Chapter 31: 31. Ch 31- Mo Monday Mo Problems
"Okay, kids! Feet on floor!" Rita called from downstairs, hearing ten sets of feet hit the landing floor. "That includes you, Lincoln!"
"I already was!" He called back, catching her by surprise.
"Oh… my bad!"
Lincoln rolled his eyes, then turned to the viewer. "Well, it's Monday morning," he explained, "and that means it's back to school. As you can see," he opened the door, letting the viewer see how his sisters began to sluggishly made their way into the line to the bathroom, "my sisters aren't all that excited about that. To be fair, I'm not excited about going back to school, but I'm looking forward to seeing the others." He glances to the blue gift box on his table, wrapped with yellow ribbon in a bow, that contained the scarf he had bought at the mall. "It's Jordan's birthday, so I'm both eager and nervous to see how she reacts to the gift." He then felt a familiar urge began to build. "Still, that'll have to wait- bathroom first, gift later!"
He power walked out of his bedroom and down the landing, joining the queue to the bathroom, standing behind Lori as she stood behind Luna and Lynn. As they waited for the queue to shorten, Lori turned to her little brother. "So, Lincoln, you ready for school?" She asked with a knowing smile.
"Yep," he replied. "My bag is packed, and I didn't have any assignments to do over the break."
She leaned towards her brother so she could whisper. "And, uh, do you have everything?"
He nodded. "Yep. It's all ready."
"Good. Don't worry, I know she's going to love it."
A smile graced his lips. "Thanks, Lori." She ruffled his hair, making him laugh. "Quit it, or I won't need the bathroom."
She gave a small chuckle of her own. "Alright, I won't torture you any more." She turned to face the bathroom door again. "God knows it's literally torture enough having to share one bathroom in this house."
He chuckled as well, thinking, 'I hear you.' He ended up being stood there for a little over ten minutes, most of which was because of Lori doing her makeup, before he was eventually able to use the bathroom. After brushing his teeth and a quick two minute shower, he made his way back to his room, where he got changed into his usual clothes, then carefully placed the gift box containing Jordan's present into his bag, before putting it over his shoulder and heading downstairs, where he saw his rocker older sister sat on the couch with Lana, watching cartoons on the TV. Looking at the clock, he realised there was still some time before his other sisters would be ready, which meant breakfast- which, for Monday, meant their father's famous breakfast sandwiches- wouldn't be ready for a bit, so he decided to watch TV with them. "Room for one more?" He asked, getting Luna's attention.
"Sure, bro," she replied, shuffling with Lana, allowing him to sit down with them.
"Thanks." Looking at the screen, he was surprised at what they were watching. "I thought they cancelled Oi, Artie?"
"It's a rerun," Lana explained, to which Lincoln simply nodded.
"So, bro," Luna asked, turning her head to look directly at her brother, "heard from two little birds that you found the perfect gift for your friend?"
"Yep." He patted his bag gently. "Got it right here."
"What did you get her?"
He opened his mouth to tell her, but then smirked. "I think I'll keep that to myself. Don't want any of the others to hear."
"Aww, come on, bro," she pulled him toward her by wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "What's the worst that could happen?"
He simply raised an eyebrow and told her, "in this house?" She laughed at his joke, letting him go. "Seriously, though, I'd rather not have to deal with all of that before school."
"Alright, alright, I won't push it. Still, sounds like she's pretty important to you to go to all that trouble. You two getting closer?"
"Well, we have been hanging out a bit more since I started going to dodgeball, and I wouldn't have found it if it wasn't for her. Guess I just…"
"Want her to know that you appreciate her?" He nodded. "That's sweet of you, bro."
She ruffled his hair lightly, causing him to laugh and swat her hand away. "What is it with you girls and touching my hair lately?"
Eventually, the rest of the girls were ready and made their way downstairs, where Lynn Sr gave all of them one of his breakfast sandwiches to go. After being seen off by their parents, Lori led her sisters into Vanzilla, and she drove them all to school, her first stop being Royal Woods Elementary School. The twins, Lucy, Lisa and Lincoln all got out of the van and began to head towards the front doors of the school.
"Hey, Lincoln!" He heard Lori call, causing him to stop and turn around. "Come over here!"
Curious, he walked over to Vanzilla's driver side window, where Lori was sticking her head out. "What's up?" He asked.
"Just wanted to check you have everything."
He nodded, taking his bag off of his bag, opening the zip and holding it up so she could see in. "I've got the gift, and the card."
She nodded, allowing him to close his bag and put it back on his back. "Alright, Linc. Don't worry, she's gonna love it."
"Thanks, Lori."
"Okay, twerp, now go on before you're late."
He chuckled to himself, then waved and walked away as Vanzilla drove off. Immersing himself in the crowd of less than eager elementary schoolers returning for the first time in over a week, he made his way through the halls of the school, walking up to his locker like he did every school day. After entering his combination and opening his locker, he looked around before pulling the gift out of his bag and putting it in the locker along with the books he didn't need for the morning classes and his packed lunch, then closed the locker door before anyone could see. 'I'll give it to her at lunch,' he thought. 'It'll be easier when there's less people around.' He then turned to walk away, when he felt someone bump him roughly, knocking him into the locker. "Hey! What's the big idea?"
Looking for the perpetrator, he groaned when he saw Markus stood with a snarky grin on his face, wearing his usual white and black football jersey with a red lightning bolt, blue ripped jeans and red sneakers. "Watch where you're going, Loud!" He taunted. "You might hurt yourself!"
Lincoln rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Markus."
He tried to walk away, but Markus put a hand on a nearby locker to stop him. "So, I saw you walking out of the performance centre the other day. Now I know why you quit doing track, and all them other sports you tried- you can't handle an actual sport, so you took up girly pageants instead!"
He laughed like a hyena, causing Lincoln to get slightly angry, his fists balled up. "Not that it matters what you think, but for your information, I was there to support my sister."
"Oh, don't worry, I know all about your sisters! Everyone in this school knows about the Loud sisters!" He leaned forward, his evil grin right in Lincoln's face. "All eleven of them."
"Well, you know what, Markus!" Lincoln snapped, gathering a bit of attention. "At least me and my sisters support each other! I can't imagine there are too many people doing the same for you!"
A small "Ooh" echoed from the crowd at the jab, and for a few seconds, there was silence, until Markus grabbed Lincoln by his collar and pushed him into the locker, his grin gone. "Say that again, Loud… I dare you."
"AHEM!" A voice called out, causing the crowd to disperse. Letting go of Lincoln, Markus turned and saw an old man with balding grey hair and a grey moustache, wearing a navy blue suit jacket over a white button shirt and a blue tie, khaki trousers, a black belt with a metal buckle, and black shoes. He had an unimpressed look on his face as he approached the football player. "Mind explaining yourself, Mr Thompson?"
He simply grinned as he replied, "we're all good here, Principal H. Just a bit of friendly jibing to start the day."
"Hmmph… a likely story. You're lucky that, since it's the first day back, I'm going to let you off with a warning. I suggest you make your way to your class."
"Yes, sir." As Markus walked away, he shot a harsh glare at Lincoln, who simply returned it.
"Alright, the same goes for the rest of you!" the Principal declared. "Get to your classes!" As the students obliged, Huggins approached Lincoln. "Everything okay, Mr Loud?"
"Yes, Principal Huggins," he told the adult.
"Okay. Well, if something like this happens again, let me know. Now, you better head to class as well- the bell will be ringing soon."
"Yes, sir."
As Lincoln began to walk away, he was approached by Clyde. "You okay, Lincoln?" He asked, to which the Loud boy nodded. "What was that about?"
"Just Markus being a jerk, though he brought up my sisters this time."
"Don't let him get to you. He's just jealous you have a family that supports you."
Lincoln scoffed. "That's what I told him."
After the incident at the start of school, the rest of the morning went as usual, with Lincoln managing to get through his morning classes without issue. Though a part of his mind was still focused on how Jordan was going to react to his gift, he was able to keep his focus on the lessons, taking notes and participating where necessary, even in maths, which was hardly his strong suit.
After the lunch bell rang, Mrs Johnson reminded her class about what the homework task would be, before dismissing the class so they could go for lunch. Lincoln walked up to his locker, opening it so he could trade his books for his lunch and Jordan's present, which he slipped into his backpack. After closing the locker again, he turned to his friends and told them, "hey, I'm gonna be sitting with Jordan and the others. Hope that's okay."
"Sure thing, Lincoln," Stella told the boy.
"You all sure? I don't want to cause any tensions."
"Don't worry, Lincoln, we're over it," Zach explained.
"Yeah, forget about it," Rusty added.
"She's your friend too, and so are they," Liam spoke next. "We can't stop you from hanging with them."
Lincoln smiled. "Thanks, guys. I'll see you after lunch." They all nodded, before walking into the lunch room, the others going to the lunch queue while Lincoln looked for his gymnastics friends. After a few moments, he saw Jordan sat down at an empty table, so he walked over to her. "Hey, Jordan," he greeted, getting her attention as he sat down next to her.
"Hey, Lincoln," she replied.
"The others getting lunch from the cafeteria?" She nodded. "Okay. Happy birthday, by the way."
"Aww, thank you!" The beaming smile on her face made him smile. "Hey, I heard what happened with Markus. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, just Markus being a jerk."
"Ugh, tell me about it. Why can't he just leave people alone?"
Lincoln gave a small chuckle. "Because otherwise, he wouldn't have anyone to talk to." This got her laughing, which made her laugh as well.
"Happy birthday, Jordan!" They heard Mollie call, turning to see her and their other friends approaching with their lunch trays, all wishing happy birthday to the school's 'dodgeball queen'.
"Thanks, you guys," she told them as they sat down. "Ooh, that reminds me! My mom got me these to share with you guys!"
She reached into her lunch bag and pulled out six small, pink iced cupcakes with sprinkles, which she handed to each of the six friends sat at the table with her. They all said thank you to her, before Lincoln pointed out, "is there not one for you as well?"
"Oh, no, but I don't mind."
He frowned. "You can have mine, if you like. It doesn't seem right that you shouldn't have one."
"Lincoln, that's sweet of you, but it's okay. Besides, I've got a birthday cake waiting when I get home."
"You sure?" She nodded. "Okay. So, what else do you plan to do today?"
So, while the seven of them ate their lunches together, they talked about stuff like what Jordan's family had got her for her birthday, how boring math class was, and how Mollie got back at Artie for the 'tonic of evil' by pulling his pants down when he went up to write on the board during free period. After most of them had finished eating, Mollie and the others moved their trays to one side, clearing the table.
"Okay, Jordan! Present time!" She declared, prompting Artie, Sadie and Joy to join her in pulling presents out of their bags and putting them on the table.
"Oh my goodness, you guys!" Jordan gushed, putting her hands on her blushing cheeks. "I can't believe you did this!"
"C'mon, Jordan, of course we did!" Joy told her. "You're our friend, and this is what friends do."
"Me first!" Artie spoke up, handing a red paper present to Jordan. She tore through the paper, revealing that he had gotten her a DVD with the latest Digital Jiblets movie. "It's supposed to be really good."
"I love Jiblets movies!" She told him. "Thank you so much!"
"Okay, we're next!" Kat said as Sadie handed a red box to the birthday girl. "We went in together on this."
Sadie nodded, before Jordan lifted the lid off the box and cooed, pulling out a stuffed dog toy, hugging it to her chest. "It's so cute! It looks just like Ajax!"
"Yeah, we sent in a photo, and they made it look as real as possible."
"Oh, it's so adorable! Thank you both so much!"
"Alright, I'm next!" Joy said. She slid the silver paper covered present to her friend. "Hope you like it."
Jordan picked it up, tearing through the side of the paper and pulling out a brown leather handbag, with a golden clasp. "Oh, this is beautiful! Where did you get this?"
"My mom actually won it in a raffle, and I asked her if I could give it to you for a present."
"Well, I love it! Thank you, Joy!"
"Alright! The best is saved for last!" Mollie boasted, her friends rolling her eyes as she handed Jordan a present wrapped in paper with a multicoloured balloon pattern. "Here you go."
"Thanks, Mollie," Jordan said with a chuckle, before opening the paper. Tearing it away, she saw that there was a CD entitled, Origins. "Oh my gosh, yes! I forgot that The Imagination Dragons had a new album!"
"Yeah, I spotted it at the mall yesterday, figured you'd like it."
"I love it! Thank you, Mollie."
'Well, at least it won't be a repeat gift,' Lincoln thought, taking a deep breath as Jordan began to put some of the presents away so she could take them to her locker. 'Guess I'm up.' He pulled his bag into his legs, opening the zip and grabbing the present. "I, uh," he spoke, getting their attention, "I know this probably isn't as good as the others, but… I hope you like it."
He placed the box on the table with the card on top, then looked to see that Jordan was completely surprised. Had he looked at them, he would have seen that the others were equally surprised. "You got this for me?" She asked.
"Well, yeah."
Jordan, still surprised, didn't speak for a few seconds, prompting Mollie to nudge her and tell her, "well, go on, open it!"
This seemed to do the trick, making Jordan smile and say "thank you" to Lincoln, before grabbing the card. Opening the envelope, she pulled out the card and giggled at the cover, a dog with sunglasses and a party whistle. "Aww, that's really cute, Linc," she told him, making him smile as she opened the card. "Dear Jordan, Happy Birthday! L-" Her cheeks heated up a little as she looked at the boy. "Love, Lincoln."
Lincoln was also blushing now. "Yeah, uh… I wasn't entirely sure how to sign the card, and my sister kind of… insisted that I put it like that. Hope that's okay."
Ignoring the grins on her friends' faces, Jordan looked at him with a smile and said, "thank you, Lincoln." She put the card to one side, then brought the box in front of her. "Now, I wonder what this could be." Lincoln discreetly crossed his finger as she undid the bow and lifted the lid off the box, then gasping as she pulled out the scarf inside. "Oh my goodness!"
"Is that the scarf Kat showed you at the mall a few weeks back?" Mollie asked.
"Yeah," Lincoln replied. "I, uh, I remembered that you liked the look of it, but didn't get it, so I thought you might like it for a present instead."
"Lincoln… I don't know what to say, except… thank you so, so much!" She put the scarf down so she could wrap her arms around the boy in a warm hug, which surprised him at first, before he smiled and returned it. Had he not shut his eyes, he would have seen how the other girls were heartwarmed by the sight, except for Mollie who pretended to be jealous about not having given the best gift. When Jordan eventually released the hug, she took the scarf and wrapped it around her neck. "Oh, I absolutely love it!" She then turned in her seat, allowing her to face Lincoln. "Does it look good?"
Seeing her with the scarf on, he found himself blushing again and smiling sheepishly. "Actually, Jordan… I think it looks beautiful on you."
Her heart fluttered at the compliment, bringing a blush to her cheeks while their friends gave each other knowing grins. "Thank you, Lincoln."
Just then, they heard the bell ring, signalling that lunchtime was over, and classes would be resuming, so the students got up from their seats and began to walk out of the lunchroom. As he stood up, Lincoln saw Jordan was struggling with the two boxes. "Do you need a hand?" He asked.
"Yeah, I, uh, I could use some help," she admitted.
"Here." He took the lid from the box he had used and placed it under the box itself, then slipped the box containing Kat and Sadie's gift into it, and lifted it all up in one. "I can carry this if you like."
"Really?" When he nodded, she smiled and her cheeks heated up once again. "Thanks, Lincoln."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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