章節 93: 93. Ch 93- A Friend
(A/N: and we're back! Sorry about the delay, I've been experiencing technical issues on my end. It seems like my iPad has finally reached its limit, which isn't surprising, since I've had it for something like seven years. I can still work on my phone, but I find it easier to write on an iPad than on a phone. That said, I might be getting a new iPad this weekend, so fingers crossed. If not, I'll do my best with what I have.
That's all I have to say right now, so thank you all for reading, and enjoy!)
The second that the front door slammed open, and the girls saw their brother rush up the stairs, they knew something was wrong. It was Sunday once again, which meant their brother had returned from yet another gymnastics session. Given that a week ago, he had come back after finding out that they might be ending the practice altogether, this was sending off warning signs in their heads. They all began to get up from the couch and try to follow him, but Lynn quickly stepped in front of them, holding her arms out wide to hold them back. "Okay, back it up!" she ordered. "Come on!"
"Lynn, you literally can't be serious right now," Lori scoffed. "You're expecting us to not go up there?"
"Yeah, we want to know if Lincoln's okay!" Lana agreed.
Lynn stood firm. "I know, but if we all go up there, we ain't gonna get anywhere with him. Best thing we can do is let one of us go and talk to him, alright? Just stay here while I talk to our bro."
"Why should you talk to him?" Lola asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Trust me, if it's to do with practice, I'm the one that will be most likely to relate with him. I'll be right back." She took off before anyone could argue, heading upstairs and going up to her brother's room. "Hey, Lincoln! I'm coming in!" She heard him mutter something to her as she opened the door and saw her brother laid on his bed, his face planted in his pillow. She took his desk chair and turned it to face the bed, then sat down. "This is starting to be a weekly thing, huh, bro?" He tried to respond, but his voice was muffled by the pillow. "What's that? I can't hear you, Stinkoln!" He turned enough to give her a miffed glare, before turning his back to her. "Alright, come on. Tell me what happened."
"I'd rather not," he bluntly replied.
"Yeah, well, I'd rather not see my little brother acting like he's been grounded." He simply gave a slight groan and rolled over again, this time to face her. "Linc, it's me, you can say. What's happening?"
"… check the door first."
"Huh? Oh, gotcha!" She got up and walked over to the door, opening it to reveal an empty hallway, then shut it once more. "It's all clear, bro." As she sat down again, her brother sighed as he sat up on his bed, swinging his legs over the side. "So, did practice not go alright?"
"Something like that, yeah."
She furrowed her brow. "What does that mean? Wait, they didn't cancel the showcase, did they?"
He shook his head. "No, it's still going ahead. It's three weeks from yesterday."
"And… that's a bad date?"
"It's not about the showcase, Lynn!"
She held her hands up in defence, caught off guard by his curt response. "Easy, bro. So, if it's not about the showcase, then… did something happen between you and Jordan?"
"N-not… not exactly." He hung his head as a heavy sigh exhaled through his lips. "Though, I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm a weirdo now."
Lynn frowned at her brother. "What did you do?" She heard him sigh once more, before he began to explain himself.
"We were walking to the sports centre. We must have been just a couple of minutes away when... it happened."
"No way did she do that!"
"Lincoln, I swear to God, it happened," Joy affirmed, the others nodding as Mollie grinned proudly.
"I don't believe you."
"Hey, if I could, I'd do it again," Mollie boasted. "I have never felt more awesome."
"And this is why people think Mollie is bigheaded," Jordan teased, which got her friends to laugh, but Mollie simply grinned through it.
"Well, the next time any of you do something that cool, I'll say the same about you."
"I guess," Lincoln admitted. "So, do any of you know what—"
Before he could finish asking his question, he felt a force impact him, knocking him down to the ground. His back hit the sidewalk with a slight thud, causing him to groan in pain. He could hear his friends asking him if he was okay, but then he heard another voice speak, one he didn't know, which seemed to belong to a young female adult.
