Bab 36: 36. Ch 36- A Way Of Saying Thanks
Sunday had come back around in Royal Woods, and for most of the Louds, it was a day of relaxation. Of course, to most people, rocking out on the electric guitar, visiting a graveyard, searching the back garden for worms and conducting experiments wouldn't be considered 'relaxing'. Truth be told, it wasn't that different from what the Loud family did on other days, except that they were able to do it by themselves at their own leisurely pace. For one Lincoln Loud, he was sat on the couch with the TV to himself, currently playing one of his video games, his eyes and concentration fixated on the combat shown on the screen.
That concentration, however, was disrupted after he cleared a level, when the front door forcefully opened, his athletic older sister stomping her way in with a scowl on her face, her roller skates hanging over her shoulder and her helmet on her head. As she slammed the door shut, Lincoln decided to pause his game before the next level could start and address the issue.
"You okay, Lynn?" He asked.
"Not really, Stinkoln," she replied, her barb not affecting Lincoln since he could tell she was stressed.
"You wanna talk about it?"
She looked over at her brother, sensing that he probably wouldn't let the problem go that easily. Though she didn't particularly want to talk about it, she couldn't deny that her brother was typically one of, if not, the first to always lend her an ear when she was having issues, so with a huff, she plonked herself down on the couch next to him. "I went to roller derby practice, same as usual, but for some reason, my coach wouldn't let me practice! I showed her the doc's letter to prove I was ready, I told her my other coaches had let me practice, and even Margo stood up for me, but she wasn't having any of it! She just said, "come back next week, and we'll see". What a load of crock!"
Giving a sympathetic frown, he placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "sorry to hear that, Lynn. I guess she didn't want to risk you getting injured again."
"Linc, I know you've only been doing dodgeball for a month, but even you've gotta know by this point that in any sport, 'no pain, no gain' is true." She gave a sigh. "Oh well… can't do anything about it now." She got up and made her way upstairs, though not without first saying, "have fun at dodgeball, bro."
Lincoln watched as she disappeared upstairs, unable to stop himself from feeling bad for her. 'Shame she doesn't have anything to do,' he thought. 'If I didn't have gymnastics, I'd see if she wants to hang out with me. Ever since she started training me, we've been getting on better.'
That previous Friday, after school, Lynn had taken Lincoln on a parkour run through the city, the two using benches, railings, and the ramps at the skate park to build momentum and practice different manoeuvres. Lynn has been acting as a guide, of sorts, showing Lincoln how to do everything, while challenging Lincoln to keep up with her. He had managed to do so for most of half an hour, impressing Lynn with his modest athleticism, a considerable improvement from when he first tried football yet still with plenty of room for improvement. However, when she vaulted over one bench onto the grass behind it, Lincoln's attempt to follow her had been unsuccessful, his foot catching on the backrest and causing him to face plant on the grass. It hadn't caused any damage, but it had hurt and winded him enough that Lynn decided it was a good time for a rest. She had brought a couple of water bottles in her bag, so they found a bench to sit down at and took time recovering, talking while rehydrating about stuff like what had happened at school, including what had happened in the boy's gym class the boy.
"No way! You broke her undefeated streak, AND you were the last man standing?!" She gasped, astonished.
With a not so modest smirk, he replied, "yep. Jordan's my friend, and I was sure to shake hands with her, but… I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel good about it."
He was then caught off guard as she lunges forward and threw her arms around her brother, locking him in the bear hug. "I'm so proud of you, Link! That's awesome!" When he was released, he was slightly gasping for air, but still had a smile upon seeing how ecstatic she was with the news. "Seriously, that's amazing! Your practice is really paying off!"
With a nervous chuckle, he scratched his cheek with his index finger. "I dunno about that… honestly, I'd say it's more your extra training that's helped me."
"Pffft! Don't be ridiculous! You've been doing six hours a week for the past month, and my extra five hours of training with you is what did it?"
"Don't be so quick to deny it. I wasn't really getting the hang of it those first few weeks, but now that you've been helping me out as well… it's starting to work for me, you know?"
She couldn't help but smile, even blush slightly, at hearing her brother speak so highly of her efforts. "I think you're talking out of your butt… but thanks, Link."
"No, Lynn. Thank you. You didn't have to do any of that, but you still did."
"Are you kidding? Link, I may go to up to six different training sessions a week, not including gym class, but that doesn't compare to training with my little bro. I was more than happy to, because you're the best little bro I could ask for."
She pulled her brother into another hug, and while he returned this one, he didn't do so smiling, instead with a face reflecting his feelings of guilt. "Uh… thanks, Lynn…"
'She's been so helpful since she got her cast off, and yet she doesn't even know what I really do three times a week,' He pondered, his guilt returning as well as his frown. 'I'd tell her the truth, but… honestly, I think Lynn is one of the ones I'm most scared of telling. On the one hand, she might understand, since she does all these sports, and she's been… she's actually been proud of me, even though it's for the wrong reason. I've actually enjoyed training with her… for the most part.' He let out a small chuckle, but his frown still remained. 'On the other hand, what if she hates me for it? For one thing, it's not exactly a 'masculine' sport, and she might think it's lame. And what if she thinks I was taking advantage of her by not telling her the truth? She's been training me for a completely different sport, and it's been the most we've ever hung out, just the two of us. What if she hates me for it?'
His mind went back and forth between the two points, his reasons justifying and disputing the two arguments, until he remembered something Jordan had told him:
"It'll only get worse the longer you leave it."
'She's right. If I don't tell one of them soon, it won't just be harder to tell them, but they might get more angry when they find out I've been lying to them. But, should I start with Lynn? Or should I work my way towards telling her, start with one of my other sisters first? One who might be more… understanding?'
As he pondered this query, he heard footsteps on the staircase again, and turned to see his mother coming down them. She looked over at her son, and smiled. "Hey, sweetie," she greeted.
"Hey, mom," he greeted back. "What are you up to?"
"Oh, I've just put Lily down for a nap before lunch, think I'm gonna read a book for a little bit."
"Okay." He turned back around, but just as she opened the door to his parents' bedroom, he turned to face her again and asked, "mom? Could you… give me some advice?"
After nearly eighteen years of parenting, Rita was always quick to pick up on her kids' worries, so she sat down next to her son on the couch. "What's wrong, sweetie?"
"Well… I've got this… task, I guess you could say. I've put it off a little bit, and I need to start it, but I don't know how to do so, and the longer I wait, the harder it's going to be. There's one thing I can do which I think might be easy, and one thing which I think will be really hard. Which one should I start with?"
She thought for a few seconds, not only about what her response should be, but what he really meant by 'task'. She didn't think it was anything relating to school work, since she hadn't heard him mention any assignments, and his teachers hadn't called her or Lynn Sr about anything, so she figured it would be a hobby project or something similar. When she reached this conclusion, an idea came to mind which seemed fairly plausible.
"Well, Lincoln," she told him, carefully thinking about what wording she would use to explain her answer, "I'm not sure what your 'task' is. However, if you think it will become harder to do the longer you leave it, then I would suggest two things. The first is, if there are multiple parts to your 'task', don't leave too long between them. Plan it out so it doesn't pile up too much." He nodded, making a mental note to think about that later. "As for where to begin… I think, if you get the hard part out of the way, the rest will be easier. It's like when I started my book- it's not always easy, but once you get that hardest step out of the way, it can make the rest of it easier to do."
He took a few seconds to digest this, before smiling and saying, "thanks, mom." With a smile, she ruffled his hair, before going to her and her husband's bedroom. Lincoln, meanwhile, knew what his next course of action was.
A couple of hours had passed, and after making himself lunch and gathering his things for gymnastics, Lincoln found himself outside the bedroom door of his next oldest and next youngest sisters. Placing a knock on the door, he waited a few seconds before his spooky younger sister appeared. "Hey, Lucy," he greeted. "Is Lynn in here?"
"I think she's outside," she bluntly replied. "Do you have a rhyme for betray?"
"Um… maybe stray?"
"Hmm… that works nicely. Thanks, Lincoln."
While she returned to her poem, Lincoln headed downstairs and outside through the kitchen door, quickly seeing Lynn sat with her back to the tree. "Hey, Lynn," he greeted. "Are you busy?"
"Me? Nah, I'm bored," she tiredly replied. "Sucks having nothing to do."
"Well, I was wondering if… if you wanted to… come watch me practice?"
Her eyes, previously half-lidded, opened up curiously. "Really? I thought you said that spectators weren't allowed?"
"Well… I might have lied about that." He saw her get to feet and frantically added, "I wasn't ready for you to watch me yet!"
With a scoff and a smirk, she told her brother, "relax, Stinkoln. I get it. And, yeah, that sound like fun. I'll go grab my phone, and then we'll take off."
"Okay, great. I'll let mom know we're going." She nodded to him, before they headed back inside. While his sister headed upstairs, he approached his parents' open bedroom door, and placed a knock on it, getting his mother's attention. "Me and Lynn are gonna head to practice."
"Okay, sweetie. Let me know if you need me to pick you up."
He nodded to his mother's reply, then turned to see LJ head downstairs. "Alright, bro! Let's get going!" He nodded, and the two headed out the front door and on their way to Jordan's house. "So, we walking with your girlfriend?"
