Corner Flag

>Linka was now 14, and had just entered high school.
>She struggled to make any new friends other than Clarissa, her best friend from middle school
>People only knew her as the girl with the white hair.
>She relied on her brother Lynn, a junior to guide her into how to fit in high school and open up her social circle
>"Come to my soccer games!" he suggested, "We need a new waterbo-erm-girl. You can meet lots of people there! I'll even introduce you to the rest of the team. It'll be fun!"
>Linka wasn't sure about that offer, but she decided to go ahead with it. Besides, she didn't have any other options, and Lynn had plenty of friends. He must have been onto something.
>After speaking to the coach, Linka was officially a part of the school soccer staff.
>She would be there everyday, doing a little bit of everything. Helping carry jugs of water, chasing dead balls out of bounds and passing them back, even run out if the medical team was low on people to help carry injured players over.
>Slowly but surely Linka became friends with every member of the team, and developed a passion for it.
>She would yell at them, cheer, pump up those in the bench, hug them, talk about life. Everyone loved her. So much that players would purposely under-perform  so they could ride the bench with them.
>Linka was becoming obsessed with this attention. In an attempt to "motivate" her teammates, she promised that she would give any goalscorer a kiss at the corner flag. She had never kissed a boy before.
>Evidently, the team started to perform again. Massively. More often than not, it would be an absolute trashing.
>Lynn didn't mind this the first, second, third, fourth, fifth....nth time, but it began to upset him. Her sister was basically whoring herself out to the team. Whenever he would score, he wouldn't even celebrate, as multiple teammates would rush to the corner flag to see who could claim the most credit in the build-up to Lynn's goal.
>He wanted to confront her, but the performances lead him to believe that there was a shot at making it to the state championships.
>"It's only a kiss, right?" He thought to himself, "I guess there isn't anything horrible wrong with that...it's just a kiss, in the lips. To virtually anyone but the goalie...this is fine."
>The next game the goalie rushed up to the first corner of the game and scored...

>Everything was going great for the team, except for Lynn. He looked completely out of his depth.
>Way-ward passes, not tracking his opponents, etc. Nothing was happening for him. He kept being distracted by Linka on the sidelines, trying to make sure she behaves.
>But Lynn couldn't manage to look at the ball and her sister at the same time. 44 minutes into the match, he saw himself dispossessed in the middle of the park, allowing an opponent to burst away from him, with his defenders out of position.
>Desperate, her resorted to slide down and wipe out the runner's legs from behind, sending him rolling down the floor. Immediately after, the whistle was blown.
>He knew what was coming. So did his teammates. They began to crowd around the ref, attempting to beg him for reason and quarter, but he had already made the decision. After swimming around 6 or 7 players, the ref finally shows Lynn the red card, and sent him off the field.
>Lynn was furious, and was made angrier by Linka's lousy attempts to boo the referee. His coach was jumping around in anger. It didn't bod well for him.
>"What an idiot," said Linka as Lynn stomped past her, not even giving her a look, "It's not your fault, Lynn."
>"I know it's not, it's yours. Don't fucking talk to me." Lynn marched straight to the showers.
>"W-wha-? Lynn!" She started chasing him, "What did I do wrong?", she said as she grabbed him by the arm.
>"You know what you did wrong, what you've been doing wrong the entire season." He pulled his arm away from her, angrily. "Go fucking 'work the corner' something; just don't bother me."
>"Work the corner? What do you...Hey! Lynn!"
>"Loud!" Coach screamed at her, "We need to refill those water jugs, half-time is coming, and I need to figure out a way to fix the bullshit your brother just caused me. Hurry!"
>"Y-yes, Coach." The girl quietly went about with the job she was actually supposed to be doing, to the disappointment of the rest of the team.

>The whistle blows, marking the end of the first 45 minutes. The score is still 0-0, but everything points to a certain defeat in the second half.
>Players rushing to the water jugs, Linka making her best effort to fill out as many cups of water as possible.
>"We're dead. No coming back from this one." #21 commented as he swallowed an en entire cup in half a second.
>"I wouldn't say so, Darrel. Lynn wasn't even up to it today, you saw him. You might not even noticed he isn't there."
>"Not notice? No. This is disastrous. Lynn is not the kind of player you want to lose for a match and a half. We can't  afford to even try to attack now, or we'll get opened like a library book. You saw what happens when he's not doing well, now think about what'll happen when he isn't there at all. We're useless."
>"Huh? But Lynn rarely scores a goal; he only scored his first last match! You can't need him that badly." She said as she continued to serve cups.
>"Lynn-" Darrel drank another cup, "-ahem-, Lynn doesn't score, we know he doesn't. He isn't there to score. He's there to essentially shut down the other team and catch them off guard. He knows the strikers so well that he knows exactly when to bomb down a pass upfield and beat the defensive line. That's why we need him. No one else can do it as well. Which reminds me, I've never scored a goal. I'm probably the only one who hasn't scored all season. Kinda feels like you owe me a kiss." He joked.
>Linka leaned down on the water table, like a sly saleswoman.
>"You know what, score one for me, and I might even consider it." She said, smugly.
>"Heh, good luck with that." He scoffed. "Coach is gonna park the bus. Now that we don't have Lynn, we are gonna sit on our sides and defend the draw with our lives. I'm essentially gonna switch from left-back to the fourth center-back. Maybe even fifth if he feels extra cunty. It's not gonna be fun."

>"Green!"
>"YES COACH!" He yelled, still looking at the water table.
>"Come over here, and quit flirting with the water girl. I'm about to hand out some instructions so its in your best interest that you fucking listen! I'm not being paid to babysit fruitcakes!"
>"Sigh. See you at the 90." Darrel knocked on the table, and stepped up to join the circle.
>Linka sat on the bench, but listened attentively to the instructions to verify any truth in Darrel's prediction.
>"Alright, team. We already know what happened, and sure most of you know what is about to happen. We are 4 points away from qualifying, and I'll be fucking glad to take a point here."
>"Green! Fernandez!" He pointed,  "Stand your ground, I don't want you running up anymore. Tyler, Long, you're dropping off too. I better see a decent Loud impersonation out there. As far as the front three, don't over commit. I better see some solid defense! Chop chop!" The team left the circle and ran toward the field. Darrel looked back at Linka and shrugged ironically.

>It was only then, when Lynn showed up with his shirt and a towel over his shoulder, with a dead expression on his face.
>"Hey, look who decided to show up!" Said Coach, "Did you have a great game out there, huh, Loud? Did you satisfy yourself out there? We're you 'good'?"
>"No, coach." Lynn answered.
>"Well, you're gonna have some time to think about your performances sitting out the next game. I better see you focused after that. Now don't bother me, I have a lot in my hands right now."
>Lynn nodded, and threw himself down on the bench, rubbing the towel on his face furiously.
>Relunctantly, Linka sat next to him to try to calm him down.
>"H-hey, Lynn. How you feeling bro?"
>"How do YOU think I'm feeling right now?" He kept running the towel.
>"Bad, would be my guess. I talked to Darrel for a bit, he told me how important you were to the team. I had no idea they needed you that bad."
>"Oh, you talked to Darrel? Darrel Green, left-back, number 21, this short, orange hair, that Darrel Green? ," Lynn ignored Linka's compliment, "Isn't that the one guy you haven't fucked yet?"
>Linka took a moment to sponge the offense, breath in, breath out, go again.
>"Lynn, I was just trying to motivate you guys."
>"And you wanted attention. You got it, you're the team's local slut. Congratulations. Here collect your prize." He quickly flipped her off with both fingers and returned to his original position.
>"You know what? Fuck you, Lynn. You're not my fucking mom." Linka moved a seat away from him and pulled out her phone to read her comic.
>"Amen to that. Thank God I'm not in charge of you."

>The game resumed, and Lynn was now among the spectators.
>Spectator of one of the most truly awful games he's ever saw his team play. Not even justifiable by being a a man down.
>8-9 players on their own half at the same time, no actual desire to win, the midfielders would not even bother with having the ball; instead, they purposelessly punted long balls to the strikers hoping they could conjure up some magic, but obviously they too forgot how to play.
>All to the dismay of Lynn, who if he was dead in a grave, he would most certainly be rolling in it. He was this close to pulling his hair from the inside out.
>Linka noticed this too from what little she looked up from her phone, but refused to acknowledge the disaster.
>Luckily for them, they defended so much that they managed to frustrate the opposition into trying to attack desperately, seeing the clock started to run down on them. Lots of their players were now sitting in Lynn's Team's side of the pitch, trying to make something happen.
>In one of those spineless attacks, a wayward pass made the ball find the feet of Darrel. His first touch in more than 10 minutes.
>"Let's go, Darrel!" Linka tried to cheer him on.
>"What are you cheering him for," asked Lynn, mildly annoyed at the uncalled for enthusiasm, "he is not going to do anything. You can sit back down now."
>"Someone's gotta do something." Linka put her phone down on her seat and ran to the sideline. "Go on Darrel! You got this! Do something!" She continued to yell.
>Darrel looked up, and saw that nobody was actually pressing him on. Only this one guy who was lazily walking in the general direction of him, waiting for him to offload the ball to someone else. He moved the ball a little in the opposite direction, but his marker still didn't respond. He heard Linka's cheers, and uncharacteristically decided to charge forward with the ball on his own. His marker immediately lost the sight on him, and the entire team failed to react quickly to the incoming burst from the left.

>"What is he doing, he shouldn't be doing that," he said as the crowd started to get animated as something was finally happening, "That's the exact opposite of what coach said. He's surely gonna-"
>Lynn looked at his coach. No reaction from him. He waited patiently, with intrigue. He too was a spectator now.
>They desperately tracked back, but it wasn't soon enough. Their terrible defensive shape caused the defenders to meet him one by one at the halfway line. Darrel managed to skin them and leave them trailing.
>"How is he even...GO ON! GO ON! SHOOT YOU FUCKING LEPRECHAUN SHOOT!" Lynn joined in on the cheers. And so was the crowd. Their defense was ripped apart by Darrel.
>The strikers saw the space, and began rushing forward, in case they had to pick up some scraps. But it was all down to him at the moment, he had acres of space, the noises suddenly went deep in unison to the sound of "SHOOT!", He was some 30 yards away, but the thought of it was too amazing to resist."
>And Darrel fired away. Not one half-second after the keeper realized he could only watch the ball and pray it misses the goal. The crowd were on their feet, already screaming in euphoria, but that was soon extinguished as the ball banged into the crossbar, down to the goal line, and out.
>But one of strikers managed to outpace the defenders, and the goalkeeper to the dead ball, and effortlessly danced around the keeper, and walked the ball into the net.
>The entire team ran to celebrate to Lynn's dreaded corner flag. All except for Darrel, who still felt like he had lost his one chance to score his goal. He just kept smiling at Linka in disbelief. Only after Lynn, waved his arm at him to come join the pile-up, did he agree to go.
>Linka decided not to join the celebrations as usual this time. She just waited until him and Darrel shared eye contact, and winked at him.

