16. Ch 16- Change Of Plans

(A/N: sorry about the late upload, I really needed the extra sleep last night. Thank you all so much for your continued support, this has officially become my most reviewed fanfic, and is my second most viewed!

You guys are awesome! Thank you once again, and enjoy!)

The next day, and the students of Royal Woods Elementary School were elated by the sound of the end of school bell. "Alright, class," Mrs Johnson declared. "That wraps up the day. Class is dismissed." No one needed telling twice, as they were quick to gather their things in their bags and standing from their seats. "Girl Jordan, may I see you for a second?"

She looked to her friend, confused by the request from her teacher, but Mollie simply shrugged at her, so Jordan turned back to her teacher. "Yes, Mrs Johnson." She turned to Mollie once more. "I'll be a minute. You girls can go on, I'll catch up."

"You sure?" Mollie asked, to which Jordan nodded. "Alright. Guess I'll see you there."

"Okay." So, whilst Mollie left the classroom, Jordan approached the teacher's desk. "Am I in trouble?"

"Not at all, Jordan," Mrs Johnson replied with a wave of her hand. "Your grades and behaviour have been as good as usual."

"Then, if I'm not in trouble, how come you need to speak to me?"

Mrs Johnson reached for a post-it note left on her monitor. "Your mother called the office earlier. She said that she was experiencing car troubles on her way to work this morning."

The girl instantly felt concerned. "Oh no! Is she okay?"

"Yes, she's fine. She just called to let you know that she had to take her car to a mechanic, and that neither she nor your father will be able to pick you up after your practice."

Jordan let out a breath of relief. "Okay, that's… that's fine. Thank you for letting me know."

"Do you need someone to order a ride home for you?"

"That's okay. I can walk home."

"If you insist. Well, I won't keep you any longer. Just make sure you let your mother know about how you plan to get home."

"Thank you, Mrs Johnson." And with that, she walked out of the classroom, went to her locker and retrieved her gymnastics clothes. Heading out of the front entrance, she was surprised when she saw that Lincoln was still there. "I thought you guys had gone ahead?"

He turned when he heard her speak to him. "Oh, Mollie told me that you needed to speak with Mrs Johnson, so I said I'd wait behind for you."

She couldn't help but smile at his chivalrous choice. "That's sweet of you, Lincoln. Well, I'm ready if you are."

He nodded to her, and the two of them took off. "So, is everything okay? With Mrs Johnson, I mean."

"Yeah, everything's fine, she just needed to let me know that my mom can't pick me up from gymnastics."

"How come?"

"She had to take the car to the mechanic, so it looks like I'm walking home after practice."

"Sorry to hear that."

She gave a small chuckle. "It's fine. I'm just glad she's okay."

"Well, if you like, I could give my mom a call and see if she could pick us up."

"Really? I mean, I don't mind walking, really."

"It's fine, really. Your mom has picked me up and dropped me off before, so it's only fair that I ask my mom if she can do so."

"Well… if you insist. I mean, I don't want to be a pain."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "It's really okay."

"But… you haven't told her yet. What if your mom finds out?"

This was something Lincoln hadn't initially considered, so he stopped walking. "Oh…"

Jordan could tell he was less confident now, so she gave him a soft smile. "Lincoln, it's okay. I don't mind walking, really."

He looked at her, thinking about how to respond, before returning the smile. "You know what? No. I insist, I'll call my mom and see if she can pick us up."

This surprised her. "Really? But… if she finds out-"

"Then she finds out." He looked away from her to let his smile drop. "I'll admit, I'm nervous about how she'll react, but… I still feel like I should at least offer. You've done a lot for me so far."

She gave a soft laugh. "I haven't done that much… but, if you insist."

They both laughed at this. "Alright, I'll call my mom. You okay to keep moving while I do?"

She nodded to let him know, and once they started walking again, he pulled his phone out of his bag and began to dial.

At that time, Rita Loud was in the waiting room at the Royal Woods General Hospital, waiting for the doctor to come out. Her fifth oldest daughter was being examined after her football injury to see how her recovery was going. While she had been working on her novel while waiting, she heard her phone begin to ring. Putting her novel and pen back in her bag, she pulled out her phone and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey, mom, it's me," she heard Lincoln say.

"Oh, hey, Lincoln! Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just wondering if you would be able to pick me and Girl Jordan up after practice today."

"Yeah, I can do that today. I just need to drop Lynn off after she's done with her appointment. Do you mind if I speak to Jordan for a second?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. Just a second."

She heard a little fumbling of the phone before a girl spoke on the other end. "Hello, Mrs Loud?"

"Hi, Jordan. Just wanted to know everything was alright."

"Yeah, everything is okay. My mom had to take the car to get looked at, and my dad works late on weekdays, so I was going to walk home, but Lincoln offered. I hope that's okay."

"Absolutely, dear. Just let me know your address, and where your practice is, so that I can plan my route."

"Okay. The practice is at the Royal Woods Sports Centre at the north of town, and my address is 72 Marshall Drive."

"Okay, that's fine, I can do that no problem." She saw the doctor- a thirty-something, brown haired man with a thin beard, wearing a white doctor's outfit and holding a clipboard- begin to emerge out of the nearby door. "Okay, I have to go, so tell Lincoln I'll see you both at half five."

"Thank you so much."

"Not a problem, dear. I'll see you then." Hanging up the phone, she put it away and stood up as the doctor approached. "How is she, Doctor Johnson?"

"She's doing great, actually," he replied. "In fact, she can go home without her crutches today."

Rita's smile grew. "That's fantastic."

"Now, I don't want her doing sports for at least another week, and I want her to come back in a week just to be certain, but I've given her a list of exercises to do daily which should help her recovery enough."

"Well, that should stop her from being bored, at least, and it'll save her from trying to use my plates as a frisbee."

The doctor chuckled at the joke. "I can imagine. Well, other than that, I've given her a protective boot just in case, but she's allowed to take it off for showers and for bed. If there are any other concerns, just give me a call."

"I will. Thank you, doctor."

"Not a problem."

While the doctor walked away, Rita saw Lynn Jr coming out of the room the doctor had been in, gently walking with the navy blue protective boot where her cast had been. "Hey, sweetie!" Rita greeted. "Sounds like everything's going well!"

"Yeah, I'll be back on the court in no time!" The thirteen-year-old boasted, to which her mother rolled her eyes. "Still, at least he's actually recommending I do exercise now."

"What sort of exercises?"

"Mostly lunges and step ups, plus a little bit of treadmill. Basic stuff."

"Alright, that's fine. Hey, how about we grab a Flippee on the way home?"

Lynn's eyes lit up. "Sweet!"

"Alright, let's go then." So, the Loud matriarch led her daughter towards the reception. After making sure there was no paperwork that needed signing, they went into the car park and headed towards Vanzilla. Rita made sure that Lynn didn't have any issues getting into Vanzilla, before getting into the driver's seat, shut the door, put on her seatbelt and turned on the engine. "So, Lynn, how's school going?"

"Eh, same as usual, though it sucks that I can't do PE at the moment."

"Well, better not to rush it. Otherwise, you'll just do your body more harm than good."

Lynn shrugged. "I guess, but my friend Polly's had her leg in a cast and has been on crutches for who knows how long, and she's one of my soccer team's star players."

"Your coach allows her to play with a leg in a cast?!"

"Yeah, we don't get it either."

Rita just shook her head. "I hope Lincoln's coach isn't like that when I pick him up later."

This caught the brunette's attention. "Wait, I thought Lincoln got a ride home?"

"Usually, he does, but his friend's mom needed to get her car looked at, so I'm gonna pick them up and drop her off on the way home."

"Ooh! Can I come?"

Rita smirked. "Sorry, sweetie, but I know what you kids are like around Lincoln and other girls. Besides, I'm sure you have homework to do." Her daughter grumbled and crossed her arms. "Don't pout, or I'm not getting Flippee's."

With a sigh, Lynn did so. "Okay. I just wanted to see how Lincoln was doing."

"I'm sure you did, but I'm sure Lincoln would appreciate it if it was just me."

So, for the drive to Flip's, and the ride home after grabbing their Flippee's, the two either chatted about Lynn's schoolwork or how much Lynn was looking forward to getting back to her sports, until eventually getting back. After both of them were out of the van and she locked it, Rita headed into the house. She knew that her husband would be another hour, and that two of her daughters were hanging out with friends, but that didn't stop the house from having it's usual noise levels, as accentuated by the timely sound of an explosion, followed by the yells of "I'm okay!" from her second youngest daughter, which made her shake her head. 'How have we not had more noise complaints from the neighbours?' She pondered. Putting her key in her pocket, she went in her bedroom to lie down for a bit, though as she sat down, she remembered something, so she reached into her bag and pulled out her phone and an address book. Flipping through the pages, she eventually found the correct number and dialled it in her phone. "Hello?" She spoke when they answered. "Is this Mrs Rosato?"

"Yes," she replied, "it is."

"Hi, it's Rita Loud. I just thought I should call to let you know that I'll be dropping your daughter off when I pick up Lincoln later."

"Oh, thank you so much, Rita! That's such a relief, I must admit. I hope it's not too much trouble."

"Not at all, Sarah. You've done me a favour by picking Lincoln up for me, I owe you at least once the same."

"Well, thank you, again. Do you need my address?"

"No, that's okay. Your daughter let me know, so I should be there by about quarter to six."

"That's brilliant, thank you. I'll see you then."

"Alright. Bye."

At just after quarter past five, Rita pulled Vanzilla into the parking lot of the sports centre. Checking the clock on the dashboard, she decided, "I might as well head in. Might see if I can watch the last little bit." After getting out of the van and locking the door, she walked in through the front door and approached the receptionist, a young blonde woman with a good physique, wearing a polo shirt and tracksuit pants. "Hi, I was wondering where I could find dodgeball practice?"

The receptionist tilted her head. "I'm sorry, ma'am," she replied, confused. "We don't do dodgeball here."

Rita's confusion, in that moment, mirrored the receptionist's. "I don't understand. My son has been coming here three times a week." The receptionist shrugged, which made Rita suspicious. "Is there an instructor here called Chris?"

"Yes, he's just getting toward the end of a session. You can watch if you like- turn left at the end, then go through the double doors at the end."

"Thank you." As Rita made her way down the hall, her thoughts reached two conclusions- 'either Lincoln lied about what he's been doing, or he sent me to the wrong address. Either way, looks like I'll need to talk with him.'

She quickly saw the double doors ahead and approached them, her ears being met with the sound of kids having fun. Once she was able to see fully, her jaw dropped a bit at the sight of the gymnastics hall, and a bit more when she saw her son running along a track towards a vault before leaping off of it into a foam pit. 'This is what he's been doing?' She mentally pondered. 'I never would have guessed it! Though, given that Lola does ribbon dancing, I can see where he gets a taste of it.' As he climbed out of the foam pit, in spite of how far away he was, she noticed that he seemed to be smiling widely. 'Plus, he seems happy, and that's what I wanted for him to be with all of this. I wonder why he said it was dodgeball, though?'

While she was watching with these thoughts in her mind, another woman, a late-twenties brunette wearing a blue tank top and white trousers, walked up to the mother of the white-haired child. "So, which of these kids is yours?" She asked, catching her attention.

"Me? Mine is Lincoln," she explained, pointing him out, "the boy with the white hair."

"Ah, the new boy! Apparently, he's been quite popular with the girls."

Rita smiled. "Popular with the girls, huh?"

"Yeah, he seems to really get on with them."

"That'll be from hanging around his sisters."

"Well, it's nice to see another boy here who enjoys doing this."

"Yeah," she turned back to watching her son, "I'm sure it is."