He let out a small groan, pinching his eyes shut. "Not. My. Girlfriend."
"Yeah, for now. Give it time."
He simply rolled his eyes, before explaining, "we're meeting up with the other girls at Jordan's house, and we'll walk to the sports centre from there."
"The one near the North of town? I didn't know they do dodgeball."
"Oh, uh, that's because… it's not their most well known club! Yeah, that's it. It's, uh, newer than the others."
She was a little dubious for a second, but simply shrugged it off. "Fair enough." He gave a sigh out of relief, which went unnoticed. "So, have any of the others seen you practice?"
"Mom's seen a little, but dad and our other sisters haven't. I figured it would be best if you were the first, since you've been helping me to train. Plus, there's… something I want to talk to you about." She was going to ask what, but he cut her off, adding "not here. I want to talk to you about it when we get there."
She shrugged it off, and the two of them continued on their way, Lynn trying time and time again to get Lincoln to tell her more about what happened at his practice, with the white haired boy insisting it be a surprise. They chatted about other things, like school and hobbies (though, it was more Lynn trying to get Lincoln interested in other sports stuff, while she pretty much ignored what he said about video games or superheroes). When they eventually reached Jordan's house, Lincoln saw that she and the rest of the girls were just coming out from the front door, the girl in the yellow shirt smiling when she saw Lincoln.
"There you are!" she said, walking over to her friend. "We were just about to set off."
"Sorry I'm a little late," he replied, "had to ask Lynn if she wanted to come first."
She nodded, having been texted before that Lincoln was going to bring his sister with him. She turned to the older girl and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Jordan. You're Lynn, right?"
Lynn smirked as she shook the girl's hand. "Yep. Nice to meet you, Jordan."
"Nice to meet you too." They let go of each other's hand before she added, "I hear you've been training Lincoln on the side."
"Yep! And it sounds like it's paid off, if he beat you!"
Jordan rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm no longer undefeated, but it won't be the same result next time. I'm still the dodgeball queen, and there's only one throne."
"Well, we'll see about that." Lynn pulled her brother into a side headlock, holding him a little too tightly. "With my training, my bro'll be the dodgeball king."
"Not if he can't breathe!" They heard Mollie call out, making Lynn realise that Lincoln was struggling to get out, so she let go, ignoring the titters from his friends as he regained his breathing. "Now, come on, we're gonna be late."
The girls agreeing, they began to walk towards practice. Jordan, after checking that Lincoln was okay, hung a little bit further back with the boy as the girls walked slightly ahead. "You ready for this?" She asked, his nerves not hidden well behind his expression.
"I don't know if I'm ready," he confided, still a little breathless after Lynn's 'display of affection', "but I think if I don't start now, I'm not gonna be able to."
"I'll be honest, I was surprised when you told me that you were bringing Lynn. I would have thought you would tell Leni first, given how nice she is."
"Well, I'll be honest and admit, this was sort of a last minute decision. Had I not remembered what you told me on Thursday, then I might not have decided to go through with it."
She gave a small smile as she told him, "I'm glad I could help, then. If you need me to talk to Lynn at all, I'd be happy to do so." He smiled back, giving her a "thanks" in return to her offer. "Now, come on, before they start saying we're boyfriend and girlfriend or whatever." He couldn't help but chuckle as she jogged on ahead to catch up with her friends, before doing the same.
Eventually, they all reached the sports centre. While his friends went on inside, Lincoln pulled his sister back by her shoulder. "Hey, before we go in, I… need to talk to you," he explained.
"What's up?" She asked.
"There's something I need to tell you… but before I can, I need you to promise me that, no matter what, you will NOT tell our sisters."
Surprised by the request, she squinted her eyes. "Why?"
"Just promise me, Lynn." She was a little caught off guard by his forceful tone, which he quickly realised. "Please."
"Alright, no need to get soppy on me, bro. I promise, whatever you tell me, it'll stay between us." She threw in the 'cross my heart' gesture for good measure. "So, what is it?"
Looking down at his feet, he took a deep breath, before he began his explanation. "I haven't been honest with you."
She gave a couple of blinks, before replying, "I don't get it."
Looking back up, he gestured for her to follow him, and the two made their way inside. "The truth is, I haven't been doing dodgeball all this time. Other than in gym class and with you, I don't do dodgeball."
"Wait, what? If you don't do dodgeball, then what do you do?"
"I think it's easier if I show you." She wanted to say more, but when he led her through the double doors and she saw what he was showing her, the words weren't coming to her, so Lincoln chose to speak instead. "This is the truth. For the past month, I've been doing gymnastics."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone