Chapitre 75: 75. Ch 75- Last Loud Left
(A/N: thank you all for being so patient with this story. I know that this is, like, the fifth time I've put this story on hiatus, and I apologise for that. The project that I mentioned I was working on was an application for a job, and the application involved a lot of work. I won't divulge too much about it yet, but I will let you know when I hear more from them.
Also, I'm going to give a shoutout to CarlFan2020. At the bottom of their most recent chapter of Street Loud, they talked about discipline in writing, and I think he is absolutely right. If I wish to become a professional writer, I need to be disciplined. Therefore, I am now going back to my schedule of a new chapter every third day for this story. Unless anything urgent comes up (again), I will do my absolute best to maintain that, and my hope is to finish this story by the end of the year.
One other shoutout. Thank you to Tristen for reminding me that I recently hit four years as a writer on this website! It's been a crazy ride, and it's helped to shape who I am. Thank you all for your support along the way.
That's all for now. Thank you for reading, and enjoy!)
A couple of days had passed, and most of the Loud kids were back home after another day at school. Lynn was still at practice and Lincoln was at gymnastics, but the rest of the Louds were scattered around the house, doing their usual thing. Sat on the couch, Leni was watching cartoons with the twins, who had managed to get the remote first upon returning home. Since she didn't have any immediate homework or projects to work on, the fashionista was happy to sit with the twins and watch over them.
After about an hour of this, Leni heard the door to her parents' bedroom open up, her mother exiting with a tired groan as she adjusted her purse. The blonde looked to her mother and asked, "you okay, Mom?"
Rita gave her a weak smile. "I'm fine, sweetie," she replied. "Your father just called, he asked me to drive over to him. Apparently, there was an incident at the restaurant, and he needs help transporting ingredients. Something about the food truck breaking down."
"But, aren't you picking up Linky from practice?"
The matriarch shook her head. "I took Jordan home on Tuesday, so Mrs Rosato is gonna drop him off today. I've let her know that I won't be home, so she'll let him know." Leni gave a nod in understanding. "Do you know where Lori is? I need her to watch over you girls while I'm out."
The twins both gave groans upon overhearing this. "So much for watching cartoons," Lana said to Lola, who nodded.
"It was fun while it lasted," Lola agreed.
Leni paid their complaints no heed. "She's in her room," she replied to her mother. "I'll go and tell her."
"Thank you, Leni. I need to get going, so just let her know that she's in charge while I'm out, and give her this." She pulled a twenty dollar bill out of her purse and held it out to the high schooler. "If Lincoln and Lynn get back before we do, you can order pizza."
Leni took the money and smiled to her mother. "No problem, Mom."
Rita smiled back, then went towards the door. She called back with "I'll be back soon", then left out the front door. Once the door shut, Leni got up from the couch and began to walk upstairs. She heard a small explosion from Lisa's room, followed by a loud yell of "I'M OKAY" from the young PhD. Knowing that she would likely make matters worse if she tried to help her clean it up, Leni left her to do just that and went into her room. She saw Lori sat at her desk, the faint sound of scribbling reaching her ears.
"Lori?"
Her older sister turned around in her chair, her eyes looking fatigued. "What is it, Leni?"
"Mom left to help Dad. She said that you're in charge, and that if they aren't back before Linky and Lynn get home, we can have pizza."
She held the money out to Lori, who simply stared at it for a couple of seconds before taking it. "Thanks. You can… do whatever for now."
Lori turned back to face her desk, and Leni was going to leave, but her heart could tell that something wasn't right about this encounter. If there was one thing you could never fault Leni for, it was caring. Leni walked over to her chair and moved it across the room, the sound caused by moving it catching Lori's attention. Once it was by the desk, Leni sat down and looked Lori in the eyes. "Are you okay, Lori?"
"Leni, I'm fine."
"But… you look and you sound kinda sad."
"I'm not—" She stopped herself when she realised she was starting to raise her voice, not wanting to get mad at Leni for being concerned. "I'm not sad, Leni. I'm just kind of tired."
"Oh? Well, why don't you take a nap or something?"
The eldest of the Loud daughters gave a dry, humourless laugh. "That's not what I mean, Leni. I mean that… actually, I'm not sure you'd get it."
Leni frowned, placing a hand on Leni's shoulder. "Lori, I might not be smart, but I'm here if you need me. You can tell me, whatever it is. I just want to help."
Lori wanted to tell Leni that she was fine, and that she didn't need to talk, but the look in Leni's eyes told her that she really wanted to make sure her big sister was okay. That, combined with Leni's calming presence and the internal struggle Lori was facing, made her sigh. "It's… about Lincoln. This whole situation has just got me… it's got me stressed."
Leni tilted her head to the side. "How come?"
