"Wow, that feels so weird to write down." Linka whispers, her soft feminine voice barely louder than the pencil she writes with. "I don't know why I'm even bothering to write in here… then again, I can't talk about this stuff with Linka's brothers, even if they're just like my sisters, they'd go crazy!"
"It's interesting, Linka's life is so similar to my own, but so different at the same time." The young Loud leans back, letting the hardwood chair support her weight, "Heh, it's funny really. It's only been about two weeks since I've arrived, and so far I've ended up chased by my dog brothers, starred in a play, saw other universes, played card games on motorcycles and got caught up in a lemonade war with the most dreamy… kind… handsome boy I've ever met." Linka blushes.
Her body begins to feel shaky at the mere thought of him, "His name is Ron Andy. He's so strong and nice and…"
"What the heck is wrong with you Lincoln?!" The young girl shakes her head and just stares at the page in surprise, "You know what…" Linka thinks, before turning the page and writing the date down, "I think I'll just start a new entry."
"My name is Lincoln Loud, and for lack of better phrasing, I am a boy trapped in a girl's body!" He declares, before quickly checking his room and taking a deep breath, "It's a good thing that nearly everything's the same around here, that means that my room is the only one with thick walls. Meaning I can say and do whatever I need to!"
Linka thinks for a moment, before she writes, "So, I haven't told anyone this yet, but it really feels weird not having something dangling between my legs, but hey, I guess it comes with the territory." She chuckles, "Heh, you've still got it Lincoln."
"Besides, if I have learned anything from my visit to the, what I have dubbed the 'Eleven Boys' dimension, if I had a choice between being a girl with ten brothers or a boy with ten brothers, I'd pick the girl option. Here, Linka's brothers or way more open to me for some reason. It's strange, I always thought that my sisters were open to me, you know, cause they didn't have to worry."
She smiles again and continues writing, "Turns out that they have way more girl problems than my sisters did with boys. Ain't that funny? And guess who they always end up coming to for talks! Though, I don't think I can help much, cause not really girl."
"Lori's advice really helped, it's a good thing she told me everything she could during the night I couldn't sleep."
"These guys are crazy about everything though! While on the surface they seem more calm then my sisters, they are much more prone to danger! Though, at least they're not all like Lynn. It seems like having a girl to balance them out gave them a reason to have distinct personalities."
"Still, the hive mind doesn't stop!" Linka's mind goes red before she writes her next thought, "Despite the face that my walls block out most noises, they don't do much to muffle the… slapping sounds that start at 11 o'clock EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what the boys were doing."
She then sighs defeated, "Though, I really can't say much else bad about Linka's brothers. They're kind to me and are more respectful towards mom and dad. I guess when a girl came into the picture the boys decided that they had to clean up their act." She chuckles, "Who would've guessed."
Linka then leans back and taps her lip with her pencil and whispers with closed eyes and a nostalgic tone, "As for the brothers individually, they really seem to change things up, almost as if dimension 63i'\ isn't a perfect gender swap of dimension C-137."
"For one Loki is just like Lori. For one, they're both mature, for two, they're both dating their version of Bobby (Bebe here) and for three, they literally can't stop misusing the word "Literally". And while they both really cared about me, I feel like Loki cares much more for me here than Lori… I guess it's the big brother instinct."
She chuckles again, "But Loni? He's just like Leni! They're both naïve and a bit on the dumber side, but if I had to choose, I'd say Leni is way more kind, just cause she has that motherly tone behind her."
"The same can't be said for Luke though. While Luna back home was way chiller and nicer overall, Luke here seems to be tougher, so much so that I think Loki sees him as a second-in-command! Lori always treated Luna as just another annoying sibling…" Then another thought comes to mind, "Oh, and Luke's music takes on a more metal feel, versus Luna's more soft rock take. Personally, I prefer Luna's."
"After Luke comes Lane, Luan's counterpart… and so far, it seems like he has no restrictions. I may have only been here for less than two weeks, but so far he's told like… 69 sex-related jokes! (Note: I actually counted. That's not a joke!) Seriously! After he beat me at a video game he told me, and I quote, "If I didn't know any better, I'd tell you to learn how to suck before you blow!" That's the worst pun I've heard him say so far!"
Then Linka whispers, "It really grinds my gears when I hear him say those types of jokes…" Before the realization hits her, "Link, what's going on with you?! You've never felt offended by those types of jokes before!"
She takes a deep breath and whispers, "It's probably nothing." Before returning to writing, "After Lane comes Lynn, and so far he seems the most distant from me. It's almost like he's trying to hide something big. I wish I could find out though… close to two weeks and I really haven't talked to him that much, whereas my sister Lynn would've Dutch Ovened me like twenty times!"
"Oh that's another thing, unlike the 11B dimension, I don't get involved in Dutch Ovens… though the dog piles on dad are a different story. Don't judge me, but I actually like hanging out with my bros like I'm just one of the guys."
Linka shakes her head, as if unsure of that thought.
"Anyways moving on, Lars is the resident Lucy. Dark coat, dreary personality, sleeps in a padded coffin? He's the Goth one all right. Interestingly enough, he seems to be the one who spends the most time around Linka. Oh and instead of poetry writing, Lars seems to write really dark and depressing stories. He seems like the type to write a story of unrequited love while mixing a dying cancer patient into the mix!"
"Now the twins. Surprisingly enough, they're much more tolerable then Lana and Lola. Don't get me wrong, they're still really annoying and stuff, but I can't help but just feel relieved that they go out on each other as much as they do."
So, Lana's counterpart is Leif, and I have to say that he seems way more open to playing in the mud then Lana. Oh, and between you and me, I haven't seen him change out of those overalls since I arrived… He also doesn't seem to wear a shirt under those… or underwear for that matter. At least Lana had a limit to mud playing! That kid has no shame."
"As for Lola, she has Lexx. And the first thing I have to admit is that he's nowhere near as scary as Lola. Don't get me wrong, he's just as crazy, he does some pretty messed up things to get what he wants, but he just doesn't go as far as she would." The young girl thinks about the blackmail he used on her to make her perform for him, "Well, at least he was only doing it to impress a girl, who by the way looks exactly like Lana!"
"I wonder if she's an anomaly…" Linka whispers.
"I wonder what would happen if Lola has a boy she's trying to impress as well and if the same thing happened back home…" She writes, "Home…" Tears flow down her cheeks, before she quietly wipes them, "I miss them so much. I really need to get back to work finding them again."
"Also, apparently Lexx is an actor here. I guess it makes sense though, since there aren't as many beauty contests for boys as girls. I just hope that the harsh realities of Hollywood reveal themselves to him before it's too late."
"Next is Levi, Lisa's counterpart here. While he doesn't seem to be as observant as Lisa, but by what I've seen, more prone to reckless behavior. Case and point, he built a hard-light projector in the backyard just so the brothers could play a card game and actually feel the attacks coming their way. Though Lisa experimented with super acids with Lily a few feet away... So I'm not sure."
"Speaking of Lily, surprisingly enough her counterpart is different as well! Leon is more prone to crazy behavior, leading to our mom having to hold him constantly! Seriously, I've never seen him not under someone's watch!"
With that written, Linka turns to her next blank page.
The young girl then sighs, "Then, I guess it's me next. My name is Lincoln Loud, and again, I am currently a boy trapped in a girl's body. I love comic books, action figures, video games and duel monsters, so I had assumed Linka did too, but I was wrong."
"Apparently, mom and dad have been grooming Linka to be the ideal girly girl here, to the point where I fear that my out of character behavior to her has begun arousing suspicions. I'm afraid that soon, our brothers will find out the truth."
She then turns and gazes out into the star-swept sky, before letting her eyes fall upon the weird, shield-like device Trevor had left behind, as well as the man's card. "And with these dimensional anomalies coupled with that fact, I'm worried that I'll never get home.
Then she sighs once more, "But at least things should be quiet for now It took Trevor more than a week to find me, probably at least, so that might be how long I have till the next hunter comes."
With a nostalgic smile she writes, "So what's life with ten brothers like? Well for one, unlike the reality where we were all boys, I'm not insulted as often. Probably because they don't want to offend Linka, though Lane is the only exception. It's unusual, but it takes a load off. Living with ten judgmental sisters gives you thick skin though."
"Another is that there's always someone who wants to listen to my problems, especially Loki, it's almost like Lori's 'no one can enter my room' rule doesn't apply to me here!"
She then taps her lip with the pen again, "Plus, the boys really want to spend way more time with me, heck, Lexx, Lynn, Loki, Loni, Lane and Luke have all come to me for girl advice so far! None of my sisters ever asked for boy advice."
"Another thing is the bathroom situation, with ten girls back home, the lines were rough! (After all, girls take forever in the bathroom) but the boys here, save for Lexx because reasons, take very little time to do their business. On the flip side though, I've had to learn how to put make up on and clean myself as a girl... Good thing I helped Lola and Lana get ready for their pageants. Also, surprisingly enough the bathroom is clean; it even lacks the hole in the floor! Now it's a latch that we can open for reloads, and you wouldn't know how useful that is."
"The house is still falling apart of course, but with ten boys, mom and dad seem eager to put them to work. That brings me to some of the downsides, for one the smell."
Linka cringes as her face scrunches up, "Turns out that Linka has a better sense of smell than me... that or she couldn't handle it either because I found a small, but really thick, blanket on her bed. Turns out that her current blankets were really warm, so I didn't understand why she'd bring the comforter, until I realized that by sliding it under the door it can block out all of the smells and wouldn't you know it, these guys stink! They sweat like dogs and don't shower as often as they should, except for Loki and Lexx of course."
"By the way, back home I threw the garbage as my chore, here I have to do the laundry. Why? Because I'm apparently the only one who won't bleach everything. I was also warned not to let Lane near the hydrogen peroxide... I don't know why though."
Linka cringes again, "You wouldn't believe how disgusting boy's laundry can be." Before shivering. "No wonder Lori hates her chore. Though I don't think it is as horrible, ten girls and one boy can't be that bad!"
"That reminds me, Clyde has a female counterpart here too! Her name is Claudia and apparently here she has two moms and a crush on Loki... just like Clyde had two dads and a crush on Lori."
"There's really not much to say except that she's just like Clyde, loyal, friendly, all that stuff."
"Linka! Come help with dinner!" Rita shouts.
"Coming mom!" Linka responds, before closing the diary and walking away from the table.
Only for her walkie-talkie to buzz to life, "Linka, come in, it's important."
The young girl grabs the device and responds, "Yeah, I read ya loud and clear Claudia."
"Would you mind hanging out tomorrow? I really want to see you." Her voice sounds worried.
"Sure Claudia." Linka responds, "I'll see ya tomorrow!"
"R-really?!" Claudia nervously responds, "Awesome!" Before the walkie-talkie goes silent.
"Huh." Linka quips, "I wonder what that was about." And with that, she stands up and heads downstairs for dinner.
The Next Day…
"K guys, I'm headed to the mall with Claudia! Don't wait up!" Linka declares as she slides down the stairs, clutching an orange purse. "Wow, it feels weird not having pockets."
"See ya later Linka!" Loki continues tapping away at his phone.
While Lexx shouts, "Have fun at the mall! See ya later!"
"Huh, weird." Linka thinks, before stepping out of the home and heading off on her way.
*Slam* the front door goes, before Lexx turns and runs up the stairs. "Ok Levi, Linka's gone. Where's Lars?" he asks as he rushes into the four-year-old's room.
"I'm right here." The Goth declares as he appears, startling the two boys.
After regaining their bearings, Levi adjusts his glasses and says, "Ok siblings, we must go and find out what is wrong with our sister."
The two nod, before following the young scientist into their lone sister's room.
"Ok you two, we must search this room for-"
"Yo Levi, I found her diary." Lexx declares as he pulls the pink book from under the bed. "That was way easier than I expected. I expected Linka to hide it way better"
Levi thinks for a moment, before taking the diary in his hands, "Ok, let's read the entries."
Then, with his two older brothers standing behind him, he reads aloud, "June 18th... Today I met the most handsome boy, his name was Ron Andy. He picks on me in public, but when we're alone we get really intimate."
Levi's face goes red, almost as if he has thought of something that would cause many his age to look on in confusion, "Could she have… gone that far?"
"Yo Levi, what's wrong?" Lars asks, before Levi shakes his head. "Nothing brother, let's read on shall we?"
The young scientist skips the next few pages, "October 26th, I feel weird, my body aches and I woke up with a pool of blood around my crotch… I hope mom knows what's going on with me. She mentioned that I was reaching 'that age'."
"Huh, it's almost that time of the month."
Without another word, Levi flips away from that page and lands on the next, "Ok today… My name is Lincoln Loud and again, I am a boy trapped in a girl's body-"
"Yo bro's what are you doing in Linka's room?"
Immediately, the three brothers turn and face Lynn, who just stares at them in disappointment. "You guys are so lucky Linka's not home, she'd probably turn you into human pretzels for reading her diary."
Then, he steps over and grabs the light book from Levi's hands, "Now, go away, I have to re-hide this before Linka comes home. You're so lucky I can keep a secret."
The trio nods, before rushing into Levi's nearby room.
They pant for a second, before the scientist adjusts himself and declares, "Brothers, I think I have figured out why Linka has been acting so unusually since she had that dream a few days ago."
"Why bro?" Lexx asks, tilting his head in confusion, "What could you have possibly found from just a few diary entries?"
"Apparently Linka calls herself Lincoln in private and speaks about being a boy trapped in a girl's body. These are phrases usually associated with Gender Dysphoria."
Both Lars and Lexx look at him in confusion, "In layman's terms, our sister may rather want to be our brother."
"Oh… I still don't get it." Lexx responds.
And Lars answers, "Linka wants to be a boy."
"So what will we do?!" Lexx shouts. Levi responds by putting his mouth on the older boy's mouth, "We lay low for now and just act accepting. We need to make her… him… them comfortable until they're willing to reveal the truth, do you two understand that?!"
Lars then nods, before standing up and walking over to the door, "Will do. I might add a character like that to my newest story. It's about a young boy accidently getting involved in a mafia ring and he has to hide the secret from his numerous sisters. I'm still flushing out the details, maybe I'll make the mafia leader a male to female transgender to make Linka comfortable…"
And when he opens the door, their six older brothers are waiting, all with anger engulfing their expressions.
"Well crud." Lexx whispers.
"There you are!" Loki shouts.
"You've got some explaining to do!" Luke angrily declares.
Immediately Lexx throws his hands up in surrender, "We're sorry we went through Linka's diary!"
"That's not what we're in here for!" Lane shouts in response, before the brothers pull out their damaged belongings, "Lexx! Why'd you use our stuff to unclog the toilet again?! You know that that's not how it works!"
A beat of stunned silence follows.
"Wait..." Loni whispers, "You went through Linka's diary?!"
Luke coldly adds, "Have you no decency?"
"Uhh, we can explain?" Levi nervously responds.
"Then go explain." Leif angrily declares, while crossing his arms, "What could have been so important that you invaded your sister's privacy to find out."
Levi then pulls out a chart and a laser pointer, "We went through her diary in hopes that we could find out an explanation for her latest unusual behavior."
Loki grabs the bridge of his nose in annoyance; "It's probably that time of the month again."
"On the contrary dear brother." Levi then flips the board over. "If that were the case, we would have heard the washer running on maximum this or previous mornings, and an increase of feminine products in the family wash room."
Luke steps over, "And? So what? Linka could've just thrown that stuff away when no one was looking, after all, some of the things she does just doesn't make sense to us, remember?"
The young scientist the flips the board again, somehow changing what was drawn before to two lists. "Let me make my point then. About a week and a half ago she had a dream where she was a boy and you guys didn't care about her much."
He turns to the chart and starts filling in the side labeled, "Behavior Before."
"Before she had that dream our sister was, for lack of a better term, an all-around girly girl. She behaved in a manner our parents deemed 'respectable' and as a result, faced little scrutiny from all of us."
"So? Our parents wanted their only daughter to be someone who could balance out her ten brothers?" Loki cuts in, "It's not like she has changed that much?"
Levi adjusts his glasses, and continues in a commanding voice, "That is what I thought. Taking the paper route job with little hesitation is not something she would do however."
"Maybe she wanted to make some money on the side." Luke shrugs, "Didn't she mention she wanted a new set of shoes last week?"
Lexx then cuts in, "After that, I found her reading a comic book in nothing but her underwear, it was really weird!"
Lane glares at his little brother, "You caught Linka trying to have some alone time! It's what all girls want ya know, or else they'll end up ovary-acting to everything!"
Luke proceeds to hit him upside the head, "Lane, it wasn't funny before, it's not funny now."
"That is interesting. Linka has always hated comic books... Or should I say, never read them as our parents decided that they were a bad influence on her." Lynn cuts in, "Though maybe she just wanted to see what the fuss was about?"
Then he writes in the, "Behavior After." Column, filling it in with, "Now reads comics in her underwear."
"Moving on, after the play Lexx made us participate in, Linka came to me asking about Everett's interpretation of quantum mechanics."
The brothers just stare at him cluelessly.
"The Many World's Theory. About alternate dimensions and the like." Levi quickly flips the board to a branch diagram of the idea. "This is what I mean."
"Ok, and?" Leif goes in annoyance, "What does that have to do with our sister?"
He adjusts his glasses once more, before flipping the board back and writing, "Not too science-y" in the before column and "Very science-y" in the after column. "After that, our sister came to me and asked me to make a set of goggles that could view alternate worlds. Leading to the lemonade stand war we had to participate in."
"I still don't get where you're aim for." Loni declares.
"Then yesterday she seemed really eager to play duel monsters with you guys." Levi continues writing.
"Yeah." Lynn declares, "It's a fun game and there are quite a few female players."
"She played it before and hated it remember?" Lexx responds and then Lars speaks up, "She also became interested in deciphering her dreams. She came to me looking for my interpretation."
"Yes, and finally today, we found out that she calls herself, 'Lincoln' and describes herself as 'A boy trapped in a girl's body'."
"You don't think..." Luke starts.
"Could she be... Our sister? Really?" Lane goes in shock.
Levi just nods.
"Well then." Loki goes, "Until we know for sure, we have to be as accepting as possible for Linka... Or Lincoln. Got it guys?"
The Loud brothers nod and Loki continues, "And don't go in her room again, that's her private space for a reason."
"You all know what happens if you enter my room without permission." The young man glares at his younger siblings, "don't you dare do the same to her again, or else you will find out what it's like to be a human pretzel."
The boys fearfully nod in agreement.
"Also Lexx," Loki goes, catching the young boy's attention, "you have to replace our stuff. Why the heck did you use our stuff to unclog a toilet?!"
Lexx shrugs, "I thought it would work this time." His brothers face palm, before stepping out of the room.
"Ok." Levi says, "Lexx, you follow Linka to the mall. I want you to take note of anything strange that they do, got that?"
"But why me?" Lexx whines.
"Because you were dumb enough to try an unclog a toilet with our things, now you have to use the money you made with your last acting job to replace them all."
Lexx sighs in defeat, "Fine." And with that, the young boy walks out of the room.
Meanwhile…
"Ok Lincoln, this is the first time you're going to be actively hanging out with your best friend here. So what if he's a girl here? Everything is going be just fine." The young girl adjusts her blue skirt and orange blouse, as well as her orange bow, white hair and bag.
For a few moments, she stands in front of their meeting place, the school, and takes a deep breath. "Ok Lincoln, here we go. You're Linka Loud, Claudia McBride's best friend."
And with that, she steps into the building. "I wonder why she decided that this would be a good place to meet up. After all, school's out for Thanksgiving Break... Isn't it?"
"Well, here it is, room A113" Linka declares before opening the door and stepping inside, revealing Claudia sitting alone at one of the science lab tables.
"Mornin' Claudia." Linka greets, "What are you doing here all by your lonesome? It's break time!"
She moves away from the computer and responds, "I was just working on an animation for YouTube. Remember, I use the computers here?"
"Oh right…" Linka awkwardly goes, "So what did you work on today?"
Claudia motions for her to come over to the monitor, revealing a hot dog flying into a bun... Rather suggestively to boot!
"Uhh, why'd you make this?"
The girl thinks for a moment, "I guess I'm just hungry. I haven't eaten all day."
"Why's that? I thought your da-moms! Made sure that you never left home hungry?"
Claudia awkwardly runs the back of her head. "I sort of just ran out of my house without eating..."
"Why?"
"I wanted to think about something... And I asked you to meet me here because..." Claudia's face goes flush in embarrassment before she continues, "It's a great place to have privacy and stuff... To talk about girl things and stuff."
"Huh, ok then." Linka tilts her head in curiosity. "So what do you want to talk about?"
"Linka... We've known each other for a while now and-"
"Hey, there you two are." A young boy walks into the room, wearing a familiar purple sweater and blue jeans, "I heard you two were going to meet here and since my sister is apparently doing 'intimate' things with Loki, I decided that it would be a good idea to just hang out with the lovely ladies in my life."
Linka smiles, "Sure Ron Andy!" While thinking, "I wonder why that felt so… natural. Like I wanted to invite him."
"Cool." Ron nods, "How about I meet you two at the mall in twenty or so? In front of the Burpin' Burger since…" He takes a quick glance at his watch, "It's almost lunch time."
"That'll work." Linka responds, her voice becoming more eager.
Ron then turns and walks out of the room with, "See ya girls there!"
The white-haired girl then turns around and asks, "So what were you saying Claudia?"
"I was saying-" Claudia begins, only to get cut off again by Cristopher entering the room.
"Linka!" Cristopher greets with a pained smile as he walks into the science lab. "Your brother Lane is crazy." He then begins to pace around the room while stammering randomly. "I just read a comic called, 'The Loud Comic: I Love My Sister!' And, spoiler alert, he killed Ron Andy in the first few pages!" Then with more fear in his voice he runs right into the wall. After taking a moment to brush the blood off his nose, he continues, "And apparently I'm going to appear in it soon!" And with that he quickly walks out of the room, leaving a tense air in his wake.
"That was strange... What's going on with Cris? And why are people making comics of me?" For a moment Linka thinks, before realizing, "It's probably just the Internet being the Internet. There are college students probably writing fanfiction of a boy with ten sisters or something... Wait... That makes no sense either."
She sighs, " Things happening that don't make sense… things popping up where they don't belong? I wonder if the universe trying to 'correct' supposed anomalies. Things are just getting more confusing by the minute."
After a few moments of confused silence, Linka suggests, "How about we head to the mall and talk about whatever you want me to over a bite to eat?" Before getting up and motioning Claudia to do the same.
Claudia nervously responds, "Ok Linka, I'll tell you then." Before complying. And with that the duo heads out of the school and over to the mall a few blocks away.
A Few Minutes Later…
The Royal Woods mall, a small town icon ever since its construction a few decades ago. Though simple in design, it breathes of use, with the residents of the surrounding small town as well as the visiting tourists making sure to pay a visit.
*Yawn* Ron goes as he leans back in his chair. Linka and Claudia sit across from him with the white-haired girl staring at him with goo-goo eyes.
"Anyways, I've got to hit the toilet." He declares, before moving passed the pile of random goodies the girls had acquired and walking away.
Linka shakes her head, before turning to the quiet Claudia, "So Claudia, you've been quiet."
Her African-American friend nods.
"Didn't you want to talk to me about something?"
Claudia rubs the back of her head in embarrassment, "Yeah… well Linka… there's something I've been meaning to tell you and…"
"Aww, would you look at that! The lesbian girls are spending time together!" a rather stuck-up sounding voice calls out, causing the two girls to turn.
"Oh, hey Chandler." Linka greets nervously, "Am I supposed to hate her here or something?"
"Aww, how cute!" Chandler condescendingly declares, "You're so girly, princesses are more manly than you!"
"Aww thanks Chandler!" Linka responds with a sincere tone, "Am I doing this right?"
Chandler scoffs, "In case you haven't noticed, tomboys become fully feminine when they hang out with you, Loud!"
"Whatever I'm supposed to be with Chandler, I'm not dealing with this." Immediately Linka responds,"So? At least I'm a good influence on the people around me!"
"Your dress is awful!" Angrily rebukes.
"Well hey, I've got some good stuff to cover," Linka declares, motioning towards her rather plain body, "having 10 brothers teaches you not to wear your best unless it's a special occasion."
"Ok Lincoln, you've got to make sure that if something changes for Linka, if should be giving her a better reputation!" The girl nervously thinks.
"I can't believe it! Last week, you ran away crying when I insulted your dress! What the heck happened to you?!" she angrily shouts.
"Crap Lincoln, you went too far!" Linka puts on a shy smile. "Oh, nothing happened. I guess it's a perk of having caring and judgmental brothers! You've gotta have thick skin and stuff."
Chandler growls, "Your brothers suck!"
"My brothers are awesome!" Linka counters.
"At least I'm not a danger to society!"
Claudia then tries to speak up, "Linka I-" Her face becomes redder.
Only for Linka to laugh, "And you're not? You hold parties at a sewage treatment plant!"
"Well… I have a boyfriend!" The rich girl declares, her frustration building.
Yet, Linka is unfazed and casually responds, "Wow, you actually found someone who could stand you?"
"Well hey, at least I have a significant other! What about you, Lonely McLonelypants?!"
Before Linka can respond, Claudia grabs her and pulls her into passionate kiss.
Chandler is left silent, unsure of what to make of the scene unfolding before her very eyes. Wordlessly, she raises her phone and takes a picture of the kiss. "This is so going to make it on the Internet!" Before promptly running away.
"Claudia..." Linka whispers, unsure of how to respond.
"I'm sorry." The girl quickly says, before turning and running away as well.
"Hey everybody, look! It's the lesbians!" Chandler declares as she returns with her usual group.
"Shut it chandler, or else your fake boyfriend might start talking." Linka angrily grits her teeth.
"At least I don't have gay cooties!" She puts her hands on her hips, as if trying to emphasize her weak point.
Immediately, Linka grabs Chandler by her blouse and pulls her into a kiss as well. No doubt someone was taking a picture of it.
Linka breaks the kiss off with, "Congrats, now you do too."
Chandler, after the shock wears off, tries to throw a punch at Linka with, "How dare you?! You little bitch!"
But Linka is no push over, and she easily catches Chandler's fist and kicks her crotch, causing her to fall down in pain. "Whatever, I've dealt with worse. Living with ten siblings teaches you more than anything. Your insults and weak attacks are nothing on me."
Then, Linka turns, only to find Ron Andy standing by, holding a crying Claudia. "Uhh, hey guys."
"You messed up." Ron coldly declares.
"Ron, I can explain!" Linka desperately shouts, while thinking "Crud! Ron saw that! Linka's going to kill me when we swap back!"
"Don't you have something to tell Claudia?"
Linka puts on a sheepish smile, "What do you mean Ron?" While she thinks, "Crap, I think he wants me to tell her about us."
"You kissed another girl!" Claudia cries.
Linka holds back, unsure of how to respond. "I- I'm sorry..."
"I just... I thought we had something… We've been friends for so long and…"
"Crud…" Linka regains her composure, "Look... Claudia, I like you, but only as my best friend.
Claudia just looks at Linka with pain cutting across her expression.
"I'm sorry Claudia." And with that, Linka's best friend pushes off Ron and runs off to a nearby restaurant.
Linka then turns to Ron, "Hey Ron... How much did you see?"
"Everything."
"Oh… Even me kissing Chandler?"
"...Yes." Ron awkwardly responds.
"Oh..." Linka rubs her arm in embarrassment, "Wanna talk this over a root beer?"
"How about you apologize to your friend first? It's the least you could do." Then he places a soft hand on her shoulder, "Plus, I need time to digest watching my girlfriend kiss two girls."
Linka sighs, "Ok then, come on. Let's go get her"
And so the duo walk over to the restaurant, and find Claudia sitting at a two-person table, eating the heartbreak special- pizza, vanilla ice cream, soda and tissues.
At the door, Ron turns to Linka and says, "You should take it from here."
Linka nods in agreement, before approaching her best friend.
"Hey Claudia…" Linka worriedly greets, "is this seat taken?"
The girl doesn't respond, but looks away, while taking another bite of chocolate.
"Claudia…" Links takes a seat across from her friend.
The girl doesn't respond.
"Great, your best friend likes you in this world, and you have no idea how to help her!" Linka thinks, "Claudia, please talk to me."
"What is there to talk about?" Claudia asks, not even bothering to turn to her friend, opting to grab the pizza instead.
Linka grabs Claudia's free hand, "How long?"
"How long what?" she quickly responds.
"Have you felt this way?"
"...Since, a talk with my moms…"
Linka sits back, unsure of how to respond. Claudia continues, "I've felt this way since I realized that… I really don't have a chance with Loki. And when I talked with my moms they told me that well… things like love aren't so easy to understand."
"Bu-but why me?" Linka stammers.
"Because you're the only girl who understands me, Linka! You may have ten brothers, but you're as girly as ever! You care so much and never let the world down!" Claudia rubs her arm, "You're everything I want to be…"
"Crap..." Linka nervously thinks, "How the heck am I going to fix this?!" Before she responds, "Oh..." and takes a deep breath and takes her hand again, "Claudia, I know you feel lonely and different. But that's what makes you well, you!"
Claudia looks up at her friend, dropping the slice of pizza on its plate.
"I care for you, I really do, but you know I don't like you like that. You're my best friend."
The two girls both start to tear up, "Why'd you kiss Chandler then?! Am I not good enough for you?!"
Linka places a comforting hand on her cheek, "I kissed Chandler to shut her up."
Claudia falls silent and looks away.
Linka takes her head in her hands, "Come on. Chin up. You're my best friend, and any girl would be lucky to have you."
"Then why won't you have me?" She desperately asks.
Because..." Linka hesitates, "Craaaaaapppp!"
"Because I... I like Ron Andy." She stammers
"Wa-why?"
"What do you mean?" Linka asks, tilting her head in confusion.
"Why do you like him?"
"What do you mean why?" Linka begins to blush at the thought, "He's a great guy… he cares about me." While thinking, "Lincoln, get a hold of yourself! This isn't you!"
"…Seriously? He demeans us every single day! He stuffed a sloppy Joe up your favorite skirt! People thought you were on your period! I was afraid that he was going to do something stupid when he decided to tag along!"
"It's all just an act, he's a big ol' softy." Linka blushes harder, "he really cares. He just knows that he'd get teased if we should it in public."
"Huh… what?"
"Boys are rough." Linka then grabs onto Claudia's hands tightly, "And despite what he may seem, he's a great guy." She looks into Claudia's eyes longingly.
Claudia gives a defeated sigh, "So Linka... what do we do now?"
"Come on, how about we do something to cheer you up? How about some frozen yogurt?"
"Can it be chocolate?"
Linka smiles, "Yeah. Then, maybe I can help you find your own girl. I heard Gos' Dance Club is open tonight."
Claudia gives a soft smile, "Thanks Linka."
"No problem Claudia. Now come on, let's get out of here." Linka offers Claudia a hand and her friend takes it.
"I take things have gone well?" Ron declares as he walks over to the two girls.
Linka nods, "Yeah, thanks Ron. Now let's get out of here."
The boy nods in agreement, and the trio leave the Royal Woods Mall.
Meanwhile…
"Uhh Levi." Lexx quietly says into his phone.
"What is it? I take you have replaced our things."
Lexx whispers, "Yes I have, and I have some news about Linka."
Levi curiously asks, "Yes?"
"You were right, I just watched Linka kiss two girls!"
"Oh, it seems I was…" Levi responds, unsure of how to react, "Ok Lexx, good work. See you back home with my Chlorine Trifluoride!"
And with that, Levi hangs up the phone.