The smell of fried potatoes, hot bread, roast beef, and sweet milkshakes filled Lincoln's nostrils, making his mouth water with nostalgia.
The restaurant was more than two floors high, since the income was so great that they were able to make changes and were thus able to get twenty times as many customers as they used to get three years ago. It is unfortunate that no one knows that the proximate cause of this financial expansion has just entered.
The girls and the blind boy ordered burgers and sat down at a table on the first floor to enjoy the view. At least those who can do it.
Between the laughter and the plans shared by the girls, Polly was the only one who remained silent while eating the hamburger, but she did not take her eyes off the fifteen-year-old boy. It was unbelievable how much he had changed; although three years is not a short time, it wasn't enough for him to become this handsome. She wanted to seek conversation with Lincoln; after all, they were practically friends, though they did not exchange many words after the casual greeting when she went to his house.
"And Lincoln, tell me. How did you become blind?"
The moment of joy between the friends is interrupted by Polly's question. The girls, paying attention to Lincoln's reply, noticed that although they had long known from Lynn about Lincoln's condition, she never told them how it turned out this way, and whenever they asked her, she changed the subject. Either it was a sensitive family matter or she didn't say anything.
Lincoln is left holding a hamburger halfway to his mouth. He knew that his family had not told anyone about his accident, but it was already something that aroused a lot of curiosity, and he knew that sooner or later he would have to say it.
"The gas pipe in my house was in bad condition and exploded when I was walking by it. The blow to my head caused a lot of damage, and I lost my sight."
Lincoln's explanation shocks the girls, except Lynn. She knew Lincoln would defend Lisa from everything.
"Yes, you sure had some bad luck." Maddy said, dipping a cold potato into the ketchup.
Those last two words seem to have been said in slow motion and make Lincoln's mind burn, which causes him to squeeze the soda glass, causing it to explode and splash all over the girls and himself, which frightens the girls. "I'm sorry... I'll go get some more tissues and another bottle..."
The girls looked at Lynn, not understanding Lincoln's reaction. She only told them that these words were a sensitive matter for him, and not just for Lincoln but for his entire family and especially for her. Fortunately, they reconsidered the next day after returning from the beach; otherwise, the situation could have involved police officers and social workers.
It was a dark chapter that should not have existed in the lives of the Loud family. It took a month of apologies, conversations, and material bribes to restore the child's trust. But the boy refused the latter. Because he just wanted to know that his family loved and respected him as much as anyone else in it. Lincoln's big heart was finally able to find forgiveness for his sisters and parents.
This was one of the few things that Lynn envied about Lincoln at the time. Even though he was wrong and selfish, which of his sisters wouldn't? Especially one as competitive and proud as Lynn.
The dozens of awards in her display case confirmed it, but there was one thing she could not achieve with all the training or all the luck in the world, and that was the patience and humility that Lincoln possessed.
If you lose, you go crazy, but if he loses, he just gets up and keeps holding his head up high, and the few times he wins, he won't let it go to his head. This was added to by the fact that she had never acted like an older sister in her seventeen years of life. Not even when Luan left home and became the alpha sister.
Of course, in the past, she would play with Lincoln, but that was always her game and her rules. And when Lucy was born, the role of elder sibling was now compatible with Lincoln's, and so it was until Lily's birth, and in retrospect, it appears that he was her elder brother, always taking care not to harm her and enduring her sudden attacks. All without losing his smile.
Perhaps that will he showed was adding to the guilt she felt for unfairly blaming him, which eventually made her fall in love with him.
With the help of his cane, Lincoln finds the dispenser, grabs some napkins, and heads downstairs to order another soda.
A group of three teenagers carry their trays to their table, one of whom is distracted by looking at the back of a group of four girls, causing him to trip and fall to the floor with his friends as Lincoln passes by.
Lincoln kept his cane behind him so he could help the boys.
"Are you guys okay?" Lincoln asked to extend his hand.
One of the group members is the first to fall. It was Troy, a blond boy with slicked back hair. The boy looked at Lincoln angrily.
"Hey! Why don't you watch where you're going?"
"Hey, calm down; it wasn't my fault that you stumbled."
"shut it!" Troy pushes Lincoln again. "Look at my food! Look at it! Who's going to pay me for that? Ho? Ha? Tell me! Ha? Hmmm?" Troy pushes Lincoln between every sentence he says. "I'll tell you who. It's you!" Troy gave him another push, causing Lincoln to fall to the ground.