"Wow, how good!"
"Have your password, memorize it, and then destroy the paper." Clyde hands Lincoln a piece of paper with braille writing on it.
"Done" After reading the paper, Lincoln tears it to shreds.
"What are you doing? You should save it."
Lincoln gives his locker combination a few twists, and it opens.
"How did you do that?"
"I can memorize every detail of a three-mile circular stretch of frozen Canadian tundra, back and forth. This is nothing."
"Oh, you have a photographic memory."
"I learned from the best." Lincoln patted his friend's shoulder.
"It's good to be back together, bro."
"Well, not all. Where are Rusty, Liam, Zack, and Stella?"
An expression of sadness crossed Clyde's face. A depressive aura can be perceived by albino.
"Clyde? What's wrong, buddy? You're so quiet."
Before he can answer, the loudspeakers ring for the first school announcement after vacation.
"Attention students, this is Principal Wikins speaking with the first announcement after winter break. All students must gather to welcome the new students to the gluteal auditorium. That's all."
The announcement ended, and the students headed towards the building with the strange name.
"Let's go to the meeting, and I'll tell you on the way," so both boys walked into the gluteal auditorium.
-In the gluteal auditorium-
The principal was behind the podium, giving the traditional first day of school speech.
"When I started in education thirty-three years ago, I worked my way up to become principal at Royal Woods Elementary School and held that position for twenty years. I thought that would be my last accomplishment as an educator. But the damn school board said I wasn't old enough to retire, so I'm doomed to spend another three years here, screaming at bags of hormones with cell phones, hip-hop, and your teen drama. You only know how to complain and write from the head to the foot of my car."
"But in eighty days, I'll retire, and you'll be another poor devil's problem."
"It's time; without further ado, welcome to... New students have a long shout-out. I'm retiring in eighty days. It's over. Back to class."
All the students got up from their seats and left the hall.
"Awesome. That was the shortest meeting I've ever been to," Lincoln said.
"Yes, he's very excited about his retirement. Last year, he kept talking about it and how he wouldn't miss us."
As the boys were walking to the classroom, a group of girls watched them from afar.
"See? I told you it was him, Christy," said Cici, who was with their group of friends watching him from the stairs.
"What is Lincoln Loud doing at this school?"
"Study?" answered Molly, who had long begun to think that the white-haired man was not as bad as the rumors said.
"Molly, don't be silly. People like him don't study. There's something there," Susie said.
"Tomorrow, the Chandler gang will take care of him."
Molly began to wonder if having hired Chandler in the first place was a good idea. "Speaking of which, don't you notice something different about Cristina?"
"Different like what?"
"I don't know. Yesterday, she felt a bit distant. Today she doesn't seem the same," Molly points to the red-haired girl who was sitting on a bench in the upper lounge at the bottom of the stairs.
"Now that you mention it, I noticed it too."
"Wait, I'll go talk to her." Susie went upstairs and sat next to Christina. "Christina? Are you okay?"
Christina, who was worn out, looks up and turns to see Susie. The redhead's mascara was running from her eyes, the product of crying.
When Susie saw her in that state, she was afraid, not only because Christina was crying but also because she looked like a ghost from a horror movie. "Wow... emm... Christy, your makeup... let's see, let me help you." Susie took a wet towel from her bag and wiped the black marks off Christina's face. "Done, beautiful as you were before."
Christina wiped away a tear and smiled. "Thank you"
"You're welcome. But tell me, why were you crying?"
"It's just... personal stuff."
"Well, we have to be careful now that Lincoln Loud is at school. I hope Chandler sticks to the deal."
Cristina pulled up her skirt when she heard that name.
"Let's go. We're going to be late for class." The girls got up and went down to the classroom with their friends.
The girls walked quietly, or at least two of them, one looking depressed and the other worried about her.
Their classes would be in Room 546, but as if by fate, in the distance, they saw McBride and Loud arriving in the opposite direction. They spoke without noticing the girls who hid inside the broom closet.
"Hey Clyde, what room do we have our first class in?"
"In room 546"
When the girls heard this number, they felt that fate hated them.
"Great. Together again. Just like the old days."
"Haha yeah. I miss those days."
Suddenly, a male voice appeared.
"Hey Lincoln." The boys turned to see who it was, but Lincoln knew immediately who it was because he had never forgotten a voice, much less an accent as distinctive as the one he had.
In front of them was an orange-haired boy wearing a brown jacket and pants, black shoes, and a white shirt.
What impressed Clyde most was that the boy had no forearms.
This was noticeable because, when he walked, the sleeves moved in the air, showing the emptiness in them.
The orange-haired man approached Lincoln with an evil smile on his face.
"I knew I would find you here."
"Hi Andy"
The tension between the boys was so thick it could be cut with a knife.