>Shortly after, the game finishes 1-0. Darrel may not be able to claim the goal, but he definitely can take credit for his team's win.
>This result puts the team in a much more comfortable position, and Lynn's absence for the next match may not be as detrimental as it previously seemed.
>As players gave each other handshakes and walked off the pitch, Linka took a moment to approach Lynn, who was congratulating Darrel on his performance.
>"Great win guys, I knew you dudes had it in you."
>"Yeah, sure, but let's not forget this guy!" Lynn grabbed the redhead and ruthlessly ruffled his hair, "who totally disobeyed Coach's orders and could gotten us all 20 laps," he said between his teeth, ruffling even harder."
>"Okay I think that's enough!" Darrel protested, his scalp already burning. Lynn laughed it out and pushed him away playfully.
>"In all seriousness though, fair play man. Sorry that Rico swiped your goal away like that. It would have been amazing had it gone in from that far. And I didn't know you could shoot! You freaking bastard have been hiding that from us."
>"I guess I don't get the chance very often. Speaking of the goal..." Darrel turned at Linka and scratched his head awkwardly, "sorry I couldn't score one for you. I tried my best, but I don't think it's gonna be very soon before I get another rush of blood to the head and try one of those.
>"Yeah, uh...what a shame." Lynn's teasing tone dissipated. He moved one step in between him and Linka. "Well, uh, I guess I'll see you again in practice on Monday," Lynn shook his hand and palmed his back, "take care, man."
>"Yeah, you too..." Darrel turned around and walked away looking at the ground, with his hands in his pockets.
>"Let's go, sis." Lynn faked a yawn, "Mom should be here any second now and I'm exhausted, come on now."
>"Wait!" said Linka, "I forgot my tote bag! Give me one second!" Linka ran off, skipping about. She look very hurried to retrieve a tote bag but Lynn didn't pay too much attention to it...

>...for a total of three seconds.
>Lynn gave in to his anxiety, and casually turned around whistling to check on Linka. He walked towards the bench, where Linka's tote bag would probably be, and as expected the tote bag was there, but no sign of Linka.
>"Sis...sis!" He called around in a moderate voice. No replies. Lynn started to get frustrated. He called out once more, this time angrier. Still nothing.
>He walked around a little, closer to the bathrooms, and then he heard her giggle. The bathrooms at the park are L-shaped, so there's a certain area that is hidden from the front.
>Lynn peeked around the corner, and saw Linka kissing Darrel. It wasn't the "kiss on the corner flag" sort of deal. It was the backs to the wall, hands-on makeout session.
>"Oh you fucking leprechaun." Lynn grumbled to himself, closing his fist in anger.
>By the time Lynn saw them they seem like they were done. Linka began separating, but Darrel tried to reach out between her legs.
>Lynn was ready to run in at him and punch his teeth away, but Linka read Darrel's attempt and turned it away, giggling.
>"Not today, Red. See you on Monday." Linka gave him a peck on the lips, and turned to go back.
>Lynn was already running away, praying that he wasn't caught. He went to the general vicinity of where Linka left him, grabbed onto the nearest ball, and started kicking it against a wall to look distracted.
>"I'n ready, Lynn!" Linka came back running with her tote bag, "Sorry it took a while, I totally forgot where I put it."
>"It's alright, sis..." Lynn said, not looking at her, but at the wall he was shooting at, "let's go home..."
>He made his efforts to not look upset, but he wasn't sure how long he's be able to hide it.

>The walk home was a very silent one. Lynn walked with his hands in his pockets, looking rather upset, while Linka followed him closely, trying to figure out a way to break the awkward tension.
>After coming up with something to start up a conversation, Linka picked up the pace and caught up to his side. Lynn didn't turn his head to acknowledge her.
>"Hey Lynn," Linka said, nervously, "You don't look like your team just won an important match. You should be happy...er. Do you realize you guys are 1 point away from qualifying to states? This could be huge!"
>"Yes, Linka, I know that. I'm tired, leave me alone. I really don't wanna talk about today. I'm not in a good mood."
>"Is this about the red card?"
>"I SAID, DON'T TALK ABOUT IT!" Lynn stopped abruptly and faced her, "Is that really too hard to understand?! Is it really?!"
>Linka was shocked. The look on his brother's face was one that could only be described as murderous. He's never looked at her like that. No of her brothers ever got that mad at her. Something had changed.
>"I-I...I'm sorry." Linka looked down at the sidewalk, "I didn't mean to anger you like that." Her eyes watered a little, but she didn't want to cry in front of him. Lynn noticed this, and his heart tore up apart. He wanted to apologize, yet he couldn't. His pride would not allow him.
>"Just...just don't bring it up again." Lynn turned around and continue walking, secretly feeling guilty about screaming at her little sister.

>After five extra minutes of silence, the teens finally make it to their home.
>"I'm coming!" Rita yells after hearing the knocks. "Hey kids," she opened the door, "did you have fun?"
>"Yeah mom, it was pretty fun." Lynn said, leaning up to kiss her mother's cheek.
>"Oh, you have so much to tell me!" Rita ran to the couch and sat with excitement. "Peter's mom send me SO many pictures and videos. I heard you guys won! Oh, and that you got sent off. What happened dear?"
>"Oh, uh, I don't know," Lynn answered reluctantly, sitting down. "I just lost focus, I guess." She glanced at Linka, who saw him and pretended to be busy.
>"That's terrible dear, you're gonna have to sit out the next match! I'm sure they are gonna miss you out there. Which reminds me! I saw the video of the goal! It was amazing! Who was that kid?"
>"That was Rico, mom, you know him. It's what he does all the time." Lynn hoped to avoid the topic.
>"No, I KNOW Rico. I mean the other one, the one who took that shot, I don't think you've told me about him. Who is he?"
>Linka immediately rushed upstairs, embarrassed.
>"Sigh. He's Darrel...you don't know him because he never does anything worth talking about. Mom I'm tired, can I please go rest now? We'll talk in the morning."
>"Alright, honey. I understand, good night."
>"Night, mom" Lynn got up and headed upstairs. But he wasn't going to sleep. He needed to have a good talk with her sister.

>Lynn tried to open Linka's door, but it was locked. Strange, as Linka rarely ever locks her door.
>Linka now sleeps in what used to be her brothers' Loki and Loni's room. They already had moved on with their lives, and now share an apartment about an hour away from home.
>"Linka, we need to talk!" Lynn knocked on the door.
>"What do you want?" She answered from inside.
>"It's about the game. The games rather."
>He waited for a few seconds before he heard the sound of the lock opening and Linka stepping away. After a few moments of nothing he assumed that she expected him the open the door himself.
>He opened the door and caught a glimpse of Linka entering her closet, still in her full sports outfit. Lynn casually walked towards her bed and sat on it.
>"Linka, when I invited you to work for the team I was hoping you'd make some friends." said Lynn, looking at nothing in particular. "Obviously, you did make some friends, but you might have overdone it, sis..."
>Linka came out in her underwear, holding her tablet on her arm. She was half-looking at the tablet, and half listening to what he was saying. She set her device down In a comfortable location on the bed, and sat on the bed with her legs crossed.
>Linka had the habit of not wearing clothes around the house. It's something she picked up from when she was little, and no one actually tried to correct her until it was way too late for her to care. Very often Loud Sr. would sent her back upstairs to put some clothes on, but she would just ignore it and stay in her room.

>"Mmm-hmm." Linka answered apathetically.
>"I mean, it was kinda cute at first," Lynn continued regardless, "but then it started to bother me, a lot. It's like one day boys were just annoying, and seemingly the next day you're all over them. It's gonna take me a while to get used to the fact that you're not a little kid anymore. It's normal for that to happen, but what you're doing is not normal."
>"You're contradicting yourself there." Linka answered. Her tablet still the only thing in her sight.
>"What? No, I'm not contradicting-uh-ugh! You're not listening right! It's normal that you might get a crush on a boy almost every day, but that doesn't mean you gotta go and slobber every single one of them! That's not right! That's not right for you and that's definitely not right to me! You're my little sister for god's sake!"
>"Ding ding ding." You hit the key phrase there. I'm your sister, you're my brother. You can't say what I can or what I cannot do. That's the end of it."
>"No it fucking ain't!" Lynn's tone changed in anger, "And about the Darrel thing..."
>For the first time Linka's eyes separated from her tablet, and looked up to her brother, worried.
>"W-what about D-"
>"I saw you too behind the bathrooms! I saw what he tried to do, and I saw how you reacted to it. I didn't know Darrel was such a piece of shit before, but now I can positively say that I hate his guts, and I don't wanna see him with you. Or anyone else in the fucking team for that matter!"
>"Lynn, who the fuck do you think you are." Linka's face looked dead serious. "I think I was very clear when I told you that this is NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS! And if you try to pull a stunt I swear to god I will cut you. Now get the fuck out of my room." She pointed to the door.
>"Fine!" Lynn stood up, angrily. "But if I see Darrel or anyone else try to do something like that to you I'm gonna beat them to goddamn pulp!
>"I said OUT!" Linka pointed again.
>"I love you, sis." He said at the door, suddenly in a calm tone.
>"I love you too, now get THE FUCK OUT!"
>Lynn shut her closed and marched angrily to his own room.
>Monday Practice was gonna be along and stressful day.

>Lynn struggled to get any sleep that night. By the time his frustration started to wear off, and his mind began to rest, the sound of the alarm rang inside his head like a cowbell.
>"Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh." Lynn moaned, annoyed.
>"That's the sound I'M supposed to make." Responded Lars across the room, in his usual monotone voice. He laid back on his casket bed, fully taking the role of a dead man completely still and hands on his stomach.
>"I couldn't...I-I couldn't get any sleep last night. I feel dead."
>"I envy you. The dream world is a terrifying realm. It's filled with nightmares and deceiving horror. I wait for the day I become a vampire so I don't have to sleep anymore...I think. Is that how vampires work."
>"...why are you asking me for?" Lynn, hoping Lars would honor the question, quickly hopped off his bed and headed for the door.
>"Because you're m-"
>"Not my fucking problem, Lars." Lynn said as he closed the door behind me.
>"...sigh" Lars closed his eyes and "rested", but made an effort not to sleep.
>Lynn, about to take the first step downstairs, was crossed by Linka, who seemed in a hurry.
>"Hi." She said as she passed by him, not actually looking at him.
>"Is that it?" Lynn asked, "Hi?"
>"What else am I supposed to say?" Linka said in a defensive tone, stopping to look up at him and raising her arms defiantly.
>Cue posh, obnoxiously elegant British accent
>"Oh gee, I don't know maybe-something along the lines of 'Hello, brother, good morrow-I hope you had a fine night's rest-I have to apologize for I seem to be in quite the hurry so I need to rapidly pass by you-I apologize again' instead of just almost trampling me like that. I could have died."
>"God, you're such a whiny bitch." Linka resumed walking.
>"And you're a whore, anything new?"
>Linka stopped for a moment, closed her eyes and filled her lungs with air, and continued her descent.
>"See you in practice!" Lynn mocked her.
>"Geesh, what's the matter with you two?" Leif walked outside his room, scratching his butt while he was at it. "You guys never fight...uh, well; this loud..."
>"Uh, how old are you, again?"
>"Uh...nine?"
>"Linka fucked the team." Lynn answered deadpan, as he turned towards the bathroom and closed the door.
>"...uh, okay then?" Leif scratched his butt and went back to his room, presumably to scratch his ass a little longer.

>Going through his regular, everyday routine, Lynn noticed something amiss when looking at the mirror.
>It was Linka's tote bag, placed in between the toilet and the left-side wall.
>"She must have forgotten it." Lynn thought. He proceeded to finish brushing his teeth, but something was bugging him. He was awfully curious about what was inside of it. It was probably nothing interesting, but there's no harm in scratching an itch.
>Lynn grabbed the bag, placed it next to the sink and opened it up.
>There was nothing remarkable about its' contents, other than a large pack of gum and Ziplock bag. The rest was just her striped tracksuit, a thermos, and a sandwich.
>Out of spite rather than actually wanting some, Lynn grabbed the pack to steal some gum. However there was no gum in it. Instead, it was a string of condoms bunched up together to fit inside.
>"What the fuck? Why does she have this? What do you need them for?!" Lynn accidentally said out loud.
>Moments after someone started knocking on the door.
>"Little busy here!" Lynn pretended to use the toilet. The knocking continued relentlessly.
>"Lynn!" It was Linka coming back for her tote bag. "What the heck are you doing in there I need to come in!"
>"Give me a minute!" Lynn desperately tried to put everything like it originally was. Except for the condoms, which he stuffed in his pockets. She was NOT going to need something like that. Not on his watch.
>"Lynn come on! I mean it!" She banged the door even louder.
>"Hi, sis." Lynn opened the door, holding up his stomach with his hand as if he wasn't feeling well, "I must have ate something bad last night."
>"Yeah-yeah, whatever." Linka squeezed around him to take his tote-bag, "You didn't touch it didn't you?" she suddenly stopped.
>"Why would I wanna do that?" Lynn answered convincingly.
>"Nothing, just checking. Aren't you going to school? Lane is already in the car and you know how impatient he can be."
>"Nah, I'll just walk later, -yawn- I don't think I'm fully awake yet. You -yawn- you can go without me.
>"Okay then, give me a second to make sure you didn't mess up anything."
>Linka quickly went through her stuff, took out the pack of gum to look at it for a moment, and put it right where it was.
>"May I have one?" Lynn asked ironically.
>"Yeah, I'm running a little low on them. Gotta make sure I use them sparingly. I'll give you one when I buy another one pack. Bye." Linka took her bag and ran down the stairs.
>"Why the hell would she have condoms on her? What the fuck is she planning to do with them? With wh-oh my god if it's Darrel again I'm gonna kick that Irish cunt's ass back to fucking Neverland. He's not gonna touch my sister again!"
>Lynn jumped in the shower and ran it at its coldest level to stop himself from punching a hole in the wall.

>Luckily, Lynn and Linka didn't have any classes together in school, so avoiding each other was not totally difficult
>But what Lynn can't control is what Linka is doing behind his back. Does she share any classes with the leprechaun? Does she talk to him during class? Were the contents of the pack of gum meant for him? If so, when? Where?
>All these questions kept popping up in Lynn's mind during the entirety of the school-day. He started the day with three pencils available and finished it with the chewed remains of what once used to be a writing tool.
>Come lunch, Lynn decides that sit with his buddies from Biology class, as he wanted to be as far away as the rest of the soccer team as humanly possible.
>After five minutes of aimless chatter it seems everything was going well, until a certain person approached the table speaking obnoxiously loud.
>"He-he-hey! My man Lynnerino!" The familiar voice came along with a carelessly heavy pat on the back, which left an annoying burning sensation on his skin.
>"Darrel..my man." He tried to play long. "Funny seeing you around these parts, really didn't expect you..."
>"I could say the same thing about you, brah," Darrel hopped next to Lynn and began chugging on his water bottle, "anyways; I've been looking for you, man! I'm planning to throw a little party after practice today, and there can't be a party with the team without our star player!"
>Lynn accidentally felt good about the compliment.
>"Hey man, I appreciate it, but-"
>"And that's why I'M throwing it! But it'd be cool if you came too."
>Never mind then.
>"So...who's going?" Lynn asked out of pure curiosity but no real intention of attending.
>"Well the whole team of course, Linka, some friends of mine, and a large group of girls who went to the last game fighting for a hold of my number!"
>"...Linka?"
>"Yeah, Linka! The watergirl, remember? The one with the white hair? You don't know her?"
>"Uh...no. I mean I've talked to her before but nothing actually worthwhile. Why?"
>"Well, don't spread this around too much, but between you and me, I've got that bitch's legs wide open," Darrel poked him on the side with his elbow, "I think, and I say think, that we'll hook up for real at the party. Ain't that shit amazing?"
>...
>"Cool bro. Your house tonight?"
>"10:30 after practice. I'll see you there, man!" Darrel slid off the side of the table and jogged away to sit back with the team.
>It seems Lynn will be attending Darrel's stupid fucking party, after all.

>The party would have to wait, however, as there was a three hour practice in between.
>After school practiced proceeded as normal, except for the fact that Darrel didn't take part of any of the defensive drills the defenders and midfielders were were supposed to go through.
>Instead, he was instructed to go train with the wingers for that day. To try to grow that part of his game and what not.
>"Fair enough." Lynn said to himself. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he had some potential there. Yet he dreaded the fact that the coach is paying attention to him. The kid who was once "team over player" kind of person who didn't care for standing out was turning into an egocentric bastard because he got the spotlight for himself that one time.
>Not to mention the dilemma of her sister.
>He promised to himself this wouldn't faze him, but his performance in training was faltering, just like on the pitch. The only thing in his mind was the well being of her little sister, and Coach obviously was not content with that.
>His match ban could be completely irrelevant after all. If he wasn't banned from that match, he might as well be dropped for not being good enough.
>His bad fortune wouldn't end there, as the attackers were set-up against the defenders in a one-on-one drill.
>The drill was simple. Attacker is given the ball at Point A, and the defender had to dispossess him before he reached the line at Point B, a good 25 yards distance.
>This was Lynn's bread and butter. He had never let a man through him in this particular drill. But today, he already felt beaten before he even stepped up.
>Normally, Darrel would be lined up right next to him, but today he was waiting at the opposite side of the field. And by his count, they were going to get matched up.

>At the sound of the whistle, Lynn and Darrel ran to their positions, and Coach passed the ball to Darrel. That was their cue to begin.
>Darrel was not particularly skilled on the ball, or not yet at least. Not three seconds passed before a window opened for him to steal the ball away. But a darker side of him put on its two cents: "What if I try to injure him? It'll look like an accident."
>Lynn knew how to tackle cleanly as well as he knew how to absolutely clatter them and leave them out for a season. He had never felt the need to do the latter, until now.
>Lynn made up his mind and went for it. He made sure he gathered enough momentum and slid down as soon as he closed in on Darrel. His cleats were headed directly for the side of his knee, an imminent ligament tear for sure.
>But then his entire body flinched. He didn't actually have the guts to purposely injure someone, even as cunty as Darrel. He himself had a knee injury during his freshman year, and he knows those are the worst.
>As a result, Lynn missed both man, and the ball completely. Darrel changed his direction and left him on the ground. Bunch of "oohs" ring about, as the redhead dribbles away from him. Lynn had no chance of catching up to him, as Darrel was actually faster. He was well beaten.
>Apart from completely embarrassing himself, he had fed into the "left-back"'s ego even more. He saw him getting a few hand-fives around, and a smile from the coach. And as for him, only bad looks and scoffs.
>All Lynn could do was quietly step out from the area and try to hide his embarrassment.
>Luckily for him, practice was about to end. After being dismissed by the coach, he grabbed all of his stuff and walked off without saying a thing to anyone. He didn't even bother to wait for Linka, who finally had a chance to chat with Darrel for a bit.

>"Lynn?...Lynn, are you here?" Linka called for him after opening the door and seeing no one.
>After closing the door and locking it, Linka heard her brother Lars pass by her without greeting her as usual.
>"Lars," the boy stopped in place, freezing like a statue, "Have you seen Lynn? He walked off from practice without saying a thing to me and  I worry that he might gone somewhere else instead."
>"He's taking a shower," Lars said to whatever was directly in front of him, "he's been taking a shower for the past 40 minutes. Now that you made me think about it, that's not normal."
>"Did he say anythi-"
>"But why would that matter? A shower is just a shower. It's a waste of his time just like everyone in the world wastes their time doing worthless things like "living". Things like working 25 hours a day just to pay their rent and not die of starvation. Putting up with other's people's problems so that they don't get shunned by society, and die from depression. Everyone dies anyways, it's not like any of that is relevant. If he wants to waste his worthless life taking a long shower, that's his problem and no one else's."
>"...did he say anything to you?"
>"-sigh-...no." Lars put his hands in his pockets and walked to the kitchen disappointed, as another one of his poetic speeches went completely wasted.
>"Thank you, Lars...I guess?" Linka turned to the stairs and walked to the bathroom door.
>She heard the shower running. Linka knocked on the door to check on him, and no one answered. She called his name, but no one responded. She banged on the door, but not a soul could be heard.
>Linka worried. If one gets particularly annoying, Lynn tends to lash out at them. Not this time though. Linka feared the worst as she desperately made a move for the doorknob, but was shocked to see it move so easily. The door was unlocked.
>"LYNN!" She burst the door open. she looked for him and didn't see him with all the vapor clouding the room. Linka didn't think twice before opening the shower curtain, hoping that she wouldn't  see something that would scar her for the rest of her life.
>Lynn was not in the bathtub. Confused, Linka turned off the water and opened the small window next to it to let the vapor out. She turned around and saw her brother sitting in the toilet fully clothed, looking depressed holding his head up with his hands laying on his knees. He didn't move or acknowledge the fact that Linka was in the room with him.
>"Oh my fucking god, Lynn!" She shut the door closed and locked it, "what the heck is wrong with you!? Do you have any idea how worried you had me? I thought that you...that something was wrong. Why wouldn't you answer the door if you were right there?"
>Lynn sighed, stretched his arms and his legs, and returned to his original position.
>"I wanted to be alone, sis. I'm not feeling completely well. This bathroom is the only thing remotely close to privacy, so I pretended to shower so no one would bother me. I guess not even that works. There's no getting away from you."
>"Then why would you leave the door open?"
>Lynn opted not to answer that. Instead he got up and turned on the shower again.
>"Are you gonna go to Darrel's thing tonight?" He asked, "I heard you got invited."
>"Uh, yeah. He told me this morning."
>"Are you sure? I don't think you would enjoy it. It's probably not even a real party. Just an excuse to chug down a lot of soda and chips. Doesn't seem like your kind of thing." He lied.
>"It's fine really. I like hanging around with the guys."
>"Sure you do. Alright, don't say that I didn't warn you. Now if you excuse me...uh, I gotta shower for reals. I'm still nasty from practice."
>Linka didn't reply. She looked deep in thought as if something else in her mind had caught her attention.
>"Linka."
>"Oh yeah, sorry. I'll leave you now."
>Linka closed the door behind her, and headed to her room to figure out what to wear for the party

>As opposed to his previous act, Lynn did not take more than 5 minutes to shower. After relatively cleaning himself, he himself tried to figure out what to wear.
>And by figure out, it really meant opening the drawer, take the first folded shirt he saw, grabbing his one pair of jeans of suspect cleanness, a random pair of socks which may or may not match, and finally putting on his favorite pair of red snickers.
>He used the rest of his precautionary time to play some games on his computer, and time flew. By the time he tabbed out to check on the time, it was already 9:56. He stepped out his room to see if Linka was wandering around already prepared, but she was still in her room, presumably still not decided on her outfit.
>"Linka?" The boy knocked on her door, "Can I come in? You're taking a long time."
>"Why do you keep asking?" The door talked back, "It's like you haven't lived with me for 14 years now."
>"Dad told me to stop randomly storming into your room without knocking first because "You're at a certain age now when a lady needs privacy and not be naked around other people," Now, can I come in?"
>"Get in, you jerk." The door opened itself before Lynn could touch it. He didn't see anything in front of him so it was safe to assume that she was behind it.

>Lynn playfully covered his eyes with his forearm and turned around the door holding his other arm forward.
>"You're not naked are ya?" Lynn said in a stupid nasal voice. "Dad says I cant see ya nekkid no mo'!"
>Not that Lynn Sr. has anything to do with that, but Lynn has seen her sister completely naked more times than it is worth counting, either by accident or her own negligence when it comes to modesty.
>Last time Lynn saw her naked was actually 6 days ago, when she ran out of the shower after a cockroach fell from the bathroom ceiling one foot away from her causing her to panic. She didn't bother to grab a towel with her when she ran out at Lynn for help.
>This is also part of the reason why Linka is not particularly fond of her brother Leif.
>"No, I'm not naked. Open your eyes!" Linka softly pushed down on Lynn's forearm to get it off his head.
>"Okay but I better see some proper Christian clothing when I open them!" Lynn joked. He put down his arm and uncovered his vision.
>His sister looked spectacular, in a way he had never seen her before. She was wearing a slick white T-shirt and a beautiful black skirt that she got many months ago as a birthday gift that she never bothered to wear as it didn't seem to suit her, well, until now. It was shorter than what she usually wore, but not short enough to be indecent. Than in combination with her heels, the rare occurrence of makeup, and just the overall vibe he got front her was astonishing. It was almost a different person.
>"Did I overdo it?" Linka smiled awkwardly at him.
>"You look okay." Of course Lynn would allow her sister to know that.

>But it was futile, as Lynn's facial expression gave him away.
>"Come on!" Linka teased him, relentlessly poking him in the arm with her elbow, "It's okay to tell your sister she looks pretty!"
>"Hey now..."
>Linka playfully slapped him on the arm, "Don't go there!"
>"Alright, fine." Lynn grabbed her and hugged her with one arm, "You look great."
>Too great, he feared. If the way she looks can get a reaction from him, imagine anyone else. Especially certain person.
>"So all of this for one stupid party, huh?" He continues to hug her.
>Linka sighed and forced herself out of his brother's arm. She put her fists on her hips, slanting them a little, and gave him a look of disapproval.
>"Alright, I know what's going on here!" Linka said.
>"Uhh...wh-"
>"You're worried that I'm gonna be completely irresponsible in my first party, and you're trying to discourage me from going because you are afraid something might happen to me, right?"
>Ouch, that's a bulls-eye.
>"It's not that, it's just...uh, I don't know. It just that you're changing. You're not the same girl anymore. I've told you this before."
>"Lyn-"
>"But I'm fine with that. You're all grown-up now, I get it. Just promise me that you'll take care of yourself?"
>"I promise, bro."
>Lynn and Linka had a heartfelt hug for the first time in years. Normally it's one of them trying to annoy the other one, but this one was totally mutual. It felt nice.
>"Alright then, let's go to that freaking party."
>Lynn felt some relief after that moment, but the pack of gum incident still had him filled with doubt. Still, he had to pretend to trust her sister, or else they might fall out with each other.

>Lynn scouted around to make sure everyone was either asleep or at the very least very distracted. He had to do it alone because Linka's outfit was most definitely going to raise questions.
>He checked everyone as a non-threat, all except for Lars. There was no telling of where Lars even was.
>Lars could appear at any given moment, or not appear at all for extended periods of time. He has the bad habit of spawning right behind you when you least want him to. This thought terrified Lynn.
>Regardless, he had to make a move. Driver was coming in less than 4 minutes. If Lars is gonna spoil anything, he's gonna do it even in spite of Lynn's best efforts.
>He peeked around the staircase to made sure the coast was clear, gave Linka a signal with his hand. He grabbed her wrist to made sure she didn't detour or delay the process. They tip-toed down the stairs, opened the door, trying their best not to make it squeak, and locked it masterfully.
>"Holy shit, we did it." Said Lynn, excited. He had almost forgotten the real reason he's going, and thought he was just sneaking to a party.
>"Okay, driver should be here in less than three minutes, as long as we don't make any noi-"
>"What are you doing."
>"AHH!" Lynn and Linka screamed in unison, but quickly calmed down as they figured out the obvious nature of the situation.

>"Lars!" Linka said, angrily, throwing her arms in a tantrum, "What the heck is wrong with you? You always do this shit! Do you not know how to approach people!?"
>"No."
>"...oh, right. I totally forgot that you don't t-"
>"What are you doing." Lars interrupted again.
>"We...are going to, uh..."
>"We are going to the mall!" Lynn tried to come up with a lie. He knows nothing about the mall.
>"It's 10:22," Lars somehow guessed the correct time, "Mall closes at 9:00. Liar. What are you doing."
>"Ugh, fine! You wanna know what were doing!? Here it goes we are going to a party!" Linka stepped a little closer to Lars after every phrase, her voice rising in intensity. "What are you gonna do, huh!? You're gonna tell mom! You're gonna a be whiny little bitch-snitch!? Go ahead!" At this point, Linka was inches away from his face, almost completely out of breath.
>"I don't care."
>"Well, you'll start caring after I rip out your teeth and save it your OWN collection you milk skinned piece of-"
>"I said I don't care. Go ahead, I'm not gonna stop you. I only wanted to know so I could tell if I cared or not. I don't. Also," Lars quickly took a step backwards, "you forgot to wash your teeth."
>"Shit, that's our ride, Linka come on!" Lynn walked closer to the driver so he to make sure he saw them.
>"I'll be there in a second!" Linka turned to him, putting her hand in front of her mouth to verify whether or not she had bad breath.
>She turned back around do say goodbye to Lars, but he was no longer next to her.
>"Holy shit! He's gone!" She clamored.
>"No he is not, he's going in the house through the window." Lynn pointed at the front window, and there was Lars trying to sneak in.
>"...Sigh." Lars said out loud as he closed the window from inside, embarassed.
>"...huh." Linka said, as she turned towards the car and walked.

>Darrel's family was a pretty well-off one, as Lynn soon realized as he saw his house. The kind that could easily be the home of 13 people, not just 3. Lynn would kill to live in a house like that.
>From the outside, it didn't seem like too many people attended the party. No one was outside and the loudness of people talking over each other did not overpower the music playing in the background.
>Still, for a freshman (or sophomore, Lynn was not totally clear in that regard) hosting his first party, it was rather respectable.
>The teens stood at the door, staring directly into it's soul if it had one, each one having their own hopes of what would happen that night.
>For Lynn, nothing.
>And Linka, she still wasn't totally clear what she had in mind. She wanted to have fun, that's for sure. But it's the definition of fun what she could not put in paper. What is fun? Dancing? Singing? Playing games?
>Alcohol? Drugs? Sex?
>"That's what parties are for, right? We are not kids anymore. This is where the line is drawn..." Her heart told her.
>"Who do you think you are," her mind scolded her, "you are only fourteen. Get a hold of yourself and think about what you really want.
>"Don't think!"
>"Do think."
>"Do!"
>"Analyze."
>"Go!"
>"Look where you are going."
>"Linka?" That was neither her brain nor her heart.
>"Linka, were you gonna knock?" Lynn sucked her back into the real world.
>"W-w-why me?" Linka slowly looked to regain her awareness of the world.

>"You said you wanted to be the one to knock. We've been here 30 seconds and all you've done is stand there. Are you feeling alright? Maybe you should go back home, I'll call a-"
>"I'm fine, Lynn." She said pushing down his arm with the phone in hand, "It's just one of those moments where I get too immersed into a thought I get lost. It's nothing new."
>"Yeah, I know, but it's the second time I see it happen today. You said you'd would be on your toes tonight. If you can't tell what's real or what's not then parties are not for you."
>Linka frowned at him offended, but deep down she knew he was right. No more trances, no more episodes. Gotta keep focus.
>Linka knocked on the door as loud as she could, having the noise in mind. After a third round of relentless knocking, someone finally answered to the door.
>"Yeah, I'll be there in a second!" It was the host, pointing at someone far away. He turned around to acknowledge his new guests.
>"Lynn Loud!" His face lit up in excitement.  "Man, I thought you never show up!" Darrel went for the ol' hug n' pat, and Lynn played along. Again, Darrel's patting was unnecessarily rough, surely leaving a red mark under his shirt.
>"It's...good to see you too, Green." Lynn uttered trying to fight off the pain.
>Darrel glanced over Lynn's shoulder, and suddenly it was Lynn was not there at all.
>"Linka? Linka, oh my god, you look amazing!" Darrel rushed to embrace her. Linka hugged back tenderly, to Lynn's dislike.
>"Wait a minute," Lynn suddenly was visible again, "...you guys came together?" Darrel stopped hugging her.
>"Well, " Linka explained, "we a-"
>Lynn interrupted before she could properly explain the situation.

>"She had been knocking for five straight before you eventually opened the door. I just got here."
>Linka stared at Lynn in major confusion.
>"Oh my god," Darrel facepalmed in embarrassment, "I'm so sorry, Linka. I swear I was upstairs and I could not hear a thing!"
>"But Darrel, that's not-"
>"No, no. It's my fault, I should have paid more attention to the door. Hey, tell you what, you guys get yourself comfortable, I'll go get us a drink. You guys are gonna love this night so much you might actually remember it! See ya in a bit!" And so Darrel slipped around a crowd of people and disappeared.
>Speaking of people, the look from the outside was not representative of the inside. The place was ridiculously packed. Lots of people Lynn had never seen before, dancing to a shitty Pandora station, holding generic red cups full of liquid, talking stuff that no one really cares about.
>Wait, red cups. Huge red flag.
>"Lynn, the hell was that all about?" Linka pulled him down on a couch.
>"He doesn't know were siblings, " Lynn without paying much attention, we has looking at the cups, and trying to look over them to see the contents ,"I rather it'd stay that way."
>"Why?"
>Lucky for Lynn, Darrel was already back with two cups in hand before Lynn 'could' answer.
>"Sorry for the delays, lots of bodies on the way. Here you guys go." Darrel handed them the cups and sat on Linka's side of the couch, wrapping his hand around her, and Linka leaned her head in.
>Lynn looked at the cup in dismay, it was not Mountain Dew in it.

>Linka knew Darrel was talking, but she could not understand a word coming from his mouth; she was completely distracted by the heated argument inside her body.
>"I do not like this," Brain protested, "we need to leave."
>"But why?" The Heart asked, completely unaware of the Brain's concerns.
>"We are not going to drink this. Put it down." It ordered.
>"But we've never done this before! I wanna try it out. We are gonna drink EVENTUALLY, right? Why not today?"
>"We are never drinking. Not under my watch. It is unhealthy. Now please, let go."
>"Aw, come on! Just one sip!"
>"One sip."
>"Yes, one. I promise."
>Linka's brain felt persuaded. It's layers of hardness and stubbornness have been breached, again.
>"I guess that one sip is not going to kill us. I suppose you may give it a try, but honor your promise this time."
>Linka's vision began clearing out the blur that was all saw before. She glanced down at the red cup full of a sort of liquor. She could tell because of it's strong, peculiar smell. But Linka didn't know enough about that to properly identify it.
>Then, she turned to her brother, who was also looking at the stirring plastic container with intensity. She looked back at her own cup, then back at Lynn.
>But this time, Lynn's cup was in the edge of his lips, it's liquid running down his throat with great freedom. The look on the outside was not quite as dominant, as Lynn's face already had regret written all over it. With his eyes closed, he forced the drink in.
>"Wow, buddy! Calm down!" Linka finally made out a word from Darrel, "No need to be chugging down drinks like that...yet!"
>"Lynn, are you okay?" She asked, still in Darrel's arm.
>"Yeah...I have no idea why I did that." Lynn shook his head and put down the empty cup on the table in front of him .

>Linka looked at her own cup with curiosity. With caution, she took a small sip out of it. Instantly, her face puckered up like a baby eating broccoli. It was even stronger than she expected.
>"Oh, oh god." She said, almost coughing. She fluttered her hand and closed her eyes hoping the taste would go away. "What is this?"
>"It's just beer, Linka. Don't get too worked up about it."
>"Yeah, right. Sorry. It's that I've never tasted anything remotely close to that in my life."
>"You'll get used to it," Darrel said convincingly, "The second sip is never as bad as the first one."
>The alcohol, although consciously rejected by Linka, subconsciously; it was intriguing and fascinating to her. This caused another feud in the inner machinations of her body.
>"NO!"
>"Please!"
>"No!"
>"Come on!"
>"I said no! We had an agreement. It was going to be one sip and one sip only. Nothing more."
>"Are you sure you don't want to try it again?
>"I'm one-hundred percent s...I...I don't...huh?" The brain suddenly didn't seem as assertive anymore. The little alcohol Linka consumed had already taken an effect on her decision making.
>"If you're not gonna say anything, then I'm just gonna take charge now."
>"Wait...N-no...please...think about this."
>"Sorry, pal. That's not my field."

>Back in the real world, Linka still had her almost-full cup in her grasp, looking at Darrel for guidance.
>"So the second sip feels a lot better, right?" Linka asked.
>"Don't take my word for it, go ahead."
>Linka raised her cup and drank from it again. This time, the flavor didn't immediately jump at her. Instead it felt a lot smoother and dare I say, tastier.
>"Heh, that actually was a lot better." She commented as she put her cup down.
>Shortly after, Lynn spotted one of his teammates slither around the crowd of people, and gave Darrel a thumbs-up from the distance, as if something was ready. Darrel nodded at him, got up and turned to face Lynn and Linka.
>"Hey, you guys wanna see something cool?" Darrel said, invitingly. Linka looked up for it, but Lynn was extremely suspicious of him.
>"Like what?" Lynn asked, trying not to sound too accusatory.
>"It's just a little game I got set-up. It's only for two people but I assure you it'll be equally fun to spectate. Come with!
>Darrel turned around and marched to what seemed to be another living room. Linka followed quickly, and Lynn, after some deliberation, caught up too.
>The "game" was everything Lynn hoped it wasn't but in a way fully expected. A table topped with two ten-packs of Corona beers, each with a little bottle opener next to it. Also the gigantic speakers were sitting right behind it.
>Darrel grabbed a mic from under the table, fixed up his shirt, and fully embraced the role of "host"
>"Three, two, one, testing, testing." No sound came from the speaker system. Frustrated, he aggressively tapped the mic, and a screeching howling sound filled the entire house. Needless to say Darrel got the attention of everyone.

>All the eyes were now pointing directly at him, most of them didn't look particularly happy of being startled like that.
>"Okay then, uh..." Darrel did his best effort to save it but the place felt like it suddenly got hotter, "If you guys need a reimbursement for you far-gone pair of ears, uh, you can just send a post-stamped, handwritten letter to the "Green Family" and we'll get right on that, heheh."
>"..."
>"Yikes..." He mumbled to himself.
>"Anywho, if I still have your attention I have a little game prepared for y'all that I'm sure you'll enjoy." He took a step to the side to draw the attention to the game.
>"Now, this is a little game I came up with called 'Royal Flush', name also by me. As you can see," he pointed to the table, "we have not one but two ten-packs of beers waiting there on the table. The way you win is simple," he skipped a beat to create some tension within the crowd, "you don't."
>He allowed the crowd to debate that statement among themselves for a few seconds before continuing with the explanation.
>"Ahem. Thank you. The objective is to succesfully open AND drink more beers than your opponent within five minutes. Now, the game is designed for you to lose, as I don't think there is a way in hell anyone is finishing those beers. The losing conditions are as follow:" Darrel unfolded a sheet of copy paper from his pocket and began reading from it.
>"You forfeit, you lose."
>"You break a bottle, you lose."
>"You sabotage your opponent in any way, you lose."
>"You vomit, you lose."
>"You drink less beers than your opponent after five minutes pass, you lose."
>"And, if you pass out…"
>"You lose!" The crowd responded, some in genuine excitement and others slight annoyance at the excessive alliteration.
>"I guess if the other guy loses that technically means you win, but that doesn't fit my narrative so let's not mention that too often. Are we ready? I think we are ready. Have we got any volunteers?"

>Crowd went completely silent. Three seconds later, a completely unknown voice from the back began chanting "Loud! Loud! Loud!" While it seemed kinda silly to the ignorant ear, that's all the host needed.
>"What was that!?" Darrel responded, trying to stir the crowd.
>That's all it took. Suddenly a large portion of the attendees were chanting the word "Loud." They didn't recognize that as someone's last name, they just decided to go along with it.
>And Lynn, who had been blessed with a front-row spot to the game, was now feeling all the pressure piling up on top of him.
>"So, Lynn," Darrel now spoke directly to him, pointing to make sure everyone knows it's HIM, "are you gonna come up or what?"
>"Uh, sorry man, I think I'm gonna pass on this one..." Lynn said as he casually tried to back up and disappear into the crowd.
>"Really, man?" Darrel scoffed at him, "are you really gonna pussy out of this one?"
>Oh fuck.
>I can't believe you've done this.
>Lynn can't back out from a challenge. Especially in front of a crowd. Darrel hit him where it hurts the most. His pride.
>"The only pussy I see has red hair." The crowd responded with a mixture of 'oohs' and laughs. "Let's do it."
>Lynn wishes his competitiveness didn't always get in the way of sanity.

>"60 seconds left!" Darrel's voice hit Lynn like a whiplash. Sitting halfway between beer 4 and 5, his chances were looking very slim. He forced down the rest of the beer, but couldn't grab another bottle as he felt something extremely sour build up at the back of his throat. He immediately swallowed that back down, but he knew he was done at that moment. All he could do was look at his opponent's progress now.
>Unfortunately, Rico had just finished bottle #7 to the delight of the crowd. He looked extremely dizzy and unaware of his surroundings, but that didn't deter him, number 8 was his new goal.
>Darrel looked at his timer again, and saw that there were only ten seconds remaining.
>"Ten, nine, eight..." He began counting down. Determined, Rico grabbed the opener and tried to his best to get it opened, but his hand didn't have the same accuracy it had before.
>Frustrated, he tossed away the bottle opener and tried using his bare hands. The beer cap pinched him, causing him to open both of his hands in pain. At that moment, the bottle was falling freely.
>Rico made an effort to catch it from the air, but that only caused him to lose the little balance he had and plummet to the ground.
>"3! 2! On-CRASH!"
>With a score of 5-7, at 4:59 seconds into the game, Lynn Loud won the game by default. His opponent had broken a bottle.
>Lynn already felt lost in space. He looked at his sister, but for some reason she looked away and lost herself into the crowd.
>"Give it up to your winner, Lynn!" Darrel grabbed Lynn's arm and raised it up in the air victoriously.
>He got close to Lynn's ear and whispered to him: "See you around, bud."

>"Huh?" Without any warning, Darrel pushed Lynn's back, sending him into the crowd to have their way with him.
>"We'll have another game in an hour, so watch out for that one!" He heard as the music returned to it's original volume. It would be that last thing he heard in a long time.
>The crowd was relentless with Lynn. Who wouldn't, had the chance to play pinball with a drunken kid. He was shoved around, slapped all over his body, and accidentally slammed by people who were dancing in the crowded space.
>He was running out of air, his vision blurred, all he could hear was some muffled high pitched noises, and a never ending ring in his ear. After a full 30 seconds of chaos, Lynn finally landed on the couch he sat the first time.
>"Linka...sis...Linka..." He tried to call for her sister but wasn't absolutely sure words actually came out of his mouth.
>He then saw Darrel's head move around the crowd. Shortly after, he saw his sister's. He tracked them far enough to see Linka was following him. He tried to get up but his body didn't respond. Linka and Darrel turned a corner and walked upstairs, disappearing out of sight. It was then, that Lynn's eyes closed on his behalf.

>Lynn, at no point, caught a glimmer of what Darrel was running behind his back.
>He knew. He had known about Lynn's relation with Linka for a few hours before the party even started. Lynn tried to play him for a fool, and was fooled himself.
>The "game" was rigged from the beginning. He was always going to be the one participating in it, as the instigator was just some random that got paid to chant Lynn's name and get him up there.
>Now, Lynn found himself unconscious, completely oblivious of what was happening around him.
>He could feel his eyes open a little, but he couldn't really see anything. It was but a blur.
>He could sense his eardrums vibrating, but couldn't actually hear a thing. It was nothing else than a ringing noise.
>After a few minutes of uselessness, he started regaining full control of his body. Or most of it. He soon realized he had passed out on a black leather couch, his drool having left a mark on one of the cushions. The very same one he sat earlier in the night.
>He looked around and the blurry images started to focus and come out from the background. The first thing he noticed was some passed out girl kneeling on the floor and laying her head and arms on the table in front of him.
>There weren't nearly as many people as before.  But the mood of the party had changed drastically over the course of Lynn's shut-out. He saw multiple couples making out on the floor, the staircase, anywhere. Some others wandering around missing some crucial pieces of clothing. And others, still drinking whatever they could find. All too drunk to realize what was even happening.

>But Lynn could care less about them. He sprang himself up with his arms, but instantly lost his footing and fell on top of the passed out girl, who was now completely down on the floor. Lynn wanted to apologize straight away, but she did not even react. The only thing that let Lynn know that the girl wasn't dead was the expanding of her chest every now and then, meaning she was still breathing.
>"Whatever." Lynn muttered to himself, and resumed waddling around aimlessly. He saw the staircase, and for some reason he felt the need to go up. Yet he was afraid he might fall down and hurt himself, given he clearly was still not fully functional.
>But still, he was determined. He shook and grunted that fear away and took a step upstairs. Slowly and carefully he rose up, barely avoiding the couple of girls who were undressing each other on the bigger platforms that the stairs turn on. Normally, Lynn would have gone no further than two drunk, horny girls; but he had a feeling something mattered more. No time for them. Gotta keep moving.
>But the image of those two girls made him realize; he wasn't looking for something, he was looking for someone. A few memories of the earlier events came flooding back, but he could not make sense of any of them.
>However, he felt a lot sharper. His vision cleared up somewhat. His hearing was no longer a ring but an echo.
>He could now tell that he was now looking at a hallway, a few doors on each side. The hall was completely dark, but under some of the doors there was some light escaping from them.
>"What...what is going on? He asked himself, as he approached the first one of the lit-up rooms.

>February 15th, 2013
>It's wonderful afternoon in Royal Woods, sun shining down over the Loud Residence, and everything around it. A little too hot, if you really wanted to complain.
>"Now, you make sure you do as your big brother says, Linka. He's going to be in charge of you as long as you two are outside." Rita instructed eight-year old Linka as she pinched her left cheek.
>"Yes, mommy..." Linka looked away, seemingly embarrassed.
>"And you, young man," she turned to Lynn, "you gotta promise me you're gonna look after her. I'm letting you two go out on your own because I trust you to be responsible."
>"I promise, mom." He answered proudly and solemnly.
>"Alright, kids, you two have fun! And keep a hold of your brother's hand, Linka and don't let go until you get there!"
>Lynn extended his hand but Linka backed away refusingly
>"But Mom!" Linka protested, even more embarassed.
>"Nuh-uh-uh. No buts. Do as I say, honey." Rita crossed her arms and looked at her assertively.
>"Ugh, fine!" Linka snatched her brother's hand and started dragging him along.
>"Bye, mom!" He managed to yell before he had to catch-up to Linka's angry march.
>They walked together for a few blocks, Linka looked back and saw the coast as clear, and let go of Lynn's hand.
>"You don't have to hold my hand anymore. I can take care of myself." Linka crossed her arms and looked forward.
>"But mom said that-"
>"I don't care." Linka sighed, finally catching up to her rudeness. "It's just weird, okay." She said in an apologetic tone, "Where are we going anyways?"
>"I told you, we're going to the park. It's an awesome day and I wanna spend it there. I brought my ball and everything!"
>Lynn showed off his shiny red soccer ball he was carrying in his other arm.

>"Okay? So what does that have to do with me?" She asked.
>"Well, I thought that I would teach my favorite sister how to play some ball."
>"I'm your ONLY sister, Lynn."
>"Don't pretend you don't get it, Linka."
>Linka tried to act tough on the outside, but on the inside she was genuinely touched.
>"By the way, " Lynn said, playfully, "I heard someone in school wrote you a love poem yesterday!" He pocked her around, tickling her.
>"Lynn, stop!" She laughed and spasmed around, blushing like a tomato at the same time. "I don't like him. I don't even like boys! Yuck!"
>"Heh, I used to say the same thing." Lynn said nostalgically.
>"Hey Loud!" Some kid yelled behind him, "Didn't know you were a nanny! Nice little baby you're taking care of today!"
>Lynn turned around to see a group of three kids his age riding skateboards in the middle of the street.
>"See you real soon, sucker!" The alpha of the pack added as the three of them skated away.
>"Who are those, Lynn?" Linka asked, slightly concerned.
>"They are nobody, Linka. Don't worry about them." He said as he grabbed her hand again, this time Linka didn't fight it.
>Three minutes later the two of them arrived at the park, with no sign of the aggressors being around.
>Lynn looked for a wall, marked two spots with the biggest rocks he could find, and made the goal. He handed the ball to Linka for her to shoot it, and she seemed very reluctant at first, but eventually Linka got the hang of it, and started to enjoy it.
>The two of them played together for what must have been an hour and a half, which by then, Linka was absolutely knackered. Lynn saw this clearly, and approached the panting girl who looked like was about to collapse.

>"I think we're done for today." Lynn said to her.
>"Y-yeah." Said Linka, panting, "I...I had a lot fun though. Thank you for bringing me with you."
>"Hey, do you know what would make this day WAY better?" He said, enticingly.
>"Ice Cream?"
>"No silly! I-" Lynn paused for a second to think. "Wow. You're right."
>"You're gonna buy me ice cream?!" Linka jumped up and down, trying to contain her emotions.
>"Mom gave me a $5 bill like a week ago. I saved it for today. For us."
>"OMG OMG Thank you, Lynn!" Linka jumped at him and hugged him, squeezing Lynn like a boa constrictor. Linka wasn't a fan of hugs.
>"Okay, okay, settle down, sis. Go sit down somewhere, you're really tired and you might throw up or something." He ruffled her already messed up hair playfully and turned around to walk to the ice cream cart.
>"Wait, Lynn." He felt her tap the back of his wrist.
>"Huh?" He turned back at her.
>"I love you, bro." She said, her eyes the cutest thing Lynn had seen in her life.
>"I love you too, sis." He turned back and finally managed to get to the line.
>In a hot day at the park, ice cream was bound to attract lots of people. But Lynn didn't mind waiting. This is for Linka.
>He heard the sound of some wheels breaking not too far behind him. He didn't pay any attention to that, but what made his heart stop was the sound of Linka yelling her name, desperately.

>Lynn turned around in terror. He saw the same trio of misfits, this time harassing his little sister.
>"So this is the Lynn's little kid isn't she?" Said one of the skaters, closing in dangerously on Linka.
>"LYNN!" She cried. So loud as to startle him. He reacted by pushing her to the ground annoyed, making her cry.
>"HEY!" Alpha turned around smiling, having successfully baited his pray. But he didn't a chance to do so before a ball impacted right in the face, sending two his teeth flying. His punishment didn't end there, as Lynn tackled him down to the ground, punching him in a fit of rage.
>"You piece of shit! I hate you I hate you I hate you I hat-" Just then he himself got tackled by the two other kids, who happily proceeded to beat the living hell out of him.
>Linka was horrified. She was so scared she didn't know what to do but just watch in tears as his big brother was being abused.
>There was nothing Lynn could do but to cover himself as much as possible. He managed to see Linka on the ground looking in despair.
>"Get outta here!" He yelled at her in desperation. "Go home, get out of here!"
>The last thing Lynn remembers was the sight on Linka running away in tears, as a foot stomped on the ground, covering the sight of her.
>"..."
>"We got to get out of here." Said a much manlier voice.

>".....................I swear.....I had them with me................."
>"......It's fine................we can do fine without them.........."
>".................No.....I don't..............I'm not sure..........."
>"....Come on.........It's not my fault.....we waited so long........."
>"......I know....I'm sorry......Not tonight.........................."
>"........If not tonight...........................when..............."
>"....some other day.....when we're prepared...this is too risky......"
>"..........Linka.........I want it tonight....now......here.........."
>".........Darrel....I said no......No means no......................."
>"....Come on babe........Don't act like that.......just relax........"
>"...........No....Darrel................stop........................."
>"...Just lay down...like that.....let me worry about everything......"
>".........No.....I don't.....don't......oh god.....please............"
>".......there we go.......exactly like that....don't be scared......."
>"......I beg you....not tonight.....not like this.....I am scared...."
>"........Turn around......you might want to hold on to a pillow......"
>"..Darrel......Darrel.....I don't want...Darrel........please stop..."
>".....Here I go.....stay still....you're gonna like it..............."
>".....oh god......No...don't.....don't..........Ah................Ah!"
>"....oh my god....oh god............oh......god......................"
>"...................................................................."
>".....what was that......who's touching the door........Linka move a-"
>"BAM!" the door gave way after a powerful punt from Lynn. Such force that the main hinges popped out completely.
>Lynn stood in horror as he saw her sister face down, pressed onto the bed by Darrel's hands, her head completely buried into a pillow, completely naked. Darrel not as such but enough for murder to fill inside like blood in his heart.

>"You....mother.....fucker.........." Lynn, stiff as a statue but shaking like a blender, staring right into Darrel's soul.
>"Sister, actually." Darrel responded in a final act of defiance.
>"L-l-lynn?" Linka timidly raised her head from the pillow she sought comfort in
>"YOU ARE FUCKING DEAD!" Lynn, powered by fury and adrenaline, charged with his arms out at the thing he was now sure he despised the most."
>Darrel tried to move out Lynn's way but Linka's insides proved to be enough of an obstruction and his hopes of escape were now gone. Lynn immediately went for his neck, and slammed his body at the floor, causing his half-naked body to twirl around in pain.
>His focus turned to Linka, sitting up now, looking confused and terrified. Instinctively, she grabbed onto the bed's sheets and covered her naked body from Lynn. She had never done that before.
>"Linka!? Are you alright!?" Lynn crawled next to her, "does it hurt anywhere?" Lynn tried to put his hand on her shoulder, but Linka backed away again. He looked down and saw a small red spot between her legs. He looked up again and saw her face drown in embarrassment.
>"It's okay, sis. It's...it's a normal thing...please don't pan-"
>"Lynn..." She muttered, looking straight-ahead, soulless and colorless.
>"...yes?" He leaned in closer to listen.
>"Go away...I told you...I thought you understood...you lied...I said, stay away from this...you never listen..."
>Who is this girl on the bed? Why do I care? I don't know her. I've never known someone as pathetic and filthy as the scum I'm now facing. I thought I had to protect her. I thought I was in charge of her. Turns out, I started looking at the wrong girl ever since that first practice day. No way in hell this is my sister, Lynn thought to himself.

>"Get the fuck off my girl!" Darrel grabbed Lynn in a chokehold and tried to bring him to the ground, but all he could do was drag him around the room.
>However, that proved to be somewhat effective, as Lynn tripped himself and impacted his head against Darrel's parents' nightstand, causing the lowest cabinet to open. Lynn could feel blood running down his face. Quickly, he looked for some sort of clothing to stop his bleeding with. Instead he found something else, just before he was kicked in the face by Darrel.
>"Darrel, stop!" Linka tried to protest, to no effect.
>Darrel saw a moment of weakness in Lynn, clutching his arms against his chest. It was the perfect opportunity to beat him while he was down.
>The redhead got down in top of Lynn and wound up a solid punch. But in the descent, his entire body flinched, his lungs compressed, his throat gulped involuntarily, and his heart began to race, feeling the cold metal pressed onto his throat.
>"It....Its....It...." Darrel could not get the words out of his system, "Is it loaded?"
>"I don't know...how about we figure that out?" Lynn said softly, yet intimidating.
>Darrel jumped away cowardly and crab-crawled away from Lynn, eventually hitting the back of his head with the edge of the bed.
>Lynn got up, and properly aimed the weapon down at him. Linka, now seeing what was happening for the first time, screamed fearing for life.
>"Put some fucking pants on." Lynn threatened. "We're gonna go for a walk. You and me."
>"Lynn, you better stop this right now!" Linka cried from the bed, "I'm going to call the fucking police if you don't put that thing down!"
>"Shut, the FUCK, up, Linka!" Lynn turned his face at her The only one you're gonna call is Loki and tell him to come down here and pick you up. You're not gonna say a thing about this. Just that you got lost. Understand!?"
>"Or what?"
>"HE'S GONNA FUCKING GET IT!" Lynn screamed furiously. Darrel whimpered and cried.
>"Do as I fucking told you." Lynn made a step towards Darrel, causing him to run and get his pants in a instant.


>While Darrel put his pants back on, Lynn opened Darrel's Parents closet and searched around for some sort of cover; a coat, a hoodie, a sweater, pointing the pistol at him every now and then to make sure he wouldn't try to run.
>Eventually he found a GAP hoodie, which he put on and pulled on the sleeve to cover both his hand and the gun in it. Lynn then grabbed Darrel, instructed him to get inside the shower while he washed the blood away from his face.
>"Remember, Darrel," he commented while he dried his face with a towel, "We're just two best buds and you're just helping my poor drunk ass outside. If you know what's good for you, you'll play along."
>Darrel nodded submissively, and stepped out of the shower. Lynn grabbed him by the arm with his left hand, and put his loaded right hand inside his front pocket.
>He dragged him in front of what the door would have been have it not been wrecked. He wrapped his free arm around his shoulder as if Darrel was carrying his drunken self, and poked him from behind with the tip of the weapon.
>"If you still have some stupid jokes in you, I'll allow one this time."
>Darrel had nothing.
>"And the chance is gone. Move." Lynn pressed him harder, making Darrel straighten up his back in a perfect vertical angle.
>Linka didn't know what to do, other than look for her phone and do as his brother said. For the sake of everyone
>Slowly but surely, Lynn guided Darrel down the stairs, trying his best to best to look dumb and disoriented.
>Darrel in other hand, struggled to not look scared shitless. He interpreted what Lynn said as; if he gave himself away, Lynn would smoke him right there.
>As they got to the last step, Lynn could feel that blood started to run down his forehead again. All he could think of was to lay his wound on Darrel's back, letting the shirt soak up the blood.
>Needless to say, that did not help Darrel's mental state at that moment.

>"Yo, Green!" Some partygoer approached him from the front. "Nice party, dude."
>The kid had no idea what to do right there, but a little nudge from Lynn reminded him to stay in character.
>"T-thanks, man. Anytime...anytime." He was convincing enough to not raise any suspicions.
>"Yo, is that dude okay?" He pointed at the feigning Lynn.
>"Oh, um..." He could feel his palm start to sweat, saliva cascading in his mouth, "He, um...*poke* Oh, yeah, Lynn here had a little too much to drink, I'm just going to take him outside and call him a cab.
>"Shit, don't worry bro I got you." The samaritan moved to Lynn's other side and extended his hand at his hidden arm.
>"Don't!" Darrel jumped away from him, confusing the guy, who was now giving him a strange look.
>"I mean," Darrel tried to save it, "Don't worry about it. I'm the host, and I'm not gonna let a guest waste their time helping me. Go enjoy the party." Darrel's legs were shaking like spaghetti under his thick jeans.
>"A'ight, bro. Your call. See ya around." He waved away.
>Darrel stood for a moment to get a hold of his breath, but was promptly interrupted by Lynn who seemed to be in a big hurry to get out of the house.
>Eventually, both of them get out of the house mostly undetected. Following Lynn's directions, they get out of the visual range of anyone attending.
>Lynn shoved Darrel forward, relieved to being able to stop the act. Darrel turned around to look at him. Lynn had never looked as terrifying as it did that moment. His hand was still hiding in his pocket, but he could still see the shape of the gun pointing at him.
>"I gotta say, that is some fine acting. I can see how Linka couldn't see past the fact that you're stinking piece of shit." He turned Darrel around with his free arm and shoved him again, this time not as strong, "you keep moving forward, unless I tell you to. If you ever stop and I have to tell you twice to start walking, I'll end you. Consider this your first time."

>Darrel started walking away, timidly. Lynn looked around to make sure no one was following them, and moved along with him.
>"In the meantime, Green, I figured we could have a little chat while we get there. Actually, let's just play a little game. I'm just gonna ask you a few questions, and you're gonna answer to the best of your abilities. Don't worry, there aren't any wrong answers."
>Darrel had already figured that final part was a lie.
>"What's your favorite color?"
>"G-green..."
>"Of course it is. How old are you?"
>"Fifteen."
>"I figured you were twelve. What's your favorite sport?"
>"Soccer? Lynn why are you doing this." He asked nervously and slightly frustrated.
>"I just wanna know more about you. It seems like you're a different person every other week. Hopefully, now with a little 'motivation', the real skunk's smell will show. Favorite number."
>"Twenty-One."
>"Why the fuck did you break the tiny ray of sunshine that was left in my little sister, you classless mongoloid."
>"..."
>"Need I ask again?"
>"NO!" The redhead turned his body suddenly, walking backwards with trying to settle Lynn down with arm gestures. "No. I heard you. Don't repeat yourself."

>Darrel turned his back around, took a deep breath, and let his point of view out.
>"Look, man. I suck. I'm just lucky that the other guys suck even harder. I admit it. No matter how much I try I'll always be fucking terrible. I saw how nice Linka was to everyone else but me, and I got jealous. Nobody ever paid attention to me. And then the fluke happened. Suddenly I was in the spotlight. People heard my name for the first time. And then Linka. She fixated on me like no one ever had before, and the feeling was just amazing. I didn't think this would carry on like it did, but it just sort of happened. She genuinely likes me, and I can't let go of something like that. She makes me feel like for once like i'm pulling the strings in life. She boosts me with so much confidence that I don't know what to do with it. And man she's so hot-"
>"Watch your fucking words, cunt."
>"...beautiful. She's really beautiful. Inside and outside. I was prepared to do whatever it took to make sure we stayed together forever, even if it meant to get you out of the way. And don't get me wrong, I respect you. I think you're better than me, and I see that you are also prepared to do whatever to keep her safe. Maybe we can't live in the same world. I get why you'd want to get rid of me for good. I'm sorry I had to exist."

>".........what?" Lynn's pupils move around in total perplexion, "What the hell are you on about?"
>"No? Nothing? Shit, don't ask me to say all of that again because I already don't remember."
>"No, no, I, uh, caught the 'essence' of it, it's that...huh?!"
>"Look man in simple words is what I'm trying to say is please don't fuc-" Lynn's ringtone interrupted Darrel abruptly.
>A strangely long silence took place as Lynn's phone blared ear rape from his back pocket.
>"Uh, you're gonna get that?" Asked Darrel, unsure of what to do at that moment.
>In a situation like that, Lynn would have ignored the phone completely. But that particular tone was one that Lynn assigned specifically for Linka, for 'certain' motives. Lynn took a small step back and slowly raised the phone to his ear, keeping an eye on Darrel at all times.
>"What." Lynn answered directly.
>"I'm in Loki's car, where the fuck are you?" Linka said, one could hear Loki's discontent with her little sister saying such words.
>"Nowhere. Go home. I'll go back on my own."
>"Lynn! Listen to me, Loki is REALLY not happy with the bombshell we dropped on him this late. He was supposed to sleep for an exam tomorrow, and we had to wake him up for this. Now where are you!?"
>"I said, now-"
>"Oh my GOD. J-ju-just put Darrel on the phone."
>"Don't worry about Darrel. It's not worth it." Darrel preferred not to try to interpret that.
>"Lynn, I swear, If you even put a finger on hi-"
>"Bye." Lynn hanged up.
>Almost immediately after, the vibrations from Darrel's own phone filled the air. Darrel, hands at a safe distance from his pockets, waited nervously for Lynn to let him answer it. Lynn was tempted to confiscate his phone and destroy it, and let Linka suffer in angst. Then he thought about what Linka would resort to if that were to happen. He dug himself a hole too deep.
>"Ugh, would you answer it already." Lynn looked away in disgust.
>"Y-y-yeah." Darrel cleared his throat and answered the call. "Hey Babe, look I'm okay...huh?" After not hearing her voice, Darrel looked at the screenin confusion, and saw that Linka ended the call on her end, and it lasted a whooping 00:02.
>"She...she hung up on me." Lynn felt his phone ping once more. This time it was a text from Linka, reading: "I'm sorry, Lynn."
>"Huh?" Suddenly, his phone went pitch black, and a spinning circle took place instead, as if the device was restarting. After spamming the home button, the phone finally responded.
>SECURITY LOCKDOWN
>PLEASE ENTER SECURITY PIN CREATED ON SECOND DEVICE
>When Lynn and Linka got their new phones, they agreed to install a phone-tracking application in case one theirs gets lost or stolen.
>But Lynn never thought that it could be used fir that kind of purpose.
>"Well, shit." Said Lynn.


>It was over. Linka was gonna catch up to them no matter what. At this point, damage limitation was the only thing in order.
>Reality quickly crept onto Lynn. He realized that he had really no purpose for dragging him our like that at gunpoint. It's not like becoming a teenage murderer was something deep down in his bucket list.
>"What happened." Darrel inquired, noticing the conflict in Lynn's face.
>"Everything. Everything happened. And I'm just noticing now. I can't believe I just did all this. I'm done." Lynn took out the handgun from his hoodie, and looked at him. " I'm sorry."
>He raised his arm and pointed the weapon at Darrel. Suddenly he had no idea what was going through his mind. It seemed like he was about to genuinely apologize and now he's on iron sights again.
>"Lynn, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU-" Darrel closed his eyes and prepared to pointlessly shield himself with his arms, fearing the worst.
>"This is yours." Darrel opened his eyes and saw the gun was now facing the opposite direction, handle was free for him to take.
>"Just so you know, I never meant to kill you anyways. I guess I just wanted to take out my anger on you somehow. But I shouldn't have done it like this. Lynn shook the gun around to grab his attention. "Just take it back."
>Darrel hesitated. For some reason, he froze halfway reaching to the pistol. He shifted his eyes back and forth between Lynn and the gun, he looked scared, still.
>"I swear, I am not trying to trick you, just take it back, please."
>"...okay. Just promise you won't try anything." Darrel's hand slowly moved towards the gun.
>"I promise."
>Darrel put his palm on the handle, and grabbed it somewhat loosely with his fingers. But again, he looked frozen in place. The gun was now in both Lynn and Darrel's hand, but one of them was on the wrong end of the barrel. Lynn looked up in confusion, and saw the corner of Darrel's mouth turn into a deadly grin.

>In a sudden movement, Darrel grasped the handle firmly and placed his finger on the trigger. Finally, he had the chance to get rid of Lynn for good, make it look like he killed himself(hopefully), and be able to be with Linka without some shithead looking over his shoulder. Lynn had very little time to react.
>He made the best effort to move the gun to the side of his head, and surprisingly, Lynn resisted very little, allowing the gun in his hand to get closer to himself.
>"CLICK!"
>...
>"CLICK! CLICK. Click. Click. Click, click, click..."
>All the color drained from Darrel's face by every passing misfire of an empty gun trying it's hardest to fire but failing every single time. He felt his hand go weak and shaky. The weight of his failure was now crushing him like a boulder. There was no excuses left for him.
>Lynn, in the other hand, his face looked like one who expected disappointment and was rightily and handed such. He easily yanked away the weapon that was already close to him, and glared down at him like some owner at dog who just peed on the wrong corner.
>"I...it was a prank, bro...I knew it was empty...I swear." Darrel uselessly tried to cover himself.
>"You know, Darrel," Lynn ignored him, "some weeks ago, I thought you were a cool dude, but I guess what I think of someone can change really quickly." He took the missing magazine and inserted it into the handgun, not looking at Darrel at all, "I thought you were a cool dude, and now I know you are just perfectly happy just to fucking kill me."
>"No, not at all, Lynn!" Darrel's knees were the next to give way, as he found himself sitting on them.
>"Are you actually still trying to play innocent? JESUS, you're an ass. Anyways, if some people thought someone else was the reason they can't get it their way, they would probably take the earliest chance to get rid if them, Green."

>A sudden, violent movement from Lynn caused the redhead to cower himself with his hands on his head, and a loud noise following that made him let out a little squeal.
>"But I'm not like you people."
>Darrel took some time to realize he was not dead. He looked back up and saw Lynn watching the road. Next thing he saw was a truck speeding by, and a loud, crunching noise as it passed. The $400 9mm handgun was split in half.
>"My parents are gonna kill m-"
>"Shut the fuck up."
>An increasingly blinding light shone down on Lynn and Darrel, almost burning their tired eyes. After covering some of it with his hand, he recognized a very familiar vehicle.
>Old Vanzilla, who had been passed down to Loki as in age-old Loud tradition. The van parked a few meters away from the two of them. Darrel got up immediately, pretending nothing had happened.
>"GUYS!" Linka attempted to rush at them but was stopped by the rusty door that wouldn't budge, "shit gimme a moment. Uuugh! GUYS!" After finally managing to get the door open, Linka ran as fast as her heels allowed her to. Darrel opened his arms and smiled expecting a warm reception, but was promptly ignored as Linka hugged Darrel in relief, to his shock.
>"Oh my god, Lynn." She said over his shoulder, "I'm glad you both are you okay. I thought something really bad was gonna happen, and I don't know how I could live with myself after...Wait," Linka let go to face Lynn directly, "Where's the-"
>"I got rid of it. Don't worry."
>"I'm still furious at you, you know that right. We'll talk about that later."
>"I know, I'm sorry."
>"Uh...babe?" Darrel cut in, trying to get some attention.
>Linka closed her eyes and let out a pained sigh. "Give me a moment."
>"Babe."
>"Darrel." Linka stood up at looked at him solemnly.
>"That's it?! I almost got shot to death and all you got is 'Darrel'?!" He whined.

>"Look, I'm sorry that my brother made you go through this but you didn't almost 'get shot to death'. My brother is not a killer, just really reactionary. Besides, we need to talk about this thing."
>"Thing? You mean us?"
>"If you wanna call it that. Look, I know we had agreed on something, but things happened, and I was no longer okay with it. You just didn't want to listen to me. Darrel," A tear built up on her eye, which she quickly wiped away, "Darrel, I said no. I don't wanna say the word because it's a horrible word, but it is what it is. I know we both had some drinks and we might not be totally sharp, but if I can't trust someone to respect me after a few drinks maybe it's not the best idea to be together. I'm sorry, Darrel. We're done."
>Darrel scratched his head, not quite believing what he just heard, "...Wow, I, wow...okay...I really don't know what to...uh."
>"We can still be friends. I don't hate you. I just don't wanna deal with something like this again. It's just too much."
>"No, no, I get it. I totally get it," his voice began to swell and crack, "I...I have a party to make disappear before my parents come back...and fork out $400 from somewhere. See you, tomorrow...B-Linka." Darrel stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked his way back home. Lynn dropped the borrowed hoodie on top of his head as he passed by.
>"Cheers." The last thing he muttered before he dissipated into the night.
>Lynn was relieved. He thought that Linka was gonna react so much worse than-
>SLAP! Linka suddenly stunned him, leaving a red hand-print on his face.
>"Uh, Okay." Before Lynn could rub the pain away, Linka hugged him again, even tighter this time.
>"You're such an idiot, Lynn!" She bawled right on Lynn's chest, moving her head side-to-side as if she was trying to dig herself in, "What the hell do you think you were doing!? Someone could have ended up dead! Do you have any idea how much you scared me!?"
>"I'm sorry, sis. I just...wanted to help."

>"I know," Linka sniffled and wiped away her tears. "I know. And you were right this time. I should have known better. But still, you have to cut me some slack from now on, Lynn. I'll try my best to listen to what you have to say, but you can't keep trying to hold my hand. I'm not eight anymore."
>"Got it. I take it you're gonna leave the team, right?"
>"No. Not at all. I like the team. Tonight was just an one-off."
 >"That's nice. I would miss you if you weren't there. Wait a minute, where's Loki?"
>"Oh, uh..."
>Lynn opened the front door, only to find Loki snoring like a bear on top of the steering wheel.
>"I told you he was tired." Said Linka.
>"Fuck, what now?"
>"Well, you have your license right? You can drive!"
>"Well, technically I'm still working towards it. And I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to drive this late with just a permit. But sure, I can try."
>"Awesome bro. I'll lay Loki down at the back of the van." Linka stepped forward and nudged Loki on the arm, "Come on, bro, let's lay you down somewhere else. Lynn is gonna put you on the mattress that Lars used to have before he got his coffin."
>"Ah-swah-A-feel-laik-am-lititly-gonn-dai" Loki slurred halfway between real life and dreamland. Linka pulled him and guided his sleepy body to the back. "You got the wheels, Lynn!"
>Lynn looked around for any policemen, and hopped on the driver seat. As he fastened his seat-belt, he thought about that day. The days before it. How everything seemed to transform into something sinister. How her sister and everybody around him changed the last couple of weeks. But he shook those thoughts away and thought about what was ahead of him. Perhaps all of that could be put away, and Lynn and Linka could be as close as they were when they were younger. Chuckling on those hopes, Lynn pressed down on the accelerator.