Chapitre 41: 41. Ch 41- Looking Good
The bell rang once more, and the students in the sixth grade felt relief wash over them, knowing that the final class of the day was over. "Okay, everyone!" Mrs Johnson declared, although some of the students had already began packing their things away. "Reminder that your book reports are due tomorrow. They must be two pages long, and must cover the questions set. Class dismissed."
Those that were still listening to their teacher got up from their seats and began to head into the corridor, eager to head home and enjoy what was left of the day. Lincoln, however, felt less of a rush to leave, knowing that he would be heading with Jordan to her house so they could prepare for the fashion show that weekend. As he entered the congested corridors, he happened to spot the girl in question's blue bow, so he made his way through the crowd of kids of similar and younger ages, until he finally found the girl with the braided ponytail.
"Hey," he greeted, getting her to look at him and smile.
"Hey, Lincoln," she greeted back. "So, my mom told me she was working late today, so apparently I'm getting a ride home with you guys?"
He gave a small chuckle, before telling her, "well, then, it's a good thing that Lori's driving us today, because I don't think we'd all fit if mom was driving us."
She gave a small giggle. "Yeah, I remember how big your family ride is. Honestly, I'm surprised it fits the eleven of you, let alone your mom and dad too."
"I know what you mean. Still, all I can suggest is sit next to either Jen, Leni or me and you should be fine."
She rolled her eyes. "You make it sound like the rest of your sisters are-"
"Right behind you," Lincoln interrupted, getting her to turn and see that Lucy, the twins and Lisa were all stood waiting behind her, the self-professed princess of the Loud family wearing a slightly mischievous grin. "Were you listening in on us?"
"Only for about ten seconds," Lola quickly replied, making him roll his eyes back and groan. "It's nice to see you again, Jordan."
"It's nice to see you too, Lola," she replied. "How are your pageants going?"
Ignoring the muttered "oh, brother" of her twin, Lola happily smiled and told her, "it's been going wonderfully, thank you. Thanks to Linky coaching me again for the Halloween pageant, my record is looking as strong as ever."
"Glad to hear it."
"As good as this is," Lucy interrupted, "we should get going. Lori tends to be quite irritable if we keep her waiting."
"You're right, Luce," Lincoln agreed. "Let's go and meet them."
As they turned around and headed towards the entrance, Jordan turned to Lola once more. "So, can I ask you for some advice? My sister convinced me to model for her fashion show, and I don't really know how to model."
With a "pfft" and a wave of her hand, Lola replied, "trust me, Jordan, modelling is easy as long as you have the right outfit. All you need to do is-" she stopped when Lana pulled her back slightly. "What? Can't you see that we're-" When Lana whispered into her ear, her peeved expression turned into a knowing one. "Oh! I hear you!" She then promptly turned back to Jordan, who was still waiting for an answer. "My apologies. As I was saying, all you need to do is find someone to coach you."
"I wonder who that could be," Lincoln muttered, seeing through his sisters' tricks.
"Fortunately, Linky has been a splendid coach for me, and I have full trust that he can help you there. If he can help Lana win a pageant, he can help you."
"Shut up!" Lana curtly yelled, slapping her sister on the shoulder while she blushed. "You didn't need to tell her that!"
"Well, I thought it would give her confidence!"
With her arms crossed and her lips pouting, Lana mumbled, "you still didn't have to tell her."
Jordan could see the somewhat upset look on the grease monkey's face, and couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for her. "Hey, don't be sad, Lana," she told her. "It sounds like you did really well in that pageant. Better than I did in mine, for sure."
Both Lana and Lola looked at her with surprise, as did their brother. "You were in a pageant?"
She nodded, gripping slightly tighter onto her backpack strap. "It was when I was about seven, and… let's just say it didn't go so well. I only did the one, and it didn't feel right for me."
Lola gave an understanding nod, patting the older girl on her back. "It isn't for everyone. It can be quite a tough competition, and you have to adapt to the lifestyle."
"I can imagine."
As they stepped out through the entrance, Jordan saw the familiar Loud family van parked out front, her sister sat next to one of the windows. Whilst Jordan jogged ahead, Lincoln stopped his twin sisters before they could go further, giving them a stern glare. "I know what you're doing," he told them, a certain authoritative tone in his voice. "I'm going to ask you now, before we get in the van, to not say things like that to her again."
Lana and Lola both rolled their eyes at their older brother. "Chill out, Lincoln," Lana responded.
"No, Lana! I've asked you both, and the others, to lay off on those jokes, especially around her!"
"But-"
"No buts, Lola! I'm trying to reason with you here, but you leave me no choice! Either you lay off, or I will tell mom about what happened on your last Bluebell Scouts trip." The two girls gulped, looking nervously, before giving their brother a nod and a "sorry, Lincoln" each. "That's better. Now, come on, we better not keep Lori waiting."
Fortunately for Lincoln, the twins behaved after that, keeping mostly to themselves for the majority of the drive towards Jordan's house. Of course, this didn't stop the others from talking with Jordan at all, but again, the white haired child was fortunate that they didn't make any kinds of jokes or implications regarding his friendship with her, and Jordan's sister kept some of the older girls more occupied during the travel, until eventually they reached the destination. After waving off the other nine Loud sisters, Lincoln and Leni followed the Rosato girls into the house, where Lincoln was surprised by how eagerly Ajax was to see him.
"Hey there, buddy," Lincoln greeted the pooch, scratching behind its ear as it tried to jump up to lick his face. "Someone seems happy to see me."
"I told you last time, Ajax is really a sweetie when he gets to know you," Jordan reminded him, then turned her attention to the dog. "Okay, Ajax, come here. We'll play later, okay?" Though the dog wasn't too happy about having to leave his newest friend alone, he obliged, walking over and sitting down next to her. "Good boy."
"Okay, so me and Leni need to make a few amendments to some of our other ensembles first," Jen explained to the two younger kids. "We'll come down when we're ready to continue working on your outfits, so for now, why don't you two just relax or whatever for a bit?"
"Actually, Lincoln said he was going to help me figure out how to walk the catwalk, so I think we'll do that for now."
Jen raised her eyebrows, her gaze darting over to the boy smiling sheepishly before giving him a smirk. "Is that so? Well, in that case, me and Leni will let our models get to it."
"Be back in a bit, Linky!" Leni called out as she followed her friend upstairs, leaving the two sixth graders alone.
"So, what's first?" Jordan asked, making him turn to her with a fake annoyed expression.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" He quipped, his voice not showing any sense of irritation, which made her stifle laughter.
"I'm sorry, but you've got to admit. There's not a lot of boys our age who would be able to teach someone how to model."
"Yeah, I know, but it's only because I've coached Lola for her pageants, and the first part of a pageant is basically modelling."
"I see. So, what's the first step?"
"Well, first, we need some music. Something with a clear beat is usually what's played for this sort of thing."
"I think I can find something like that. Give me a second, okay?" He gave a nod and watched as she walked over to the cabinet beneath the tv, looking through a selection of CDs. "My sister still gets CDs for most of her music. I get why she does that, but I just find it easier to have it downloaded, you know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I hear you. My sister Luna is the same, she'll always buy the latest Mick Swagger CD when it comes out, then get it on download too. Pretty sure she also has some vinyl records with his music, but I've never heard her play it."
"Probably a collectible thing." Eventually, Jordan found a good choice of music, so she quickly put it into the CD player connected to the speakers, grabbed the remote and pressed play. "How's this?"
Lincoln listened on as what sounded to be a nineties club hit played, making him nod slightly to the beat. "Yeah, that works. Alright, let's start. First thing's first, just try walking."
She squinted slightly, confused. "Just… walking? Like, in a straight line, or…"
"Just trust me, okay?" With a roll of her eyes, she gave him a nod, then walked over to him. "Alright. Now, just walk past the couch, stop at the wall, then walk back to me."
"Yes, sir!" She replied, giving a salute like a soldier would to their captain, making Lincoln chuckle. After a couple of seconds, he watched her walk forward to the end of the room, turn around and walk right back until she was right in front of him. "So?"
"It's not bad, you've definitely got the fundamentals of walking down."
She scoffed, pushing him slightly on the shoulder. "You're just messing with me, aren't you?"
He couldn't help but chuckle as he told her, "a little bit. Seriously, though, it's not that different from walking in a straight line. It's mainly just… conditioning, I guess."
"Conditioning?"
"Yeah. Like, you've got good posture, and your expression is right, but instead of just walking normally, you should try go heel to toe, and take bigger steps. Watch." She stepped aside and watched on as Lincoln began to walk the imaginary catwalk, his feet landing one in front of the other in time with the beat of the music, making his hips sway slightly as he walked. "Also, see how I'm not trying to move my arms. Instead, they're hanging down and swaying naturally."
As he turned around, he saw the bemused expression on her face as she asked, "how is it you know all of this?"
"I got a couple of books on this stuff when I started training Lola for pageants, and like she mentioned earlier, I've had to help Lana for a pageant before."
"If I didn't know any better, I'd suspect you've done a pageant before." While she had been joking, when he stopped walking, the look of mild nervousness on his face made her suspicious. "Wait… have you?"
A small blush appeared on his face, his eyes darting towards his feet as he rubbed the back of his arm. "Uh… I'd rather not talk about it, but… sort of?"
"Really?! Wow! Can't say I'm not surprised by that!"
"It's not exactly something I'm proud of. I actually regret doing it. It was just… well…"
Seeing how uncomfortable he looked talking about this, she put a hand on his shoulder getting him to look up and see that she had a small smile on her face. "Hey. It's okay. If you don't want to talk about this, we don't have to."
He couldn't help but smile, appreciating her understanding his reservations on this subject. "Thanks, Jordan."
She waved it off, saying, "no big deal. So, coach, what's next for my modelling lesson?"
He gave a small chuckle, before replying, "well, let's see how you do on a different song first." As if on cue, the track changed, and a song with a slightly faster beat started to play. "Alright, let's see how you do on this song."
"Okay. Stand back, and let the student try again." He gave another small laugh as he obliged, stepping aside as she eyed the path ahead of her, hearing the music for a second before taking off. This time, her steps were matching Lincoln's, one foot in front of the other with more distance between her strides. Her gaze remained straight ahead, her expression stayed neutral and her posture kept straight, with her arms naturally by her sides. She stopped at the end, then turned around and walked back towards Lincoln in the same fashion, stopping just in front of him. "So," she asked, placing a hand on her hip, "how was that?"
He gave a smile, giving a slow clap as he told her, "very good. Good spacing between your steps, good posture, good expression- I didn't even have to tell you to walk in time with the beat."
With a bit of a grin, she argued, "I did kind of figure." He held his hands up, admitting her point. "So, what's next?"
"Well, in terms of walking, that's mostly it. Now, depending on how our sisters have organised this, it might be a case of there being two models on the runway at one time, which I think is what tends to be the case? Anyway, when it comes to turning, you turn on your left foot if you're going to walk on the right side, and vice versa. Other than that, there's nothing else to really say about the walk."
"So, is that everything there is to modelling, then?"
"Not quite." She saw how his eyes showed just a little bit of glee, making her raise an eyebrow. "There's one other thing to cover, and it's the fun part."
"And what's that?"
While they were practicing downstairs, Leni and Jen were going over some of the amendments to the other outfits, since Lincoln's outfit was still at Leni's house, and Jordan's was more or less complete, apart from maybe a bit of tailoring. "So, I think this is looking about right," Leni said, getting Jen to look at her handiwork on the Henley shirt.
"Yeah, I think that looks good," Jen replied. "I really like that little sigil you've sewn into it, too."
