Kapitel 42: 42. Ch 42- What's Good For The Sister
(A/N: Geez, I'm getting bad at uploads. Sorry again about this, guys, Uni is being a B to the itch at the moment. Should've expected this, given it's the final year and all. Still, I'm doing my best to bring you new chapters, writing whenever I have the energy and inspiration to. Hopefully, once Christmas break comes or I finish my other story, I'll be able to get back to normal or something.
Thank you all for reading once again, and enjoy!)
It didn't take long for Lincoln to get home from Jordan's house, the sixth grader listening as Leni told her brother about her plans for the fashion show, and how everything looked to be going according to them. While he wasn't exactly thrilled for what was to come that weekend, he could see how happy Leni was, and if helping her with it made her happy, then he wasn't going to say no to her. Once they returned back home, she told him that he would need to try on his outfit for her before Saturday, but that it would wait until the night before, so she left him to do his own thing while she continued preparations. As she made her way upstairs, Lynn passed her heading downstairs, where she saw Lincoln and smirked.
"There you are, Stinkoln!" She teased. "What, couldn't get away from your girlfriend's house?"
"Friend, not girlfriend," he swiftly reminded her, before adding, "but, yeah, I was helping her get ready for Leni's fashion show this weekend."
"Relax, Linc, I'm just teasing. So, Lori won't be ordering pizza for a while, which means that we've got plenty of time for a workout, and THAT means I can finally try out this new workout I've planned for you."
Giving a shrug, he smiled back at her. "Sure, I can do my homework later. We starting now?"
"Eager to get started, I like it. Come on, let's head downstairs." She led the way through the dining room and the kitchen, then down the stairs that led to the basement. Looking around as he followed her, Lincoln could only see her usual exercise equipment, and nothing particularly new. "So, what are we going to be doing?"
"Well, little bro, allow Coach Lynn to explain."
He rolled his eyes at her statement. "I told you, I'm not calling you Coach Lynn."
"Well, I'm still your coach, so just shut up and listen." With another eye roll, he nodded, coming to a stop as she turned around to face him, both now by her workout bench. "Alright. So, like I said, I did a bit of research on Monday about what kind of workout I should guide you through, and what areas we need to be looking at. Fortunately, it wasn't all that different to what we were doing when I thought you were doing dodgeball, so I was able to build this workout off of that. The main differences are we need to be working on your whole body rather than just your arms, so that you've got enough muscle strength to do the right lifts and stuff, and we need to train your core more." She patted her midsection as a way of showing him, "get it strong like mine is."
"Okay, narcissism aside, that sounds simple enough, though shouldn't I probably put on some better clothes for it?"
"Good thinking, Link. Alright, you've got three minutes to head upstairs, get changed and get your butt back down here. If you're not back in three minutes, I'll make you do laps of the house. Ready? Go!" The white-haired child took no time in obliging, pretty much sprinting back up the stairs, much to his next oldest sister's amusement. 'Works every time,' she thought, her hand reaching into her pocket to pull out her phone. 'Now, then, let's see what my bro's gonna be doing today.'
Once he had returned to the basement, now in a grey tank top and red shorts- one of a few of this ensemble that he had purchased the previous weekend (per Lynn's insistence) during the most recent trip he had taken with his sisters to the Royal Woods Mall, thankful that Leni allowed him to use her staff discount and that they were on sale- Lynn wasted no time in putting her brother through the workout, starting with some basic warm up stuff like star jumps, jogging on the spot and the likes, then through some stretches before deciding they were ready for the main body of the session.
Lynn started off the workout by focusing on their cores, testing her brother by having him plank in different positions, as well as perform sit ups, boats and dead bugs. This was followed by strength exercises for their arms and legs, with Lynn introducing Lincoln to a few exercise, including one that was a combination of a squat and bicep curls with weights- her claim being that by doing both at once, it would mean that he 'never had to skip leg day'. While Lincoln wasn't a particular fan of the rather intense exercise, he trusted his sister's judgment and followed her lead. She even catered it to gymnastics a little bit by having him do a wall assisted handstand, and though he occasionally had to fall back into the wall to prevent himself from landing on his back, he could definitely feel where it was helping him (even if it didn't feel particularly 'helpful').
Lynn would then allow Lincoln a small water break, during which Lori informed them that they would soon be ordering pizza, before transitioning their focus towards conditioning, and since neither of them wanted to miss out on pizza, Lynn picked up the pace for them, leading her brother through a series of push ups, squats, hip lifts, V-ups and chin ups on the chin up bar, which left the white haired child- and his older sister, though to a much lesser extent- panting for air and sweating profusely. Once they were done, however, Lynn slowed things back down so they could stretch off, bringing their Wednesday workout to an end.
"Alright, bro," Lynn told her brother, having both returned to the kitchen for a protein shake. "Gotta admit, wasn't expecting you to do so good, but you surprised me. That was a pretty intense workout I just put you through, and you kept up pretty good."
A smile cracking on his red, sweaty face, he replied, "thanks, Lynn. You're a good coach. Have you thought about coaching during your off seasons?"
As she put the lid on the blender, she couldn't help but smirk at him. "Link, I don't have an off season." The boy couldn't help but chuckle, his older sister joining in on the laughter. "Still, that's not a bad idea. Keeps me active, plus I could get a bit of green while doing it." While she started speaking, she started to blend their protein shakes together. "Gotta admit, bro, you have some real food ideas at times. I'll be sure to give you a discount from now on." She have a laugh at her joke, but didn't hear her brother laugh as well, so she turned her head to see him staring out the window with a confused look. "Link? What's up?"
"It's Lana," he told her, promoting the jock to look outside and see the grease monkey of the family, sat next to the tree, almost expressionless. "Have you or any of the girls noticed anything up with her?"
"I'll be honest, once we got back, I kind of just went and did my own thing… but, she did seem a bit quiet in Vanzilla. I'm not sure, though."
Lincoln let out a hum as he thought for a few seconds. "Do you think I should talk to her?"
"Well, I don't think it could hurt." She stopped blending their shakes, and poured it into two glasses. "This ain't really my strong point, so just go with your gut."
He nodded, accepting one of the glasses from the athlete before proceeding to down the protein shake in one, a look of disgust on his face. "That was horrible." Lynn could only give a chuckle whilst drinking her own shake. "Alright. Here goes." He walked out through the kitchen door and into the yard, where he approached his younger sister. "Hey, Lana."
"Hey, Lincoln," she replied without looking, the boy noticing how her voice was a tad quieter than usual.
"You, uh, mind if I sit with you?" She merely shrugged, which caused a concerned look to appear in his eye as he sat down beside her, staring ahead at the road. "So, how come you're out here by yourself?"
"Hops was tired, so I put him in his terrarium so he could sleep, and Lola's watching some dumb Princess tutorial on her phone. The others are all doing their things."
"Oh… well, is there anything we can do together?"
"Hmm… not really."
A sigh escaped the boy's lips. 'Alright, guess I've got to just come out and say it, huh?' He thought you himself, turning his head to look at the tomboy. "Lana… is every-"
The sound of a scooter coming down the road interrupted them, causing Lana to say, "ooh, there's the pizza," before heading inside. Lincoln could only pinch his eyes at the bad timing.
"Seriously?" he grumbled, before standing up. 'Alright, no worries. I'll keep an eye out during dinner, and if she still seems down, then I'll try again.' Looking on as his sister the-entered the house, his expression developed into a frown. 'Still… I wonder what could be bothering her…'
Eventually, the boy made his way inside and washed his hands, before joining his sisters in the dining room for pizza. While everyone was eager to enjoy the cheesy treat, Lori was quick to make sure that everyone- though, it was more specifically directed towards Lynn and Lola- waited until the pizzas were divided up, with the two spare slices being set aside so their parents could reheat and eat them later. Fortunately, everyone listened to the eldest sister, and took their slices through to the living room so they could watch a show together.
As the siblings sat and ate peacefully, Lincoln found himself occasionally glancing over at the girl in the red cap, and he was able to notice that she didn't bear the same smile she normally did when she had pizza. Sure, she didn't look sad or anything, so the pizza had helped her mood a bit, but the fact she wasn't smiling definitely made Lincoln think something was on her mind. Of course, he didn't say anything, since the others were there too, and he didn't want to make a bigger deal of it without knowing the full story. About ten minutes into the show, however, Lana had finished her pizza and got up, taking her plate into the kitchen, before heading upstairs. At this point, Lincoln got up from the couch and kneeled down next to Lola.
"Hey, did anything happen to Lana at school today?" He asked, keeping his voice down.
"Not that I know of… though, she did sit by her self at lunch today," Lola whispered back. "I know she was a bit upset on Monday because of what happened in class, but I think she got over that."
"Hmm… okay."
"Why do you-"
He didn't wait for her response, instead finishing the last of his pizza and taking his plate into the kitchen, depositing it in the sink. He then headed upstairs after Lana, walking up to the closed door that led to the twins' bedroom. He gave a quick knock and opened it slightly.
"Lana?" He called in, poking his head through. "Can I come in?"
"Sure," she replied, not looking up from the frog book in her lap. He headed all the way in and sat down next to her. "What's up?"
"That's what I was gonna ask you." Putting her book to one side, she looked up, seeing the concerned look on his face. "Is everything okay?"
She tilted her head in slight confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you've seen kind of quiet today, and Lola told me you were sat by yourself at lunch. I was wondering if anything had happened at school today."
"No."
Her answer was a little too quick for Lincoln to believe her, so he tried a different tactic- he put a hand on her back and gently patted it. "Are you sure? Because I remember Lola saying saying something happened on Monday, and-"
"It's got nothing to do with that!" Lincoln flinched a little from how sharply she said this, which Lana noticed and frowned soon after. "Sorry. But, yeah, it's not about that…" Lincoln gave a concerned look, which made Lana sigh. "Not exactly…"
"Well, what is it?"
"…"
"Lana… if something's going on, then please, tell me. I don't want you to be upset over this."
The look in his eye told her that she was being genuine, and although she didn't really want to talk about it, she felt comforted by her big brother being caring. "Well… okay. It wasn't really to do with what happened on Monday, but… it was the same person. There's this girl in my class, Lacey."
"I think I remember you mentioning her. The girl from that dog show, right?"
Lana nodded, almost losing her hat but she readjusted it before it could fall off. "Yeah, her. She's not been, like, a bully or anything, but we don't get along." Lincoln nodded, understanding what she meant, before allowing her to continue. "So, on Monday, we had a little dispute, but it didn't become anything, and the teacher quickly stopped it. We didn't really interact yesterday, or today. Then, came lunchtime."
Lana and Lola were walking out of their classroom together, thankful that it was lunchtime. Even for a first grade class where things were easy, that didn't stop them from getting bored in some classes, like math. "Why do they teach us this stuff? It's so dull!" Lola whined. "What's the point in learning numbers?"
"Well, it can be kinda useful," Lana argued. "I know Lisa could name a bajillion reasons, but I've gotta use numbers when I'm working on Vanzilla. Plus, think of when we go to the mall. Whenever we buy stuff, there's some kind of math there."
Lola blinked, putting a hand to her chin. "You know, I never thought of it like that… still doesn't make it less boring, though."
Lana chuckled, not arguing about that. "Yeah, it doesn't." The two of them opened their lockers, pulling out their packed lunches, and whilst Lola shut hers and started walking, Lana pulled out a note, which read:
Hey, Lana,
You free to meet at lunch?
Got something to show ya
I'll be by the dumpsters
Skippy
Reading this note made Lana blush, her mind fluttering with ideas of what he might be about to show her. 'Maybe he got some really cool auto parts from his dad's garage, or he found some rare treasure at the dumps! Ooh, maybe he got a new frog!'
"Lana!" She heard Lola call out to her, making her shut her locker and turn to her twin. "Are you coming?"
"Uh, actually, I'm gonna catch up in a bit. I need to… use the little girls' room." With a roll of her eyes, the pageant princess walked away, leaving the older twin to turn around and giddily walk towards the yard, where she was curious to find out what her friend/crush would have to show her. Once outside, she couldn't see anyone, and the dumpster looked clear, so she thought that he might be waiting behind the dumpster, but walking over to it showed that he wasn't there either. "Guess he had to go? Unless…"
She opened up the dumpster lid and hopped up, but found that he wasn't in there either. "Aw, man… and there's not even any good trash in here."
"LANA LOUD!" a voice angrily yelled, making her leap out of the dumpster and see her teacher marching over. "What have I told you about climbing in the dumpsters?!"
"Not to… but, I thought that my friend was-"
"I don't want to hear it, Lana! Now, go and wash up, and go to lunch."
She ducked her head, whispering a "yes, ma'am" as she walked back inside. Once outside the bathroom, she heard someone talking on the inside.
"I can't believe that grease monkey fell for it!" One girl said with an audibly snobby laugh.
"I know! What boy would want anything to do with such an urchin?" Another girl, this one Lana recognising as Lacey, agreed, with a snobbier laugh than her friend's. Lana could hear them walking closer, so she positioned herself so that the door would open, hiding her as the posh girls walked away, meaning they didn't see the tears appearing in her eyes.
"After that, I just got washed up, went to lunch and… tried to pretend it didn't happen."
Even now, the tears were starting to well up, and it broke her brother's heart, making him pull her in for a hug. "Did you tell anyone about that?"
She shook her head. "No, because my teacher was already mad at me, I didn't want her to think I was lying. It doesn't matter, though."
"What?!" He placed his hands on her shoulders, turning her so she could look him in the eye. "What do you mean it doesn't matter? Lana, what she did to you wasn't fair."
"No… but, it's my own fault for believing her."
"No, Lana, it wasn't."
"Yes, it was! I got my hopes up, only to crash and burn. Maybe she's right… maybe I'm stupid for doing stuff like that. Hopping in dumpsters, rolling in the mud-"
"Stop it." She was surprised at the tone of his voice, stern but not in a way that made it seem like he was angry at her. She looked back up at him and saw the biggest frown she had ever seen on the boy's face. "You can't let her get to you like that. While I don't think you should eat stuff from dumpsters, you absolutely should not let what other people think, especially some snob, dictate what you do, because it's the things you do that make you who you are. So, tell me- do you enjoy rolling around in the mud with Charles, fixing Vanzilla and the toilet?"
"Well, yeah."
"And do you like playing with Hops at the pond, and searching the scrapyard for parts?"
"Yeah, I do."
He gave a soft smile and told her, "then that's all that matters. If you like doing those things, then don't let that Lacey girl tell you that you should be doing otherwise. Just ignore her, and enjoy the things you enjoy." She was slowly starting to smile, but Lincoln knew what would make her smile more. "Besides, I'm sure Skippy thinks you're cool for liking those things."
Her cheeks turned red as a small giggle came from her mouth. "Shut up," she teased giving a small push on his chest, before leaning in and hugging him. "Thanks, Lincoln."
"No problem, Lana," he replied, hugging her back. "Now, what's say we head into my room, and I find some nature videos to watch on ViewTube for a bit? Plus, we don't have to tell mom, but I've got a little bit of Halloween candy left."
Her smile practically beamed at his suggestion. "Okay!"
He gave a small chuckle and a nod, then lifted her up and carried her out the door, neither aware of the person that had heard their conversation giving the boy something of a sad smile.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
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Rangliste 
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Stein