章節 94: 94. Ch 94- Assembling A Crowd
The alarm clock on the bedside table began to ring, signalling the start of another new day. A yawn escaped from the father of eleven's lips as he began to stir, stretching his arms out wide while he sat up in his bed. He smacked his lips and blinked the sleep out of his eyes, then turned to his left to see his wife beginning to stir. Smiling at the sight, he leaned over and placed a kiss on the side of her head, then got out of bed. He made a quick trip upstairs to the bathroom to use the toilet, wash his hands and brush his teeth, then returned to the downstairs bedroom to get changed. It was by the time he was fully dressed that his wife began to wake up as well.
"Morning, honey," he softly told her.
"Morning," she sleepily replied. "Would it be okay for me to ride with you to work today?"
"Sure, no problem. Just let me know when you're ready to go, okay?" She nodded, so he left her to get ready for the day. As he got into the kitchen, he was once again greeted by the sight of his son, fully dressed and in his apron. "Morning, Champ!"
Lincoln looked to his father and smiled. "Morning, Dad," he greeted. "Ready to get cooking?"
"As soon as I've had my coffee, bud." He then heard the kettle signal that it had finished boiling, making the patriarch chuckle. "That 'Man With The Plan' thinking. You know that you get that from me, right?" This time, the two of them shared a chuckle as he washed his hands, before beginning to make himself a cup of coffee. "While I'm having this, could you grab the ingredients for the marinara sauce for me? I need to make some more of that for the lunch shift."
"Sure thing."
So, whilst Lincoln searched the fridge for the necessary vegetables, Lynn Sr took his first sip of coffee, warming him up inside and alerting his senses. "There we go. So, have you had breakfast yet?"
"I made myself some cereal," Lincoln answered, putting the vegetables on the counter before opening a cupboard and pulling out two chopping boards and a large pan, setting them beside the food. "Is this all we need?"
The father checked everything, then nodded. "That'll do." He set his mug down on the table behind them, before taking one of the chopping boards. "Alright, you remember what to do, right?" Lincoln nodded, so he nodded back. The two of them then grabbed a peeler each out of the drawer and began preparing the vegetables. "So, you looking forward to going back to school?"
"Not particularly. I mean, it's mostly just going to be an ordinary school day, other than meeting Jordan before school."
"Oh, really? How come?"
"Well, we want to make an announcement in assembly about the showcase. That way, we might be able to get people to come and watch us."
"That's a good idea. A public message to your classmates will probably let them know how much it means to you."
Lincoln nodded. "That's what we're hoping for."
He kept dicing carrots for a few seconds, but then heard his father stop, so he stopped too and looked to him. "Lincoln, I know you're hoping all this will work, and we all hope that it will too. If it doesn't, though, what do you want to do? Do you want to try and find something else? I could look and see if there's anything just outside of Royal Woods, like in Beaverton or Hazeltucky. I don't know about Detroit, though. I'd have to talk with your mother about that."
"I know, Dad. Honestly… I haven't thought that far ahead. I've been so focused on the showcase and… a-and other things, I haven't really thought about after that."
"Well, don't worry. We'll cross that bridge if we come to it, so for now, don't let that get to you. The showcase is going to be fun, so don't let anything take away from that." Lincoln nodded, and the two returned to dicing vegetables, but Lynn Sr then heard his son stop. One look at him told the man that he didn't stop because he was finished, but because he was lost in thought. "You okay, Lincoln?"
"Hmm? Oh, uh, yeah, just… thinking about something."
"Oh. Well, I'm here if you want to talk about it. What's on your mind?"
"Well… when you were younger… how did you ask out a girl you liked?"
The brown haired man blinked. "How did I ask out a girl? Why do you want to know…" It slowly dawned on him as to why his son was asking him this, which was only helped by the fact the boy was beginning to blush. "Oh!"
"I-It was dumb of me to say anything, I shouldn't have asked."
