Game Changer II: The Quickening

>Lynn had adopted a change in her workout regimen
>After school, three times a week, she would head out to Ketchum Park
>After school, three times a week, she would meet up with Ronnie Anne by the two tall oaks
>After school, three times a week they'd play a few rounds of one-on-one soccer, knocking the ball back and forth for a while until they were totally out of breath
>This was all pretense, of course
>As if Lynn Loud would be so invested in "soccer practice" with a girl two years younger than her
>After school, three times a week, Lynn would get to kiss her again.
>She couldn't stand feeling this way.
>She couldn't stand being a villain.
>Just the other day, Lincoln told her how happy he was that she and Ronnie were getting along.
>She didn't look him in the eye.
>Are those three days a week worth it?
>Are those three days a week worth the guilt that knotted up her intestines and made her mouth dry when she spoke to Lincoln?
>Hell yes they were.
>She just wished it could be easier.

>So Saturday rolled around.
>Lynn rolled out of bed at five-thirty, distressed and disheveled
>She didn't have trouble sleeping until a few weeks ago.
>Ronnie Anne's fault again.
>The sun wasn't even up yet. It's too early in the day for it to be ruined.
>Whatever. It takes more than that to get in the way of her regular exercises.
>A few push-ups, curl-ups, that sort of thing
>"A few" is a phrase that means "100 every day morning and night"
>Lynn slid out of bed, tied her hair back, and got down on all fours.
>"One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Missi-"
>"You look terrible."
>Lynn Loud shrieked at a pitch that'd make Mariah Carey jealous
>She leaped back onto her bed and grabbed the nearest blunt object on her nightstand to defend herself with.
>"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING- oh, it's just you."
>Every damn day.
>Surely the laws of probability or whatever would mean that after eight years of living with her it'd get less surprising.
>"Lucy! Do we have to go over this every day?"
>Lynn looked at the improvised weapon she'd picked up - her supply of anti-fungal medication - and tossed it at her sister.
>Lucy caught it. Lynn always thought she'd have potential in baseball.
>"You've been looking tormented lately. Is the meaninglessness of life weighing on your shoulders? You know, if you're feeling depressed, I know some resources that can help you."
>Lynn sighed. "I don't need to see a SHRINK, Luce. I can handle my own problems."
>"I meant that I know a place that sells hair dye cheap. You'd look good in black."
>Lynn grumbled about sibling disownership and adoption while rifling through her dresser. "Why are you even awake this early?"
>"I haven't been to sleep yet. I'm a creature of the night, remember?"
>"Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's pretty easy to remember when you tell me a billion times."
>"You know, I wasn't joking earlier. If you're having problems, you can talk to me. I might not cheer you up, but I'll at least try to understand what you're going through."

>She thought about it.
>It'd be nice to have somebody to talk to about it.
>But should that somebody really be Lucy?
>Lynn glanced over at the poster on the wall
>The chalky-white, thick-lipped visage of Edwin the vampire
>the little sketch of herself that Lucy had taped next to it
>Lucy's romantic experience was limited. She wouldn't get it. She'd just feed her lines from whatever trashy novels she was reading at the time.
>Alright, Lynn Loud, time to dust off that thinking cap
>Who can she talk to about Ronnie Anne?
>Lucy and Lincoln are already out. Anybody younger than Lucy isn't a good bet either.
>Lisa's smart, but would probably just bury her in Latin terms and give her some pamphlets or something.
>Plus, Lynn'd like to keep her hazardous chemical exposure to a mininum.
>Probably not Luan. Never had a boyfriend - at least, to her knowledge - and couldn't even fake sincerity. Fun at parties, not so good at heart-to-heart convos.
>She could always go to Leni for advice - no, wait, Leni. Limitless compassion, limited understanding. That's right out.
>Lori would be the safe bet under normal circumstances, but Ronnie Anne is important to Bobby is important to Lori is important to whether or not Lynn was going to be able to tell the whole truth.
>Well, looks like there's only one person Lynn can go to. Lynn was going to swallow her apprehension and explain the whole situation to Luna.
>Right after she finished these push-ups.

>Breakfast, soccer practice, judo practice, homework
>Normally Lynn would be happy to have something to do, but it all felt like a distraction today
>She did the motions and ran the ball around, but her heart wasn't in it.
>Still scored fifteen points in scrimmage today.
>Eat your heart out, Mia Hamm!
>Well, it'd all been worth it. She had the rest of the day free.
>Normally she'd spend that time tormenting anybody who wandered into line of sight with some improvised wrestling moves, but she was giving her siblings a break today
>More important things to do.
>The house started to mellow out in the evening. Most of the kids were settling into their regular routine as they got ready to go to sleep
>Well, not Luna. The deafening electric guitar riffs booming upstairs could attest to that.
>Lynn stood outside Luan and Luna's shared room and wondered if it would even be worth it to knock.
>Well, the door was unlocked, and she could just say that she knocked and nobody heard her...
>Forget it. Charging in is the Lynn Loud way to do things.
>There she was: Luna Loud, third-oldest and most aggressively audible sibling. It looked like Luan was out, too! Today's Lynn's lucky day!
>Mildly disconcerting that Luan isn't in her room at this time of night, but hopefully that's somebody else's problem.
>"Yo, sis! Come to see the concert live and in person?"
>She rattled off some lightning-fast arpeggios at about ten decibels above a safe volume. Lynn smiled and gestured for her to tone it down.
>Luna looked a little dejected, but she turned the dial back from 11 anyway. "So what's up? Anything I can do for you?"
>"Actually, I was just wondering if I could talk to you about some stuff. If that's alright."
>"'If' it's alright? Dude, you can talk to me anytime! Come on, sit wherever you want-"
>She slipped into the patented Luna Loud Fake Cockney Accent for a moment here. "-and ya can talk abou' wha'ever ya feel like."
>Or maybe that was pirate speak. Whatever.

>Lynn settled into the beanbag chair, aka the comfiest seat in the house. Luna sat down Indian-style in front of her.
>"So what do you want to talk about? Sports? Music? You've kinda looked like you had a lot on your mind lately..."
>So Lucy wasn't the only one who noticed. Lynn wanted to kick herself for being so transparent.
>"It's just..."
>How was she gonna go about this?
>Just come right out with it?
>Let's start slow. "You ever, uh, kissed anybody before?"
>"Oh yeah, it's not a big dea-"
>Luna stopped to give her brain some time to catch up with her mouth. Once she'd thought it over, a wide grin crept onto her face.
>"Oi, luv, you tellin' me there's a guy in your life?"
>"How'd you - no! I mean, sort of..."
>"Oh, man! I've been waiting for this for like ever! You're growing up fast, kiddo!"
>Luna roughly tousled her hair. Lynn reflexively pulled back.
>"Hey! I didn't come in here for silly crap. I really wanted to talk to you about this stuff."
>"Hey, it isn't silly. Love isn't silly at all."
>Luna reached for her guitar only to realize that it was about a foot out of her reach; she figured it was too much effort and decided to stay seated.
>"Well?" she asked. "Come on, spill! I want to know this stuff! You kissed somebody? Who's the lucky guy? Is it that guy on the lacrosse team?"
>"No."
>"Is it that kid in the wheelchair? I thought you and him were cute together."
>"I don't even know who you're talking about, Luna."
>"Okay, level with me here: is it Linc's friend?"
>"What, Clyde? Ew, no! It's not even a guy."
>Well, the element of surprise is lost. Luna blinked for a moment, then started giggling.
>"Oh. Oho. I get it now. Oh, wow."
>"Shut up! I shouldn't have even bothered talking to you!"
>"No, I told you, it's not like that! It's just that I'm a little surprised, is all. Actually, I was kind of expecting thi- you know what, just tell me all about it."

>Lynn explained everything.
>Well, she didn't actually say the RA-word yet. That was the pitch. Everything else was the windup.
>"And we've been meeting up like every other day and we've sort of been, you know, snuggling and making out and stuff. We didn't do anything more than that."
>Luna whistled. "Listen dude, the only thing you need to know is that this stuff isn't weird at all.
>Everybody's going to have a moment in their life where they think about playing for the other team. Sometimes it's just a thought, sometimes that's what you feel comfortable with and you stick with it.
>Just remember, you've got your whole life to figure things out, so don't feel pressured into anything. Take your time, take things slow."
>Lynn could appreciate the advice, but it wasn't really helping.
>She was starting to realize that the whole point of telling a secret to somebody was that you actually told them the secret.
>But wouldn't it be more comfortable not to?
>You know, just leave it like this, with Luna happy that Lynn had the courage to come talk to her.
>She could keep all of this going for a while, and then she could go see Ronnie again-
>No.
>She had to do this now.
>If you get in an accident while swimming, then you have to get back in the water as soon as you can, or else you're never going to have the nerve to swim again.
>If Lynn didn't say this now, she wasn't going to have the will to say it, ever.
>"Luna? Can I tell you something? And, can you, you know, not get mad?"
>She looked expectant.
>"Don't worry about it, bro! You can say whatever you want! I won't get mad, I promise."
>"So what if, uh, what if, what if..."
>Damn it! Just make the words come out. Just seven. Then it would be out in the open.
>"What if the girl was Ronnie Anne?"

>Alright.
>It's said.
>No more secrets.
>Luna mulled it over. She opened her mouth to say something, then thought better of it and kept it closed for a few more seconds.
>"If Luan put you up to this, it's not funny."
>"It's not a joke! I swear to God, it's not a joke.
>It's not a joke."
>Luna didn't respond.
>"Luna?"
>Luna stood up and walked over to the bed. She flopped onto the bottom bunk, eyes staring towards the ceiling.
>"Dude," she whispered. "Shit, dude. Oh wow."
>Lynn Loud Jr., why can't you stop screwing up? She screwed up when she kissed Ronnie in the first place, and now she screwed up telling Luna about this.
>She knew Luna was closer to Lincoln than practically anybody else in the house, and she still went ahead and told her about how she cuckolded her own brother.
>Great work, Loud. Shouldn't have said anything at all. Shouldn't have even been born. Stupid, stupid.
>Luna finally sat up. She looked gravely serious.
>Lynn hadn't seen Luna like this since Luan swapped out her Mick Swagger CDs with the collected works of Enya.
>"Okay, dude. You have got to be honest with me here. Don't tell me anything that isn't exactly true, or I'm going right to Lincoln about this."
>"You can't!" Lynn shouted. "You ca- don't do this to me! I'm sorry! I shouldn't have-"
>"I said I was  going to do it if you try to lie to me. I can't decide what I'm going to do unless you tell me exactly what's been going on."
>The hardest part is over, Lynn! The hardest part is over.
>Now you HAVE to finish this.
>"Okay, Lynn. I want to know what the WHOLE story is. Let's start at the beginning. This girl you've been seeing is Ronnie Anne."
>"Yes."
>"You were playing soccer in the park, and then..."
>"We got close and then I kissed her. I don't even know why. I wasn't thinking about it."
>"And then what?"
>"She punched me and started yelling at me and then I thought I had ruined it for Lincoln and Lori and everybody and then, and then, and-"
>"Slow down, Lynn. Please."

>"She said that I had to convince her I was sorry. So she got me to kiss her again. And then I asked 'what about Lincoln?' and then she goes 'I like Lincoln, but I like you too, so let's just keep seeing each other!' so we did.
>Every time I went to the park this month, I've been seeing her."
>Luna tried to find the right words. She clearly wasn't comfortable with having to lay down the law.
>"Okay, Lynn, listen to me. I can't force you to do anything, and I definitely can't force you to stop seeing Ronnie Anne. So all I'm going to say is one thing."
>"Please, just tell me what I'm supposed to do!"
>"You have to tell Lincoln about this. Yourself."
>Lynn balked. "I can't tell him about this! I went to you because I couldn't tell him!"
>"You don't want to tell him because it's difficult. Look, dude, what did you expect me to say? 'Oh, dude, go ahead and kiss Ronnie behind your brother's back!' Are you crazy?"
>"I can find somebody else for Lincoln-"
>"Oh, so you're going to set him up with Polly again, right? One of the girls he ditched so he could go hang out with his actual girlfriend? Even if you did find him somebody, it wouldn't erase the fact that you were 'the other woman' and you knew it!"
>"Luna, you said you wouldn't get mad-"
>"I wasn't going to get mad at you telling the truth. I can't help but be mad when you come in here, admit to being complicit in cheating, and then say you don't want to tell Lincoln about it!"
>"You don't get it, Luna-"
>"No, you don't get it! It doesn't matter if you don't tell Lincoln, because he will find out about it! You're snogging her out in the middle of the park where anybody can see you! If one of Lincoln's friends sees that - if one of US sees that, what do you think is gonna happen?
>And don't take that to mean that you should go somewhere more secluded.
>No matter what you do, it's going to catch up to you someday, and people will find out, and your time is gonna come."

>"Luna-"
>"Let me finish. How is LINCOLN going to feel if he finds out that you actively decided not to tell him?
>You've got to live with him for five years! Imagine what that's gonna be like! This isn't just for his sake, it's for yours!"
>Lynn got up out of her chair and stomped towards the door. "I don't have to hear this from you! I thought you would understand-"
>"I do understand! I'm trying to tell you that I understand! I just want you to listen to me."
>Lynn grabbed the doorknob, but she didn't have the strength to open it. She pressed her head against the door and took deep breaths, trying to steady her heart.
>"Lynn Loud Jr., please. I want you to be happy, and you're only going to be happy once you admit what's been going on."
>Lynn's throat was too dry to speak.
>"I think you know I'm right, Lynn."
>"...why did I have to r-ruin it for him?" Lynn asked, her voice unsteady. "Why did I do it?"
>"Aw, hell." Luna wrapped her arms around Lynn and held her head close to her chest. "C'mere, you little bugger."
>They hugged for a while. Luna whispered some soothing words in Lynn's ear for a while, rocking her back and forth slowly.
>"I'll tell you what, love." Luna said. "I'll get you an' me a big bowl of ice cream. Then you can go to sleep, and then when you're feeling better tomorrow, you can tell him everything. Is that alright?"
>Lynn dried her eyes. "I- I- I want rocky road."
>Luna laughed. "Hey, I love rocky road too! So come and have a triple scoop with me. Come on, let's get a move on."
>Lynn smiled, just a little. "Okay, I guess I'll-"
>The closet door burst open.
>"Hey, Lynn, look! You're not the only one that came out of the closet, haha!"
>"What the hell - LUAN! How long were you in there?"
>"I was working on my act in my special secret place. You guys came in, and I mean, I couldn't come out until the timing was just right for the joke-"
>And after another round of tears and yelling, the three sisters sat down for a bowl of ice cream each.

>So things worked out fine in the end, for the most part.
>Lynn's managed to come clean about it to two of her sisters AND she got some ice cream out of it.
>Well, today wasn't exactly a cakewalk, but that was the easy part.
>The hard part's coming tomorrow.