Chapter 95: 95. Ch 95- Tragedy, Thy Name Is?
(A/N: hello again, everyone! Sorry again that the past few chapters have been slower than I would have liked. Haven't yet had the chance to get a new iPad, and... well, let's just that I've had a few rough days that took away my motivation to write. I'm feeling better now, so you don't need to worry. I just had to take some time to myself.
On a much happier note, I am amazed by you guys. This story now has one thousand reviews! A thousand! I'm always amazed by the support you've shown, and this just takes the cake. Thank you, one and all, from the bottom of my heart. You make this all worthwhile.
With that said, thank you all for reading, and enjoy!)
The two of them realised they were holding hands after assembly, so after a quick moment of embarrassment and full blushing, they let go and returned to their classroom. They were fortunate enough that their friends and classmates didn't notice their brief interaction, though they had quickly become the centre of attention after their announcement. Most, if not all of them, wanted to know about the upcoming showcase and how they could help and support them. It would have taken over the whole lesson, had Mrs Johnson not returned order to her class. Though they admired the enthusiasm, both Lincoln and Jordan were secretly thankful for the intervention, wanting to relax a little before everyone started asking questions.
From there, the first two classes of the day went by reasonably peacefully. Of course, it helped that the lessons were boring enough to keep everyone quiet, but also that everyone kept their eyes either on the board or in their books. Jordan, though, found her eyes occasionally drifting towards the white haired boy. She chalked it up to thinking about how he stepped in for her during assembly and saved her from looking like an idiot, though something in her knew that there was more to it than that. She just couldn't put her finger on why, and it meant that she didn't notice when someone tried speaking to her.
"Jordan!" Mollie hissed, before throwing an eraser onto her friend's desk, finally getting her attention. "Can I use your sharpener? Oh, and my eraser back."
"Oh, yeah, sure," she replied, handing the eraser back first before pulling a pencil sharpener out of her pencil case. "Here you go."
"Thanks." As she began sharpening her pencil, she grinned. "So, what— or, should I say, who— are you looking at, huh?"
Jordan rolled her eyes. "Don't start with that again. It's so quiet in here, he could hear us, and I'd rather not make things awkward before lunchtime."
"Ooh, someone sounds worried. I wonder why."
"Ugh, you really know how to be the worst, don't you?"
"And proud of it."
She gave a small chuckle, which ended up catching Mrs Johnson's attention. She gave the younger brunette a disapproving glare and head shake, to which Mollie sheepishly laughed, shrinking in her seat and mouthing a "sorry" back to her. When the teacher looked away again, she saw Jordan adopt her own smug grin. "Don't you just love karma?"
"Alright, alright." Mollie kept her mouth shut for the final minutes of class, waiting for their teacher to dismiss them all for recess before gathering her stuff and walking with Jordan and their friends to their lockers. "So, how many do you think are gonna come and ask us about the showcase?"
"Honestly, it seemed like our whole class was interested," Sadie recalled. "They were all asking Lincoln's friends if they knew anything about it. I'm surprised they didn't just ask us, though."
"Well, it was Lincoln and Jordan who made the announcement," Kat pointed out. "Guess they wanted to hear from them."
"As if we're not able to tell them," Joy scoffed, trying to hide her pout, but Jordan rolled her eyes upon noticing it.
"I'm sure it wasn't like that, Joy," Jordan disregarded. "Look, once we get to the playground, I'm sure that everyone who is interested will ask us about it. Come on, I'll show you." So, once all of their lockers were closed, they went towards the side exit, which led to the school's playground. However, once they got outside, Jordan's eyes almost bugged out of her head at seeing the mass of sixth graders gathered around the climbing frame, with Lincoln having backed himself onto it. "Well, I'll be damned."
"You know, as much as we joked about it, does this remind any of you about the girl guru incident?" Mollie asked, to which the others all nodded.
"Vividly," Artie added with a shudder.
"JORDAN! GUYS! GET OVER HERE!" they heard Lincoln holler, his arms waving in the air.
"Come on, before the crowd tears him down from it," Joy jested before they ran over. Mollie and Jordan began to call out for people to clear a path, and they eventually made it to the Loud boy. "Ever thought of being a public speaker?"
"Only if it's not this hectic," he answered. "I mean, I like the enthusiasm, but I can hardly get a word in!"
"Then let me repay you for earlier," Jordan offered. Turning to the crowd, she put her fingers to her mouth and whistled loudly, getting everyone to cover their ears. The noise died down to a near silence before she put her hands on her hips. "Thank you all for your enthusiasm. We really appreciate that you are all interested in the showcase, and if there's anything you want to ask, then you can, but one at a time!"
"Ooh! Ooh!" One girl— a toffee skinned girl with brown pigtails and wearing a blue t-shirt with a yellow flower on the chest and a dark blue chequered skirt— raised her hand. "How long have you been preparing for it?"
"Honestly, Jenny, only a week or so," Kat answered. "It got sprung on us just before the new year, so we haven't really—"
"Is it free?!" one boy at the back yelled out, interrupting the raven haired girl's explanation.
Joy rolled her eyes. "It's a fundraiser, dummy, what do you think?" Instantly, a disappointed chorus of "ohh" filled the playground, and a good half of the crowd dispersed to do their own thing. An angry look of disbelief crossed her face. "Are you kidding me?! What did they think it was going to be?!"
"Let it go, Joy," Jordan consoled, before turning to what was left of the crowd. "Those of you who are still interested, we think it's going to be five dollar entry, and they might want to know who is planning on coming, but we'll put a message out on social media if that's the case. Does anyone else want to know anything?"
"What kind of gymnastics is it?" another girl— this one wearing a blue headband in her short, brown hair, a purple sleeveless shirt with diamond pattern and a blue skirt— then asked. "Is it the kind with ribbons?"
"No, that's the other kind," Sadie explained. "We do the kind that involves vaults, balance beam, pommel horse. That kind of thinh."
"Are there any other guys that do it?" they heard a familiar voice ask, turning to see Chandler had walked over to the group.
"Actually, it's just me and Lincoln," Artie answered. "It's not a problem, though I'd be lying if I said that having Lincoln join wasn't an improvement."
"Hey!" the girls behind him snapped, to which he and Lincoln both chuckled.
"Come on, he's kidding," Lincoln told them, then turned to Chandler again. "But, yeah, Artie's right. Guys can be just as good at it as girls, but that's not what it's about. It's simply us having fun."
"Sounds kinda cool," Chandler replied, giving a nod of his head.
"So, how are you going to raise money?" They then heard Chloe ask. "If you're doing a bake sale, I'd love to help with that!"
"Me too!" Clyde agreed, to which Chloe's eyes sparkled a little.
"Ooh! Maybe we could bake something together!"
Lincoln couldn't help but smile at their interaction. "Well, my dad said he will be providing some food, but I might be able to ask him if you can do some baking at his restaurant."
It was at this moment that they heard a familiar yet unwelcome laughter, the crowd splitting to reveal Markus and his pals. "I can't believe everyone's taking this seriously!" he taunted, getting Lincoln and his friends to scowl. "I'd say it's not surprising, but man! Even I couldn't imagine that Loser Loud would do something that girly!"
"And you're suddenly an expert in what's girly?" Mollie shot back, but he simply laughed, approaching Lincoln.
"Honestly, it's for the best. We all saw that you couldn't handle football or athletics, and I doubt you could handle any other proper sports, like basketball, hockey or…" He narrowed his teasing glare and widened his grin. "Softball."
The way he extended his pronunciation of that last one showed his intentions, and Jordan instantly turned to her friend, but it was too late. He had already begun breathing rapidly, his body shaking and his eyes going wide. He stepped back, tripping over his feet and landing on one of the rungs of the climbing frame, so she went up to her friend.
"Lincoln! Lincoln, look at me!" she urged, placing her hands on the sides of his head. His pupils were dilated and shaking in fear, but she stood strong. "Lincoln, listen to me. You're okay, it's okay. You're alright." She continued to tell him this until her words began to get through to him. He began to calm down, his shaking beginning to subside and his breathing beginning to settle, but as she heard Markus' laughter grow in accompaniment with his friends' laughter, her rage grew. Whilst Stella and Clyde tended to their friend, she turned to the bully with a furious look. "What is wrong with you?! Why do you have to be such a jerk?!"
"Oh, relax—"
"I will NOT relax! I don't care what you think about us or our hobbies, but that is NO EXCUSE to bully someone like that, especially with something you know so little about!"
In spite of her fury and ferocity, Markus continued to laugh. "See, this is what I mean! Even you're more of a guy than Loud is!"
"Uh oh," Sadie, Joy, Kat and Mollie all uttered, seeing the way Jordan's body twitched. She prodded her index finger into the boy's chest.
"You listen here, and you listen good." Her voice was now lower and more sinister. "Whatever your idea of being 'a guy' is, you're wrong. Lincoln's a better guy than you'll ever be, because he knows how to stand up for what he believes in, and he would never, EVER target someone like you have, so don't you dare try and—"
Her warning was cut short by a loud THUMP sound, followed by a cry of pain as Jordan fell backwards, covering her right eye and falling to the ground. Her friends gathered to see if she was okay, but Markus simply sneered down at her. "Don't mess with the big boys, if you can't handle it," he warned, but he too was interrupted as he was tackled to the ground. When he looked up, he saw that his arms were pinned down by Lincoln's hands, the snowcapped boy looking undeniably livid.
"HOW DARE YOU HURT HER!" he roared, once again getting everyone to gather round. Some began chanting for Lincoln to beat the bully up, but Markus' friends grabbed him by his arms and lifted him up. In his fit of rage, Lincoln flailed in their grasp to try and free himself, however Markus was quick to get up and send a punch to his stomach, driving the wind and anger out of his system. The football player was no longer laughing.
"Lincoln!" Jordan cried out, seeing her friend go limp in their grasp.
"Alright, Loud," Markus dared, lifting Lincoln's head up. "Let's see if there's a guy in there after all."
Jordan tried to stop it, but the bully holding Lincoln's left arm pushed her back, meaning she could only watch as Markus gave a second punch and a third to his victim, getting multiple shots in before Artie pushed him back.
"That's enough, Markus!" he rebuked. "Leave him alone!"
"Get out of my way," he snarled, trying to push Artie away, but Artie pushed back. Now thoroughly pissed off, Markus powerfully shoved him down. "Keep him down. Leave Loud to me."
His two friends nodded, throwing Lincoln aside into the climbing frame, before they began to hold Artie. While they fought him, Markus made his way over to Lincoln, only for Jordan to step between them. "Leave him alone!"
"N-n-no, Jordan," Lincoln urged, clear pain in his voice. "D-don't…"
"Hey, if you want to get hurt too, I'd be happy to oblige!" Markus offered, to which she spat in his face. "I'll take that as a yes." He then pushed her down, landing just next to Lincoln, but before he could go for his main target, two arms wrapped around him and began to drag him away. "Let me go!"
"Not on your life!" His captor, Coach Pacowski, responded harshly. He turned the boy around, allowing him to see that Norm and another teacher had gotten the other two off of Artie, who was clutching his leg in pain. "You're in deep trouble for this, Markus."
The bully could only thrash and attempt to break free as he and his friends were dragged back into the building. Once they were out of sight, Jordan got up and helped Lincoln to sit up, the boy's lip busted from a hook to the face. "Are you okay?" she worriedly asked.
"I-I think so," he managed to answer, frowning as he saw where she had been hit, her eye wincing a little. "Are you okay?"
"Lincoln, don't worry about me. I'm just worried about you and Artie right now."
"Artie… Artie!" His eyes darted over to the other boy, who was being helped up by Rusty and Mollie, but was struggling to stand on one of his legs. Lincoln gingerly stood up, with Jordan putting his arm over her shoulders. "Artie! Are you okay?"
"I think so," he admitted, before wincing as he tried to put his foot down. "They stomped on my leg pretty good, though." Lincoln felt his heart sink, a guilty feeling now in his mind. "Are you alright?"
"I guess… sorry. You shouldn't have had to get hurt because of me."
"Don't you dare take credit for what that jerk did!" Joy snapped at the boy.
"She's right," Stella agreed. "I've never liked Markus, but that was way out of line! What was he thinking?"
"I came as quickly as I could!" They heard a voice call, turning to see Nurse Patti rush out, accompanied by Mrs Johnson. "What happened out here?"
"Markus beat up Lincoln and let his friends attack Artie," Kat answered. "Where were the teachers, though?"
"Yeah, me and Kat had to run in to grab Norm and Mr Thompson from his class," Sadie added.
"But, then, where did Coach come from?" Zach asked.
"That was me," Jenny spoke up. "I ran in just after that jerk attacked Jordan."
"You were attacked too?" Mrs Johnson asked, to which Jordan nodded. "How did this start?"
"One thing at a time, Agnes," Nurse Patti cut in. "We need to see how badly they got hurt first."
"You're right. Any of you who were involved, follow Nurse Patti to her office." The kids said nothing as they followed the school nurse into the building. Once they were gone, Agnes turned to the rest of the sixth graders, who had all been watching in silence. "The rest of you, recess is over. Get back to class. Now."
Lincoln and Jordan sat outside of the nurse's office, waiting to be let inside. Lincoln was holding his stomach, which was still hurting from the pummelling he had taken, whilst Jordan was tapping her fingers on her leg. They could only sit in silence as they heard Principal Huggins being shouted at on the other side of the door by a woman that Jordan had explained was Artie's mother. Artie had been in there for roughly ten minutes already, which was beginning to worry the white haired boy, and Jordan could see it in his eyes.
"Lincoln?" She asked. "You okay?"
"No… not really," he sighed, ducking his head. "I'm just starting to feel like this is all my fault."
She frowned at his words. "Lincoln, you can't be serious right now. You can't take responsibility for what that jerk did."
He shook his head. "It's not that simple, Jordan. Markus has had his issues with me for months now. If not for that, neither you or Artie would have had to stand up for me to begin with, and neither of you would have gotten hurt."
"Lincoln, that's not how—"
She was cut off when they heard the door open, both turning to see who was coming out. The first to exit was a tall woman in a white shirt and dark red dress pants, with long brown hair and dark framed glasses. She had Artie's bag in her arms, as well as her own. The brown haired boy was then helped out of the nurse's office by Principal Huggins, still limping on his leg. "How are you feeling?" Lincoln asked.
"A bit rough, but I'm mostly okay," he answered. "My mom wants to take me to the ER to check my leg, though."
Lincoln's frown only deepened at hearing this. "I'm sorry."
"Hey, you didn't ask for that jerk to beat us up. Forget about it."
"Do you need help getting outside?"
"That won't be necessary, Mr Loud," Huggins assured. "I'll escort him out, and when I get back, I will speak with you about what just happened."
"Actually, I'll handle that," they heard Coach Pacowski say, as the gym teacher approached them. "Come on, Artie. Give us your arm, kid."
"Okay." He turned to his friends and told them, "I'll try and message you later," before he was helped along down the corridor.
"Well, in that case," Huggins turned to the kids. "Jordan, we will speak with you first."
"What? But, shouldn't Lincoln go in first?" she argued. "I mean, he got hit way harder by that jerk than me. Surely, Nurse Patti should—"
She stopped again, this time feeling a hand on her shoulder. Turning to the boy sat next to her, she was in disbelief at seeing the small smile he gave her. "Actually, I'd rather that you got checked first. It's okay, I can wait."
"Lincoln…"
"I'm serious. You got hurt while standing up for me, so I can wait. I'd rather make sure you're okay first."
That feeling of disbelief only grew. Despite getting beaten up just minutes ago, he was stepping aside and letting her get checked first, despite only having taken one punch herself. She wanted to make sure he was okay more than herself, but she had become close enough to Lincoln to know that he was always going to insist that she got seen to first. Reluctantly, she sighed. "Okay, fine, I'll go."
"Right this way," Huggins gestured, so she stood up and went into the nurse's office, where Nurse Patti was giving her a welcoming smile.
"Take a seat," she offered, so Jordan sat down on the bed. "How is your eye feeling?"
"Okay, just a little sore."
Patti nodded, noticing how the skin around her eye was red, but not yet a full black eye. "That's good to hear. Does it feel warm?" The girl shook her head, so she wrote it down. "Any headaches?" Again, Jordan shook her head. Nurse Patti then grabbed a small torch from her desk and sat down next to Jordan. "Alright, I just need to check your vision, so if you could, just follow the light." Jordan did just that as the light shined in her eye, looking left when she moved the light left, right when she moved it right, and so on. Once she was satisfied with what she saw, the nurse turned off the torch. "Okay, I think you'll be just fine, other than a black eye. I won't give you any painkillers right now, but you can take some at home if you feel you need it. For now, I'll prepare you an ice pack, which you can hold onto for the day until it defrosts."
"Okay."
While Nurse Patti stood up and went over to her mini freezer, Principal Huggins then approached the girl. "Now, I've already heard from Artie and from some of your friends, but I need to hear your side of the story too, and then I'll ask Lincoln as well. First of all, was Markus the one to instigate the fight?"
"Yeah, it was him," she answered angrily. "He's had issues with Lincoln for months now, and he just came over to tease Lincoln again. I was furious, so I stood up to him, but he hit me and then began to beat up Lincoln."
"Don't worry, I know what happened after you got hit, I just need to know the before. Did you or anyone else attempt to attack Markus or his friends?"
"What?! No, of course not! This was all that jerk's doing, not me or Lincoln!"
"It's okay, I'm not accusing you. I just need to understand all the details." She eased her anger a bit, knowing that it would do her no favours to get angry at the principal. "Now, the one other thing I need to ask, based on what your friends have already said, is that Markus said something to Lincoln that made him react oddly. They also said you were the one to help him through that. What was it that Markus said?"
Jordan looked away from the balding man. "Um… I think it would be better if Lincoln told you about that, rather than me."
He hummed for a second, then nodded. "That's probably right. Thank you, Jordan."
"Here you go," Nurse Patti then told her, holding out an ice pack wrapped in kitchen roll. "This should help ease any pain, but if it doesn't, come back straight away."
"Thank you." She accepted the ice pack, holding it against the eye, instantly feeling how cold it was against her face. "So, what now?"
"Head back to class, and if I need to, I'll have Sheryl call you to my office," Huggins explained, to which she nodded.
"Okay." So, she left the nurse's office, seeing Lincoln stand up after she stepped into the hallway. "All yours, I guess."
"Thanks, Jordan," he replied. She smiled and was about to head to class, but he spoke again. "I almost forgot. When Markus… when he hit you before, you dropped this."
She looked at him, confused and curious, but that look turned to shock when he revealed that he had her bow. Her free hand instinctively reached to her hair, only to find that it really wasn't there. "I hadn't even noticed. Thanks."
"No problem." He handed her the bow, and she tried to put it back in but struggled due to her other hand holding her ice pack, which made Lincoln chuckle. "Let me help." She would have insisted that she had it, but he was already helping her with the bow. It made her blush, and it only grew when he smiled and said, "there we go. Perfect."
She couldn't stop the giggles escaping from her when he said this. "I'd thank you, if I wasn't worried you were concussed right now."
"Right. I, uh… I better get checked, then."
"I'll see you back in class." They both nodded, before going their separate ways- Jordan back to her class, and Lincoln into the nurse's office.
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