"Are you okay?" they asked, her concern thick in her honey like voice. "I am so sorry, I should have been paying more attention."
He began to stand up, brushing himself off. "Don't worry about it, it was partly my fault, too. I should have b—" As he finally looked at her, his words caught in his throat. It was indeed a young woman who had asked if he was okay, and a beautiful one at that. She had long, flawless black hair, olive skin and deep green eyes, and was wearing a denim jacket over a white t-shirt and grey joggers, which greatly complimented her athletic figure. "Buh… buh… buh… buh…"
The woman heard Lincoln's friends giggling, though Jordan was just rolling her eyes. "Is your friend okay?"
"Don't worry about him," Mollie replied, before walking over to the boy and shouting in his ear, "HEY, ROMEO!"
He flinched as he was brought out of his sudden trance. He ducked his head slightly so that the woman couldn't see the embarrassment in his expression. "Sorry."
"I'm the one that should be sorry," she insisted, her words sending a slight shiver down the back of his neck. "Are you sure you're not hurt? That looked like a nasty fall you just took."
"I-I-It wasn't that bad, honest."
"Are you sure?" He nodded shyly, so he didn't see the relieved smile she gave. "Thank goodness. Well, if you need help getting to where you're going, I'm sure one of your friends can help you, right?"
"Sure," Jordan answered, though Lincoln could tell that her answer wasn't fully decisive, making a pit of guilt form in his soul.
"Well, I should be going. Have a good day, kids."
The girls all said goodbye to the woman as she jogged off, while Lincoln gave a meek wave. "So, are we going to head to practice, or would Lincoln like a few minutes to himself?" Kat teased, to which he grumbled.
"Let's… let's just go."
Lynn sat there with her arms crossed, shaking her head. "Not good, bro. Not good."
"I'm aware, Lynn," he flatly told her, his hands now on the back of his neck. "As soon as I realised what I was doing, I felt awful."
"Well, you should! You're there with the girl you like, and you're looking at someone else!" She stood up, throwing her arms in the air. "What were you thinking?"
He finally looked up again, lowering his hands as he gave her an annoyed glance. "Need I remind you of the time you met Hugh, my tutor?"
She blushed slightly as the memory popped into her mind, but she pushed it aside. "This is totally different, bro."
He sighed, letting his head drop down once more. "Yeah, you're right."
Hearing the defeat in his tone, she softened her expression. "Well, come on, bro. It's not the end of the world. I mean, you haven't told her how you feel yet, so you're not dead in the water yet. Just let it blow over and you've still got a good shot." She expected him to sound hopeful at her pep talk, but instead heard silence from the boy. "What? I'm trying to build you up here, Stinkoln. What's the problem?"
"… that wasn't all that happened."
Her eyes widened. "What are you talking about, bro? Don't you dare tell me you started daydreaming about her!"
His head snapped up to meet her shocked gaze with an appalled one of his own. "What?! No, of course not! That's not at all what happened!"
"Oh, yeah? Then, what did happen?"
"Alright, just keep it down, okay? I don't want the others interfering." She gave an impatient nod, using her hand to gesture for him to carry on. "We got to the sports centre, and when I went to get changed, I told myself to just forget about that woman, since I wouldn't be likely to see her again. Sadly... that wasn't how things turned out."
Once fully changed, Lincoln rejoined the others in the gymnasium, and he was thankful that none of them brought up the brief encounter with the woman from before. They engaged in amicable conversation until Chris came in and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "Okay, guys! Gather round!" he beckoned, prompting everyone to group up in front of him. "We're going to start warming up in just a second, but before we do that, I'm just going to quickly talk about what we'll be doing today. For the first half, I'll be working with some of you on the tumble track, so you know what to practice for the showcase, whilst the others will be working on a floor routine." He saw Sadie raise her hand. "Yes, Sadie?"
"Are we going to be doing the routine for the showcase?" she asked, to which he nodded.
"That's right, and we're thinking of making it the finale of the showcase."
"We?"
