Chapter 56: 56. Ch 56- Study Buddies
Monday came to an end, and Tuesday passed by, with the only memorable bit for Lincoln being gymnastics practice. School on Wednesday was no different, merely being a regular day for the boy, but when that final bell rang, he knew what was to come. Once Mrs Johnson dismissed everyone, he gathered his things and followed the rest of his classmates into the hallway, heading to his locker where Jordan was stood, getting her things out of the one next to his. She shut the door once she was done and turned to see the white haired boy. "Hey," he greeted.
"Hey," she greeted back. "So, you ready?"
"Almost. Just gotta get my things out of here." As he opened the locker and began gathering his belongings, "what about you? You ready?"
"Yep! Got everything I'll need right here." He turned to her and opened his mouth, but she cut him off by adding, "and yes, I'm ready for whatever your sisters have in store. Come on, you don't have to worry about me."
"If you say so. Just don't expect them to be quiet."
"What, the Louds can't be loud? I am shocked!" He shook his head at the joke, though he couldn't deny the mirth on his face. "Seriously, I'll be fine. Plus, if they get too much, you said Lynn has a dodgeball, right?"
"Name a kind of ball, she has one somewhere." He then put his bag back on his back and closed his locker. "Alright, I've got everything. Lori should be here soon with Vanzilla, so let's head outside and wait with the girls."
"Vanzilla?"
"It's better you don't ask."
Happy to leave it at that, Jordan walked with the boy through the hallway. As they headed out through the front door, they were surprised to see Mollie, Kat, Sadie and Joy were still there, and the second they saw the Rosato girl, they rushed towards her and gave her a group hug. "What the… girls, what's going on?"
"We just wanted to see you before you go," Mollie told her bestie. "Who knows what'll happen to you there?"
"Hey, they aren't that bad!" Lincoln defended.
"You're their brother," Joy argued. "You would say that."
He rolled his eyes, catching sight of Vanzilla while he did so. "That's them, so I guess I'll give you guys a moment."
"Not like I have much choice," Jordan quipped. "I'll catch up in a minute."
Lincoln nodded, then walked over to the van that his little sisters were currently entering. Seeing their brother, Lori poked her head out. "Hey, twerp," she told him, "is your friend coming?"
"She'll join us in a minute," Lincoln replied, ignoring the 'twerp' comment. "Once she's gotten her friends off her, that is."
"Let me guess, they're worried something's gonna happen, right?"
"Well, you guys aren't as bad as the 'horror stories', but they have a bit of a point." He then poked his head through the window, catching the attention of the others. "Girls, please behave when we get back."
"Ugh, we got it, Lincoln!" Lola muttered. "You told us this morning!"
"And on Monday!" Luan pointed out. "No pranks."
"No mud pies."
"No experiments."
"No asking about death."
"No surprise workouts."
"AND NO MEDDLING!"
Lincoln had to clear his ears from how they all yelled the last point. "Seriously, bro," Luna asked, "what's got you acting like you're caught in a trap?"
"I just don't want Jordan feeling uncomfortable while we're working on this project, alright?" he answered. "You remember what happened when me and Rusty tried to make that solar system model for science class?"
"Lincoln, you're literally being paranoid," Lori dismissed. "We promise, we'll keep out of your hairs, we won't bother you, and we'll try to keep the noise down."
"Though, don't expect any promises with that last one," Lynn added with a grin.
"I know, you're right… sorry, just don't want her getting spooked or anything."
"I know, Lincoln, and it's sweet of you to worry about her." He noticed how Lori's smile turned into a grin as she said this. "It's almost as if you-"
"Still just friends. No crushes or anything like that."
She rolled her eyes, knowing that he would say that even if it weren't true. "Sure." Turning around, she saw Jordan's friends starting to disperse from the ponytailed girl. "Looks like her friends are done."
Looking back, Lincoln saw Jordan waving goodbye to the group as she approached them. "Well, that was embarrassing," she admitted to the boy. "Still, I guess it's a good thing they care."
"Yeah, it is." He then opened the door to Vanzilla. "Hop in, I managed to save you the sweet spot."
She smiled a little more as she said "thanks", then got in and sat next to the boy, closing the van door and putting on her seatbelt. Looking up, she saw Leni in the seat in front of her. "Hey, Leni."
"Hey, Jordan!" The fashionista happily greeted back. "How are you?"
"I'm doing good, thanks. How about you?"
"Me too! Honestly, the funniest thing happened today!"
Lincoln smiled, knowing that at least one of his sisters was definitely on his side, and as he felt Vanzilla begin to drive off towards home, he found a bit of hope that things would go alright.
Traffic was light, so it took just under ten minutes for the van to park outside of their home, and once the engine was turned off, the Loud sisters wasted no time in undoing their seatbelts and getting out of the van. Though she was surprised by the vigour they showed in doing so, Jordan couldn't blame them for wanting to relax after school. She got out of the car and waited for Lincoln to get out after her, then followed the boy into the house, where he was surprised to see that there was nobody in the living room or dining room.
"How is it, the one time that no one is using the TV, I have a project to work on?" He said to himself, though Jordan heard it and gave a slight giggle as he shook his head. "No matter. Guess this gives us a choice of where we can work. Do you want to work in here, or would the dining table be better?"
She put a hand to her chin as she considered her options. "Well, the couch would be more comfortable… but, we'd probably get distracted with the TV being there, so let's work in the dining room."
"Alright. Make yourself comfortable, I'll go grab my laptop and we can get started."
"Sure." So, whilst Lincoln headed upstairs, Jordan headed into the dining room, taking a seat at the table and putting her bag on the back of the chair next to her. While she waited for the boy to return, she heard the back door open and turned to see Rita enter through it, the infant of the family in her arms. "Hi, Mrs Loud."
The mother of eleven smiled at the greeting. "Hello, Jordan," she greeted back. "I forgot you were coming round today."
"Yeah, me and Lincoln are going to get started on our geography project." She saw the baby looking at her, so she gave her a little wave. "Hi, Lily!"
The littlest Loud gave a garbled response, one that got both her mother and the elementary schooler to chuckle at how adorable it was. "Well," Rita told the girl, "if either of you need anything, Lincoln knows where my room is."
"I think we'll be okay, but thanks." The woman nodded, then left the girl just as Lincoln reappeared from upstairs, carrying a laptop and mouse which he placed on the table in front of the girl and the open chair on her left. "Nice laptop."
"Thanks," he responded as he sat down beside her, starting up the computer and connecting the mouse. "So, what do you want to start looking at first?"
"I was thinking it would be good if we looked at some of the landscapes first. I never knew Italy was so beautiful!"
"That sounds like a good idea. Plus, if we do that, we can use some of the different cities and areas as a way of organising the presentation."
"So, you're suggesting that we start talking with one city, and work our way through the country?"
"Something like that. We can figure it out more once we've done more research."
"Yeah, that sounds like a good way to do it." She saw him begin to type his password, so she respectfully looked away while he did that, pulling some of her notes out of her bag. "I was thinking of starting with Venice. It's one of those iconic destinations, with the gondoliers rowing on the canals."
"That sounds like a good way to start! I was also thinking that it would be best to finish with Rome. After all, it's the capital city, and it's where the Roman Empire was."
"Sounds like we're on the same wavelength."
He nodded before replying, "yep. We've got our start and end points, now we just need to fill the gap."
"Then let's get started."
While the two sixth graders got to work on their project, the other sisters were gathered in the bedroom of the oldest two, most waiting while the kindergartener tinkered away at something on Lori's desk. Eventually, Lola gave a frustrated groan. "Can you hurry up, Lisa?!" she shouted. "We've been waiting here forever!"
The four year old merely rolled her eyes, not looking up from her work. "We have been in this room for five hundred and twelve Gregorian seconds, which hardly classifies as forever, and if you wish for our reconnaissance to remain unnoticed, I suggest you lower your vocal produce. In other words, shut your trap and let me work."
Though she was slightly offended by the comment, the look Lori gave her made the pageant princess settle for muttering to herself with a cross of her arms. No one else said anything as the scientist continued her work, until Lori saw Luna get up. "Where are you going?"
"Sorry, bruh," she told them as she opened the door. "I've got music to write, and this just ain't worth it."
The eldest girl didn't even get a chance to reply as the rocker left the room. "Well, her loss. That just means one less person blocking the view." She got up and walked over to Lisa while she worked. "So, you're certain they won't notice?"
"Assuming that we maintain a low enough amount of noise up here, there should be a 99.82 percent chance of stealth being maintained while we complete reconnaissance, as it were."
"Lori, are you sure about this?" Leni asked, a concerned look on her face. "This feels wrong."
The high school senior rolled her eyes. "Come on, Leni. Don't tell me you aren't curious about what goes on between those two. You said it yourself, Jen told you that those two were acting close at that pool party he went to."
"Still kind of peeved he didn't invite us," Lana muttered to Lola, who gave a nod.
"Well, yeah," Leni confirmed. "She did, and I do think they'd be so cute together, but I don't want Linky to get mad at me. If he says they're just friends, we should trust him."
Lori sighed, pinching her eyes shut. "Leni, he's literally not going to get mad at us, because he's not going to find out, alright? So, if you're not going to watch, just don't tell Lincoln, alright?"
The fashionista stood up with a "hmmph," sticking her nose up. "Fine. I'll go see if Luna wants any help with her music."
"Does Leni actually know anything about music?" Lynn asked to Luan as the blonde stormed out.
"Well, her singing ability is sew sew," Luan quipped, following it up with her typical laugh. "Get it?"
The groans that everyone who heard it gave were quickly forgotten once they heard an exclamation from Lisa. "Ladies, I am done." She turned around in her chair, holding in her hand a small, spider-like drone. "I present to you, the Arachnid Optical Drone, or AOD. As you can see, the lens on the top and the discreet microphone just next to it will allow us to see and hear what is being said and done."
"Hey, genius, shouldn't the camera be on the front?"
Lisa rolled her eyes at the jock's question, quickly answering, "no, because this drone should be placed on a wall. Placing a camera this small on the front would mean it would need to be placed too close to the target to allow for discretion." She then stood from her seat and handed the drone to Lori. "You'll need to place this without them noticing. I can move it accordingly, but it would increase the chance of him noticing."
"Not a problem. I'll take care of that, and then the seven of us can-" She suddenly noticed that someone was missing. "Where did Lucy go?"
"I'm in here," they heard the goth say from the vents, making them all jump.
"Oh… well, in that case, the six of us can watch and see what happens."
"Ten bucks says this goes wrong," Lynn told Luan.
"You're on."
Back downstairs, Lincoln and Jordan were making steady progress with their research project. Though there was still a ways to go, they had found a good amount of information already, and were finding it to be quite interesting. "I always wondered what was different about Italian pizza."
Jordan nodded at her friend's statement. "I've never had Italian style pizza," she remarked. "I've only ever had American style."
"Same here." He was going to say something else, before he noticed something on the screen. "Has it already been a half hour?"
Hearing what he said, the girl looked at the clock on the laptop, and came to the same conclusion. "Oh, wow! I didn't even realise. Guess time just sort of flew by."
"Yeah. So, should we keep working, or take a quick break?"
"What, is this getting too much for you?" She watched as Lincoln rolled his eyes at her sarcasm, giving a soft laugh at the response. "But, yeah, I think we can take a quick break.."
"I'm gonna go grab a soda. Do you want me to grab you one?"
"You sure?" When he nodded, her smile picked up. "Thanks."
"No problem."
"I'll grab those for you," they heard a voice say, turning to see Lori had entered the dining room, neither noticing how she placed her hand on the wall behind her. "I was heading to grab one myself." She could see that Lincoln was somewhat questioning of this, but she paid it no mind, instead focusing on the girl sat next to him. "Do you want a regular soda or diet?"
"Diet, please."
"No problem." The older girl disappeared into the kitchen for about ten seconds, returning with two diet sodas and a regular soda, giving the regular to Lincoln and one of the diet sodas to Jordan. "There you go."
"Thank you," they both told her.
"You're welcome. How's your project going so far?"
"Pretty good," Lincoln explained. "We're currently just gathering facts, so we can figure out what to talk about."
"We've found a lot we can talk about already," Jordan acknowledged, "but it doesn't hurt to keep looking. It's easier if we have too much to talk about rather than not enough."
"That's true. Well, I'll leave you to it, but if you decide you need any help, I'll be in my room."
"Okay." They waited for her to leave before turning to each other. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised that one of them came to check on us."
"Well, that just shows she cares about you."
"I guess, though knowing my sisters, it could just as easily be a way to spy on us."
Once more, Jordan was brought to giggles by the statement. "You don't mean that."
"Eh… I guess not." He grabbed his soda and opened it, just as Jordan did the same with hers. "Well, here's to a successful project so far."
"Odd thing to toast to, but sure." They raised their cans and clinked them together, before taking drinks from their respective sodas. They both sighed after taking their first sips, the couple of seconds of silence that followed being broken by a hiccup, one that left the Rosato girl red faced as her hand covered her mouth. "Excuse me."
Lincoln couldn't help but give a soft chuckle. "It's fine, really." As he prepared to take another drink, he heard a ringing sound, and they both looked to the laptop, which was now displaying an incoming call notification. "That's odd."
"Were you expecting a call from…" She looked at the caller ID, and her eyes widened slightly. "Ronnie Anne? Oh, that's right, you told me you two used to hang out."
"Yeah, we still video call from time to time, though usually on the weekend." He turned to the girl sat next to him. "Should I ask her to call back later?"
"No, don't be silly. You can take the call, I don't mind. I'll just scooch away slightly."
"You sure?" When she nodded and shuffled her chair away, he nodded back, before facing the screen and accepting the call, the face of his friend from Great Lakes City appearing before him. "Hey, Ronnie Anne."
"Hey, Lame-O," she greeted through the speakers. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
"No, I'm just taking a break from work on a school project."
"I can tell, you've got your books out, the soda's out… though, I doubt you'd be drinking two at once. There someone else with you?"
"Yeah. I'm doing this project with Jordan." He then turned to the girl waiting patiently next to him. "You wanna say hi?"
"Uh… sure?" She shuffled her chair back towards Lincoln, until she was also in Ronnie Anne's view. "Hey, Santiago."
"Hey, Rosato," the Latina said with a wave. "Long time no see, huh?"
"Yeah, it's been a long time. How's the city treating you?"
"Pretty good. Think I'm getting in the swing of things here. How's things with you?"
"Pretty good."
"Cool. So, Lame-O, sorry for the sudden call. I'm gonna be busy this weekend, so I figured I'd call now instead. I can call back later if you're busy."
Jordan shook her head before Lincoln can answer. "No, I kind of insisted he should take the call. Besides, it's like Lincoln said, we were just taking a break."
"Well, if you're sure. By the way, you might wanna look behind you."
Though they were confused, they did just that, and they saw the spy drone on the wall. While Jordan was surprised by it, Lincoln was instead angry, especially when he heard the quick and heavy footsteps coming from upstairs. "I should have known," he said through gritted teeth, shaking his head as he got up and grabbed the drone off the wall before it could scatter away. "Yep, this is Lisa's, though I'm pretty certain that it wasn't her idea."
"It's cool, Linc," Ronnie Anne assured him. "You go deal with them."
He knew she was right, but he also knew that he had someone else to take into consideration. He gave a sympathetic look to Jordan as he told her, "I'm so sorry about this."
"Lincoln, it's fine, really. I'll be fine."
"I'll be right back."
Once the boy had begun to make his way upstairs, Jordan turned back to the girl still on his screen. "Good thing you saw that. Did his sisters ever do that whenever you and Lincoln hung out?"
"They never used a drone, though there were a couple of times we hung out at the park or the arcade or somewhere that we caught one or more of them following us." Seeing the other girl's eyes widen made her chuckle. "Yeah, you get used to it."
"I hope I don't have to." The two both laughed a little, before something came to Jordan's mind. "So, um… can I ask you something?"
Ronnie Anne simply smirked. "You wanna know what the deal was between me and Lincoln, right?"
"Yeah. I mean… you did have your 'reputation' before," she accentuated the point by using her fingers to do air quotes, "and it always seemed like you hated him."
"I never hated the guy. Sure, there were a couple of times we made each other mad, but it was never hate. As for that 'reputation'… well, things were different back then. Linc was… probably the first kid at school to actually be friendly to me. Before we started hanging out, I was a mean girl, because it's what I felt like I had to be, I guess. It's an excuse, yeah, but it's all I've got, and thankfully things are different now. Guess you could say, I owe him for that."
The brown haired girl frowned. "I had no idea… honestly, I never had any issues with you, but…"
"I get it. You had your friends."
Jordan nodded. "Still, I was wrong. From what Lincoln's told me about you and from what I can tell right now, you actually seem pretty cool."
"Thanks. You're not so bad yourself." Though she rolled her eyes, Jordan did smile at hearing this. "What about you? What's the deal with you and Lame-O? Is it just friends, or is it what his sisters probably think it is."
"No, we're just friends. We've been hanging out more ever since he started coming to… dodgeball practice."
"Yeah, he told me about that a while back, though I was pretty sure he was lying about that." She leaned slightly closer to her camera. "So, is it actually dodgeball, or is it something else?" She waited and watched as Jordan opened her mouth to speak, hesitating and looking slightly uncertain, even looking over her shoulder, and it told Ronnie Anne everything. "I get it. If he asked you to keep it a secret, then I won't make you tell me. I can appreciate you trying to keep that for him."
A sigh of relief came from the other girl as she faced the screen again. "Thanks."
"Besides, I know how to get Lame-O to talk."
"Hey," they heard Lincoln say as he returned. "Sorry about that."
"It's fine, Lincoln," Jordan assured. "We were just talking."
"What about?"
"Nothing you need to know, Lame-O."
He rolled his eyes at his friend's comment. "Whatever."
The three talked for another ten minutes or so before Ronnie Anne got called away, leaving the Loud boy and Rosato girl to continue with their project. Once five o'clock hit, they heard a car horn coming from outside, signalling that their time was up. "Well, guess I should be going," Jordan told her friend as she packed up her stuff.
"Yeah, shouldn't keep your mom waiting," he agreed. "Still, we got a lot done so far."
"We sure did. We probably won't get finished on Friday, but at least we have an idea of what to do next."
He nodded, before they both stood from their seats. They walked to the front door, the boy holding it open before they went outside and up to the silver car. "Hi, Mrs Rosato."
"Lincoln, I told you, you can call me Sarah," she joked, before looking at her daughter. "How's your project going, sweetie?"
"Pretty good," she answered, opening the car door and throwing her bag in before looking at the boy. "So, guess I'll see you on Friday, then?"
"Yeah, I'll see you at school. Enjoy Thanksgiving."
"You too, Lincoln."
After a couple more goodbyes, Lincoln watched and waved as Jordan got in the car and was driven away, before heading into the house where Lynn was waiting for him. "So, you up for a workout, bro?"
"I guess."
"Ah, come in, you're not still mad at me, are you? I only watched because I was bored."
He rolled his eyes, telling the girl "whatever you say, Lynn," before following her into the kitchen.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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