"No, don't be ridiculous!" He put his knife down, then took Lincoln's from him and put it on the counter as well. He then put his hands on the boy's shoulders and lowered himself to his eye level. "Lincoln, you're growing up. If there's someone that you want to ask out, then that's a good thing. I just… I didn't think it would happen so soon."
He saw the way the chef's face contorted, making the boy a little uncomfortable. "Dad, don't cry."
"You're right… you're right." He stood back up and sniffled, taking a moment to compose himself. "Okay, I'm good. I'm not gonna cry. So, there's a girl you like, huh?"
"Y-Yeah. I think I know how to tell her, but I'm not fully sure at the moment."
"To be honest, Champ, I don't have much experience in that area. The first woman I dated was your mother, and it was her that asked me out."
"Well, was there anyone you asked out who told you no?"
The man laughed again. "Oh, totally. I had a few crushes, but they were always on the popular girls, and I was not cool in the slightest back then. It never ended well." He gave a nostalgic sigh as he thought back to his high school days, but when he looked to his son again, he realised that it had the opposite effect on him, a look of unease now spread across his face. "Ah… uh, probably shouldn't have brought that up."
"Yeah…"
The father sighed, lowering to Lincoln's eye level again. "Look, don't worry about that happening to you. If I let all that get to me, I never would have had the courage to ask any of them out. If you know why you like her, then that's what you need to tell her, and if she doesn't feel the same, then it's for the best. Keep in mind, any girl would be lucky to go out with you. Just remember that."
Lincoln knew that his dad was telling him this to reassure him, but he still appreciated the thought behind it, a smile returning to his face. "Thanks, Dad."
The two of them cooked together until the girls all woke up. Lincoln let them know he was leaving early before grabbing his winter coat, his phone and his school bag, and then began walking to school. He spent the duration of the walk to school with his earphones in and his hands in his pockets, initially listening to the songs playing before it became background noise. The time to himself allowed him to think about everything that was going on— his newly found feelings for his friend, his thoughts on the showcase, the developments in his relationship with his sisters. A lot had happened to the sixth grader over the past few months, which wasn't surprising in a family as chaotically functioning as his, but it was some of the utmost unpredictable months in his admittedly short lifespan.
He was eventually brought out of his thoughts when he entered the school building, the warmth from the central heating washing over him. He first stopped at his locker, depositing his winter coat and any books he wouldn't need immediately, then made his way over to the principal's office. As he stepped into the waiting room, Sheryl looked to him with her usual warm smile. "Morning, Sugar!" she greeted.
"Morning, Sheryl," he greeted back.
"You're here nice and early, aren't you?"
"I'm meeting my friends to talk about something. Is Principal Huggins in his office?"
"Sure is. You need to speak with him?"
"Yes, please."
"Okay, one sec." She leaned over to the intercom and pressed down on the button. "Principal Huggins, Lincoln Loud's here. He'd like to speak with you."
"Send him in, Sheryl," he replied through the intercom.
"Will do." Letting go of the button, she looked to the boy. "Go right in."
"Thank you."
So, he stepped past her desk and entered the office behind her, where the principal was sat behind his desk. "Lincoln, come in. Close the door behind you." Lincoln obliged, doing as he was told before sitting opposite the middle aged man. "How can I help you?"
"Well, me and my friends were wondering if we could make an announcement in assembly."
Huggins leaned forward, now intrigued. "An announcement of what kind?"
"You see, me and the others all attend a gymnastics practice outside of school. I joined a few months ago, and I've been enjoying it since, but we recently found out that they might be closing it down. We convinced them to let us do a showcase to try and change their minds, and we were hoping we could tell people in assembly. Let them know how they can come and watch if they want."
"Hmm… I see." He leaned back in his chair, considering the boy's request with his index fingers tapping together. "Normally, I wouldn't permit an announcement of an external event, not to mention that this is the first day of the semester, so there will be multiple announcements to make from the faculty. However, we do encourage extra curricular activities." He stood up, looking at the sheet that was on his desk. "Who would be delivering the announcement?"
"Jordan said that she would be willing to."
"I see. Do you know what she would be planning to say?"
