Chapter Text
Ms. Johnson was thoroughly impressed with Lincoln's knowledge of American history. Enough so that as Lincoln left, he could practically feel several burning stares of jealousy on the back of his neck. Since he technically couldn't do math or science without eyesight (at least until Lisa finished building a special Braille typewriter for him so that he could complete written assignments), the next two periods on his schedule were both Study Hall. He asked Clyde to guide him to the library, where he sat down at a table with his portable CD player (a hand-me-down from Luna) and a Braille edition ofThe Lord of the Rings.
Skimming his fingertips across the pages, he read for a while as his favorite album of The Rolling Stones played through his headphones. Right as Strider and the Hobbits were under attack by the Black Riders on Weathertop and the song "Paint It, Black" was coming to a conclusion, Lincoln felt a small hand tap his elbow. He paused his music and pulled out one of his earbuds.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Are you Lisa's brother?" asked a small child, most likely a girl.
Better play nice so I don't accidentally scareher, Lincoln thought. "Why, yes I am! My name is Lincoln. And who might you be, little lady?"
The girl giggled and was about to reply when a much older female voice said harshly, "Darcy! What have I told you about wandering off during Story Time?"
"Aww, but I wanted to say hi to Lisa's brother!" Darcy complained. It was then that the teacher was made known of Lincoln's presence.
"Oh, hello, Lincoln! It's me, Ms. Shrinivas. Remember?" she asked. Realization struck Lincoln.
"Oh, yeah, you're my old Kindergarten teacher! I haven't seen you since before I went blind!" He then realized what he'd said. "Er, pun not intended. And you're Lisa's teacher now?"
"Yup! She's not exactly a social butterfly, but at least she tries. Darcy here isn't bothering you, is she?"
"Not at all. The company is actually welcome!"
"Ms. Shrinivas, can Lincoln come listen to the story with us?" Darcy asked, tugging on her teacher's skirt with wide puppy-dog eyes.
"That depends. Are you busy right now, Lincoln?" the teacher asked.
"Nope. My friend Clyde will come get me when it's time for Gym class," Lincoln confirmed. Darcy gave a giddy squeal, grabbed Lincoln's hand, and started dragging him over to the corner where the rest of the Kindergarten class was gathered. "Whoa, slow down, kiddo! I don't wanna trip over anything!" Lincoln chuckled. The reached their destination in one piece, and Darcy found a spot for Lincoln to sit.
"Greetings, elder male sibling. What brings you here?" Lisa asked.
"Your friend Darcy wanted me to listen to your story. Who am I to say no to a cute little kid?" Lincoln explained with a shrug. After briefly introducing Lincoln to the rest of the class, Ms. Shrinivas began the story, a picture book entitledBecause of Winn-Dixie. No sooner had the story finished than Clyde came to fetch Lincoln, so Lincoln left with him amidst a chorus of cheerful goodbyes.
In Gym class, the students did some exercises at Coach Pacowski's direction, then got ready to play dodgeball. The well-intentioned coach tried to bench Lincoln for the duration of the dodgeball game until the blind boy demonstrated that he was just as capable of playing as the rest of his classmates. He had a random volunteer classmate pick up one of the red rubber balls and throw it at him as hard as they could. Lincoln could hear the projectile coming from a mile away and swiftly stepped to the side, letting the ball hit the unfortunate student standing behind him instead. The coach reluctantly relented, and the game began.
After a few minutes, the only players left were Lincoln on one side and Chandler on the other. Chandler thought it would be an easy kill, since Lincoln couldn't throw any balls with no way to aim. Imagine Chandler's surprise, then, when Lincoln caught the ball Chandler threw at him!
"Chandler, you're out! That's game!" the coach called out after blowing his whistle.
...
Upon retrieving a brown paper sack from his locker, Lincoln walked with Clyde to the cafeteria. There, Clyde introduced Lincoln to his own circle of friends: Zach, Liam, Rusty, Stella, and Ronnie Anne. Lincoln shook each of their hands as they pelted him with compliments regarding the dodgeball game.
