April 24, 2025
Hi guys!
6 months after last chapter, here we go!
This is the 2 year anniversary chapter of Lucy Lament, which is my second most popular fanfic, after Loud Vents, which recently turned 1 year old and continues to be widely read!
Sorry, I was hoping to finish this fanfic as quickly as Lola Loud and Lincoln Legacy, my other spin-off of Requiem For A Loud. My goal is to complete this year.
From now on, I'm going to keep the footnote short and concentrate all the relevant information here, in the header. I'm also not going to announce anymore what will happen in the next chapter. I said that in Chapter 09 I would address Lucy's depression, but here the process has barely begun. First, she tries to disguise her sadness by creating a mask of joy for herself. Can this work?
Seanrudin: Will Lucy regret denying Haiku? In what way? How could this happen? We will see.
Your Saving Grace is Here: Yes, I leave it up to each person's interpretation. Lucy continues to surprise us with her boldness.
Enjoy!
Chapter 09:
New Pink Lady
"AAHH! Lincoln!"
"Lucy?"
"Lincoln... Joe... Haiku..."
"Shh, it's all over..." Lynn Jr. caresses Lucy, after she suddenly wakes up, breaking the sisters' sacred sleep in Lynn's bed.
"Where are we?" Lucy asks, looking around.
"In your room," Lynn clarifies, sitting on the bed with Lucy. "Our room."
"So... we're not at the supermarket?" Lucy turns to Lynn, having some bandages on her face.
"No, why?" Lynn yawns. "Did you have another nightmare?"
"Y-yes," Lucy stammers, rubbing her hair and forehead. "You, me, and the sisters were all at the supermarket, causing trouble, as usual. And Lincoln was running away from Haiku."
"Haiku or Joe Black?"
"Joe Black. But now I know Joe Black is Haiku."
"I see. And Lincoln was fighting Joe over Zombie Bran cereal?"
"I guess so. But Joe lured him right to me while I was turning a vanilla cake into a horror movie monster or something. Then Lincoln skidded across the floor until he landed on the cake. And Joe and I stood there, watching the cake swallow Lincoln and turn him into some kind of misshapen statue." [1]
"That Joe Black won't let you off the hook," Lynn scratches her chin.
"Yeah," Lucy clenches her fists. "I even thought in my dream, 'I won't kill Lincoln again.' But it's like I can't do anything. Controlling my dream seems to be beyond my reach. How can't I control my own subconscious? What would Lisa have to say about this?"
Lynn massages the back of Lucy, who groans a little from the bruises.
"The best thing to do is know that you can take control of your real life. You would never hurt Lincoln again. And neither would I."
"How do I really know?" Lucy diverges. "He's not here anymore."
"Let's see," Lynn grabs Lucy. "Would the original Lynn do this?"
She hugs Lucy carefully.
"And this?"
She brushes her face against Lucy's left cheek.
"Or this?"
Lynn gives Lucy a kiss on the lips.
"I love you as my sister, my friend, my ally and my protégé."
"Me too," Lucy smiles.
The two hug each other tightly.
And Lynn falls down with Lucy on top of her.
Lucy closes her eyes.
And she remains lying on her sister's chest.
"Sweet dreams, Lucy."
-SATURDAY-
On Saturday morning, the line for the bathroom is a little shorter, as it isn't a school day.
Only Luna, Luan, Lucy and Lisa wait, without much hurry, while Lori and Leni bathe together.
"Can you take a bath with me, Lucy?"
"Of course, Lisa. What little bottles are those?"
"My two 'shampoo-dyes'. Obviously, produced by me, which also am their very first guinea pig."
"And I will be the second?"
"Only if you want to."
Already in the bathtub, after the two dive into the cloudy water...
"So?" Lucy summons. "Time to test your shampoo-dye?"
"Yes," Lisa agrees, barely able to see without her glasses. "Which one should I try? Pony Pink or Joker Green?"
"Princess Pony is just me," Lucy jokes. "And Joker suits Luan better. Well, at least in the past."
"You're right," Lisa waves her arms in the water. "I think I look more like Lex Luthor."
Lucy thinks for a bit and decides:
"To maintain your serious image, let's wear green."
"As you wish," Lisa turns the back to her dark sister. "As much as I don't understand your logic."
Lucy rubs the shampoo thoroughly into Lisa's scalp.
Then she rubs the shampoo on her buttocks.
"Hey, stop!" Lisa gets angry.
"Don't you want a green butt?" Lucy insists, smiling mischievously.
"What's the point if no one is going to see it?"
"Okay. Time to scrub the rest of the body."
Lucy wets the already soapy loofah in the water and rubs it on Lisa.
"A bath can't be that torturous, right?" Lucy comments. "When you have someone to help you... Especially someone you love..."
"Please, stop, before I blush," Lisa demands, good-naturedly. "It's one of the reasons I dislike being four years old. Someday I'll come up with a formula to make me grow instantly. I'll be fifteen or sixteen. Then I'll finally be able to take a bath by myself."
"And you want to lose so quickly good things like that?"
Without hesitation, Lucy wraps Lisa in a wet hug.
Lisa thinks about arguing, but decides not to, and smiles as she feels the throbbing of Lucy's left chest on her face.
"The good things in life go by quickly," Lucy philosophizes. "Let's slow down and value them while we have them."
"Like certain longing white-haired brothers..." Lisa murmurs, before planting a kiss on Lucy's lap.
"Time to rinse?"
Lucy turns on the shower and Lisa washes the shampoo off her head, exposing her...
"Green hair!" Lucy exclaims excitedly.
"So it works?" Lisa smiles, barely able to see the result.
Lucy smiles cynically!
"Now I'm going to test it!"
"But... What about the side effects?" Lisa objects.
"Whatever! As a last resort, I'll take one of Lola's wigs. I hate my black hair."
"At your own risk."
Royal Woods Mall.
Leni, sitting on the bench, watches Lucy leave the dressing room once again.
"How about this?"
"Well... I..." Leni, disconcerted, scratches her ear.
"Come on, Leni, forget I was a goth," Lucy demands, a little impatiently.
"Well..." Leni forces a smile. "It totes amazing! It goes well with your new pink hair!"
"Thanks. Then, I think I'll buy these 3 combinations for today."
"As you wish."
After leaving the clothing store...
"Lucy, are you sure you're doing the right thing?" Leni asks, with the 3 bags attached to her waist.
"What makes you think not?" Lucy asks, counting the money.
"Like, are you doing this for yourself or just for your friend Sonnet?"
"Haiku. And she's not my friend anymore."
"Okay, I get it. But you shouldn't do things just to prove something to someone. Leave her alone."
"Leni, that's exactly what I'm doing. With these new clothes and my new look, Haiku won't have the courage to come near me anymore. She'll hide from me like vampire runs off from sun. And that's what's best for me."
"But you don't have to create a concrete wall between the two of you. Like, see all that you have built together over the years. The healthiest thing would be to leave a door open in case..."
"Look! The comic book store! Maybe I have some money to buy the Princess Pony graphic novel. Let's go!"
"Sigh..." Leni uses the word literally as she sighs wistfully, in the old Lucy fashion.
Back to the Loud House...
"These were my best dark dresses," Lucy offers the cardboard box, grinning from ear to ear. "They're all yours now."
"Hmmm... They're beautiful," Lola, the new goth girl in the house, observes, with her voice dry and her facial expression disenchanted. "Thank you, noble sister."
"They might be a little big, but nothing Leni can't adapt to."
"Well, it's only fair that we make a trade," Lola proposes. "You can take my pink mattress, and I'll take your gray mattress. Pink doesn't mean nothing to me anymore."
"But it's worth it to me," Lucy says cheerfully. "I'll see if there's a bucket of pink paint in the basement so I can paint my room."
"Like did you do with your hair?"
"It's Lisa's new shampoo-dye that instantly dyes your hair. Just put a little in the shower and the magic happens." Lucy lowers her head. "Go on, rub it."
"Hmmm... It looks good," Lola approves, unenthusiastically. "Lisa sounds well with her green hair too. But nothing compares to my beautiful black hair."
"Lisa is preparing other hair tones. She can make some gray tones for you to change up your hair a bit, and faster than the traditional dye you used."
"Maybe," Lola muses. "I can already imagine the festival of colors our family will become." She covers her eyes with the hands. "Ugh… That sounds so blinding."
"So you're going to blind even more now," Lucy announces, spreading her arms triumphantly. "Today our parents are taking us to Dairyland! The cows land!"
"Great..." Lola sighs bitterly.
At 4pm, the Loud Family gathers to have fun at Dairyland, even though they split into groups to explore the park's attractions to the fullest.
Luan stays with Lola and Lisa, while Lynn Jr. takes care of Lucy and Lana.
The older sisters take turns caring for Baby Lily, giving the parents a chance to have some fun too.
"I'm happy to be back in Dairyland," Lana celebrates, her hair dyed blue.
"Me too," Lynn Jr. agrees. "We haven't been here since… well, you know."
"But the best part is that this time I'm going to have fun without Lola," Lana admits. "I like her, but I can't stand listening to her philosophize about death, trauma, fate and tragedy all the time. She seems like a bad actress trying to fit into a role that isn't hers."
"I agree. Well, you won't have that problem with me," Lucy assures, a permanent smile on her face. "I'm Lucy Loud, your cheerful and pink hostess."
"I thought I was the hostess," Lynn Jr. objects, good-naturedly.
"Yeah, but you're not cheerful and you're not pink," Lucy teases, much to Lynn's delight. "Anyway, what are we going to do first? Maybe ride the Milk-Shaker Rollercoaster? Or sail down the Milk River? Or..."
Lucy stops.
A few meters away, a 4-year-old girl is frightened by an employee dressed as Tippy The Cow, the park's mascot, who tries to give her a hug.
"Calm down, daughter," The smiling Father consoles his crying daughter, who hides between his legs. "She's your friend. Our friend..."
