15. Ch 15- Friends

"Leni?" He asked, getting her attention.

"Oh. Hey, Linky," she replied, not even bothering to smile as she rolled back over.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Leni…" He sat down beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I can tell something is bothering you. You know that you can talk to me, right? I don't like seeing you like this."

"Sorry…" She sat up, but still didn't look at him, just staring ahead of her. Lincoln noticed how her eyes were… not tired, as such, but drained in a sense. "I'm just… not feeling like myself at the moment."

He tilted his head, now truly concerned. "How come?"

She began absentmindedly rubbing her left arm. "I'm just… feeling bad about how I acted earlier." She looked at her brother, and saw that he didn't understand. "What you said to me at the mall… it really made me think, you know?" He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand to stop him. "I know what you're going to say, and you, like, don't need to. You were right. We do meddle too much, but we can't help it sometimes. You're the sweetest, kindest, most forgiving boy we know, and you're our brother. We just want to know you're happy."

"I know you do. I've always known that. I just wish you could trust me with stuff like this."

"It's not that we don't trust you, Linky. It's..." After a moment, she pulled her legs towards her chest and hugged them. "To be honest, I don't even know what it is. Maybe my head is just full of air."

Her brother's frown deepened. "Don't say that, Leni."

"But it's true. Everyone knows I'm not that smart, and that I get confused. I always just assumed that we were doing the right thing by watching you like that, because that was what everyone else would say we should do."

Lincoln sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I don't blame you for feeling pressured. It's hard to get your voice heard in this house when there's so many people who want to be heard. Remember the time I thought Bobby was cheating on Lori and got all of you involved?"

"That was different, though. We all joined you because we were worried for Lori."

"But, I still made you guys help, even if some you would have known better." He then looked back up at his sister. "My point is that, just because you didn't get why you were doing that, it doesn't mean your head is full of air. I wouldn't want you to be the smartest person I know, because you're the most sincere person I know." He gave a small smile. "You don't see any of us going to Lisa when we need a heart-to-heart or for advice on how to talk about someone we like, do you?"

She couldn't help but smile at that. "I guess not."

"No, because she may be brilliant at science, but you're the best at stuff like that. You're not the smartest person, but you're creative, and you're kind, and you're everything I could ever ask you to be and more."

She didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around her brother, quickly feeling the hug being reciprocated by him. "Thanks, Linky," she told him gratefully, sniffling back any tears that tried to come through.

"No problem, Leni."

She then leaned out of the hug, allowing him to see her smile while she looked him in the eyes. "I promise from now on, that if you and Jordan are hanging out, and you don't want me to watch you or get involved, I won't. I might not be able to convince the others, but I'll try."

He felt touched by her promise. "You mean it?" She nodded. "Thank you."

He got up and prepared to head to his room as he had planned. "One question, though." He sat back down after she gestured for him to do so. "And be honest- do you think Jordan is pretty?"

He frowned. "Leni…"

"I'm not asking this to tease you or anything, I just want to know. Please?"

He sighed. "Well… I wouldn't say she's not pretty, but… I never really thought about it, you know?"

She nodded. "I get it, Linky. I won't ask again."

"Thanks. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay."

With that, he took his leave. Walking towards his bedroom and through the door, he closed the door behind him. He reached into his bag and pulled out the contents, then moved his chair underneath the vents. Opening the vent, he lifted himself up to look inside and saw Lucy sat with her pen and poetry book. "Lucy?"

She looked his way and shuffled along towards him. "Hey, Lincoln," she replied. "How was your day?"

"Good, thanks." He then handed her the comic book he had bought for her. "I believe this is yours."

Her cheeks, though hidden by her hair, tinted pink as she accepted the book with a brief smile. "Thanks, Lincoln."

"You're welcome, spooky."

"Can you help me real quick? I'm struggling for a rhyme to go with the word, 'leave'."

"Hmm… how about 'reprieve'?"

She looked back at her poem, then her smile grew a smidge. "Perfect. Thanks."

"Okay, Lucy." After climbing down from the vents, he laid down on the bed with his comic, before letting out a small chuckle. 'Maybe I can get a small reprieve myself.'

Monday came around again, and it was the first day of the last week before the half term break. The students at Royal Woods Elementary were excited to get a week off, but they still had to go to school before that could happen. As Vanzilla pulled up in front of the school, Lori turned around in her seat. "Okay, we're here," she said to the youngest Louds in the van. "You know the deal- be here on time, or let me know if you have other plans. I have a video date with Bobby later."

Lincoln and his younger sisters all rolled their eyes before they got out of the van. After Lori drove away, the Loud siblings went into the already bustling elementary school, making their own ways towards their respective lockers and classrooms. As he turned the corner towards his, Lincoln saw his friends by their lockers and walked up to them. "Hey, guys," he greeted.

"Hey, Lincoln," Liam greeted back first as the boys and Stella turned to face him.

"So, Lincoln, we're having a sleepover at my place on Friday," Clyde addressed him next. "You free?"

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Lincoln replied. "What's the plan?"

"Well, my dad's said it would be okay if we went to Gus' Games And Grub first, then you guys can grab your things for the night and we'll meet at my place at six."

"Sounds awesome!"

"You coming as well, Stella?" Zach asked the girl.

"I'll ask, but I don't know how comfortable my mom will be about me staying at a sleepover with boys."

Lincoln chuckled. "That sounds about right, my parents are the same with my sisters."

"So, I've got no chance, then?"

"I wouldn't say that- you just need the right way to convince them."

She gave a silent laugh and smirked at him. "I'll keep that in mind. So, Lincoln, I heard you went to the mall with Girl Jordan?"

"Well, it wasn't just us, but yeah. Was actually pretty fun."

Rusty looked at him skeptically. "I thought you hated going with your sisters?" He questioned.

"Well, when you're actually allowed to look around instead of watching your baby sister and holding their bags, it's not that bad, actually."

"Seriously? Ten sisters, yet you're the one who has to watch the baby?" Stella asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Yeah, there's a lot of drawbacks to having a big family." As they all laughed at the joke, Lincoln felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Turning around, he smiled as he saw that it was Jordan. "Hey, Girl Jordan."

"Hey, Lincoln!" She replied. "I was wondering if you wanted to sit with us at lunch again."

"Sure, that sound great!" He turned to the others. "You okay with that, guys?"

Clyde opened his mouth to speak, but was beaten to it by Stella. "Sure, that's cool with us!"

The boys reluctantly agreed as well, though Lincoln didn't notice the tone in which they did. "Thanks, guys." The bell then rang throughout the corridor, indicating that class was starting. "We'd better get in before Mrs Johnson marks us late."

While the rest of the students began making their way to their respective classrooms, Stella grabbed a hold of Clyde's shoulder and pulled him back a little. "What's up?" He asked.

"What's with you guys?" She asked, looking at him with crossed arms and one eyebrow raised. "You acted really weird just then."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, throwing his arms up in defence.

"Oh, really? Because, I've never seen you guys act like that around Lincoln. Is something going on between you guys?"

"What? No, of course not!"

"Then why were you-"

"Alright, you two, get in class," Coach Pakowski interrupted as he walked by. "Don't make me send you to the Principal's Office."

"Yes, Coach," they both replied, and made their way into the classroom.

"Seriously, Stella, it's nothing," Clyde assured her one last time, before making his way to his seat.

'Hmm…'

The morning was as boring as could be expected for the sixth grade class, with everyone doing their best to keep awake during the lessons they had to endure. Perhaps it was the end of half term buzz, but they just wanted to be anywhere but there. Fortunately, the bell for lunch ringing gave them a momentary reprieve, and the teacher dismissed the class. Everyone was eager to get up from their seats and make their way into the corridor, before heading to their lockers. After grabbing their lunches from their lockers, Lincoln and Clyde headed towards the lunch hall, where Lincoln saw the girls from gymnastics sat at one table. "See you after lunch," he told Clyde.

"Okay," he replied, before they went their separate ways. Clyde sat down with Rusty, Liam and Zach, and watched as Lincoln waved to the girls, who waved back as he sat down with them. As he watched them talk and laugh together, Clyde unconsciously began frowning at the sight, which Rusty noticed.

"Hey, Clyde, you listening?" The talker of the boys asked, snapping him out of his gaze.

"Huh?"

"What were you looking at, Clyde?" Zach asked.

"Oh, it's nothing."

The way the bespectacled boy played with a bit of his pasta, however, suggested otherwise, so Rusty looked in the direction Clyde had previously done so, and frowned at the sight of Lincoln laughing with the others. "Geez, rub it in our face, much?"

"Dang," Liam sighed as he looked at it as well. "When did they get so chummy?"

"Hey, guys!" Stella said with a smile as she sat down. "Sorry, the line was huge today for some reason." As she grabbed a bit of food on her fork, she saw the looks on her friends' faces and noticed that they weren't listening to her. "Uh, guys, you okay?"

"Yeah…" they all sighed.

Unconvinced, she looked where they were looking, then frowned at them. "Are you guys spying on Lincoln? Okay, seriously, what is with you guys?"

"Nothing, really," Zach replied, looking back to his food.

"Don't play dumb with me! You guys have had a problem with Lincoln all day, and I want to know why. Is it because he's hanging out with Girl Jordan and the others?" The others all looked nervous when she suggested this, which made her roll her eyes. "Are you guys serious right now?!"

"In all fairness, Stella," Liam spoke up, "we've known Lincoln for a good few years now, and he's not really hung out with them this much before."

"So? They're his friends too, you know? He is allowed to hang out with them. Besides, they've been helping him with dodgeball, and got him into it to begin with, so it's understandable that he'd want to hang out with them."

"Yeah, but this much?" Rusty pointed out. "They have practice three times a week anyway."

"Plus, it's more that he seems to be having more fun with them than he does with us," Clyde added.

"Yeah…"

Stella was confused before, and mildly irritated, but she was in full on disbelief now. "You guys are crazy! First of all, Clyde, remember the time you and Zach started going to antique shows together? How is this different?" Both of them looked away guiltily. "And Liam, you said it yourself, you've known him for a few years now. Do you really think he'd rather hang out with them than with you guys?"

Liam gulped down his bite of his sandwich. "Well… I dunno…"

She rolled her eyes. "Seriously, guys, you're being idiots right now. Lincoln's your best friend, and you guys are his. He's not abandoning you or anything, he's hanging out with them because they're his friends too, and they share a different interest with him. Relax, okay?" They reluctantly muttered an "Okay" to her, making her shake her head at them. "Boys…"