"Alright, alright, that's enough! Seriously!" Lincoln finally said, rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses. He sat down, opened his bag, pulled out a sandwich, and started eating. The other people at the table were flummoxed.
"Uh, Lincoln? What kind of sandwich is that?" Stella, a tall Filipino girl, asked.
"My favorite: peanut butter and sauerkraut. Why?" Lincoln's ears were met with groans of disgust. "Oh come on, you sissies! It's honestly not as bad as it sounds! Trust me!"
"What in the world makes you think those two items go together at all?" demanded Ronnie Anne, a Hispanic girl with a tomboy reputation.
"It's actually a very interesting story. You see, it started out as a prank my sister Luan tried to pull on me a couple years ago..."
...
"Lincoln! Lunchtime!" twelve-year-old Luan called up the stairs. Nine-year-old Lincoln came down to the dining room and was handed a plate. "Enjoy your peanut butter and jelly sandwich! I made it myself!" Luan told him, trying hard not to laugh. Lincoln sat down at the table and picked up the sandwich, but paused. He could've sworn he'd just heard muffled snickering.
The sound disappeared as soon as he heard it. He shrugged and bit into the sandwich. His eyebrows rose as he chewed, and a smile appeared on his face.
"Mmm! Tangy!" he said upon swallowing. He suddenly heard Luan gasping like a fish out of water. "What? What's wrong?" he asked in curiosity.
"Y-y-you LIKE IT?!" his older sister cried in disbelief, grasping her hair with both hands.
"I do! What kind of jelly is this?"
"That's not jelly, you fool! That's SAUERKRAUT!"
"What's with all the yelling?" Lori asked as she and Leni walked in through the back door.
"I tried to prank Lincoln with a peanut butter and sauerkraut sandwich to see how he's react, but he LIKES it!" Luan yelled.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!" the two older girls chorused.
Not seeing what all the fuss was about, Lincoln kept eating and walked past his three sisters to put his plate in the sink.
...
"...and that's how peanut butter and sauerkraut became my favorite kind of sandwich," Lincoln finished. While he and his new friends ate and talked, someone in a different group of friends at a different table was staring at him.
Her real name was Charlee Robinson, but everyone called her Cookie because her main hobby was making all sorts of baked goods, and they were very popular among the student body. She was small for her age, with wide periwinkle eyes, light brown hair that came nearly to her knees, and round cheeks dotted with freckles. She wore an open-front lavender sweater over a pink dress, lavender socks, purple shoes, and a pink headband keeping her bangs out of her eyes. Her eyelids were drooping, and she had a faint blush on her cheeks.
"Wow. He hasn't even been here for a whole day and you're already smitten? That's a new record!" said the girl beside Cookie, poking the tip of Cookie's nose. This girl had sandy-blond hair in a French braid, and her name was Jordan. Cookie immediately turned crimson and swatted Jordan's hand away.
"Sh-sh-shut up, Jordan! I have a soft spot for disabilities, you know that!" she groaned, burying her face in her hands.
"I strongly suggest that you take your time with this one," said Haiku, a Goth girl with glossy black hair covering one eye, very pale skin, and a long wine-colored dress. "We already bailed you out of the last three relationships you've been in. You don't want this one to, ahem,bombas well, do you?" she asked without looking up from the hardback novel held in her fishnet-covered hands.
It was true: Cookie, even at her young age, had dated three different boys in her class who asked her out. About two weeks into each relationship, each boy's toxic personality was revealed, and each one took advantage of the lengths the poor girl was willing to go to in order to keep the relationship alive. The situations she found herself in were so scary for her that she pleaded with her two best friends to help her. Which they did, making her promise each time to not do it again. It wasn't necessarily her fault that she ended up breaking her promises; each boy that came next promisedherthat they would be better to her. She was about at the point of giving up on finding love.
However, something deep inside her told her thatthisboy reallywouldbe different...
