(No POV)
As Lincoln was in his room taking a quick nap, all the Loud sisters gathered in Lori and Leni's room.
"Alright everyone, I think it's pretty obvious why," Lori stated before looking at Luna. "Now Luna, can you please tell us what happened after you and Lincoln left?"
Luna took a deep breath and explained everything in detail—from the setup of her band's new sound system to what happened when they went out to eat. She even told them, with an embarrassed blush on her face, how she was practically petting him the whole ride there with the other girls in her band.
"Wait a minute, you're saying he won a priceless guitar by singing some sappy love song?" Lynn said in disbelief.
"Look, dude, it wasn't some sappy love song," Luna said with her arms crossed. "The song he sang was one he wrote himself, and it had the women there blushing up a storm—even Sam and Mazzy."
"Ha! I'll believe it when I see it," Lynn said.
"Well, you better believe it, 'cause look," Lori said as she showed them a video posted online of Lincoln singing. The video already had 2 million views, and the comments were going crazy.
The sisters—apart from Luna—just stared with wide eyes as they listened to the song.
"Still don't believe it, sis?" Luna said with a smug look.
"Shut up," Lynn growled as she crossed her arms, not liking how she was proven wrong in just a few seconds.
"Wait, didn't you say that Linky's hair was like, super soft and that you were petting him the whole time?" Leni asked. Luna rubbed her arm in embarrassment before nodding. "Then I totes need to feel it," Leni told them as she got up to go pet Lincoln, but was stopped by the others.
"Leni, we are in the middle of a meeting," Lori told her firmly.
"Oh right!" Leni exclaimed as they all sighed.
"So, getting back on topic, our male sibling unit's strange behavior is that he's eating more, writes songs, and can sing," Lisa pointed out.
"And has super soft hair," Leni reminded her as Lisa rolled her eyes.
"The point is, that doesn't give us anything. If there is anything going on with Lincoln, we require more information."
"So what are we supposed to do?" Lola asked.
"Kids, time for dinner!" Lynn Sr. called out.
"We should continue to observe his behavior and see what he does next—as well as be on the lookout for any other warning signs," Lisa told them.
"But what happens if there's a big change without a warning?" Lucy spoke out, scaring them all as they had forgotten she was there.
"Lucy, you have got to stop doing that," Lori said as she tried to catch her breath. "And you don't need to worry about that. It's not like he's going to go through a big change out of nowhere."
Lucy, however, still had a strange feeling of worry but decided to stay quiet about it, hoping that it was nothing.
"Now, any more questions?" Lori asked. When she received none, she banged her shoe on her nightstand and said, "Alright then, I hereby call this sister meeting adjourned."
(Lincoln's POV)
As we sat down for dinner, I couldn't help but notice that my sisters were keeping a close watch on me. I know they suspect how different I am, but I also know that if I try to hide it, that'll just make me more suspicious. So it's better to just roll with it.
"So kids, how was your day?" their mother, Rita, asked them.
"Well, we all just went shopping, but there wasn't anything worth mentioning that happened at the mall," Luan said. "I thought the shoe store might have a good deal, but their shoes were sole destroyers—ha ha, get it?"
Everyone groaned as Luan laughed.
"Well, Haiku invited me to go with her to her favorite café tomorrow," Lucy told her parents.
"Hmm, well, you can go, but one of the older ones has to go with you," Rita said.
"Well, I can't. I'm going golfing with my friends tomorrow," Lori stated.
"I totes can't, because I'm going to the salon with my friends," Leni said.
"I have a jam session with my band tomorrow. We want to try the new sound system," Luna informed them.
"I'm booked for a birthday party, so I can't either," said Luan.
"And I have softball practice, so I'm out," Lynn told them.
Lucy looked her head down a little and sighed, and I felt bad—so I did what any brother would do.
"I'll go," I said.
They all looked at me, but I saw Lucy looking at me with a small smile.
"You sure you want to go, Lincoln? Not that I'm complaining, but you haven't spent any time with Clyde or your other friends this summer," Lucy stated.
"Well, Clyde and his dads went to visit his aunt for the summer, and many of my other friends are too busy or out of town," I informed them. "So if you need someone to go with you, then I'll go."
"Well, that's nice of you, sport. Glad to see you going out of your way for your sisters," Lynn Sr. said.
"No problem, I'm happy to help," I said with a smile.
"Oh, we heard about what happened at the Burpin' Burger," Rita said suddenly, looking at me. "And that was an amazing performance you did."
"Oh yeah! Why didn't you tell us you could sing like that?" Lola demanded.
I just shrugged my shoulders and answered, "You never asked, and there was never any reason to."
My sisters then gave each other a look. After that, dinner progressed normally, though my sisters continued to give me looks when they thought I wasn't paying attention. After dinner, I was getting ready for bed when I suddenly looked at the mirror, thinking about how much had already happened in just one day.
"If this was just day one, then let's see what the rest of my life will be like," I said as I hopped into bed.
(Later that Night)
Hot! Hot! Hot!
My body is burning up. I want to scream, but my throat feels like I swallowed gravel.
Pain. Pain. Pain. My bones are breaking and reforming. My muscles are melting. My blood is boiling.
My eyes rolled into the back of my head as I was blinded by the pain. My veins feel like lava.
Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop, I prayed for the torture to end as I fell out of bed. Then I suddenly felt my body cool down, like a bucket of ice water was poured on me. The pain subsided as I suddenly blacked out, wishing that had happened earlier.
(Early Morning)
As I gingerly opened my eyes, I wondered why I was on the floor—until the events of what happened came back to me. I quickly shot up to look at myself in the mirror, and what I saw was unbelievable.
I saw myself, but my hair was slightly longer, and my permanent cowlick was gone. My eyes were the same shade of blue, but they seemed deeper—that's the only way to describe them—as if they'd pull you into their depths if you looked into them too long.
I opened my mouth and saw that my chipped tooth was fixed, and my buck teeth were gone, replaced with perfectly straight, pearly white teeth. I looked around and realized that I had grown a little, now making me taller than Lynn, as my clothes were now feeling a little tight.
"Lynn is not going to be happy about that," I chuckled as I noticed a small pouch on the desk with a note that read: "We promised." I smiled as I looked at it.
"Well, I promised Lucy that I'd go with her—but now none of my clothes fit me," I said, until I remembered that Gold had also given me a debit card he set up for me. I looked through the pouch until I found a black card with a gold design.
I looked at the time and knew Dad would be up preparing breakfast.
"Might as well stop by the mall before going to the café," I said as I started to change into a hoodie and basketball shorts. I noticed my body's changes even more—my arms were more developed, and I had a solid 4-pack. My body seemed more lean than muscular.
I looked at myself for about a minute before deciding that I'd start working out—having a strange feeling that I wanted to get stronger. I shook it off as I finished changing and exited my room.
(No POV)
Lynn Sr. was in the kitchen preparing breakfast when he suddenly heard someone come downstairs.
"Hmm, no one's usually up at this time," he wondered as he saw a head of white hair. "Oh, morning Lincoln," he said—but when he saw his son, he almost dropped his spatula. His son was now taller, his hair longer, and he seemed to carry himself with more confidence than normal.
"Lincoln, what happened?" Lynn Sr. asked, staring. "Is this the effect of one of Lisa's experiments?"
"No, Dad. I believe I just went through a bit of a growth spurt," Lincoln answered. "Remember how much I was eating yesterday?"
Lynn Sr. nodded. "Yes, I remember. But this is more than a bit of a growth spurt, son. You've stayed the same height for some time now, so I guess this was overdue. And now look at you—you can barely fit into your clothes," he said, gesturing at Lincoln's attire.
"I know, and that's why I want to ask if I could go to the mall to get some new ones," Lincoln said.
"But didn't you agree to go with Lucy to the café with her and her friends?" Lynn Sr. asked.
"That's why I want to go to the mall now—so I can go straight to the café and meet her there. Just have Lori drop her off," Lincoln explained.
"Why don't you have your sisters help you get a new outfit?" Lynn Sr. offered.
Lincoln gave him a deadpan look and said, "I want you to try saying that you need their help picking out clothes—and see how you come out of it."
Lynn Sr. shivered. He remembered the last time and it was horrifying. "Alright, point taken. Do you need a ride or some money to pay for your clothes?"
Lincoln smiled. "No thanks, Dad. I've got it covered. Just have Lucy text me the address, and I'll be there."
"Alright, son—but be careful. And here, have a breakfast burrito to go," Lynn Sr. said as he handed Lincoln the burrito.
"Thanks, Dad. Have a good day," Lincoln said as he made his way out of the house.
"Have a good day, sport," Lynn Sr. said as he heard the door close.
(Lincoln's POV)
As I was jogging to the mall, I realized many things. One is that I'm fast—like really fast. Another thing is that I'm holding back. I'm not even breathing heavy. So I decided to pick up the pace, and as I felt the wind rushing through my hair, I felt like I was flying—until I heard a crash.
As my head shot in the direction of the crash, I saw a purple van with smoke coming out of the engine. Three people came out. One was a slender black-haired young woman with red highlights at the roots and ends, pale skin, and green eyes. She wore a black and red dress with red sleeves draping down her shoulders.
On either side were equally beautiful women. On her left was a woman with dark red hair and a darker complexion. She wore a dark purple coat with a black shirt underneath, a long purple skirt with a slit at the hem—showing part of her dark purple-black boots—and gold hoop earrings.
The next woman had a pale complexion, a beauty mark on her cheek, and blonde hair styled in pigtails. She wore a long-sleeved dark green top with a matching green skirt that had a slit in it, and dark purple ankle boots. Her accessories were a black choker with an "X"-shaped necklace and green triangle earrings.
"Hey, are you okay?" I called out, getting their attention.
"Yeah, we're okay. We just hit a pothole and it popped our tire and did something to the engine," the black-haired woman replied.
"You wouldn't happen to know a mechanic shop close by, do you?" the blonde-haired woman asked.
"I do, but sadly they're still closed," I answered.
"Hang on, I think we have a spare tire and some tools in the back," the red-haired woman exclaimed as she rushed to the back of the van and soon enough came back with a toolbox.
"Quick question: have any of you changed a tire or fixed an engine before?" I asked as they shook their heads.
"Well, lucky I know how to. Just give me a minute," I told them.
"Wait, really? You're going to help us out?" the blonde woman exclaimed. "Thank you so much!"
"No problem. My name's Lincoln. What's yours?" I asked.
"My name's Thorn," the black-haired woman said. "The blonde one is Dusk, and the redhead is named Luna," she introduced them as they waved.
(The Luna in the Hex Girls will have an (H) so we don't mix them up.)
"Really? I have a sister named Luna," I told them.
"Ha, ain't that a coincidence," Luna(H) laughed.
I got to work on the tire first since it was easy to replace, so it only took a minute. As I went to the engine, I quickly saw the problem.
"Hmm," I hummed.
"Is something wrong?" Thorn asked as they watched me work.
"Nothing really. The spark plug got knocked out of place and one of the tubes is open—that's what's causing the smoke. But it's a quick fix," I reassured them as I continued to fix the engine. After eight minutes, I was finished.
"Do you mind if one of you starts the engine?" I asked them.
"I'll do it," said Dusk as she hopped in the driver's seat and turned the key. The engine roared to life.
"Whoa, you fixed it!" Luna(H) exclaimed.
"Thank you so much. We owe you one," Thorn said.
"It's no problem. I'm just glad I was here to help," I said to them.
"Hey, why is a kid out here so early?" Dusk asked.
"Well, I was on my way to the mall to get some new clothes since the old ones don't fit me anymore," I explained.
They looked at each other and nodded.
"Hey, since you fixed our ride, do you want us to give you a lift?" Thorn offered.
"You sure? I don't want you going out of your way for me just to repay me," I told them.
"It's fine. We're heading there ourselves, and since we're new in town, you can show us the mall," Luna(H) said.
As I was thinking, I suddenly got a message on my phone. I looked and saw that it was from Lucy. She sent me the address and the time when she would be there. So to hurry, I took them up on their offer, which made them smile.
As we hopped in the van, I noticed a bunch of instruments.
"Hey, I never asked, but what brought you to Royal Woods?" I asked them.
"Well, we're having a concert here soon," Dusk answered.
"You girls are a band?" I asked, thinking they looked familiar.
"Yeah, we're the Hex Girls," Thorn revealed.