"Not really, but once she and the others get here, we're going to talk about it. She said that she had a draft of about… two minutes?"
"Hmm… I think that is a fair length." A brief moment of silence fell between them, before Huggins grabbed a pen and added something to the bottom of the sheet. "Alright. Once I and the rest of the faculty have made our announcements, Jordan can make your announcement to the students."
The boy's face lit up. "Thank you so much, sir!"
"Don't mention it. Now, run along. Your friends might be waiting for you."
"Yes, sir." Lincoln wasted no time in leaving, thanking Sheryl on the way out before making his way to the library. He saw Joy, Artie, Kat, Sadie and Mollie sat at one of the tables, so he sat down next to Kat. "Hey, is Jordan here yet?"
"Didn't you see her in your seat?" Joy joked, to which he rolled her eyes. "She'll be here soon."
"You're eager for her to get here, aren't you?" Mollie then asked, a teasing grin on her face. "I wonder why."
"Don't start that," he chided, "and don't make any jokes like that when she gets here. She's already not thrilled about this, so let's not make it worse for her."
"Come on, it's us. We might tease each other, but we know when to stop."
"Well… most of the time," Sadie pointed out, causing her friend's grin to falter.
"Yeah… but, we know when to stop now. Besides, this is too important for us to mess about."
"She's right," Kat agreed. "When she gets here, we'll focus on the assembly."
She then looked behind her as she heard Jordan enter the library. Seeing her friends wave her over, she joined them at the table, sitting next to Mollie and opposite Lincoln. "Hope you weren't waiting for me," she apologised. "I accidentally burned my breakfast."
"Don't worry about it," Artie replied.
"Yeah, we were waiting for Lincoln, anyway," Joy added, to which the boy in question deadpanned.
"For your information, I was getting Principal Huggins' permission for us to make the announcement, which he has given us," the boy explained, then looked to his close friend. "Are you sure you're okay with doing it?"
"Yeah, I am," she confirmed. "Could you guys check what I've written, though?" Everyone agreed, the collective volume being just a bit too loud, as the librarian felt the need to shush them. Jordan reached into her bag and pulled out the sheet of paper she had written on the night before, placing it on the table in front of them. They all took turns to read it, with Lincoln being the first. "Be honest with me. Is it okay?"
Lincoln smiled to her as he passed it along. "I think it's perfect," he assured her, getting her to smile.
"Really?"
"Yeah, he's right," Kat told her. "You really get the point across."
The others gave similar responses when they were done reading, making Jordan feel relieved. "Phew… that's good to hear. Now I just hope that I don't sound like an idiot up there. I'm kind of nervous."
"Well, what if one of us stood near to the stage while you did it?" Sadie suggested.
"Yeah, I'm sure Lincoln would be happy to," Mollie snuck in, unable to resist. Lincoln would have called her out for it, had Jordan not responded first.
"Actually… I think that would help a lot."
Lincoln saw her eyes meet his, making a faint blush appear on his cheeks. "Well… we said we were here for you, so… consider it done."
Her smile grew bigger. "Thank you, Lincoln. You're the best."
It wasn't too long after that they went to class for registration, which was immediately followed by assembly. It started with Principal Huggins welcoming them back to school and reminding them of some of the rules, followed by a couple of announcements from Coach Pacowski and some of the other teachers. Jordan stood behind the curtain with Lincoln, gripping onto her sheet of paper with a nervous look in her eyes. Lincoln was quick to notice, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry. You've got this."
Not for the first time, she found a calming effect in his words, a small smile appearing on her lips. "Thanks, Lincoln."
"And now," they heard Huggins declare, "I would like to turn your attention to one of your classmates, who has an announcement of her own to make." He turned to the two kids. "Over to you, Jordan."
She gulped before walking on stage, not noticing that Lincoln was flashing her a pair of thumbs up from behind the curtain. She approached the plinth and set her speech onto it, suddenly becoming aware of the large number of eyes looking at her. She looked back to Lincoln, following his gestured suggestion of taking a deep breath, then began to speak.