"Well, ever since he told us about his lie, things haven't been right between us. At first, I was mad at him for not telling us, and I didn't fully get why he was mad, but… now that it's sunk in, I get it. Just wish it wasn't taking this long for me to figure out how to make it up to him." She turns her chair so she can face Leni properly. "For the past week, I've had to watch or hear about how the others have made up with him— hearing how Lana and Lisa made up with him, watching him come home smiling with Lola, Luna and Luan. I'm supposed to be the responsible one, but I can't call myself that if I'm the only one that can't tell him I'm sorry."
"So, then, why don't you just talk to him about it? I'm, like, sure he'd be willing to listen."
Lori shook her head. "It's not that simple. I don't want to just walk in, tell him I'm sorry and have him not think I mean it. I need to know that, when I do talk to him, we can make up and I won't just be pushing him further away." She reaches over her desk and grabs her notepad. "I've been trying to think of how to do this, but nothing I can think of will work. If I try and get him a gift, he'll think I'm trying to buy his forgiveness. If I ask one of my friends to help, they'll think I'm a bad sister to him. No matter what I manage to think off, there's something wrong with it."
"Well, at least you've only written one page so far." Leni's optimistic comment was quickly proven wrong, as Lori lifted the page to lift the top page, revealing another page full of crossed out ideas. And another. And another. And three more on top of that. "Oh."
"Exactly." She throws the notepad back onto her desk and buried her head in her hands. "I don't know what I'm going to do."
Leni's frown deepened, her hand moving to Lori's back so she could rub it comfortingly. "I… I don't know what to say. I wish I could help. Sorry."
Lori shook her head, lowering her hands and smiling at her roommate. "Don't be. I didn't ask you to help, but you still helped me, anyway."
"Wait… I did?"
"Yeah. You listened to me, and that's what I needed right now. Thank you, Leni."
Just like that, the younger girl's smile returned in full force as she leaned into a hug with Lori. "Any time, Lori."
Lori smiles as she hugged her back. The two shared the embrace for a few seconds before Lori let go. "Alright. I better make sure they don't tear the house apart."
She got up from her chair and grabbed a whistle from her desk, then walked out of her bedroom. Standing in front of the bathroom door, she lifted the whistle to her mouth and blew into it, bringing everyone out of their rooms and the twins from downstairs, standing at attention. "Okay!" she declared in an authoritative voice. "Mom left to help Dad, which means that I'm in charge until they get back. If there are any arguments, I will deal with them personally." She turned to Luna and a Luan, the latter of whom was holding Lily. "Luna, keep all music at a seven max and no higher. Luan, no pranks." They nodded sharply, so she turned to the twins and Lisa. "Lana, no playing in the mud. Lola, no driving your princess car inside. Lisa, no working with volatile chemicals."
"The hindrances scientific progress has to deal with," she muttered under her breath, making Lori narrow her gaze at her.
"What was that?"
"N-nothing!"
Lori nodded, satisfied with the obedience shown. "Good. The rest of you, just make sure not to break anything, and come to me if you need anything." She blew her whistle again and everyone returned to what they were doing before, leaving Lori satisfied. "Well, at least things will be kinda peaceful for a little while."
She then heard the front door shut. Walking towards the stairs, she looked down and saw Lincoln had returned. He looked to her when she made her way downstairs. "Hey, where is everyone?"
"They're in their rooms," Lori explained. "Did Mrs Rosato tell you?"
"Yeah, she said Mom left you in charge. Guess that means no video games, right?"
"I mean, you can in your room, just not downstairs. Trying to avoid arguments over the tv, you know?"
"Okay."
They stood there for a second, neither sure what to say next, before Lincoln took off up the stairs so he could shower. When she heard his door shut, she sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. 'I really need to figure this out.'
Things were relatively peaceful for the next hour or so. Lori watched over her siblings while she waited for her parents to return, Lynn returning shortly after her brother. While there were a couple of disagreements that needed tending to, Lori managed to keep control of the house. This was helped when she ordered pizza for dinner, the rare treat going down well with her siblings. Her parents eventually returned shortly after dinner, pleased to see that the house was under control. Lori then went back to her room and tried to think of more ideas about how to patch things up with Lincoln. A few minutes of fruitless efforts went by before she heard a ringing sound come from her laptop. Opening it up, she smiled at the caller ID and answered the call, camera footage of a familiar Latin American boy her age with short black hair, wearing a green over-shirt on top of a white t-shirt and grey jeans appearing on her screen.
"Hey, Babe!" he greeted.
"Hey, Bobby," she greeted back. "What's up?"
"Nie Nie and I wanted to know if you and Lincoln wanted to come and visit us this weekend. I know we had to cancel a while back, so I thought he might want to come and see her before Christmas break starts."
"That sounds great! I'll have to check with Mom and Dad that I can borrow Vanzilla, but I'd love to. I'm sure that Lincoln would… well, he'd love to see Ronnie Anne again."
Bobby noticed how his girlfriend's voice dropped as she finished that sentence, his eyes showing his concern. "Everything okay, Babe?"
She gave a dry laugh. "Am I that easy to read today?" She shook her head softly before looking at her boyfriend again. "Do you remember that thing I told you about last week?"
"Which one? The thing about Carol or… oh… that thing." Lori nodded, her heart sinking slightly at the mildly disappointed face that stared back at her. "I guess things haven't worked out yet?"
She shook her head. "I'm the only one that hasn't been able to fix this, and no matter what I think of, I just know it won't work."
"I don't get it. You talk about Lincoln so much, I thought you would have wanted to patch things up with him by now."
"Well, yeah, I want to, but I literally can't figure out how. He all but avoided us for a week, and he's still kind of quiet around me."
"Well, maybe he's still worried about what you think. After all, you're his oldest sister."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. I know it's not the same thing, but haven't you ever worried what your parents think about something you do?"
"Yeah, of course, but that was always more about how I do at school, or what course I want to do after high school. Never… anything like this, you know?" She sighed and looked down at her desk. "Maybe that's why I don't know how to talk to him about this. I don't actually know how to relate to him here."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
Lori looked back to the screen with a smile. "That's sweet, Boo Boo Bear, but I really think that, however I do it, it has to be just me and Lincoln."
"I get it. Still, maybe you'll figure something out after you've come to visit us."
"Yeah, maybe you're—" Her eyes went wide after a short pause. "Wait a minute, that's it! Bobby, you're literally a genius!"
"I am?"
She nodded. "Listen, Bobby, I know you just called, but can I call you back in five minutes? I need to take care of something."
"Sure thing, Babe. Go ahead."
"Thanks. Love you, Boo Boo Bear."
"I love you too!"
Once they had exchanged a couple of air kisses, Lori ended the video call, closing her laptop. She stood up and headed to her bedroom door, opening it in time to see Leni holding two t-shirts in her hand. One was a short sleeved pink shirt with a crown design, and the other was a yellow v-neck with white polka dots.
"Hey, Lori?" she asked. "I can't decide which to wear to my sleepover with Jen, what do you think?"
"Can I get back to you on that? I need to speak to Lincoln about something."
"Okay! He's in his room, I think."
"Thanks."
Leni stepped aside, allowing Lori to leave their bedroom and walk down the landing to the former linen closet. She gave a knock on the door, not having to wait long for a reply.
"Who is it?"
"Just me. Can I come in?"
"Sure." She opened the door, stepping inside to see her brother sat at his desk in his pyjamas, working on some homework. "What's up?"
"Not much. Are you busy on Saturday?"
"Not especially. I'll probably end up helping the others with stuff, but I don't have anything planned. Why?"
"Bobby just called. He wanted to know if you wanted to head down to Great Lakes City for the day and hang out with Ronnie Anne, since they had to cancel our last visit. What do you say?"
Lincoln considered it for a second, then smiled. "Sure. That sounds fun."
"Okay. I'll go make sure it's okay with Mom and Dad, and then I'll let Bobby know."
Lincoln nodded before returning to his homework, which Lori took as her cue to leave. Knowing that was just the first step, she headed downstairs, where she saw her mother come out of the dining room. "Hey, Mom? Can I borrow Vanzilla on Saturday?"
"Saturday? What for?"
"Me and Lincoln want to go visit Bobby and Ronnie Anne. Is that okay?"
"Well, I suppose that would be alright. Still, are you going to be alright, just the two of you?"
"Yeah, I… I think so, yeah."
Rita could tell that her daughter was trying to sound confident to her. As the mother of the family, she knew about how her eldest daughter was still trying to make up with her brother, and though she wanted to help them, she knew that she had to let them figure this out for themselves. She let Lincoln handle telling his sisters, and though that hadn't gone how he had planned it, she thought it would be better to let Lori handle this herself, especially after her sisters had done the same.
"Alright, Lori. I'll let your father know, but you two can go visit the Casagrande's on Saturday."
Lori smiled, relieved. "Thanks, Mom."
She began to walk back up the stairs, before she heard Rita call to her. "Lori?" The girl in question looked back to her. "I trust you."
Lori nodded back to her, then went upstairs, disappearing from her mother's view. A second later, Lynn Sr walked out of their bedroom,
"Was that Lori?" He asked, to which Rita nodded. "Everything okay?"
She smiled to her husband and assured him, "yeah, everything's fine. I think things are finally going to work themselves out."
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone