Chapitre 90: 90. Ch 90- The Big News
The second that roller derby practice was finished, Lynn said goodbye to her friends and collected her stuff, before beginning to race home. The streets weren't as full at this time, so there were only a few moments where she had to slow down and avoid knocking into people or getting hit by traffic. This allowed her to get home in good time, seeing from further up the street that Vanzilla wasn't parked outside the garage, which meant that her mother hadn't returned from picking up Lincoln yet. 'She'll have to drop Jordan off first,' she realised. 'Maybe he'll ask her at her house… Nah, he wouldn't want her sister to butt in. If he asked her, he'll have done it at gymnastics.'
Her thoughts meant that she didn't notice that she passed Mr Grouse as he exited his house. "Hey, Lynn!" he beckoned. "What's the dang rush about? It ain't the postseason yet, is it?"
"Nah, just got something I need to take care of!" she called back to him, sitting back down on the porch to remove her skates. "Got to take care of it before dinner, you know?"
"I ain't got a clue what you're talking about. Anywho, tell your sister to keep her animal out of my yard."
"Got it. I'll let Lana know."
"Not that sister! The one with the bat!"
This caught her attention. "Lucy? What was her bat doing in your yard?"
"I don't know, but I found it hanging from the back door. Nearly gave me a heart attack." He heard Lynn chuckle to herself, making him give an unimpressed look. "Go ahead, laugh it up. Wait 'til you're my age."
"Sure thing, Mr G. Don't worry, I'll talk to spooky."
With a shared nod, Mr Grouse returned to his home, while Lynn made her way into her own home, her skates held in her hands once more. Getting through the front door, she saw that most of her sisters had already gathered on the couch in anticipation of the Dream Boat holiday special, which would cover what had happened to all the other contestants on the show who had been rejected, and how Kayla and her 'First Mate' had gotten on with their first date, plus some developments for past couples from the show's previous seasons. Admittedly, Lynn wasn't as excited for the special as her sisters were, since it usually ended up being half replays of past moments from the series and half boring 'where are they now' interviews, but her brother's revelation to her had made it the second most interesting romantic thing that day.
Still, she knew she couldn't speed up time to ensure that he would be back to tell her everything, so she went upstairs and entered the room she shared with Lucy. Opening the door, she saw no sign of the young goth, so she simply shrugged and dumped her bag at the foot of her bed, along with her skates. When she turned to leave, however, she jumped at the sudden appearance of her roommate.
"You're here early," she said in her monotone voice, unphased by Lynn clutching her chest.
"Yeah, I'll be sure to tell God that if you send me to heaven before college," the older girl muttered in response, calming her heartbeat. "I guess your bat's been learning from you. Mr Grouse said he nearly had a heart attack because of it."
"So, that was where Fangs went. Interesting. I thought he seemed different." Lynn rolled her eyes before leaving the room, Lucy following her as she went down the stairs. "You seem different, too."
"Maybe the fact you just scared the heck out of me had something to do with that?"
"What's going on?" Lori asked, having heard that last comment.
"Oh, nothing, just Lucy being her usual spooky self is all."
"You were acting differently before I scared you," the raven haired girl argued.
"What are you talking about? All I did was come home, go upstairs and put my stuff away."
"Exactly. You were way too quick about it."
"While potentially inconsequential, my seventh eldest sibling is correct in her observation," Lisa agreed. "The pace at which you completed such actions was more hurried than your usual demeanour following your weekly scheduled roller derby practice session."
Lynn blinked with a blank expression on her face. "What are you getting at, Lise?"
"Simple. You've got something else that you wish to do or get."
"But, like, what could that be?" Leni asked, being thoroughly lost in this conversation.
"Nothing, Leni," Lynn insisted. "These two are just acting crazy."
"Actually, I think they're onto something," Lori countered, raising an eyebrow at the brunette. "Any time we go to one of your games, you literally always take it easy after. You've told us so many times about how you have to 'rest and recover to come back stronger'."
"Yeah, but it's not like I had a game today. It was just training, y'know? Why are you all on my case?"
"Dude, we're just curious," Luna insisted. "Come on, you can tell us."
"Unless it's a secret, of course," Lola pointed out.
"That never stoped you before," Lana told her, to which she scowled.
"Watch it."
"Look, I don't know what you're trying to say, but you've got no clue what you're talking about," Lynn affirmed, "so just drop it."
"If clue say so!" Luan quipped, laughing while her sisters groaned and Lynn sat down. After that, everyone's attention returned to the TV, though Lynn's was divided.
'Dang, first my team figure it out, then my sisters nearly rumble me! Given I held his secret for three weeks before, I should really do better at hiding this one,' she thought to herself. 'Still, he'll probably tell us what happened when he gets back, so it won't matter then.' Only a few seconds later, she heard the familiar sound of Vanzilla coming from outside, making a smile come to her face. 'Looks like that might happen sooner than later.' She waited for the door to open, and when it did, her brother was the first to enter. "Hey, how was—"
She stopped when he headed straight for the stairs, giving his sisters neither a look nor a word of acknowledgement. Lynn was barely able to catch a look at him as he went up towards his room, but she was able to notice an absence of a smile on his face, which made her slightly worried. 'That's not good.'
She wasn't the only one to notice, as once their mother entered after him, Leni asked her, "what's up with Linky?"
"He's fine, girls," the matriarch answered. "He just wants a shower."
The others seemed to accept this, but Lynn knew otherwise. 'I'll let him cool down for now. Just hope it's not what I think it is.'
Her worry only grew when Lincoln didn't come down after his shower to watch Dream Boat with her and the others. Though she wanted to go up and talk to him, to try and find out what had happened, she had a feeling that it wasn't the right time to do so. Still, her brother eventually rejoined them after their father called everyone into the dining room for dinner. Lynn made sure to save a seat for him to sit next to her, and when she asked him if he was okay, he told her that he was, which was enough for her to let it go for the time being. However, as the family ate together, Lynn noticed that her brother didn't talk again, quietly eating his meal and listening to what everyone else said. It made her feel worried again, but she knew she couldn't ask him about it then and there, because that would make the rest of the sisters get involved, and she had a feeling he didn't want that.
It wasn't until the end of the meal that he spoke again, when Lynn Sr asked him, "so, Lincoln, how was practice?" He quickly felt a sharp elbow to the ribs from his wife, giving a small cry. "Ow! What—"
"Lynn," she sternly cut off, but a quick look at her kids showed her that all eyes were now on the sole boy of the family, who was gently putting his fork down on his plate.
"It, uh… it was okay." His voice was noticeably quiet. Normally, when he spoke about gymnastics to people— even when that wasn't what he was saying it was— it was with passion, because he truly loved it. To hear him talk like this was throwing up red flags in his sisters' minds, but Lincoln spoke before any of them could. "May I be excused?"
"Go ahead, Lincoln," Rita allowed, giving a small smile to her son, who nodded before leaving the table and beginning to leave the table.
"I'm gonna talk to him," Lynn declared, following her brother before her mother could object. Heading up the stairs, she could hear Lola asking what was wrong with Lincoln, but Lynn had already decided that she wanted to speak to the boy himself. Heading to his door, she instinctively reached for the handle but stopped herself, instead choosing to knock to get his attention. It only took him a few seconds to answer, opening the door to an uncharacteristically soft smile from Lynn. "Hey, bro. Can I come in?"
"Sure," he told her, walking over and sitting down on his bed. Lynn followed suit, leaving a bit of space between them.
"So… I'm guessing it didn't go well?" Rather than answer with words, he simply shook his head, making her frown. "Oh, bro… I know we were joking a bit earlier, but I wish I knew what to say. Maybe just… give her time, see if she'll come round?"
"Lynn—"
"I mean, obviously, don't force her if she doesn't feel that way. Just don't be too quick to—"
"I didn't ask her." This silenced the jock, who looked at him with curious, confused, concerned eyes. "I… I never got to."
"What are you talking about? I saw her at the house, she seemed fine."
He nodded. "It wasn't anything wrong with her or with me. It was… well, let me explain."
Lincoln stood in the changing room alone, admiring how his leotard and pants fit. If there was a mirror, he probably would have checked his reflection to see just how it looked, but he was satisfied with the view he was able to get on his own. It was only when the door opened that he looked away, seeing Artie arrived. The other boy looked at him and sighed with relief. "Okay, I'm not too late," he said. "That's good, traffic was awful, so I didn't think I would…" As he looked at the boy properly, he realised the difference in attire and gave a smile. "No way! You got your own leotard?"
"Sort of," Lincoln explained. "It was a gift from Jordan for Christmas."
"Well, it looks great, man. How does it feel?"
"It's actually pretty comfortable. It doesn't feel too tight or too loose, it's… it's kind of perfect, actually."
"Yeah, you're practically beaming in that thing. You really love it, huh?"
"Y-Yeah… I do."
Artie chuckled at the boy's shy blush. "Well, don't stick around here. I'm sure she wants to see how you look in it, so go show her, man."
"Right. I'll catch you out there."
The two boys nodded to each other, before Lincoln left the changing room and went into the main gymnasium. As he stepped out, he felt a few pairs of eyes had fallen on him, no doubt intrigued by the new attire. Among them was Mollie, who gave a big grin of her own. "So, that's what you got him for Christmas, huh?" she said, alerting her friends to the boy's emergence. When Jordan looked at the boy, she felt her cheeks flush and her smile grow.
'Oh my God, he looks awesome!' she thought, before jogging over, her friends jogging right alongside her. "Lincoln!"
He looked to his friend and smiled, though his blush was now much stronger. "H-Hey, Jordan. So… be honest, does it… look okay?"
"Okay?! Lincoln, you look amazing!" She cupped her hands together, feeling unusually giddy now. "I'm glad that my sister still had the measurements from the fashion show, otherwise I wouldn't have—" She cupped her mouth when she realised what she had said, her cheeks going bright pink, as did Lincoln's. "I-I mean… I just… Oh, God, that sounded creepy."
"Hey, i-it's okay," he told her. "I love it. Really, I do."
"We're, uh, gonna leave you two alone now," Joy cut in, giving a wink to the others. "It does look good, though, Lincoln."
"Thanks." So, the others left him alone with Jordan. "No offence to Joy, but subtlety is not her strong suit."
Despite her prior embarrassment, Lincoln's comment got her to giggle. "Yeah, if it's anything other than gymnastics, I'd say she's as graceful as a hammer."
The boy chuckled. "To be fair to her, I'd say she probably did a better job at it than my sisters would have." She covered her mouth again, this time to try and suppress her hearty laughs at the boy's joke, and just like that, any awkwardness between the two of them had managed to fade away. Jordan just seemed to have that effect on him, and though he didn't know it, Lincoln had the same effect on her. 'Should I… ask her now?' he pondered. 'I mean… I don't see Chris yet. Maybe now would be the best time.'
As if reading him perfectly, Jordan saw a look of thought in his eyes and tilted her head curiously. "Are you okay, Lincoln?"
"Hmm?" He snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."
"You sure? You look like you want to say something."
"Was it that obvious?" He gave a small chuckle before telling her, "actually… there is something."
"Lincoln, it's me. If there's something on your mind, you can tell me. Always."
Her sincerity perked up his smile. "You're right. I'm just… not sure how to say it, I guess."
Holding her hands behind her back, she leaned forward slightly and looked him in the eyes as she assured him, "it's okay, Lincoln. Take your time."
He nodded and took a deep breath. 'Okay, Lincoln. You've got this.'
"Well… the thing is…"
"Okay, everyone!" they heard Chris call out, turning to see the instructor enter and jog over. "Gather round."
Jordan looked back to Lincoln and saw a slightly defeated look on his face. "We'll talk later, okay?" she offered, to which he smiled again.
"Okay."
So, they walked over to Chris, standing with the others. "Alright, everyone. Before we begin practice, there's something I need to announce."
"Sorry! Sorry!" Artie yelled, running over to the group in his leotard. "Sorry, I only just got here."
"Don't worry, Artie. We haven't started yet." The boy sighed in relief, then allowed Chris to speak. "As I was saying, I have an announcement to make, and this comes straight from the managers of the sports centre. They spoke to me before I got here today, and… well, they've asked me to break the news. I'm sorry to say this, but in four weeks time, it'll be the last time that we meet here."
"What… what are you saying?" Sadie asked in a worried tone, making the instructor sigh.
"They're… shutting down gymnastics practice." Immediately, many of them began asking why this was happening and what they were going to do when that happened. Hearing this, Lincoln felt a bit of a pit in his stomach, within which his heart started to sink. A quick look at Jordan told him that she felt the same way, which only made his heart sink more. "I know you're all disappointed," Chris spoke again, raising his voice just enough to get everyone to listen again. "Believe me, I am too. I've been teaching gymnastics here for a long time, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it, but it's out of my hands. I'm only an instructor here. I don't handle any of the financial and business matters here."