"Uh… hey, everyone! I'll keep this quick, but this is pretty important to me and my friends as well. As some of you who know me will know, I attend weekly gymnastics practice sessions, and they are some of the most fun hours of my week. I've been doing it for about nine months now, and it's pretty much changed my life, because I can't imagine not doing then anymore. Unfortunately, the managers of the sports centre where they happen have said that they plan to end our sessions. We were gutted to hear this, and we weren't ready to just let it end, so we asked them if we could put on a showcase. Something to show them how much it means to us, and raise money for the sports centre. It's on Saturday the 25th, and we need people to come and watch."
Unfortunately for her, this was the moment that she began to lose their attention. What started with a couple of people talking grew into murmurs from all throughout the audience of classmates. Principal Huggins tried to get them to settle down and listen, but this just got them to be louder. To this, Jordan frowned and ducked her head, feeling like it had all been for nothing. Lincoln watched on, his heart sinking at seeing her so distraught, and though he didn't know what to do, he knew he had to do something. He didn't even realise until he was right next to her that he had walked on stage.
"Can I say something?" he asked into the mic, silencing the crowd.
"What's he doing?" Artie whispered to Mollie, who shrugged as they watched for what their friend was about to do.
"I get that gymnastics might not be everyone's favourite sport or activity, but it's clearly important enough to Jordan for her to stand up here and speak to you. She's also right when she says that gymnastics is a lot of fun. I know, because a few months ago, I tried it for the first time, and I've loved it ever since." He heard some laughter from the other students, the first one to do so being Markus, who he could see near the front. Had Lincoln looked a few rows behind him, he would have seen Lucy restraining Lola from going after the bully, but he simply closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'll be honest with you. When I first started, I was worried that people might laugh at me… but not anymore."
The laughter died down when he said this, so he opened his eyes again and smiled. "It took the people close to me, as well as my friends at gymnastics to realise that I shouldn't think like that. I can't necessarily put into words why I enjoy it as much as I do, but I really do love it. That's why we want to save it, and it's why we're asking you to come and watch. Imagine that something that you do that you really enjoy doing was about to be taken away from you. Wouldn't you want to save it?" He gave a moment of pause, which allowed the elementary schoolers to consider what he had said. "Look, if you can't make it, or you have no interest in doing so, then we understand. If you can, and you might be willing to, then please do consider it. That's all we're asking." He then looked to Principal Huggins and nodded to him. "Thank you for letting us talk about this."
He nodded back to them and returned to the plinth, the two kids stepping back from it. "If any of you have questions about this, you can find either Lincoln, Jordan or one of their friends later and ask them yourselves. For now, that's all for assembly, so please begin to make your way back to your classrooms."
Whilst the principal began to let the other students leave, Jordan grabbed Lincoln's hand and led him back behind the curtain, out of sight from the others. Before Lincoln could ask her anything, she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, her cheek gently brushing against his. "Thank you, Lincoln."
"Hey, you don't need to thank me," he insisted, returning the hug before he felt her shaking her head against his.
"I do. It should have been you doing the announcement, not me. They didn't want to listen to me at all."
"Don't say that!" He leaned out of the hug so he could look her in the eyes again. "I would have done no better up there than you did, and I wouldn't have written a speech even half as good as yours. So, don't beat yourself up over this. We did the best we could, and that's what matters."
She felt her cheeks heat up again at his words. "Still, you managed to save it for me, so thank you, Lincoln." He matched her blush, and they engaged in a hug once more. "You really are the best."
"Ahem." They both jumped and let go of each other upon hearing this, turning to face Principal Huggins with bright red faces. "That was a good speech you made, Jordan. I'm sure more than a few people will want to watch this showcase."
"Th-Thank you, sir."
"Of course. Now, shouldn't you be getting back to your class?"
"Right. Come on, Lincoln."
The white haired boy nodded, and they began to return to class, unknowingly with Jordan holding his hand again. Huggins did manage to catch a glimpse of it, but he simply chuckled and walked the other way. 'Kids these days.'
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