After a good two hours, the session was coming to a close. After learning how to fall, the group was instructed on, and allowed to practice, how to do a simple jump and a turning jump on the trampette ad a couple more basic skills, followed by how to complete a tumble run with some basic tumbles, and were currently watching a demonstration of a floor routine. While it was by no means complex, it was still a good routine, and Lincoln found himself impressed by the coordination shown by Girl Jordan and her friends. As they finished the routine, Chris began applauding them, those who were watching doing the same as they gave a bow. "Thank you, all of you," he commended as they sat down with the others, then turned to face the group. "Okay, guys, that's all we have time for today. You all did good today, and I hope you had fun. If you or your parents want to know more about practice, then by all means, you can come speak to me, as I'll be by the reception. Thanks again for coming, and have a good day."
With that, everyone began to walk away- the younger kids eagerly walked over to their parents to tell them about what they did, even though most of them already knew from having watched, while the sixth graders all began walking towards the changing rooms. Girl Jordan, before she reached the changing room, told her friends that she would catch up, before walking over to the white-haired boy. "So, Lincoln," she spoke, her voice giving away her eagerness, "what did you think?"
"I thought you were great!" he replied. "It's clear that you're very good this, especially from that routine!"
She giggled, putting a hand to her mouth. "That's very sweet of you… but I meant what did you think of gymnastics, not me."
Her giggles only grew as his dumbfounded expression came upon realising his mistake, his palm gently striking his forehead and his cheeks reddening. "Right, should have realised that."
"Well? What did you think?"
"Well… I'll be honest, I was uncertain at the start. Probably because of how everything else went this week." He could see the glimmer in her eyes fade a little when he said that. "Though, now I've given it a go and seen what it's like…" His lips curled upwards at the sides. "I think I wanna do it again."
The glimmer in her eyes returned as she smiled giddily. "That's awesome! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!"
"Yeah, it's really cool! I think it's something I'd like to get good at!"
"Well, I think you will. And hey, I can help you along the way if you need it."
He nodded. "I would appreciate that, actually."
"Then consider it done. So, are your parents coming to pick you up?"
"Actually, I was going to walk back."
"Well, if you like, you can get a lift back with me. I'm sure my mom won't mind."
"Really?" She nodded eagerly. "Well… sure, okay. Thanks."
"No problem. I'll meet you out here when I've got changed."
"Okay. Guess I'll speak to Chris so I know what to tell my parents." She nodded to him, then walked off to go get changed. Lincoln, meanwhile, went into the mens' changing room to collect his stuff, then walked back out and made his way to the reception. When he got there, he saw that Chris had just finished speaking with one of the parents, so when they walked away, he walked up to the instructor. "Excuse me, Chris?"
The instructor looked down and smiled at the boy. "Hey, Lincoln," he greeted, "what can I do for you?"
"Well, I really enjoyed today and think I would like to do this more regularly, but I was wondering if you could tell me more so I know what to tell my parents when I get home."
"Absolutely! Anything for someone looking to engage in a new hobby. Wait here one second." He walked over to the reception desk and grabbed a pen and piece of paper. Lincoln watched as he began writing something down, then turn around and walk back to the Loud boy. "Here you go. Everything you need to know should be on here. If there are any more questions your parents have, they can email me. I've put my email at the bottom."
He then handed the boy the note, which Lincoln accepted and put in his pocket. "Thank you."
"No worries. I look forward to seeing you again." He leaned toward the boy after checking the coast was clear. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm kind of glad another guy is doing this." As both men began chuckling at the half-joke, a thought came to Lincoln's head: 'I think I'm going to enjoy coming here.'
It didn't take long for Girl Jordan to finish getting changed, and after she and Lincoln said goodbye to her friends, they got in her mother's car, and began driving away. Jordan's mother was fairly similar in appearance to her daughter: while it was obvious that she was older, they both had the same hair colour, both had their hair in ponytails (though only Jordan's was braided), and it seemed clear to the boy that Jordan got her eyes from her mother. The woman's dress sense, however, was more similar to his own mother's, with brown trousers and a yellow button up shirt.
As she drove along the road and came to a stop due to some traffic lights, she turned around to look at the two kids, smiling upon seeing them happily talking to each other. "You okay there, Lincoln?" She asked.
"Yes, Mrs Rosato," he responded.
"Well, we're only a couple of minutes away from your house. So, forgive me if I'm prying, but what made you want to try gymnastics?"
"Well… the long story is a little complicated, and there's some parts of it I don't like thinking about, so the short version is that my parents wanted me to do more exercise, and Girl Jordan recommended it."
While the woman was a little perplexed by him calling her daughter 'Girl Jordan', she didn't pay it much mind as she returned to driving once the light turned green. "Well, it's nice to see other boys giving it a try. I know more than a few of my husband's friends who would've laughed at the idea, but it's really just silly, if you ask me. Especially if it's something you enjoy, and based on that smile on your face, I'm guessing that you do."
He felt his cheeks heat up as he nodded, to the amusement of the girl sat next to him. "So, Lincoln, since the next practice is Tuesday, do you want to walk with me and the girls again?" She asked.
"Sure. That sounds great." Her smile widened in response. As he felt the vehicle, he saw that the car had pulled up in front of his house, so he undid his seatbelt. "Thanks for the ride, Mrs Rosato."
"You're welcome. And, hey- if your parents don't mind, I'd be happy to give you a lift back any time."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely! Your mother is my dentist, and from what I remember, you have a lot of siblings, so I completely understand if they're occasionally too busy."
"Thanks. I'll ask them."
He opened the door to get out, but felt a tap on his shoulder. "Hey, Lincoln?" Jordan asked. "I was wondering if you would want to sit with me and the others at lunch?"
He smiled at her. "Sure, that sounds great! Thanks again, for everything."
She laughed. "You don't have to keep thanking me, Lincoln. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the thought, but it really isn't that big of a deal."
"Well, it is to me. I really do appreciate this."
She couldn't help but find it adorable that he said that. "Aww… well, you're welcome, Lincoln."
"So, guess I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Okay! See you tomorrow!"
He got out of the car, shut the door behind him, and waved to her as the car drove away. Once they were far away, he turned around and walked up to the front door. When he walked inside, he saw that the rest of his siblings were all sat on the couch, watching TV. As he shut the door, Lynn turned her head in his direction and smiled. "Hey, bro!" She said, alerting the others to his presence. "Good timing! Dream Boat's on in ten."
"Oh, great! I'll be back soon, I'm gonna go take a shower first."
He turned to go to the stairs, but stopped when his sister called to him. "Hang on, twerp," Lori spoke. "How was it? You seem quite happy this time." Her smile turned into a smirk. "Or is that just because you got to hang out with Girl Jordan?"
The rest of her sisters' expressions mirrored hers, causing Lincoln to groan. "Really? This again? Seriously, she's just a friend. I didn't even hung out with her that much before."
"Though, I'm sure you'll be seeing her a lot more," Luan chimed in. "After all, you told us it was her who Jorded you into it." As was the norm, her laugh and "get it" were met with groans from everyone else, as well as a head shake from the boy.
"Whatever. I'm going for a shower." He ignored the titterings of his sisters as he walked upstairs, first depositing his gym bag in his room and removing his spare clothes from it, while also placing the note from his pocket on the desk, then heading into the bathroom. He locked the door and dumped his now sweaty clothes in the laundry hamper, before getting in the shower. As the running water fell on his skin, he felt at ease. "Ah, that's better…" So, he began to clean himself, taking no more than five minutes to be finished, but still felt himself relaxing as he did. Once he was done, he turned off the shower, got out, began to dry himself off and walked across the landing to his room. Since he'd put his usual clothes in the laundry, he figured his parents wouldn't mind if he put on his pyjamas now. So, he placed his towel in his hamper, got dressed and prepared to head back downstairs, but something stopped him- he remembered that the note Chris had written from him was on his desk. 'Better give that to mom and dad,' he thought. As he grabbed the note, however, his mind flashed back to something Mrs Rosato had said:
"I know more than a few of my husband's friends who would have laughed at the idea."
This made his eyes widen a bit. 'Wait… what if my dad doesn't like that this is what I was doing?' He considered. 'And what about my sisters?! I know that the others seemed okay with me trying gymnastics, and my parents want me to do more exercise, but…' His mind flashed back to times where he had tried to get his sisters into his hobbies, and they had laughed at him or shrugged him off. He then remembered the numerous times that he had been laughed at for cosplaying Ace Savvy, and became worried hat the same would happen here. 'What if they're like that with this? I don't want that to happen, but what can I do about it?' He looked at the letter again. 'Hmm…'
Rita walked into the room, and saw the girls watching TV, the opening sequence for Dream Boat appearing on the screen. "Girls, has Lincoln come back yet?" She asked.
"Our sole male sibling made his return to the abode approximately six hundred and thirty seven seconds prior to your question," Lisa explained.
"Uh…"
"She means he got back ten minutes ago, mom," Luna clarified.
"Oh! That was quicker than I was expecting!" At that moment, she heard footsteps from upstairs, and turned to see the boy in question coming downstairs. "I thought you said you were walking home."
"I was originally going to, but Girl Jordan's mom offered to drive me here."
"And I'm sure you just leapt at the chance to sit next to your friend, didn't you, Linky?" Lola teased, which led to soft giggles from the sisters.
Lincoln merely rolled his eyes at them. "So, honey," his mother began to ask, "how was it?"
"Actually, I really enjoyed it!" He could tell that his mother was pleased by the answer, her smile growing. "I think I'd like to do it more often."
"That's great, honey! What sport is it?"
"Oh, it's dodgeball."
Hearing this, Lynn turned around in her seat. "Dodgeball? I didn't know the school did dodgeball."
This caught everyone's attention, prompting Lori to pause the TV as they all turned to him. "Well, it wasn't actually at the school. It was at the sport centre." He then held out the note to his mother. "Chris, the instructor, gave me this to give you." She looked over the note, and as she did so, Lincoln held a straight face as best he could- before he came down, he rewrote the note word for word on another sheet of paper, then made the other illegible before throwing it away, so he was hoping Rita didn't realise it was his writing. "So, can I do it?"
"Well… are you sure there isn't anything at school you'd rather do?"
He frowned when she said this. "I'm certain. I know it might be a lot to ask- Mrs Rosato even offered to drive me home after sessions- but I think I would continue to enjoy this."
She prepared to speak again, but when she saw how Lincoln seemed to be pleading with his eyes, she had a change of heart. "I'll speak with your father. Wait here."
Lincoln watched as she walked away, his face showing his loss in hope. Lynn, seeing her brother's despair, felt bad for him. She turned to Luna, who was sat next to her on the couch. "Save my seat, Luna," she told the rocker. "I'm just grabbing a soda."
"Sure, brah," she replied.
"Cheers." She grabbed her crutches and got up, walking into the kitchen, where she saw her parents talking with their backs turned to her while Lynn Sr was cooking.
"We'd need to check our budget plan," he told his wife. "It's quite a lot."
"I know, honey, but he seemed really excited about it," she argued. "We pushed so hard for him to do more exercise, and now he's found a way that he actually wants to do, I don't want to break his heart."
"I hear you… I'm just worried about the cost of it, you know? We stretch our budget thin as is."
Lynn Jr didn't like what she was hearing, so she decided to speak up. "Hey, uh, guys?" She said, walking over to the fridge.
Turning to look at his daughter, Lynn Sr replied, "what's up, LJ?"
"I was just grabbing a soda, but I… heard what you were saying." He opened his mouth to say something, but she decided to speak first. "I know I'm probably not aware of how much everything costs and all, but I really think you should let him try this. I could tell he wanted to, and it made me think of how eager I was to start trying baseball. The other night, he said he was worried that he wouldn't find a sport he liked, and that he would disappoint you, so I can tell he means it."
Lynn Sr and Rita looked at each other, considering their fifth oldest's words, then looked back. "I appreciate you saying that," Rita told her. "Now, I think your sisters are waiting for you so they can continue their show."
"Okay."
Once Lynn has grabbed her soda and walked back to the living room, Rita turned to her husband. "You see? Even his sisters see how much he wants this. If needs be, I'll see if Dr Feinstein can give me a raise, or a couple of extra hours."
He sighed. "Alright. He can do it. Better let him know so he doesn't think we hate him."
She jokingly rolled her eyes, then kissed him on the cheek. "Okay, honey." She walked back through to the living room, where Lincoln almost expectantly looked in her direction the second she stepped in. "Alright, Lincoln. I spoke to your father, and we've decide that you can do dodgeball."
His face lit up with a huge smile, and he practically leapt off the arm of the sofa to give her a hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
Rita smiled more and returned the hug. "You're welcome, Lincoln." Once he let go, she adopted a serious expression. "Now, as long as you're doing this, you might not get any new games for a while, alright? If you want anything like that, you may have to make the money yourself. And if at any point you decide you want to stop, tell us immediately. Is that clear?" He didn't even hesitate to nod, making her smile once again. "Good to hear."
With that, she went back into the kitchen, while Lincoln sat back down on the arm of the sofa. "Okay, can we start the show now?" Lori asked, then waited for any response, but none came. "Good."
As Lori restarted the show, Lynn looked at her brother's joyful face and smiled, glad to know he was happy, and that he found a sport that he actually enjoyed.