Lincoln Loud comes out of the bathroom in the morning and comes across Tippy The Cow staring at the wall, with her back to him.
And whenever someone appears with their back turned in cartoons, it's because a bad surprise is coming.
Tippy turns her head to Lincoln, toothless, with a green face and bloodshot eyes!
"AAAHHH! IT'S THE MAD COW!" Lincoln, desperate, runs down the hallway, chased by the zombie cow.
After he descends the stairs towards the staircase, Tippy Zombie removes his mask:
She's Lucy Loud!
"HA HA HA HA HA HA!" She laughs evilly. [2]
The entire scene plays out quickly through the wide eyes of Lucy, the pink Loud!
She had long forgotten about that incident, but seeing that innocent girl feeling intimidated by a foam cow...
Lucy starts to shake.
"Lucy?" Lana frowns.
"I-I-I-I..." Lucy stutters, fixing her gaze on Tippy. "...I didn't do nothing. Nothing. Nothing. I-i-it was Joe Black. He forced me. Him, her, Joe, Haiku..."
"Do you want to explain what's going on?" Lynn Jr. pokes Lucy in the back.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Lucy screams, arching back as if pierced by a spear. "I DIDN'T KILL LINCOLN! I DIDN'T DESTROY HIS LIFE! I ALWAYS TREATED HIM WELL! ALWAYS!"
"Stop, Lucy!" Lynn shakes her sister, as Lana and the curious children and adults around her, including Tippy The Cow, look on in amazement.
"LET GO OF ME!" Lucy tries to free herself from Lynn's restraining embrace, with the two pushing and turning in public. "YOU ARE THE ONE TO BLAME! YOU ACCUSED HIM OF BRINGING BAD LUCK! YOU PUT ME INTO HIM!"
"ENOUGH!"
PEIM!
Lynn slaps Lucy hard, making her fall to the ground sitting down!
BONC!
"OOOHHH!" The crowd exclaims.
Lynn, looking at her own hand, soon realizes.
She hit Lucy again!
She didn't even wait for Lucy to heal from the scratches and purple bruises from the night before.
Lynn, distressed, begins to shed tears!
Lucy, nervous and dazed, feels a strong cramp in her stomach.
She vomits all her lunch on the floor!
"BLERGH!"
"YERK!" Lana sticks out her tongue, disgusted.
Lucy faints!
BONC!
"AAAHHH!" Lucy runs down an endless hallway of rooms, chased by Tippy Zombie.
Lucy comes across a wall with no doors and is cornered!
"End of the line, Lucy!" The cow squeals in a high-pitched voice.
"Please! I'm not like them! I never wanted to hurt Lincoln!"
"Maybe not, but you never did anything to defend him either! Where were you when they kicked him out of the house?! [3] Or when he was thrown out of the limo?! [4] Or when they terrorized him because of his headphones?! [5] Or when they turned the house into a garbage dump?!" [6]
"I had no choice! They always forced me!"
"And all the times you laughed in his face?! When he tried to take over Lori's authority?! [7] Or when he was appointed as Vanzilla's heir?! [8] Or when everyone at school wanted to beat him up for being the 'Girl Guru'?! [9] Or when he got punched by Ronnie?! [10] You always found all of that funny!"
"I didn't think funny when Ronnie hit him! I hated! I just had to keep up my family's 'contrarian' vocation!"
"Spare me your lame excuses! It's also because of you that he's dead! The hour has come to return the favor!"
"What?"
"It's only a matter of time," Tippy Zombie concludes, stepping back until disappears, while the environment around Lucy silently fades into a vast black background.
"No! No!" Lucy begs, now floating aimlessly through nothingness. "I'm better than them! I'll show you! I'll..."
"OH!"
Lucy wakes up suddenly, in Lori's bed.
There is a golden bell next to the bed, on a wooden stool.
Lucy rings the bell.
DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING!
"I'm coming!"
The ajar door opens and Luna enters the General Room, carrying two plates of vegetable soup.
"I didn't want to leave you alone, Lucy. But I got hungry and..."
"Luna?" Lucy scratches the back of her neck.
"Do you feel well enough to eat?"
"Put here. What happened? I thought I was going to have fun at Dairyland."
"You were," Luna confirms, placing a plate next to Lucy on the bed. "But you got sick in the crowd, passed out, and Madonna took you and me back home."
Luna knows that Lucy had a psychotic episode in the park, but she doesn't want to go into details, so as not to upset Lucy even more.
"And where are the other sisters? Are they in Dairyland?" Lucy asks, as she receives a plastic bottle of water.
"Yes. I was the only one left here to take care of you."
"Great," Lucy said cheerfully, after drinking some water. "I'd hate to see my family miss out on all the fun because of me."
"Me too," Luna admits, sitting on Leni's bed. "But I'm happy to take care of my favorite vampire pony."
"Just pony. She broke the curse that had kept her cursed for centuries."
"As you wish."
The two start eating.
Suddenly, Lucy remembers what exactly happened in the park.
But she prefers not to say anything to Luna, so as not to create another distressing discussion.
"Hey Lucy," Luna takes the initiative.
"Say."
"Are you still reading the Bible?"
"Yes."
"So why did you try to contact Lincoln's spirit yesterday if it goes against the Bible?"
"I don't know."
"Maybe because you didn't find all the answers in the Bible?"
Lucy is speechless.
Luna continues:
"I don't want to argue, bro, but be careful not to become fanatic."
"What?" Lucy wonders.
"I have known girls my age and also some older women who had received a strict Christian upbringing, whether at home or in school, and had their lives destroyed because of it. Some were even sexually abused by the very priests or relatives who taught them to live a holy life according to biblical standards, and yet they arbitrarily blamed the girls, saying that they had incited him to commit such sin. Very hypocritical, isn't it?"
"And... and that's why you became an atheist?"
"This was just part of a long process. As I studied the Bible and discovered the truth for myself, I decided that I would not let anything or anyone violate me, attack me or delegitimize me for who I am. Not even a hypothetical sadistic God who creates billions of human beings just to roast them on the barbecue of hell for millennia on end."
Lucy shivers from head to toe.
Luna watches her frightened sister and realizes what she has done:
"Oh, sorry. I guess I was a bit too bold. I'm not telling you to throw the Bible in trash, but just to be careful not to become an inflexible fanatic. There may be a reason why God forbade the Jews to eat pig, but that's no reason for you to stop eating bacon, for example. Or else..."
Lucy drinks the rest of the soup in one go.
She jumps off Lori's bed and climbs into Luna's lap.
Without anything else, she hugs her sister tightly.
Luna smiles and also decides to stop talking.
"Sometimes silence is the best medicine."
And the two lie down on Leni's bed, contemplating each other in silence.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha..."
"What's so funny?" Luna asks.
"I don't know…" Lucy admits. "He he he he he he he..."
-SUNDAY-
By Sunday morning, Lucy doesn't feel much better.
Her stomach ache didn't go away and she even got a fever.
At least she spent the night sleeping in Lori's bed, as is every sick sister's privilege (with Lori and Leni sleeping in the bed next to her).
Lucy remains lying in bed. The only light in the room comes from the locked window.
It's a beautiful and cloudy autumn day, but even if she weren't sick, Lucy wouldn't feel like going out to play.
She assumes the window has been locked since yesterday to prevent the effects of any new psychotic break.
BAM BAM BAM BAM
"Enter."
The door opens.
"Chicken soup for the dark lady," Lola announces, in her dead tone, with a plate in her hands.
"I don't want anything," Lucy grumbles. "Sniff."
"You have to eat something," Lola insists. "It may not be blood, but..."
"And I'm not a dark lady."
"Of course you are. That's also why I came here. To give you professional help."
Lucy narrows her eyes.
Lola puts the plate on the wooden stool, but Lucy doesn't show the slightest reaction.
"So, how are you feeling, darling?" Lola asks calmly, sitting on the edge of Leni's bed.
"Badly, very badly," Lucy replies irritably, not daring to look at Lola.
"Both physically and spiritually."
"Yes. Sniff."
"The loss of your friend Haiku still shakes you."
"No. Not at all. And she was never my friend."
"Please, my dear, don't try to mask reality. Trying to deny the existence of your pain will only make it worse."
"And what should I do? Accept my pain?"
"Exactly," Lola confirms, tossing her long black hair back. "We have to accept that setbacks, tragedies and misfortunes are part of life, and that they shape us for better or for worse. The choice is ours."
Lucy frowns.
"Think of this way," Lola ventures a metaphor. "You fall off your bike and scrape your knee. You can spend the whole day complaining about your pain and about why life is unfair to you or why your bike doesn't have training wheels. Or
you can cry as much as you need to and learn from your knee pain so you don't repeat your mistakes and become a better cyclist."
Lucy, indignant, shows her teeth as she gets up from the bed.
"That's how everything is in life," Lola continues, her eyes closed. "Whether it's the death of a brother or the betrayal of a friend, we must face our fears and sufferings with strength and wisdom, so that we emerge from them as better people..."
"AAAHHH! HELP!"
"STOP IMITATING ME!"
"DROP MY HAIR!"
"ONLY IF YOU PROMISE TO STOP THIS STUPID THEATRE! YOUR FAKE GOTH!"
"PLEASE LET ME BE GOTH! I LOVE BEING GOTH!"
"YOU ARE NOT A GOTH! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING ABOUT PAIN AND SUFFERING! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW MAKE THE CORRECT METAPHORS! YOU JUST WANT TO MOCK ME!"
"I WANT TO HELP YOU FEEL BETTER!"
"SO STOP BOTHERING ME! AND SAY GOODBYE TO THAT IMBECILE BLACK DRESS!"
Lucy starts to tear Lola's clothes, but the door to the General Room suddenly opens!
"LUCY! LOLA! STOP THIS FIGHTING NOW!" Rita demands, with the rest of the sisters crowded outside.
"SOMEONE GET THIS TROGLODYTE OFF ME!" Lola begs, back to her authentic tone of voice.
"What is this mess in my room?!" Lori walks in, catching Lola as soon as Lucy lets go of her. "Lola, are you literally wet?"
"Lucy dumped the chicken soup all over me!" Lola cries.
"Chickens have to live together!" Lana teases.
"Lydia!" Rita scolds her. "Respect your sister!"
"Sorry," Lana smiles. "But I couldn't miss the joke."
"How did this start?" Lynn Jr. asks.
"I saw that Lucy was sad about the loss of Haiku (sob) and I tried to say something to cheer her up," Lola explains, between tears and sobs.
"I'm not sad, I just have a cold. Sniff," Lucy snaps. "I want Haiku to go plant potatoes. But Lola was comparing Lincoln's death to a scraped knee, as if my grief over his loss meant nothing. That's why I broke off my friendship with Haiku. She also makes light of my grief."
"You're too hot-headed, bro," Luna says. "You can't just let your heart get the better of you and start fighting with everyone."
"Oh my, Lola, what a mess Lucy made of your dress," Leni observes, examining the rips in the fabric on Lola's body. "Well, nothing a good seam can't fix."
"You can sew. I'll rip again," Lucy assures, sneezing afterwards. "AAACHOOO!"
"You're not going to do anything, young lady," Rita puts her hand on Lucy's forehead. "You're going back to bed, because your fever just got higher."
Lori grabs Lucy and lays her back on her own bed.
"And if you mess up my room again, you're going back to LJ's room," she warns, after covering Lucy with the blanket.
"Don't be so mean to her," Lynn Jr. smiles, making fun of herself.
"I recommend a hot water bag for Lucy," Lisa suggests.
"I'll make it," Luan offers. "And some warm cloths too. Ha ha ha ha. Get it? These two brats need it."
"I wasn't fighting with anyone," Lola defends herself. "And now I'm going to my gray bed too. Excuse me."
"You too, girls. All of you, get moving," Rita calls, putting her daughters out of the room. "Including you, Lori and Leni. And you, Lucy, without TV or smartphone for the rest of the day."
"Oh, that's great," Lucy complains, confined to bed, not looking at Mother. "Now, besides being stuck in bed with a fever, I also lose the right to be pampered. Sniff."
"This will make you think twice before beating up your sisters for no reason."
"Don't worry, Lucy, I'll read you a book later," Leni promises, smiling.
"Can you at least close the window?" Lucy asks.
"Sure," Rita closes the curtains, blocking the light from the window. "Shall I turn off the light?"
"Yeah," Lucy covers her face with the blanket.
CLICK!
- MONDAY -
On Monday morning, Lucy, with her fever now much reduced, gathers strength to continue her journey to school.
Even with a cold and some marks on her face, she feels the need to return, especially to rub her metamorphosis in Haiku's face.
She barely passes through the school gates and several boys and girls avert their eyes to that new girl who is "parading" in the courtyard, wearing a red flannel jacket, a white Hello Kitty shirt, blue jeans, pink shoes and short dark pink hair.
As she opens her closet, she doesn't see any goths around. So much better.
Upon entering her classroom, before Miss Riley arrives, Lucy soon becomes the center of attention, with her classmates surrounding her (keeping a certain distance, obviously) and asking 1001 questions about her fight with Haiku, the breakup with the Morticians Club and, most importantly, where she bought her wonderful pink dye.
Lucy happily answers the questions, stopping a few times to wipe her nose with a tissue.
"Just an ultimatum: I don't want to go on any dates this week."
"AAAHHH!" Several boys wail (and some girls too).
"All in good time," Lucy smiles. "And by the way, we talked so much about Haiku and she didn't come to school today?"
"Yes, she came, but she was transferred to another class," a black girl responds. "I think she's scared of you."
"What about Rocky? Any news about him?"
"None," a blond boy replies. "Maybe he has a higher fever than you."
Lucy shrugs and retreats to her desk.
Midday.
Lucy decides to innovate once again and looks for the table of Lincoln's old friends.
At this point, the last thing she wants to do is have lunch with Lola.
Yesterday they rehearsed an apology at dinner time, but it was nothing more than pure protocol.
Now, for Lucy, the fewer zombies around her, the better.
After a few minutes of searching, she finally reaches her target.
"Clyde! Liam! Stella!"
Zach left Royal Woods months ago, in a traveling circus with his family.
What is striking is Rusty's absence from the Nerd Team.
"Who are you?" Clyde doesn't recognize her.
Lucy enumerates, smiling from ear to ear:
"Delayed Sunday. Model airplane in the park. Corn dogs at the lake. Your hand feeling my leg."
Clyde marvels:
"Lucy?"
"We should go out again," Lucy suggests.
"Er... Sure," Clyde scratches his head. "WhatsApp me."
"Wait, Clyde," Stella is confused. "You fondled one of Lincoln's sisters?"
"Goth girls are your weakness..." Liam jokes. [11]
"Calm down, guys, it was my idea," Lucy explains, still excited. "That way, if Lori asks Clyde out, he'll be able to say I was the first. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! AAACHOOO! Sorry. This autumn is giving me a cold."
After wiping her nose, Lucy sits at the table.
"Anyway, you guys don't seem too excited today," she observes cheerfully. "Where's Rusty?"
"So you didn't hear?" Stella is surprised.
"About?"
"Rusty is gone for good," Liam reports, with a bitter aftertaste.
"WHAT?!" Lucy immediately reasons. "But why?!"
"We don't know for sure," Clyde explains. "From little he wrote on WhatsApp, his Father was in a hurry and didn't want to say anything. The moving truck barely arrived last night and the men were already taking everything from inside the house."
Clyde sucks on his asthma inhaler.
"And Rocky left with them too?" Lucy insists.
"Exactly," Liam confirms. "I thought he called you."
"I... I..." Lucy lies, "I couldn't. My smartphone was out of battery. Have you tried talking to him again?"
"Several times," Stella confirms. "But it looks like they blocked us."
Lucy is silent, looking at the table.
"Another loved is gone."
"Lucy?" Clyde calls her.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Lucy replies, not moving a muscle.
Stella puts the hand on her shoulder:
"I know it's hard to accept..."
"I ALREADY TOLD YOU I'M FINE!" Lucy slams the table. "DANG IT, WHY DOES EVERYONE HAVE TO SEE ME AS A WEAK CRYBABY?! YESTERDAY WAS LOLA, TODAY IT'S YOU?!"
Silence.
Stella objects serenely:
"No one forced you to come to this table."
Lucy calms down:
"Sorry. Let's just eat now."
Lucy opens her backpack and takes out her tupperware with mac n' cheese.
As they eat, Liam ventures:
"But Lucy: why did you stop being goth?"
Lucy raises an icy gaze:
"Aren't you happy with me?"
"Yeah, sure. I mean, not that I hated you. But..."
"Yes, everyone hated me," Lucy refutes. "Even I hated myself. But now..."
PLOFT!
A large crumpled ball of paper is thrown and dives onto Lucy's plate!
The pink girl, all confused, uncrumples the paper and only sees a single word written:
"FAKER!"
Before she can ask who did this, an 11-year-old white girl with long black hair stands up, looking at Lucy with disdain. She wears a burgundy cardigan, a red shirt, a black polka-dot skirt, and red shoes with long white socks.
"Well, well, what do we have here... A freak trying hard to pass for a normie."
"Kat!" Clyde immediately recognizes her.
"Leave Lucy alone," Stella demands, without moving.
"That's between me and her," Kat snubs.
Lucy gets up from the table and waves her hand to her preteen friends not to interfere.
She walks over to Kat and glares at her coldly, without saying a word.
Kat watches her with a cynical smile.
The students crowd around, curious to know what will happen.
"There's no point in trying to pretend to be something you're not," Kat scoffs, hands on hips. "You got tired of playing with your undead girlfriend and so you faked a fight with her so you could gain popularity on your own. I'm sorry to say, but you're doomed to failure. To reach a level like mine, you need much more than a brightly colored outfit and a poor childish t-shirt. You need charm, swagger, resourcefulness... but, above all, attitude. And that's a long process, which requires a strong learning about..."
"GET AWAY FROM HER!"
Intrigued, Kat turns around.
An 8-year-old Japanese girl with long black hair and some marks on her face cuts through the crowd. She wears a long purple dress with a skull print, black fingerless gloves, and black-rimmed sunglasses.
She demands:
"I don't know what phony motivational coach you've been reading, but leave Lucy alone!"
"Haiku?" Lucy is slightly intrigued when she realizes that her ex-partner is not only speaking in her normal tone of voice, without any hints of somberness, but she's also not using super pale makeup. Not that it makes any difference, since Haiku has always been very pale, and the fact that she never gets much sun exposure contributes to that.
Kat, without saying anything, steps aside to also check out the spectacle.
Amidst several expectant looks (and smartphones raised), Haiku approaches Lucy and stands in front of her.
The two stare at each other from a distance.
Haiku struggles to hold back her tears.
Lucy gives her an impassive look, without any obvious emotion.
After a minute and a half of silence, Haiku reads a paper with a haicai:
An anger stirred by me.
A fraternal crystal that falls and broke.
Can we restore it together?
"Hmmmm," Lucy murmurs, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
Haiku announces:
"This may be the last haicai I ever wrote."
The paper is transferred from Haiku's hand to Lucy's, who slips it into her pants pocket.
Haiku continues:
"I have nothing to hide from you."
She removes her sunglasses.
"OOOHHH!"
Boys and girls hiss at the sight of the pair of black eyes that adorn Haiku's face.
"These are the remnants of my fight with Lucy last Friday. But that's just a drop in the ocean of my suffering."
Without hesitation, Haiku slowly removes her wig.
"WWWHHHAAATTT?!"
Clyde, Liam, Stella, Kat and the surrounding boys and girls are shocked to discover that Haiku is, in fact, bald!
Lucy doesn't move a muscle.
She's known all along.
"You can look all you want," Haiku, with her voice breaking, points to the scars on her scalp. "4 years ago I almost died in a house fire. I was saved by a hair's breadth, but the flames danced around my head."
"But why are you revealing this to us?" Kat asks, perplexed.
"It's just so you know that life is too fleeting to be wasted on stupid fights," Haiku explains, through tears. "I could be dead right now, and my fight with Lucy wouldn't even have happened. None of this would matter at all. So why does this matter now?"
Haiku turns to Lucy:
"I have one last message for you."
Suddenly, she rips her dress completely open, from top to bottom...
...revealing, plus to her black leggings...
...her white T-shirt with the phrase "Black Friends Forever."
"OOOHHH!" Boys and girls exclaim, amazed.
Haiku throws her favorite dress on the floor and steps on it.
She continues:
"Our friendship has never been about being goths, or crushes on idiot vampires, or restrictive color palettes. It's about two girls who love each other and enjoy each other's company, no matter what the cruel and messy world thinks about it."
Haiku then kneels and crawls over to Lucy.
"Huh?" Lucy is intrigued when her friend kisses both of her hands...
...and shoes.
Haiku hugs Lucy's legs and finally lets her tears flow.
"Forgive me, Lucy! I don't care who you are or how you want to live! Our friendship is so much bigger than that! Tell me to reject the goth world! Tell me to drop the poetry! Tell me you'd rather call me Heather! Tell me to join the Princess Pony fandom! Tell me to wear feathers and sequins full time! I'll do anything for you, but come back to me!"
Higher pitched crying sounds?
Lucy turns her head and notices her sisters Lana, Lola and Lisa, plus Darcy, Lisa's Best Friend, standing in front of Clyde's table, with wide eyes and streaming tears.
Haiku stands up and looks Lucy in the eye:
"I sacrificed my honor and dignity to be here with you. It's no small thing. I'm going to leave you alone to reflect now. Whenever you want, you can call me. I love you, Lucy."
Haiku puts her wig back on, turns around and runs away, leaving the perplexed crowd behind.
Lucy then fixes her icy gaze on Kat, her Pablo Marçal... I mean, verbal aggressor.
"I... I..." Kat stammers and also runs away.
"Friendship is such a beautiful thing," Darcy continues crying. "It would be so sad to lose our friendship over a silly fight."
"Let's make sure that never happens," Lisa tightens the hug.
Lana hugs and kisses Lola on the cheek.
"SMAC!"
Lola, even though she is a goth girl, gives a small smile and repeats the gesture.
"SMAC!"
As the crowd slowly disperses, Lucy remains standing there for a few more seconds.
Until she starts to laugh nervously:
"He he he he he he. He he he he he he he. Ha ha ha ha ha ha... ha... ha..."
"Lucy?" Clyde gets up from the table. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I am," Lucy lies again. "I just... go to bathroom. Excuse me."
Under the intrigued looks of Clyde, Liam, Stella, Lana, Lola, Lisa and Darcy, Lucy nervously runs out of the school cafeteria.
"Why did your sister start laughing?" Darcy wonders. "After everything her friend did for her?"
"I don't think Lucy acted out of malice," Lisa ponders. "She was just overcome by a nervous breakdown."
Lucy walks through the hallways, which seem much longer now.
She finally finds the women's bathroom and isolates herself inside.
After making sure she's alone, she takes off her jacket, rolls up her sleeves and washes her hands and face.
After wetting her hair with her right hand, she looks at herself in the mirror.
And cries frantically.
"HOOBOO! HOOBOO! HOOBOO! HOOBOO!"
She wipes her nose.
Her head down, she lists:
"Lincoln... Fangs... my other bats... Haiku... Rocky... Who's next?"
"You."
Lucy looks up.
Through the mirror, she sees, leaning against the door of one of the stalls...
"Lincoln?"
"You ruined my life, you ruined Haiku... Even Rocky ran away because he was ashamed of you. Admit. You have to stop being a burden to others. Why prolong useless suffering? Give up."
Finger "cutting" throat.
Lucy turns around.
Lincoln is not behind her.
Not even in the mirror anymore.
Suddenly a pink trickle runs down Lucy's face.
She widens her eyes when she sees her face getting stained!
She tilts her head in front of the mirror.
Her pink hair is bleaching!
She looks at the palm of her right hand.
It's stained pink!
"I can't go back to class like this!"
"Lucy, are you in there?" Stella knocks on the door.
"YES!"
Sound of a running faucet.
"Is everything okay?"
"YES!"
2 minutes later, the sound of the faucet stops.
Stella hears the sound of paper towels being used, crumpled and thrown in the trash.
The bathroom door opens.
And Lucy comes out.
Completely black hair.
"Lucy?!" Stella is shocked.
"Not... a word… about… this," Lucy orders, her dark tone returning as she pulls on her jacket. "This is what you get for trusting Lisa."
Lucy heads back to the cafeteria, with Stella right behind her.
Without another word.
Later, at the Loud House...
BAM BAM BAM BAM
"Who is it?"
"Lucy, your daughter. Can we talk?"
"Come in."
Lucy, with black hair, but still in her vibrant clothes, enters her parents' room, where she finds her Mother, in a red robe and a towel on her head, fresh out of the attached bathroom (Lynn Sr. is in his restaurant).
"What were you doing?" Lucy asks, in a normal tone of voice, after closing the door.
"Taking a bath," Rita answers, relaxed.
"Oh. Did I interrupt you?"
"No way, I'm done," Rita removes the towel and shakes her wet hair toward her daughter.
"He he he he... Stop," Lucy asks, good-naturedly.
"Would you like to comb my hair?" Rita offers a wooden comb.
"I still have a cold."
"It doesn't matter."
Rita sits on the bed, while Lucy climbs up to comb her hair from behind.
"You have a very beautiful hair," Lucy sighs, as she begins to comb it.
"Thank you. Yours is too. Black or pink," Rita replies.
"I'm flattered."
"So, what's the matter?"
Lucy takes a deep breath:
"Mom, do you consider me… a burden?"
Silence.
"Of course not, daughter. Why do you ask that?"
"Well..." Lucy pretends. "Someone at school told me that."
"For what reason?"
"Well, look... Haiku came to ask me forgiveness at school. It was in the cafeteria, in the middle of everyone. Some even filmed it to post on social media."
"That's great. Except for the last part."
"You won't believe it: she removed her wig and revealed to everyone the story of the fire she suffered when she was 4 years old. And she even ripped her clothes, knelt down and hugged my legs, begging for my forgiveness."
"That's beautiful. And have you forgiven her?"
"Not yet."
"Why not?"
"Because she mentioned dozens of things in her speech... But she didn't apologized for having discredited Lincoln at the Friday seance."
"Oh. That's bad."
"I wouldn't say she was false. She just... missed the mark. Like she was too embarrassed to admit that she's not a real medium and that she made it all up."
"I see. But what does that have to do with you being a burden?"
"Well, it turns out that I created a somewhat unnecessary feud with Haiku. And I also embarrassed her in public. Besides, I still keep thinking that Lincoln died because of me too, in the sense that I could have done more for him, and I didn't."
"Lucy, stop beating yourself up," Rita snatches the comb from her hand. "Lincoln died of a brain disease. That was totally out of our hands. You and your sisters did a great job of making happy the last few weeks of his life."
Rita stands up and unties her robe.
"And about Haiku, she's reaping the fruits of her own sowing," she continues, as she puts on her bra and panties. "If I were her, I would try to be less invasive, preferring to chat via WhatsApp so you can come to terms and only then arrange a face-to-face meeting. In fact, I advise you to do exactly that. I know you still don't feel comfortable seeing her, so don't force yourself into anything right now. She should respect your space."
"Yeah, well, confronting her via text… I can do that," Lucy agrees, sitting on the bed, watching her Mother get dressed. "But there's something else that bothers me. And involves you."
Rita just stares as she puts on her black trousers.
Lucy informs:
"Yesterday Rocky left home… with Rusty and his Father… for no apparent reason."
"Yes, your sisters said that," Rita confirms, as she puts on her pink blouse.
"But I didn't find out because... you confiscated my smartphone." Lucy buries her face in the bed, embarrassed. "I felt like fighting with you too... But now, hearing what you just said, maybe I couldn't do anything to stop him. So it's useless to get angry. But I also can't feel happy. He's still gone, like everyone I love in life and..."
She stops talking when she feels her Mother's soft hand in her hair.
"Daughter, stop being so anxious. I love you and I'm still here."
"Aren't you mad at me?" Lucy raises her head, seeing her Mother sitting on the bed again.
"I understand your feelings. You don't need to be ashamed of admitting them. At least you're smart enough not to let them dominate you."
Lucy smiles shyly:
"Forgive me."
"It's okay," Rita smiles back, kissing her daughter's forehead. "SMAC!"
Lucy hugs her Mother tightly:
"Thank you for being so good to me."
"All the time, dear," Rita assures, returning the hug.
"ATCHOOO!"
"Uh-oh!"
Lucy breaks the hug:
"Oops. You forgot I'm still sick."
"Don't worry."
"Well, I sneezed on your blouse and that means you'll have to take it off."
"Yeah. I guess so."
"If you want, I help you..." Lucy gives a sly smile.
"No, thanks. I've had practice," Rita continues the joke.
Without ceremony, Lucy grabs Mom's blouse and wipes her nose on it.
Rita is perplexed, but decides to ignore it, since the blouse is already dirty anyway...
Lucy gets out of bed and heads for the door:
"Speaking of illness, I better go upstairs and put on some warmer clothes before I get worse."
"Do that. And remember, honey: you're no burden."
"Yes, Mom. I love you."
"Me too, honey."
BLAM!
TO BE CONTINUED...
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