Lincoln took Cookie by the hand and brought her up the stairs.
"Okay, Cookie," he said, "this is the upstairs portion of the house. My room is right at the top of the stairs here, in the middle of the hall. The bathroom is at the end of the hall to your left. The other doors lead to my sisters' bedrooms, two girls per room. The trapdoor in the ceiling leads to the attic. Get it?"
"Got it," Cookie replied.
"Good. C'mon into my room and put your backpack on my bed." The first thing Cookie noticed was how small the room was. In response to her inquiry, Lincoln explained, "I used to share a room with Lynn and later Lucy when I was little. Then the twins came along, and Mom and Dad decided I was old enough to have my own room. Idoneed some amount of privacy as the only boy, after all. Anyway, my room used to be a walk-in linen closet until Pop-Pop helped remodel it for me. I don't mind how small it is; the close quarters helps me remember the layout."
"I see," Cookie said, nodding in understanding as she looked around. Hanging from a rod over Lincoln's dresser was a cluster of clothes hangers holding T-shirts that were either orange or gray. On top of the dresser itself was a chipped coffee mug holding a toothbrush and a comb next to two stacks of neatly folded flannel shirts for cooler weather. Next to the dresser was a small desk with a rolling computer chair, and on the desk was a small assortment of fidget toys.
"Go ahead and sit down at my desk. I'll go get another chair from downstairs," Lincoln said and walked out of the room. He came back with one of the dining room chairs right as Cookie was getting out her textbook and writing materials. Cookie turned toward him to say something, but found herself staring at him with a faint blush.
Lincoln had taken off his sunglasses.
While his eyes appeared to be gray at first glance, they shimmered in a way that made them change colors every time he moved. There was a milky film on each pupil from the scar tissue that formed over the old puncture wounds.
"Is something wrong?" Lincoln asked, taking note of Cookie's silence.
"No! No! Everything's fine," Cookie blurted, shaking her head to clear the daze. "It's just, well...you have beautiful eyes," she said honestly. Now it was Lincoln's turn to blush.
"Wow...no one's ever told methatbefore..." he replied, then shook his own head and cleared his throat. "Let's get started, shall we?" Pulling a small remote from his pocket, he pressed a button. Soft Classical piano music started playing from an unseen source, to Cookie's confusion.
"What's the music for?" she asked as Lincoln sat down beside her.
"This might surprise you, but total silence drives mecrazy, so I use music to fill the void when it gets too quiet," Lincoln explained. "Classical composers help me be productive and get things done. Mozart, which I'm playing right now, helps me study. Beethoven, on the other hand, helps me sleep."
Once explanations were out of the way, Lincoln and Cookie got busy discussing the current assignment for History class. Cookie had to admit that the music helped. By the time her mom came to take her home for dinner, she felt like she understood the textbook material much better than she had previously.
...
True to Albert's word, Lincoln's cane was as good as new once some superglue and a duct tape patch had been applied. Chandler had been given a week of in-school suspension by the principal as punishment for breaking the cane in the first place, so Lincoln had a respite from him for a while. When Chandler came back from suspension, he was dead-set on getting revenge on Lincoln.
However, Lincoln avoided almost all of the pranks Chandler set up for him. Stuffing his locker with trash, tripwires attached to spring-loaded pies, and other such acts of cruelty all had no effect on Lincoln, instead striking the unfortunate people standing next to or behind him and getting Chandler even deeper into trouble. In case he tried to take more drastic measures, Lincoln's sister Lucy, who had gotten Chandler's description from Cookie, started watching him like a hawk.
Meanwhile, with Lincoln's help, Cookie's grades started to soar. To celebrate her new achievements, Cookie invited Lincoln and a few of her other friends to a weekend slumber party at her house. The guests included Lincoln, Clyde, Liam, Jordan, and Haiku. Liam was technically Jordan's plus-one, since the two of them were a couple, but he was more than welcome. Cookie ordered pizza, baked cookies and cupcakes, and made sure there were plenty of activities that Lincoln would be able to do. All she needed to do now was wait for the guests to show up.
Lincoln's family waselatedthat he had been invited to a party, and Lynn, being the closest to Lincoln's stature, gladly loaned him her sleeping bag. Lori dropped him off in Vanzilla, and made him promise to use Clyde's phone to call her in the event of an emergency. Taking a moment to compose himself as he stood on Cookie's porch, Lincoln took a deep breath and knocked on the front door.
"Yes?" asked a man's deep voice once the door opened.
Correctly assuming this to be Cookie's father, Lincoln answered, "Good evening, sir. My name is Lincoln Loud. Your daughter invited me to her sleepover."
"Oh, okay. C'mon in." Lincoln stepped inside as Cookie's father called for her and closed the door behind Lincoln. "So, you're theLincolnboy I've heard so much about. I gotta say, it's nice to finally put a face to the name. Thank you for helping my daughter with her homework," the man continued while the two waited for Cookie.
"It's been my pleasure, sir," Lincoln replied. "My family has always taught me to help those in need where I'm able to. The areas she was struggling with just happened to be my specialties."
"Kind, smart,andpolite. I like you already!" Cookie's dad said.
"Lincoln! You came!" Cookie squealed with glee and grabbed Lincoln's hand. "C'mon, the party's this way!" In her excitement, Cookie practically dragged Lincoln across the house to her bedroom, leaving him chuckling at her enthusiasm.
"Wow! All this fuss over li'l ol'me?" he asked in jest without receiving an answer. He had been the last one to arrive, as Clyde, Haiku, Jordan, and Liam were all waiting in Cookie's room. Lincoln was the only onenotopenly wearing his pajamas; however, before he left, Lori had given him some advice after learning he was going to a slumber party. And so it was that he was wearing his pajamas, a simple tank top/drawstring shorts combo, under his regular clothes.
Once Lincoln was allowed to change, the first game they played was one where the player had to stick their hand into a hole in the side of a shoebox and guess what the item within was. All of Lincoln's guesses ended up being correct. After the first game ended, the pre-ordered pizza arrived, so the group took a break for dinner and dessert, showering Cookie with compliments for her baking skills.
After they ate, they played Truth or Dare, with a set of cards that had questions and challenges written on them (Cookie had pre-written the cards specifically to avoid situations that would be too embarrassing or inappropriate). Needless to say, when it was Lincoln's turn to draw a card and challenge someone, the card had to be read aloud by someone else on Lincoln's behalf.
"Lincoln, truth or dare?" Jordan challenged at one point.
"Truth," Lincoln replied, so Jordan drew the top card of the TRUTH pile.
"What is your family usually like on a day-to-day basis?" she recited Cookie's spidery handwriting (Cookie had carefully formatted the TRUTH questions so that the whole group could get to know each other better).
"Ah, excellent question," Lincoln said with a smile. "I guess the easiest way to describe what life is like for my family would be with the phrasecontrolled chaos. With fourteen people all living together, there's bound to be bickering at one point or another. Add that to my sisters'verydiverse hobbies, and it can get pretty noisy in my house. For my sake, they do the best they can to keep the floor clean." His smile suddenly dropped. "The downside is that with fourteen mouths to feed, our finances get pretty slim at times. My older sisters and Pop-Pop help out where they can, since my older sisters have part-time jobs, but sometimes it just isn't enough. They don't think I notice because I'm blind, but I've noticed my older family members skipping meals so that the rest of us can eat."
"I don't mean to interrupt your admittedly fascinating explanation, but why are you telling us this?" Haiku interjected.
"Because you guys are my friends, and I trust you," Lincoln replied. "This is something I've been bottling up for a while, and it feels good to finally get it off my chest. Just don't go spreading the word, please; my parents don't respond well to charity."
There was suddenly a knock on the bedroom door, and Cookie's mother poked her head in.
"Hey, kids! I know you must be having fun, but it's gettingsuperlate. You should probably think about hitting the hay sooner or later," she informed them.
"Okay, Mom, we will," Cookie responded, to which her mother smiled and left. "Well, guys, should we continue this game in the morning?" she asked. The rest of the group unanimously agreed and unrolled their sleeping bags. Cookie was about to turn out the lights when she realized something. "Oh! Before I forget..." She got out a portable radio and turned it on, filling the air with soft piano music; Beethoven, to be specific.
"Aww, you remembered!" Lincoln said, feeling touched at the gesture.
Her friends drifted off one-by-one, but Cookie found herself lying awake, thinking about the financial difficulties Lincoln admitted his family had. Shehadto help somehow, she justhadto!
