip muffins and the sweet smell drifted off into our noses. Lily stuck her little tongue out and drooled hungrily as she and the rest of the girls stared googly-eyed at the food, just waiting to be chowed down on. Could not say I blamed any of them. Wasting no more time, and after I securely placed Lily inside her highchair, the rest of the girls and I went for our respective seats around the table.
But just as we were about to grab our own respective plates and then chow down on this fabulous banquet, we heard a noticeably clear and audible "Ahem!" coming directly from the kitchen doorway. It was the type of, "Ahem!" that people made to try and grab your attention.
All of us looked over to the kitchen doorway, and there stood our mother, Rita, hands placed firmly on her hips, a stern-looking frown on her face. Our mother was a grown woman close to her mid-forties, possessing short blond hair that was done up in a style that strongly made her look like Linda Hamilton from The Terminator. She was dressed in a pair of high-waist denim jeans, a slightly oversized pink sweatshirt, and some off-white flat shoes.
Standing next to her with a near matching countenance was our beloved father, Lynn Loud Sr., garbed in his favorite chef's apron and holding his metal spatula in his left hand. He was a grown man who was also close to his mid-forties just like Mom. His short and curly brown hair was thinning at the top and he had a long pointy nose. He was clothed in a sea green dress shirt and a black necktie, both contrasting nicely with his brown dress pants, and matching loafers.
Judging from the clean and clear look on his face, I would say that he just shaved earlier this morning. That and I could also smell just a little bit of his Aqua Velva aftershave from where I was seated.
"We know that you kids are really excited for breakfast," Mom said to the ten of us. "But would it honestly kill you all to remember to say Grace before you eat?" Upon hearing that, we all felt rather silly and embarrassed for having forgotten about that in our excitement. Lola, on the other hand…
"Aw, do we have to, Mom?" she complained.
"Yes, you do, young lady!" Dad said to his and Mom's daughter, not even missing a beat as he nodded his head in firm affirmation.
"But we're starving!" Lola added. But Dad was undeterred, holding his ground quite firmly.
"Lola, you know better than to argue with us about that," our father said in a stern but gentle tone. "Surely you and the rest of your siblings can spare a short minute of your time to give thanks where thanks are due, right?" The seven-year-old pageant queen leaned back in her respective seat and frowned unhappily.
"Yes, Daddy," she grumbled defeatedly. As far back as I can remember, our mother and father never once messed around when it came to praying right before a meal, and we all knew pretty ding dang well not to argue with them about it. Well, maybe some of us anyway. For a long time now, they would always tell us that "God is watching us," And believe me, I have taken those words to heart, even during the next thirty years of my life. I still did this very day.
"Lori, would you be kind enough to do us the honors?" Mom said to the teenage girl in question, as she and Dad took their own respective seats.
"Yes, ma'am," Lori complied, nodding blond-haired her head. "I would be very delighted."
"Teacher's pet," Lola grumbled under her breath. With that, all of us folded our hands together, and we bowed our heads down, even Lily had done so with a smile on her face. I thought it looked pretty cute and adorable, the way she copied us like that. As Lori prayed away, I could not help but sneak a quick peek at my right and I noticed Lola's pink arm-gloved hand just a few inches away from stealthily grabbing the plastic ladle from the pot full of scrambled eggs.
From underneath the table where nobody was looking, I lifted my left foot up and swiftly kicked against one of the legs of her chair, stopping her for the last time. She jerked her blond-haired head over in my direction, and I gave her my best scowl. A scowl that she knew very well read, "You'll be in serious hot water with Mom and Dad later if you don't do as you're told, little missy." She begrudgingly complied and folded her hands with an angry pout.
Once Lori finished at last with a sound, "Amen", Dad looked up at all of us and smiled warmly.
"Okay, NOW you all can dig in." he happily declared.
In less than two-point-five seconds, we filled our plates with as much food as possible and chowed it down to our hearts' content…
By the time we were all completely finished with our breakfast, there was hardly even a single crumb left, or a full dish anywhere that could be seen around the table. All of us laid back against our wooden seats, the sense of complete satisfaction clouding our senses. We were so full of food at this point, I thought that our stomachs were going to burst open and splatter everywhere around the dining room.
"You really did yourself good, honey," Mom complimented Dad. My sentiments exactly.
"Oof," Dad slightly groaned before making a small belch, patting his stomach. "I think I'm going to need a bigger belt after this." We all smiled proudly at our old man. Lynn Loud Sr. had triumphed once again.
Truly, another impressive job well done. After having cleaned and put away our own respective dishes so as to help save Dad the energy—and hassle—of having to do it all by himself, my sisters and I ran up one by one to our respective rooms to get ready and gather our school supplies. Back in my own bedroom, I picked up from where I left off and combed my white hair as neatly as I could make it. My hair was done up in a wavy blown out style with a medium-sized mullet.
I then collected what I believed was an appropriate number of my schoolbooks, a couple of freshly sharpened lead pencils, a half-used notepad, my handy-dandy calculator, and other school supplies. As I was stuffing them snugly inside of my backpack, I noticed from the right-side corner of my eye that my Sony Walkman cassette player—possibly one of my most prized possessions—was laying halfway out from below my bed.
"Must not forget about you," I muttered as I grabbed the little handheld device. I then went over to my nightstand's top drawer and found it lying inside my headphones and one cassette tape which was the soundtrack for Back to the Future.
"Cannot forget you two either." Three loud knocks suddenly came from my bedroom door, almost startling me.
"Hey, Lincoln!" came Lynn's voice from the other side. "Are you ready yet? Everybody's just heading outside right now!"
"I'll be out there in a few seconds, Lynn!" I answered back. And so, after slinging my backpack behind my shoulders, I hooked my Walkman to the side of my pants, plugged in my headphones, and inserted my cassette tape. I rewound the tape all the way back to the very beginning until it finally reached its limit, and then I quickly pressed the pause button. With everything perfectly now in check, I headed out my bedroom door and into the hallway.
"Hey, Lynn! How about I race you to the car?" I said to my sister as I was darting past her down the stairs, putting on my headphones. Unfortunately, I realized far too late the mistake that I had just made. Taking up my offered challenge, my competitive jock for a sister quickly followed after me with an incredible level of speed, almost like she had instantly transformed into Speedy Gonzales right before my very eyes.
As the both of us zoomed out through the opened front door and out into the front patio, I noticed that everybody was just starting to climb into our family van, Mom and Dad sitting up in the driver and passenger seats. I got so distracted that Lynn sped on ahead of me almost in a red-and-white blur, and she made it over to the family van without even breaking a single sweat yet.
"Ha! I win!" she declared rather smugly. I smirked and casually rolled my eyes.
I suppose that's what I get for challenging the family jock. Could you really blame a guy for at least trying? The two of us climbed into the second back row of the family van, whom we affectionately named "Vanzilla", and took our seats at the left side close to the back window. We called it by such a name because of how absurdly large it was. To be quite honest, it looked a lot more like a bus than that of a van.
After we fastened our seatbelts nicely and securely, Dad, sitting up in the driver's seat, twisted the ignition sideways and brought the car to life within seconds. The engine purred smoothly like a mighty panther. And just like that, we were off. While everybody else was spouting about their own plans for this summer, all I did was sit back in my seat next to Lynn and I pressed the play button on my Sony Walkman, tuning out everything around me.
At first, there was a couple seconds of low hissing. And then BOOM! The Power of Love by Huey Lewis & The News—which happened to be one of my many personal favorites—started playing at a balanced volume in my headphones. I smiled and gently tapped my foot to the rhythm of the music. I gazed out the side door window, watching many of the neighborhood houses and streetlights pass us by, the warm sun shining down on my face and the wind blowing against my snow-white hair.
Royal Woods… A quant little town that I would gladly always call my home, located just south of Saginaw Bay.
This place was everything I knew and cared for. It was where I was born and grew up in, where I rode my first bike, went to my first school, and made some good friends as well as enemies. If somebody tried to pay me thousands of dollars to move away, I would laugh at their face. No amount of cold hard cash could make me trade the life I had here for anything else in the world. There were just some things that had too much sentimental value to part ways with, you know?
I sighed blissfully under my breath, taking in everything that passed on by.
I really wish moments like this could last forever. I thought to myself. If only I had known back then that sometime in the near future, I would learn the hard way that nothing truly lasts forever, no matter how badly I wanted them to.
"You don't need money, don't take fame!" Huey Lewis continued to sing into my headphones. "Don't need no credit card to ride this train!"
Right before the song was about to reach its crescendo, Royal Woods Middle School finally came into our line of sight. Other groups of kids were being dropped off by their own families and they walked into the building in pretty big groups. Dad carefully parked Vanzilla up against the curb in front of the schoolyard. And with that, I put away my cassette player and stuffed it inside my backpack. I opened the side door and both Lynn and I climbed out, feelings of excitement for the summer barely being contained within us.
"We'll see you later, you two!" Dad called out from the passenger seat, waving his hand at us. "Have fun at school!"
"And try to stay out of trouble, okay?" Mom added. I snorted with a smile and then casually rolled my eyes. As if we hadn't been told that enough already. "We love you!"
"Hey, Lincoln!" Lynn said to me eagerly. "I'll race you inside!" Before I could even have the chance to protest, my jock for a sister was already gone, darting straight ahead for the front doors of the school. It was just unbelievably amazing to see how she was able to run so fast despite carrying a heavy-looking backpack on her shoulders. I snorted with a smile and shook my head.
That's the power of love! I mentally sang right before chasing after her.
So far, we are off to a good start. Do you like it, or did it need some work? Let me know in your reviews and tell what you think could be improved.
Oh, and fun thing you all should know about Lincoln's hairstyle. I modeled it after Steve Harrington's from Stranger Things. Nice, eh?
So anyway, try to have a good day, and I will see you all later in the next chapter. ;)