"Ah, yes. Now, I've asked a friend of mine if she would be willing to do the choreography and help coach you guys for the floor routine. She's supposed to be coming today, but I think she's running late, so I'll let her introduce herself when she gets here."
No sooner than he said that, everyone heard the door to the gymnasium open. "Sorry I'm late!"
To some, the voice was new, but to Lincoln and his friends, they recognised it well enough, and it sent a slight feeling of dread down Lincoln's spine. 'Oh, no.'
As he dreaded, he turned and saw the raven haired woman from before jogging over, carrying a shopping bag in one hand. "Sorry, Chris," she apologised. "I had to go and grab something before I came here. Didn't expect it to be so expensive, though."
"Did you end up going to Flip's?" he asked, to which she nodded. "Yeah, he overcharges for everything. I wouldn't recommend going there again."
"It was the only place I could find that was close enough."
"Don't worry about it. So, do you want to introduce yourself to the kids?"
She nodded, and turned to the group with a beaming smile. "Hi, everyone! I'm Helena, and as I'm sure Chris will have told you, I'm here to help you prepare for your showcase. I work in Grand Rapids as a choreographer, but I actually started out as a gymnast back in middle school, which was how I met Chris."
As she told them about herself, Lincoln heard a sound of "buh… buh… buh…" coming from his right, which he found was coming from Artie. However, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jordan looking at him, making him gulp and look away again. 'Come on, Lincoln! Pull yourself together!'
"So, which of you girls are Jordan, Kat, Sadie, Mollie and Joy?" When she saw the sixth graders, her smile grew. "Oh, hello again! I didn't expect to be seeing you here!"
"Wait, you've already met them?" Chris asked.
"Yeah, I bumped into them on the way here. Although, I bumped into their friend a little too literally." She gave a small nervous chuckle as she scanned the group of kids, eventually finding the white haired boy. "I'm guessing that you are Artie, then?"
"N-no, ma'am," Lincoln replied. "I'm Lincoln."
"Oh, right! Chris has told me about you, actually. Again, I'm sorry about what happened earlier."
"I-It's no problem. I'm fine."
"As long as you're sure." She then looked to the brown haired boy next to him. "So, you're Artie, then?" He nodded quickly and affirmatively. "Well, it's nice to meet you. Since the six of you have been here the longest, Chris thought it would be best if you were the ones to do the floor routine to close the showcase. I will, of course, work with the rest of you, so hopefully we'll all get to know each other better! First thing's first, we need to warm up, right? Everyone, follow me!"
"For the whole session, I was just trying not to think about it, but I couldn't help but feel like Jordan was judging me. She didn't really talk to me until the ride home. Her mom even asked if everything was okay with us, but Jordan told her we were and I just agreed." He paused for a second before looking at his sister and asking, "be honest with me. I'm screwed, aren't I?"
She gripped her knees and gave a hissing inhale through her teeth. "Well… you're not in a good position, no." With a groan, he threw himself backwards, his head hitting his pillow. "Sorry, bro."
"No, it's not your fault. I'm the one that's been an idiot."
"Yeah, you have. Still, you might not be out of luck just yet."
He lifted his head up, curiosity etched in his brow. "What do you mean?"
"Well, look at it this way. The showcase is in three weeks, right? All you've got to do is play it cool from now until then, and don't act like a lovesick goon when you next see that woman. Just chalk it up to you being caught off guard after she knocked you over, and once the showcase is done with, she'll be gone. She's just there to help you guys prepare for it, right?"
It suddenly struck him that what his sister was saying was right. This woman was only going to be around for the few weeks between then and the showcase, and he wasn't planning on telling Jordan how he felt until that was over with. If he just played it cool and didn't act like he did before, then maybe things could work out for him. This tiny bit of hope that formed in his heart caused a smile to form on his face as he sat up again.
"Yeah… yeah, you're right. For someone who has no relationship history, you've got surprisingly good advice."
She waved it off. "It's nothing, it's like coming up with a game plan. That's all."