Leni beamed with pride at the praise. "Thanks! It was pretty simple, but it looks so cute!"
"It really is!" The girls tittered a bit, before Jen grabbed a sheet of paper from her desk. "So, let's check the list. Design? Check. Hire models? Check. Manufacture the outfits?"
"I've always hated that word. Why can't we just say we made the clothes?"
Jen couldn't help feeling amused by her friend's 'Leni-ism', before continuing. "Check. Organise running order? Check. Choose music? Check. All that's left for us is to do any last minute tailoring on the day, and then we're all set!"
"Yay!" As Leni gave a small clap, she heard her phone go off, making her pick it up to see what message she had received. "Ooh, good thing, too. Mom just texted, she needs me to get Linky home, so she and dad can go to a meeting with her boss."
"Oh, really? I guess that's fair. Still, I bet the kids are having fun downstairs. What do you think they've been up to down there?"
"Oh, Linky is, like, totes great at coaching Lola for her pageants, and she's such a good model, so I bet he's teaching Jordan what he taught Lola to do."
"That explains the music we were hearing it. But, yeah, we should probably let them know you need to go." Leni nodded, before following her friend out of the bedroom and towards the staircase. As they headed downstairs, however, Jen stopped halfway down, turning to Leni with a grin and telling her, "you've got to see this!"
Though initially confused, Leni's grin matched her friends when they headed further down and were able to see their younger siblings stood next to the couch, taking it in turn to pose like they were at the end of the catwalk. They were taking it in turns, switching from simple stances, to superhero poses, to goofy ones, until eventually the two of them pretty much burst out laughing, hands on their knees as the guffaws poured out of them.
"Okay," Lincoln said as he started to calm down, wiping a tear of way, "I think… I think you've got the hang of it."
"Are you sure?" she questioned, still giggling a bit. "Because… if I do poses like that up there, I'm pretty sure… I'm pretty sure I'm gonna ruin the whole show."
"I dunno about the whole show," Jen interrupted, alerting them to their presence, her arms crossed with a sly grin on her face. "Maybe our part of the show, but not all of it."
Though both younger kids blushed a bit by the sudden intrusion, Lincoln was quick to explain, "don't worry, I showed her how to pose properly. This stuff was just… you know, for fun."
Jen couldn't help but chuckle as she walked over to the white haired boy, ruffling his hair. "Relax, Link, I'm messing with ya."
"Please don't do that." He swiped her hand away so he could fix his hair, much to the amusement of the three girls. "So, how is everything looking?"
"It's going so well!" Leni eagerly told him. "Everything's pretty much ready, though we may need to make a few alterations on the day just to be certain, but other than that, we are good to go!"
"That sounds great, Leni!" Jordan commended. "Guess you two pretty much have this all sorted."
"Hey, it's not our first show! Give us a little credit, sis," Jen argued, only for Jordan to roll her eyes at her big sister.
"I wish we could stay and do some more work," Leni pointed out. "I really want to see what Linky's taught you, Jordan! But, my mom said she needs me and Linky to get back home so she can go to a meeting, so we need to be going."
"Don't worry, Leni, we can see what they've been up to at the show on Saturday."
"She's right," Lincoln agreed, to which Leni nodded, before he turned to face Jordan. "So, guess I'll see you then?"
"Lincoln, we still have school tomorrow," she reminded him, making him pinch his eyes shut.
"Well, now I feel stupid." The others giggled at his minor mishap, but he didn't stay down about it. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then."
"See you tomorrow, Lincoln." The two shared a high five whilst Leni said her goodbyes with Jen, the two elder girls sharing a hug before Leni led her brother out of the front door. With a smile on her face, Jordan turned to head to her room, only to be met with the grin of her older sister. "What?"
"You two seemed to be having fun," Jen promptly teased. "Getting close yet?"
With a groan, Jordan simply said "whatever" in response, before heading upstairs to get her homework done. Jen, rather than stop her, simply smirked.
'Sometimes, it's fun being the big sis.'
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone