42. Shuffling The Deck

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING from the Loud House.

BEEP BEEP! BEEP BEE-!

THUMP!

Lori stared lazily at her alarm clock as her hand slipped off the sleep button; her eyes had small bags under them to showcase the sleepiness still in her body.

Or the lack of it.

Since flopping onto the bed, the oldest sibling had barely gotten any rest; part of it was due to the guilt and unsettled feeling that pooled in her stomach all night, the other part being that she tried to figure out how to salvage the damage she caused. Instead, all she could think about was how she messed up not only her chance of reconnecting with her brother, but most likely for her sisters as well. On top of that, she feared Lincoln might've lost whatever confidence he had at handling the situation on his own.

Sitting up, Lori rubbed the dead skin from her eyes. "At least he didn't scream and throw stuff at me to leave...like I was trying to kill him..." She mulled to herself whilst swinging her feet over the edge of the bed. She sat still, staring down at her feet as her body slowly woke itself. "Last time I handled him like that, he might've only been intimidated for a minute before getting upset or just forgetting about it. Last night..." She didn't like recalling that short memory, but the look in her brother's eyes when she held him up was easy to read. "I guess he didn't think I was gonna kill him..." She made a sorrowful frown. "But being viewed as a school bully threatening to pummel him for lunch money is no better."

Lori breathed in deep before exhaling, then leaned back slightly and pushed herself off her bed. Her feet shuffled along the carpet as she made her way to the door, mentally preparing herself for the line that no doubt formed whilst she was in the midst of reflecting on her actions. Upon opening the door though, Lori found seven pairs of irate eyes looking at her; whose bodies they were connected to also blocking the door.

"Um..." Lori started, only to be pushed back inside her room as the girls entered, shutting the door behind them.

"You wanna explain what the flipping H happened last night?" Lynn asked with clear ire in her tone.

"Saw this coming..." Lori groaned inwardly. "Look, I know I made a mistake-" Lori responded. She sounded almost insincere due to the fatigue she still felt.

"Uh, yeah. No duh." The younger girl pressed. "But what exactly did he say that made you fly off the handle?..." Lynn tapped her foot in irritation.

Lori knotted her brows together. "Since you and everyone else were snooping, what do you think he said?..."

"We wouldn't be asking if we knew, ding dong!" Lola butted in.

The oldest sibling pinched the bridge between her eyes. "It's too early in the morning for this..." Breathing in, "Lincoln said some things that were truthful," She folded her arms, averting her gaze from her sisters. "But it still hurt..."

"Kids," Everyone froze upon hearing their father's voice from the hallway. "We're leaving! Have a good day."

Lynn Sr. peeked around on the second floor from his position at the stairs, visibly cringing for a moment once he noticed the doors were still closed. "Maybe I shouldn't have said that out loud..." He muttered, scanning the doors and hoping he didn't interrupt their sleep.

Upon looking towards the right, he noticed the door of his son's room was ajar slightly. Curiosity spiking, the patriarch walked down the hall to the room. "Uh, you up sport?" Lynn Sr. asked, gently pushing the door open. To his surprise, Lincoln wasn't there; the bed was neatly made and a couple hangers were missing their clothing. A quick look around let Lynn know that the boy's backpack was also missing. "Did he leave early again?..." He glanced around, scratching his head before he noticed some papers on Lincoln's desk. Picking them up, the father found them to be some drawings of some characters performing actions; the pictures themselves were surrounded by thick borders as if they were arranged in a sequence. "Huh, this looks like one of those comics Lincoln reads."

Taking a closer look, the father identified his son wearing...he scratched his head. Was it a disguise of some sort? He appeared to be thinking on something important as he walked down a path. Looking over the other pictures, Lynn Sr. also identified who he assumed to be Clyde and another girl he wasn't familiar with.

"Hmmm..." Lynn Sr. held the picture close to his face. "Is that...Lily?" He pictured how his youngest child would look in a few years. The mental image he came up with was a girl that looked similar to Leni, but with shorter hair and maybe a tooth or two misaligned. And maybe that one tuft of hair sticking out if he or Rita didn't try to mat it down to her head like Lincoln does whenever he wants to dress fancy. Tried as they might, they could never get that cowlick to stay down during the boy's younger years; the same result occurred with Lola as well.

Maybe it was genetic; Albert certainly has one, even at his old age.

"Lynn?" The family man fidgeted when he heard Rita calling.

"Coming!" He responded. After flicking through the papers, a little smile grew on the man's face. The drawings were very detailed; it was cartoony for sure, but it reflected off the vibe of those early cartoon action shows Lynn used to watch when he was a kid. "Looks like we got an artist in the family." Putting the papers neatly back on the desk, Lynn turned and exited the room.

As he came downstairs, "Hey Rita, do you know where Lincoln might've gone? He's not in his room, or the bathroom."

"He left early for school." Rita called.

Lynn raised a brow. "How'd you figure that?" He asked upon reaching the bottom of the steps.

Rita came out the dining room with a sheet of paper in her hand; she was already dressed in her dental scrubs. Holding it up, it read:

Left for school early. Sorry I didn't tell you yesterday.

- Lincoln

Lynn Sr. looked outside. The sun had barely risen above the trees, offering some daylight; but not enough to where it didn't cast long shadows on tall objects. "Not sure if it's a good idea for him to leave so early..."

"I don't think it is either; but he isn't ready to be around all the girls yet..." Rita stated with a frown. "Much less ride in the van with them."

Lynn Sr. sighed. "I hope he might be able to soon." He opened the front door. "I know we made due with transportation by having the kids take the bus, but using the van makes it easier." As he stepped out, Rita followed; she left the note sitting on the living room coffee table. "Plus, we don't have to worry if the kids miss their ride."

"I know." Rita nodded. "But last thing we need is Lincoln getting a heart attack or..." She bit her lip. "Trying to jump out the van while it's moving..."

Upstairs, the girls heard the front door shut; the van turning over was heard seconds later, followed by the rolling of tires.

Luna leaned against the wall. "Sis, we're all in the same boat, right? If he just told you off on something you know is true," She folded her arms as a scowl formed. "I'm thinkin' you just melted under the pressure..."

Lori scowled at the musician. "It's not that I lost my cool when he called me out for being a terrible sister." She pointed at herself. "I already know that..." She folded her arms. "But I lost it when he thought I didn't really love Bobby..."

"Given how disgusting it was seeing the both of you ogling at each other, I find it hard to believe you didn't love him." Lucy stated.

"Well I think Lincoln had a point." Lynn started, both hands resting at her hips. "You didn't exactly grab your BF's attention in the usual way."

Lori stared at Lynn with an quizzical but suspicious stare. "What are you talking about?"

Lynn only increased the intensity of her glare. "Does 'being a bully for attention' ring any bells?"

Lori visibly flinched as she started in great surprise at the jock, wondering how Lynn knew of that information. The only people who should've been aware of that were herself, Carol, and Bobby of course; she hadn't even mentioned that bit of history to Mrs. Lopez.

The rest of the girls exchanged confused looks at the jock. "Back when we first found out Ronnie Anne was picking on Lincoln, I cornered her at school and forced the truth out of her." The other girls started to give her the stink-eye, to which Lynn just gave a roll of the eyes. "No, I didn't beat her up obviously; I was close though when she finally spilled why she picked on our bro." Pointing at Lori, "Miss Queen of No here pulled the same stunts to get her brother's attention." Lynn folded her arms. "So of course she'd think it was perfectly fine."

Lisa rubbed her chin. "It did seem a little out of the ordinary that you suddenly announced that you had a significant other." She gave a light shrug. "Although it's possible you could have been hiding your affair, much like how Lincoln hides his dealings with Ronnie Anne."

Lana looked towards the young prodigy. "They're still dating?"

Lori sighed. "Ok, yes. I did prank Bobby just to grab his attention back then; I'm not exactly a dating expert..."

"You sure felt like you were..." Lynn grumbled.

Lori glared at the brunette, but opted to continue her point instead of cutting loose with an insult. "But I really did love him. It may not have been at first, but I did grow into being his girlfriend." She reflected on what Carol told her yesterday. "I broke up with him when this mess started because I felt he wouldn't want to be with someone like me after what I did to Lincoln...but a 'friend' told me that might've not been the best option either..." She fiddled with one of her stray locks. "At this point, I don't even know what to do anymore...I thought I could try and smooth things over with Lincoln, and look what happened."

"That's because you didn't wait..." Leni spoke up. The girls turned to the second oldest sibling, who was still sitting on her bed. "Lincoln came to me when he wanted to; I didn't try to seek him out."

"And he sat down with me earlier that day." Lynn pointed out, a scowl still on her face. "I didn't walk over to his table and 'reintroduce' myself like last time."

Lori pursed her lips as a light glare formed on her face. "Well what do you guys want me to do?! I already know I messed up, I don't need the rest of you reminding me of how bad it is!"

"It's not just about you, Lori." Luan stated. "Because of what happened, Lincoln might be too scared to even come near us again."

"Or just you if we're all lucky..." The jock stated.

Luna eyed Leni's clock. The amount of time the girls needed to get ready was diminishing quickly, and the last thing everyone needed now was to miss the bus. "Point is sis, the whole idea behind this plan was to let Lincoln feel like he can come to us on his own. We can't just barge into his life like we used to, cause he'll clam up harder than a clam, and we'll never get our bro back into his old groove." She pushed herself off the wall. "You should've stopped when he made it clear he wasn't in the mood to talk with you, not try to force him to give you a chat."

"And whether you like it or not, the ball is still in his court." Lynn stated, diverting her gaze to the floor as her glare lightened. "Has been since we got into this mess." Looking back at her oldest sister, "I don't even think this can be a team effort since Lincoln's only just one guy out of the 11 of us," She made a hateful glare towards the young adult. "But I speak for all of us when I say this: if you messed this up for the rest of us, Link's gonna have one less sister to worry about..."

Without another word, the hot headed brunette brushed past the rest of her sisters, throwing the door open before banking left and stepping into the bathroom. As the door slammed shut, the rest of the girls made a quick glance at Lori (a few giving disappointed glares) before filing out the room.

Leni watched them leave, having moved her feet off her bed and left them dangling above the floor. Glancing at her roommate, Lori stood there with her lips pursed and a slight glare on her face. Her head tilted down, casting a shadow around her eyes. The fashionista grew to know when her sisters were making hollow threats; but Lynn's certainly didn't sound like one.

"Did she mean they were gonna make Lori 'not' their sisters anymore?" Leni thought to herself. "What's the word for it?...Dis...own? Or were they gonna..." The 16 year old cringed a bit at the idea that came to mind. "Nonono, they wouldn't do that to her." Leni noticed a faint glint of light coming off Lori's cheek, moving down before it disappeared. "You ok Lori?"

Lori gave a huff. "I'm fine..." She turned to their closet, pulling the door open and started sorting through her day clothes.

Leni's lips thinned into a fine line, knowing her sister was lying. While she did believe Lori should've learned some patience, especially when she told her yesterday that Lincoln had his ire directed at her, she didn't necessarily believe that the other girls should be quick to dismiss Lori as their oldest sibling. Hearing the door open for a moment before shutting again, Leni looked at the bedroom door before looking at her clock. Giving an unenthusiastically hum, she decided to put her thoughts aside to get ready before the bus arrived.

Ronnie Anne walked towards her homeroom, a bored expression on her face with books in one hand and the other stuffed in her hoodie pocket. Tuesday may not be as dreadful as Mondays, but it served as a reminder that there were 3 more days left in the week.

Fortunately, this also happened to be a week that teachers canceled classes for students on Friday due to "professional development"; whatever the heck that is...

This also happened to be one of the two days herself and Lincoln shared the first class of the day. A smile graced her lips as she thought about yesterday. It still stung a little that Lincoln believed she would bring harm to him for the slightest grievances; and she couldn't fault him for that.

It was the main selling point of the 'tough girl' persona she put forth after all. Though it worked a little too well...

"We didn't start off great, I'll say that..." The tomboy shuffled the books in her hands. "Maybe I should try being more, not like the school me, around him." She snapped her fingers. "Friendlier, that's what I meant." She brought her pocketed hand to her mouth. "That look on his face was priceless though, and I think he finally gets the picture."

When she stepped inside her homeroom, she quickly noticed the head of white hair that lied down on a desk. The smile on her face was replaced with a frown before she walked over to the Loud with a hand stretched out.

She stopped upon noticing the head turn towards her. "Hey Clyde..." Lincoln muttered before sitting up.

"Clyde?" Ronnie Anne repeated. "You ok Lame-" She stopped herself. "I mean Lincoln? You don't look like you slept much..."

Lincoln rubbed his eyes before removing a hand. Realizing his mistake, "O-Oh, sorry Ronnie Anne." Picking up the latter half of her sentence, "Yeah... I didn't sleep much because of..." He bit his lower lip. "An...incident..."

Ronnie raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"After talking with Lynn yesterday, I decided to try working things over with Leni." His brows furrowed a little. "Annnd I found out who really started the whole fight that led to the Sister Protocol thingy..."

Ronnie gave a flat stare. "Lori?..." She moved to her desk, which was adjacent of his.

Lincoln nodded. "Leni got a head start on her shopping that day and used the bus to and from the mall. And she was already wearing the dress by the time Lori got home." He crossed his arms. "I was sooo not in the mood to talk with Lori when I found out; but later on she wanted to try and make amends I guess..."

Ronnie Anne adjusted her position in her seat. "You don't sound happy about it." She noted.

"Well, I wanted her to just go away because I really didn't want to talk to her, but..." The Loud huffed. "She seemed desperate and sincere from the look on her face; and she stuck her hand in my door. So...I let her in." The rest of the class started to arrive one by one, with a couple students literally bumping into each other as it became apparent they had been sprinting to class. Ronnie stifled a chuckle as Lincoln continued. "I dunno if it was a good idea, since I was still mad at her; but I got to the point and asked her certain questions just to see if what Leni said was true."

Ronnie raised a brow. "Did she try to weasel out of it?"

Lincoln shook his head. "She told the truth, and after that, I just..." A brief glare overtook his face before it softened. "I was reminded after every time she used her age as an excuse to get what she wanted, all the times she thought I was gonna fail at something as if she barely had any confidence in me, how she made us do favors for her just to get a ride to some place, how much of a hypocrite she was in general, forcing me to do stuff I didn't want to do, and how much of a control freak she was." Ronnie couldn't help the irate frown on her face. "So, I told her off on each topic."

"Sounds like you had a whole mouthful to give her." The tomboy stated.

"I don't I think I could've stopped if I wanted to..." Lincoln agreed. "And at some point, I started wondering if her ego was the main reason she and Bobby got together; given what you told me yesterday. And on top of that, did you know that she has this rivalry with a girl in her school?"

Ronnie shook her head. "No?" She was about to say more when Ms. Johnson walked through the door.

"Alright class, we're gonna start in five minutes." The redhead teacher took a sip of her coffee as she sat her teacher's book and purse on her desk chair. "I gotta run to the bathroom real quick!" She thumbed to the door before making a swift exit.

"Buuut," Ronnie Anne turned back to Lincoln. "I wouldn't be surprised."

"I don't know when it started, or how; but I started to think Lori only got together with Bobby just to get a leg up on Carol." Lincoln surmised.

Ronnie squinted her eyes as her brows slanted down to the bridge between her eyes. "So you're saying Lori was just using my bro?..."

Lincoln started to feel a little nervous seeing Ronnie becoming quite agitated, but did his best not to show it. "Y-Yeah..." He cringed a little at how timid he sounded. "And...it seems that finally pushed her over the top..."

"How so?"

Lincoln bit his lower lip. "S-She grabbed me by the collar and lifted me up in the air-"

"Wait wait wait." Ronnie cut him off, staring at him with a shocked but angry look. "So she tried to hit you, just because you were telling the truth?!" She yelled out.

Several students looked in their direction due to the noise. The tomboy responded with a wordless glare, making a few flinch before they hurriedly laid eyes on the blackboard. Glancing back at Lincoln, Ronnie Anne took note of his semi-poker face. "Dang it...I'm doing it again..." Her gaze softened as she looked towards the ground. "Sorry..." She muttered.

"I-It's fine." Lincoln replied in a quiet voice. "...I thought she was going to beat me up after getting her angry...but instead, s-she let me go." He took a moment to compose himself. "Lori said that she really did love Bobby, and she broke it off with him because she knew he wouldn't want to be with her when he found out what happened to me, and because she messed up our relationship." He patted himself on the chest. "And she didn't try to argue against everything else I said about her..."

"But, how do you feel?" Ronnie asked as she stared at his eyes. "I don't think you're chill with just letting your sisters touch you." She averted her gaze as irritation swelled in her eyes. "Much less man handle you like that..." After a moment, she raised a brow as she looked at him. "Actually, I'm surprised you're not flinching around thinking they're out to get you." Lincoln scrunched his lip, to which Ronnie realized how that sounded. "N-No offense..."

"To be honest..." Lincoln started, leaning back in his seat with an arm over the back of the chair. "I was scared out of my mind last night when she grabbed me like that..." He looked at the ceiling. "But when I thought about it, Lori already knew of the stuff I said about her, and she admitted I was right about everything. She thinks everything is pretty much her fault; which it kinda is." He huffed. "But she learned a while ago that she put her social status above all else, and it basically made the rest of us second place in her mind."

Ronnie Anne rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. "Not really a good excuse. Just cause she's older than everyone doesn't mean she gets to act like a total B-word to everyone around her. Bobby never acted that was towards me." She glanced towards the front of the class. "Reminds of me those fatheaded preppy girls here..."

"True..." Lincoln glanced at her. "But you don't have 10 siblings." He sat up straight in his chair. "Not saying that I agree with her, but I understand where Lori was coming from."

The tomboy gave a side glance to him. "From where? You said yourself that your sisters aren't that annoying, unless it's Luan with her pranks or Lola since she's so stuck up that she wears a stupid gown all day."

Before Lincoln could reply, footsteps echoed from the door before their owner popped in. "Phew! Sorry about that kids." Agnes patted her stomach. "Those wings from last night went right through me." She kicked the door shut with her heel before walking to her desk. "Now, who remembers what we covered last class?"

One of the kids raised their hands. "Something about volcanoes?"

"Yes." Ms. Johnson nodded, turning to the board. "And more specifically," She picked up the chalk and began tracing several lines along the blank space. "Ngh...kinda wish we had a whiteboard..." She muttered before finishing up. Stepping away from the board, the children saw a crude image of a typical hollowed-out volcano, showing the throat and what many assumed to be the magma chamber sitting at the bottom. "The inner mechanisms of one." Turning to the class, "And can anyone guess what exactly causes a volcano to explode?"

Several students raised their hands, including Lincoln and Ronnie Anne.

"Mmmmm..." Agnes had a finger scanning the crowd before suddenly pointing at one of the students. "Yes Ronnie Anne?"

"Too much pressure?" The tomboy answered.

"Correct." The teacher tapped the chamber with her chalk. "There's actually several reasons why these things explode, but it boils down to gas pressure, the buoyancy of the magma in the chamber, and new magma filling the chamber which will cause the level," She drew a couple Upward arrows above the chamber in the throat. "To rise. Think of it as if you were holding a bottle of soda in your hand and you happened to shake it too much." Agnes turned towards the students. "If you try popping the top so suddenly, you'll make your drink shoot out all over the place; in a similar fashion, this is what occurs inside a volcano when the gas pressure," She pointed at the chamber, "Rises too rapidly and there's suddenly a huge introduction of easier flowing magma into the chamber. With little else to go, this pressure and magma will rapidly rise to the surface in a huuuge explosion if it doesn't let up." She waved her arms for dramatic effect when discussing the explosive details. "However, not all eruptions will look like a bomb going off."

As Ms. Johnson started going into detail about the Volcano Explosive Index, Lincoln turned to Ronnie Anne. "One time when Mom and Dad went on a date, and Lori was in charge, I managed to stage a coup against her." He whispered, to which Ronnie glanced at him. "I learned quickly that my sisters can get pretty chaotic when left alone; and by that, I mean the house was a total mess in five minutes." The tomboy raised both brows in surprise. "And when I tried to get them under control, I actually got why Lori had to pull her 'Queen of No' attitude; I tried being nice, and the girls just walked over me. And it got to a point where I imitated Lori for a moment before they locked me up too."

Ronnie bit her cheek. "I'm guessing your parents were surprised to find a dump when they got back?"

"Surprisingly, the only thing they found was a bent golf club." Ronnie squinted an eye in confusion. "I sprung Lori loose and she helped out; it's a long story." The Loud stopped talking when he noticed Ms. Johnson looking in their direction as she continued her lecture, now talking about VEI 6 while continuing to draw an image of such an eruption on the board. When her attention was back on the board, he continued. "And then I started to wonder: how long has Lori had to keep this up? I know it wasn't recently..." He searched his memories, giving a light hum. "I sort of remember her getting really angry during one of her babysitting moments when I was...seven I think? But further than that, I don't think she got angry at much of anything." He scratched his head. "She was like a more mature Leni actually..."

"That doesn't exactly explain why she suddenly cared more about how others outside her family looked at her..." Ronnie whispered a little irritably.

Lincoln frowned. "...I think I do...and honestly..." He looked towards her. "I feel bad for her..." He pulled out his phone before scrolling through the apps for a minute. In his photo gallery, he pulled up a somewhat dark photo that was illuminated by the camera flash. He handed his phone to Ronnie, who looked at the picture; she couldn't help but visibly cringe. The photo was that of Lori was when was 13, wearing glasses, still having braces, and a face that had some blemishes here and there.

"Wow...she looks like a dork." The tomboy muttered.

Lincoln nodded. "I got picked on a few times because of my hair color. I can only imagine what Lori must've went through." Ronnie handed the phone back, which he accepted. "And with that in mind, it all started to make sense. Lori got teased and maybe bullied at school, and having to take care of her siblings all the time wasn't doing any favors for her. So..." He sighed. "She must've had enough and decided to change her attitude..." He stuffed the mobile in his pocket. "I don't like what Lori did...but I don't feel as scared as I might've been since I realized how she ended up like this..." He opened up his science book. "I can't imagine having to take care of all my sisters all the time." He furrowed his brows slightly. "Though sometimes it felt like it's been that way more recently..."

"You mean before or after they turned on you?" Ronnie Anne whispered as she turned the page of her book.

The Loud's lips thinned into a fine line. "Well, I guess 'taking care of them' might be the wrong words. Solving their fights would be better..." He still remembered how he had to settle the dispute between Lynn and Lucy, and it seemed like he was the unspoken go-to person when it came to resolving whatever issue the twins were fighting over. "And for a while, I felt like that was the only thing I was good for..." He thought back to the comic panel he was drawing the previous night before getting interrupted by his oldest sister. "I don't think I finished that page the other night..." He nodded to himself. "Yeah. I was too distracted after...all of that..."

Ronnie glanced up at board for a brief moment before staring at her book again. "If I looked anything like Lori did in that photo, I'd get eaten alive." She poked the end of her ponytail with a finger and twirled it around the digit. "And people use to pick on me just cause I had pigtails." The tomboy frowned. "Still. If I can get it in my head to quit caring about what these idiots here think, why couldn't she make that same conclusion? Did it really take nearly beating her freaking brother to death to spell it out for her?..." Ronnie glared at the text. "I doubt she would've changed otherwise...none of them would...:

The Santiago girl drew a breath before giving a wordless sigh. "So, what are you gonna do now?" Lincoln glance at her. "As far as what to do about your sisters?"

"Mmmm..." Lincoln scratched at the top of his lip. "After what happened with Lori; and what nearly happened with Lynn..." He muttered the last part quietly. "...I'm not sure if I can have a talk with any of them alone like I would prefer to."

Most of his older sisters were spoken to; Lynn and Leni were something of a nonissue in his mind, even counting that near setback with Lori; as understanding he was of her plight, the boy hardly trusted her. But that still left Luan with her unpredictable nature; well, unpredictable as far as whether or not she'd have some sort of prank ready. Lincoln could always count on her to make some lame pun at best. And then there was Luna; as chill as he may have initially believed her to be, Luna was still prone to outbursts if poked the wrong way.

And there was still no plan he made with his younger siblings.

"Didn't you say you went to a therapist or something?" The tomboy asked, sparing him a side glance.

Lincoln blinked in surprise before his eyes opened up more. He placed a hand on his forehead. "Duh! Why didn't I think of that? I've been so wrapped up with trying to deal with this on my own that I forgot Mrs. Lopez was still an option." Placing his hand down, "I did. I was starting to wonder if Mom and Dad might help, but they might be too busy..."

"So, just arrange a meeting between yourself and one of your sisters. You did that with Lynn, right?"

Lincoln nodded. And he gained a lot of info from that one session; even though he didn't like the revelation too much. But it did lead to him making the decision to return to his own house after spending months away from his problems. And even if he did end up striking a chord within his siblings on more than one occasion, he doubted they'd risk starting a fight in their therapist's office.

He just needed to figure out which sister he should speak with next.

"I can't believe the nerve of that girl..." Lola grumbled as she scribbled on a blank sheet of paper. "Throwing a fit just because Lincoln told her off..."

Lana looked up from her paper, staring off into space for a moment. As she focused back on her work, "You know you used to do that too, right?"

The younger twin glared at her older-by-a-few-minutes sibling. "No, I-"

"Actually," Lana interrupted. "You did that with everyone besides Mom and Dad."

Lola made a sour face. "At least I have class when I do it!" She focused back on her paper, scribbling harder. "And I've changed..."

The young mechanic glanced at her sister, giving her a look over. "And you're wearing one of my overalls again."

Lola looked up from her paper with a neutral stare on her face. "...They're comfortable..."

The two girls were in their art class, with the kids having the task of simply drawing what was on their mind. The twins hadn't said much during that confrontation with Lori a couple hours earlier, but both harbored some resentment towards their oldest sister; one was just more open about expressing it than the other. But unlike Lola, Lana couldn't help but draw parallels between her roommate and Lori.

"Do you think Lincoln'll chat with us together, or separately?" The little plumber asked at random.

Lola couldn't help the frown spreading across her face. "Probably separate; but he'll have an easier time getting along with you than me..."

Lana picked up on the vibe Lola was putting out; her stomach started to turn into knots as she started feeling guilty about her previous comments. "Lola," She put her crayon down. "About what I was saying about you and Lori..." She awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. "I wasn't being that serious..."

Lola glanced at her twin. "You didn't sound convincing..." Looking back over her paper, she paused from continuing to draw. "While I admit I haven't reached Lori's caliber, I'm pretty sure Linky puts me in the same boat as her." She made a more sorrowful frown. "And b-back then...I actually liked how Lincoln was afraid of me...it made it easier to get him to do what I wanted..."

Lana tilted her head. "...You don't think that now, do you?"

She realized her mistake as Lola looked at her with a hateful glare. "Ask me that again," She spoke in an eerily calm tone as she lifted one of the crayons on their table. "And I'll shove this so far up your-"

Lana raised her hands defensively. "Ok ok! Sorry!" She put an arm around the younger twin's shoulder. "But it's not like what you did was that bad. I mean, sure you blackmailed him a few times, nearly made all of us lose our hearing for a bit cause Lisa didn't know about the prank when he had those ear buds, and it was your idea to try and get him to vote for the beach that one weekend." She stopped upon noticing the now hurtful glare she was getting from her twin. Lana made a sheepish smile. "B-But you did buy him his favorite undies even when he lost that bet! And...uh..." Lana started to draw blanks. Her eyes opened up when another moment hit her. "Oh! There was also that time we filled in for you at a pageant!" The young plumber rubbed her chin in thought as she glanced at the ceiling. "Wait...doesn't that technically mean it was just us hanging out? Not to mention we sorta went behind your back to do it..."

Lola's shoulders sank. "Lana, I get it..." She gently took the girl's hand and removed it from her shoulder. "Whatever time I had with Linky was spent making him do my favorite activities; even when he didn't want to. Even I don't know if he thought I was a good sister to him before he got his..." She paused. "Syn, whatever it was...and I'm worried he'll think I'll act just like Lori when I do get to chat to him..." She huffed a little. "Whenever that will be; next century maybe..."

Lana frowned. "...You don't have to be alone when you eventually do..."

"But I need to Lana." Lola turned to her twin. "Lincoln might flip out if we come to him at the same time. This isn't like our therapy session..." She propped her arms up by the elbow and rested her head on her palms. "I wouldn't be surprised he decided to save me for last..."

Lana opened her mouth when she thought she could offer some words of encouragement, but nothing came out. Closing her mouth, she stared at her twin as she gazed depressingly at the open air. "Well...I mean, it isn't like what you've done is worse than what Lori did." The young mechanic stated. "It's not like you used Link as a footstool or anything." She started picking her nose. "Actually, I think the worst you did was just make Lincoln play butler for your tea parties."

The mud slinger avoided mentioning the moments when Lola physically attacked Lincoln, knowing it wouldn't help her twin's mood; same went for the fact she busted a few of Lincoln's teeth. Lola herself didn't give a reply, though Lana saw the former pageant winner purse her lips slightly.

Lana released air from her nose, feeling she couldn't do much to alleviate her sister's woes. "...Since you've seen those crime movies before," She focused back on her drawing, which was of herself and Lincoln having fun in the mud. Well, it was mostly stick figure work with her and Lincoln's hair drawn on the heads with her cap on her head; she only started trying to work on the clothing. "What do you think Lynn meant when she said Lincoln would have one less sister to worry about?"

"...It could mean a few things really..." Lola answered, glancing down at her drawing. A glare started to form on her face. "But none of them are pleasant..."

Her drawing was a bit more detailed than Lana's, having drawn full bodies as best she could including hair, clothing, and even physical lines to show an action being dealt. True to her mood, a picture depicting herself smashing Lori into the ground with a giant mallet was on the paper. Lola even added cracks onto the floor just to emphasize how much force was put behind the swing.

"And if Lori DID make Linky more afraid of us again...I'm going to make this picture into the real thing..." She mulled bitterly.

Lori's mood hardly improved since leaving the house. You know how there were times that your school life or home life was making you stressed out and one of the two just happened to be a safe haven? That's how the oldest sibling felt right now.

If only school didn't serve as a reminder of how alone she was.

After having her social circles disappear, Lori at least found comfort in talking with her sisters. But after last night, the two girls were doing their best to avoid her. Luna had given her a passing glance of disappointment whenever she noticed her in the halls; Leni would give her an awkward wave, but as far as making conversation, she seemed unwilling to make time for her.

"Hey Leni..."

"Oh, hey Lori." The fashionista greeted back.

"You uh...you got a minute?"

"I would buuuuut..." Leni hesitated for a moment. "I gotta be in class soon."

Lori bit her cheek. "You just started your study period..."

Leni glanced around nervously. "My next class is kinda hard, annnnd..."

Lori gave a sigh. "Nevermind..."

And that was only half an hour ago. Lori knew Leni's next class was Home Ed, which was a relatively easy subject. Lori didn't want to believe Leni was that slow, at least before she began taking her medication on a schedule.

"Maybe it's because I blew her off this morning, when she just wanted to help..." Lori mulled as she held her head propped up by a fist resting on her cheek.

"Alright class, we're gonna be moving forward with our group projects. As we discussed before, these will take a month to do." The teacher booted up a projector connected to their laptop. "Normally, I would assign you historical figures to research, but I figured," He shrugged. "Why not give y'all creative freedom?" He clicked on a few programs on the laptop. "Now, when this sheet is visible on the screen, you'll see your group members." He looked at the projector screen. "Give it a sec..."

Lori suppressed a groan. In passing, she might have seen the type of project listed in the syllabus. But with how turbulent her life has been lately, it completely slipped her mind. Once the projector was done warming up, it broadcasted the laptop's screen. The computer was on a Word document that contained a list of everyone in the class divided into groups of 3; there was one group that had 4 due to the odd number of students.

The Loud scanned the screen until she found her name. After that, she looked down to see two more listed under hers. Raising a brow, "Carol's on our team? Well, at least I'm not with a complete stranger." She glanced toward the name under Carol's, which was surprisingly long. As she read the name, her eyes slowly opened up until the look of shock was clear on her face. Her heart started to quicken its pace while an unsettled feeling rose in her stomach as she silently whispered the nickname of the third person on their team. "B-B-Bobby?!..."

Lori gripped part of her hair with one hand. "How could I forget that HIM of all people was in my class?! I don't remember seeing Bobby in this room the past several weeks!" Lori released her hair as she began to remember some of the things she did two months ago; at least when it came to this class in particular. "Then again...I did switch desks the day after Lincoln was admitted into the hospital, so I could sit closer to the back than the front. And this class always had more students than usual..." She sat up straight. "And I started doing a first in, last out approach when entering and leaving; mostly so I don't draw any eyes to me...heck, I even forgot Carol was in this class until a couple weeks ago."

Lori let out a sigh; she really needed to pay more attention to her surroundings.

It seemed Bobby came to that realization on his own, seeing that he turned in her general direction from what she could see over the heads of other students.

The Loud sunk to her desk with an anxious look in her eyes. "I'm not ready for this...I am SO not ready for this..."

A/N: First off, Happy New Year; although I'm not in the festive mood (wasn't at Christmas either).

The chapter is rather shorter than the previous as you could say it was more of a chance for everyone to reflect and reassess the previous night. As if some God is punishing her though, Lori isn't going to be getting any reprieve for a while.

Due to the time in the show this story takes place, Lola...really didn't have that many good moments specific to her. I dug around Season 1 and early season 2 and Undie Pressure was the only one I found. Episodes like Read A Loud wouldn't come until later; but there's always room to invest in it somewhere.