He smirked as he then countered, "oh, yeah? Then where was that all of the other times you girls gave me relationship advice?" The two laughed together, glad that the issue had been resolved, at least for now. "I better shower before dinner. Can you promise you won't tell the others?"
"You can count on it, bro."
"I promise too," a voice echoed from the vents, making them both scream and jump to their feet. As they grasped their chests and took startled breaths, Lincoln looked up and saw Lucy climb down from the vents. "I was already in there before you started talking."
Lynn shook her head. "You… you should've… let us know, Spooky!"
"It's okay, Lynn," Lincoln breathily told the jock, before putting a hand on Lucy's shoulder. "You promise?" She nodded, so he gave her a soft smile. "Thanks, Lucy."
She nodded, then left the bedroom. Lynn followed after her, and Lincoln left shortly after them, walking over to the bathroom. However, before he could open the door, he heard a shout from downstairs.
"LINCOLN! IT'S FOR YOU!" Luna yelled, the singsong tone in her voice confusing the sixth grader.
'Who could that be?' he wondered as he turned around and went to the staircase. Heading downstairs, he was both surprised and slightly anxious when he saw Jordan stood in the open doorway. "J-Jordan! What are you doing here?"
"You left this in the car," she explained, holding up what appeared to be his sports bag, which he blinked at before facepalming.
"Dang it. I knew I forgot something." Jordan laughed softly as she handed it to him. "You didn't have to give it back straight away. I would have been fine with you giving it to me at school."
"I know, but I didn't know if your phone was in there, so I wouldn't have been able to tell you that I had it."
"Good point. Thanks."
"No problem. I'll see you at school, okay?"
"Okay." She began to walk towards her mother's car, but after a couple of seconds, he tightened his grip on the bag. "Jordan, wait!" She turned around, looking at him with intrigue as he shut the door behind him and approached her. "I'm… I'm sorry about how I was acting today."
She blinked, tilting her head to the side. "What are you talking about?"
"I kind of got the feeling that you noticed something was off with me today, and… well, I was. I don't know what was up with me, but I don't want you to think that I'm just some… some idiot, you know?"
A frown slowly formed in her lips. "Lincoln, you're not an idiot. I would never think that, why would you think that I would think that?"
"I don't know, but… I just feel like I really shouldn't have been acting like that."
"Lincoln, stop, okay?" She placed her hands on either of his shoulders, looking him in the eyes. "I don't know why you're apologising to me. You didn't do anything wrong. Yeah, you weren't fully acting like yourself, I get that… but, I also get that things are different at the moment." She traded her frown for a gentle smile as she then added, "we're in this together, okay? You don't need to act differently, especially not around me. I prefer it when you just act like yourself."
He let a brief silence take over them, her words touching him deeply, before he matched her smile. "You're right. Thanks, Jordan."
Her smile grew again. 'He looks so much better when he smiles,' she thought, which caused her to blush as she let go of his shoulders. It didn't help that she was able to look past him and see his sisters watching through the window. "Umm… what are they doing?"
Following her gaze, he scowled at the girls. "I don't know, but they had better stop!" he snapped with a raised voice, causing them to back away from the window. He looked back to his friend once he was certain they were gone. "Sorry about them."
"It's fine. So, are you sure you're okay with meeting me at school early tomorrow?"
"Hey, I told you earlier, it's no problem. We said we were going to help you with this, and we will."
Her smile grew a little bit more. "Thanks, Lincoln."
It was later that evening that Jordan found herself sat at her desk alone. She was looking over a piece of paper, her eyes analysing each and every word that she had written. "I hope this is okay," she pondered, before slipping it into her school bag. She leaned back in her chair and gave a sigh, before her mind drifted back to the events of the day. As she remembered everything that had happened, she couldn't help but think the same things that she had thought earlier, including one question that she still couldn't answer, despite having hours to try. A question that she feared might bother her for the rest of the evening.
'Why did it bother me so much?'
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票