"So… so that's it?" one of the younger girls asked, looking a bit teary eyed. "Four weeks and that's it?"
"I'm really sorry, Lizzy, but I don't think there's anything I can do."
"But, surely there must be something we can do," Kat argued. "We love doing gymnastics here. We can't just… give it up."
"She's right," Artie agreed. "Isn't there anything we could do or say?"
Chris shook his head. "I know how you feel, guys. I tried speaking to them, asking if there was any alternative, but they said the decision was final."
"Guess this is… really it."
Hearing Jordan's comment, Lincoln looked to her once more, seeing a look of absolute dejection, and it hurt to see her like that. Just as much as this news hurt to hear. 'There's got to be something… anything, like a…' Though it took a few seconds, it eventually hit him. "A showcase." Everyone else stopped talking and looked to the boy, who looked to Chris. "Couldn't we do a showcase? To show how much this means to us, and to maybe raise some money for the sports centre."
The adult gave him a sad smile. "I like the thinking, Lincoln, but I'm not sure if that could happen."
"But… if this is really going to be the end of practice here, then… it would at least let us go out on a high if it doesn't work, right? Give us one last good session to remember."
"Yeah!" Jordan spoke up. "If this really is it, we at least deserve a proper sendoff! Please, Chris?"
"I don't know, I…" Before he could fully shoot down the idea, he saw that the others were beginning to plead, a small amount of hope in their eyes. As much as he knew it might not work, he didn't want to take that from them too, so he sighed. "… I can't promise they'll say yes, but I'll ask them." This was enough to bring smiles to most of their faces. "Artie, can you lead the warm up for me? I'm going to give them a call."
"Sure thing, Chris."
"When Chris got back, he said that they agreed to let us do a showcase," Lincoln concluded. "The rest of practice was normal, but… well, after that, it didn't feel right to ask her. Even when she asked me what I was wanting to talk about, I just pretended that I forgot about it. She has no idea." He waited for Lynn to respond, but heard nothing from her. Looking to his sister, he saw that her fist was clenched and her face was scrunched up in anger. "Lynn?"
"This… this isn't right." She stood up from the bed and begin to pace. "I've seen how many kids go to that practice, and there's less than that at my roller derby practice! What makes them think it's right to close it down?!"
"Lynn, you're starting to spiral!"
"You're damn right, I am! If it were me running your gymnastics sessions, I'd be kicking down that manager's door and telling them to their face, that if they think they can shut it down and take it away from all of you, they have another thing coming!" In spite of himself and the situation, Lincoln couldn't help but give a small chuckle. "What? What's so funny?"
"Nothing, it's just… I can actually picture you doing that." Slightly confused, Lynn was going to say something, but was cut off when Lincoln stood up and hugged her. "I appreciate the thought, Lynn, but you don't need to get like this. It's not going to help, and it's just getting you angry, so please. Don't do this."
"Uh… I guess… no, hold on!" She pushed herself out of the hug and looked at him with shock. "Lincoln, why are you acting like this? It's almost like it's not bothering you!"
He frowned. "Lynn, of course it's bothering me. I don't want to have to find something new, not when I've grown to love this so much… but I know that there's some things that I can't control, and this is one of them. The only thing I can do is do my best to make the showcase work, you know? It's our only option. Besides, you know I hate seeing you girls get hurt or angered by something, even if it's to do with me."
She let the words sink in, before giving a dry laugh and looking at her feet with her hands on her hips. "Even in times like this, you're still looking out for us." A few seconds passed, before she looked at her brother again with renewed confidence. "If that's how you feel, bro, then just let me know if there's anything I can do. You're not alone in this, and I'm gonna help however I can."
"Thanks, Lynn." As she smiled back at him, he looked past her and noticed something. "I don't think you're the only one." Before she could ask what he meant, he walked over to the door and opened it, revealing the eight frowning faces of his sisters. "Alright, how much did you hear?"
"Oh, you know, just… all of it," Luan admitted.
The boy sighed, but instead of looking angry, he gave a smile. "Come here." He held out his arms and pulled Luan into a hug, with the rest of his sisters engaging them in a group hug. "I know you're all worried, but don't be. If this doesn't work, then I'll figure something out. I just hope this works."
"We do too, Lincoln," Lori told him. "If you need us for anything, then let us know."
"I will, Lori. I will."
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone