Chapter Text
Victory. It was the middle name given to her by her parents, and she loathed it.
It was meant to signify her role of continuing her mother's great legacy, a legacy that she would and could never fulfill in her lifetime; the legacy of being the greatest athlete in all of Royal Woods, or even in all of Michigan perhaps. She even bore her mother's name. Lynn 'Victory' Loud III. The irony couldn't be any more obvious. She was nothing like her mother, having no taste or liking for any sort of sports whatsoever - unless one considered imaginary sword fighting a sport. Sports was her sister Lacy's thing..
Her beloved twin sister and undoubtedly her closest friend since the womb, Lacy Loud was everything she wasn't - upbeat, sociable and most of all.. sporty. Lacy was Royal Woods middle school's best athlete at the moment.
And what was she? Some stupid nerd who's only fascination was science and swordfighting?
She never liked thinking about this. It just brought up bad thoughts about her sister and mother, neither of whom deserved any of the ill assumptions conjured up in her brain. She loved them a lot, more than the world itself, and these horrible feelings wouldn't be fair for them..
Lately, the thoughts had managed to wrestle her reluctance and now they reigned control over her mind. It was all she could think about.
The girl, her pastel brown hair tied in a bun and her glasses sitting loosely on the bridge of her nose, sat there at her table, staring into her book, as if there were an infinite space she could peer into. She'd long since stopped reading the words on the pages, her brain having chosen to think about all of this.
She could've sat there and pondered for longer, if not for the sudden feeling of a pair of arms wrapping around her. And frankly, the suddenness of it all scared her out of her trance.
"Ah!" she shrieked as she jumped in her seat.
"S-Sorry, didn't mean to scare you like that sis," Lynn heard from behind her. "You looked sad, so I just wanted to cheer you up."
It was Lacy.. of course it was. Her dear sister was always attentive when it came to emotions.
"What? Sad? I'm not sad? What made you think that?" Lynn scoffed as she closed her book.
"You were staring into that book of yours and you were sighing a lot. I just thought that meant you were sad," Lacy said as she tightened her arms around her sister ever so slightly.
"You have nothing to worry about dear sister. I'm just.. frustrated. Yeah, about this book. It's just been a hard read is all." Lynn needed to make sure no one knew what she was feeling, not even Lacy..
"Oh, alright!" Lacy sounded a lot more upbeat now. "Well, if that's the case, then wanna forget about the book and go watch the new Ace Savvy cartoon with me?"
Perhaps that would help alleviate the thoughts burdening her mind. "That sounds like a good idea, sis."
"Great! Now c'mon, it's almost starting!"
Lacy released Lynn from her hug and took her hand, dragging her downstairs to the living room. Lynn could only oblige. Before long, they'd sat themselves down on the sofa, and the TV came to life. The cartoon seemed to work in distracting the girl from her pressing thoughts, because heck, who wouldn't be captivated by the bombastic and fluid animations of Ace Savvy and One-Eyed Jack fighting crime? She certainly was, being a fan of the comics. That was a trait she could thank her father for.
"Yea Ace! Kick that villain's butt!"
Lacy had always worn her emotions on her sleeve, and that applied to her excitement when watching cartoons as well. She was practically jumping in her seat, fist pumping whenever Ace or Jack beat the lights out of a villain. Lynn on the other hand was a little more reserved with her enjoyment, only showing it through the wide grin on her lips whenever Ace Savvy did something cool.
While they were watching, the door creaked open, revealing a white-haired man and a brunette woman.
"Kids, we're home!"
Lincoln Loud, father of two adorable twin sisters, and who now worked as an animator and artist for the Ace Savvy comics, called out to his children. Beside him was none other than Lynn Loud Jr., proud mother of twins and also the coach of the Royal Woods basketball team. Both of them were in their early thirties, but any signs of age had yet to appear on the sporty half of the couple, what with the years of training that kept her body fit.
"Hey mom! Hey dad!" Lacy said with a beaming smile on her face. She got off her seat and went to hug her parents. She was always the type to lunge at anyone to give 'em a big hug, her aunts and friends not excluded. Lynn III still sat on the couch awkwardly, those thoughts from earlier in the day still lingering in her mind. Still, she tried her best to maintain a stoic expression on her face.
"Heya sunshine!" Lynn said as she patted her daughter's fluffy head of brown hair. "You been doing those exercises I recommended to you for tomorrow?"
"Totally mom! I'm so pumped I can't even sit still!"
"Atta girl! Why don't we go practice a lil more after this eh?" Lynn said as she ruffled her daughter's hair.
"Sure mom!"
Lynn III sat there, watching the interaction between her mom and her sister. She knew what they were talking about - it was hard not to what with it being the conversation point of almost every goddamned dinner this past few weeks. It was Lacy's upcoming soccer game against the Hazeltucky Lions. Royal Woods and Hazeltucky were once again to fight each other in the Michigan Girls Soccer Championship - and Lacy Loud was anticipated to make Royal Woods the victor. That was what their mom was dreaming of. And she sure as heck was working hard to make that dream come true.
Which meant that Lacy had been going through a lot of rigorous training regiments. Which also meant that their mom spent more time with Lacy and less time with.. her.
"Junior? Something wrong honeybun?"
Lynn III was pulled out from her thoughts for the second time that day, this time by her white-haired father. A concerned look adorned his face. He was always attentive, much to her current dismay.
"You've been sitting there staring at the TV for a few minutes there sweetie. Is something on your mind?"
The girl then realised that she had in fact been staring into a pitch black TV screen for god knows how long.
"N-No, it's nothing daddy. Just.. thinking about my studies. That's all." She shot him a sheepish smile to try to alleviate any of the concern her dad had.
"Oh, well don't stress out too much okay sweetie," her dad said before patting her on the head.
"I'll try dad.."
If only it were that easy.
At dinner, the whole talk was all about Lacy's upcoming game tomorrow. Mom couldn't stop giving advice after advice to Lacy, to the point that it nearly irritated Lynn III.
"Alright Lacy, you gotta remember to always keep your eye on the ball."
"Yes mom!" Lacy said with full attention, as if her mom were a drill sergeant and she was the new recruit.
"And don't forget to rely on your teammates. Don't keep hogging the ball. Be a teamplayer, and make sure all of you coordinate well. Got it?"
"Got it, mom!" Lacy said before shoveling a spoonful of her dad's delicious spaghetti into her mouth.
"Let Lacy eat, hon. I'm sure she's well prepared for tomorrow. She always is," Lincoln said.
"I know, I know," Lynn chuckled. "But I just can't wait to see Lacy destroy those Hazeltuckies tomorrow!"
"You really think I can do it mom?" Lacy asked with half her mouth still filled with spaghetti.
"Of course you can, sunshine! You're my daughter, I know you'll win."
You're my daughter..
..my daughter..
Then what am I then?
Lynn III sat there, and she'd barely made a dent in her own plate of spaghetti. Watching her mom gloat and praise Lacy like that made her heart stir. Her mom couldn't shut up for a second talking about Lacy for the past few weeks. It was always Lacy this and Lacy that. Just because she had the same damned hobbies and skills as her mom, so Lacy deserved all the praise?!!
Wait..
Was she.. jealous of Lacy? No.. she couldn't be jealous. Lacy was her bestest friend.. But what if she was? All she wanted was for her mom to praise her just like she did Lacy.. That didn't mean she was jealous.. right?
She felt so frustrated with herself. She felt like slamming her head on the table if that was what it took to get those horrible thoughts out of her head. Why was she thinking this about Lacy? Why? Why? Why?!
"Junior? You okay there? You haven't eaten much.. I hope my spaghetti isn't too bad.."
Ah crap!
"N-No! It tastes good dad! Really good!" Lynn III stammered as soon as she realised her dad's look of concern again. Her expression drooped now though, having lost her appetite to eat. "I'm just… kinda not feeling so good."
"Oh no, honey. Are you sick?" Lincoln asked worriedly now.
Their mom was still busy talking with Lacy to even bother to hear anything else. She didn't even notice how down her other daughter looked.. And this only made Lynn III feel even worse.
"No.. I'm not sick. I just have a headache," Lynn III said, not even bothering to hide the sadness in her voice. "D-Dad? Can I excuse myself from dinner tonight?"
Lincoln bore a sympathetic smile to his daughter. "Of course honeybun. Go upstairs and get some rest. I'll go check up on you after I'm done cleaning up, okay?"
"Okay dad.." she sighed.
She got off her seat and trudged off up the stairs and into her shared room with Lacy, stopping by on the staircase where she was out of view from the rest of her family. She could still hear the raucous discourse about tomorrow's match. Did they even care about her leaving dinner early? Did they even care about her at all?
She continued her walk up to her room, closing the door shut on the way in and promptly plopping herself face down into her bed.
She hated this. She hated this so much. She hated feeling like this. But the more she tried to ignore those thoughts, the stronger they became..
Were her feelings justified? A quick analysis of them would present the conclusion that they weren't. Lacy deserved all the praise and attention she was getting from her family. She had indeed been working hard for the past few weeks for tomorrow's game. It wouldn't be fair for her to be jealous of her.. Lacy didn't deserve that.
She knew that these feelings stirring up inside her heart like a potent poison were nothing new. She'd felt them in some way or another for some time now. Most of those times she chalked them up to her mind over-analysing things. But sometimes, her mind had a knack of overriding any sense of logic or rationality.
But was it really illogical to have these thoughts?
Her thoughts then went to her mom. Somewhere in her heart, she still felt that she wasn't good enough for her mom, that her accomplishments were never going to be close to impressing her mom's gargantuan expectations. To some extent, maybe that was true..
She had a mini heart-attack when she heard the door knob click. With quick thinking, she pulled herself under the blanket and assumed a sleeping position.
"Honey, how are you feeling?"
Oh.. it was just her dad. She opened her eyes weakly and turned over to face him. She saw him walking over to her bed before kneeling down beside it.
"Just a little tired daddy.." she said. She noticed her mom was absent. "Where's mom?"
"She's still downstairs prepping your sister up for tomorrow. She'll check up on you once she's done."
So Lacy's game came first before her? Is that how it was?
"O-Okay.." was all she could say.
She shivered a little when her dad's hand went to touch her forehead, just to make sure she really wasn't sick.
"Well, doesn't feel like you're having much of a fever.."
Lynn sighed dejectedly. "I'm probably just tired from studying too much dad. I should be fine."
Her dad had a slight unconvincing look to his face. But if he had any doubts in her words, he didn't show it.
"Alright sweety. Just try not to tire yourself out okay? It's good that you're so focused on your studies, but too much stress is bad for you, m'kay?"
"Yes daddy.."
Silence eventually enveloped the room, with her dad still kneeling down by her bedside as he stroked her hair.
"Lynn.. you know you can talk with me if you have any problems, right?"
Whenever her dad used her first name, she knew he meant business.
"I know daddy. But I'm okay. Really. You have nothing to worry about." She shot him a half-hearted smile, hoping that her dad would chalk it up to her fatigue.
His eyes scanned her, as if trying to peer through her facade. But they eased up eventually, and a sigh bellowed from his lips.
"Okay honey. If you say so," he said as he placed a tender kiss on her forehead. "I love you."
"I love you too daddy.."
With that, he left the room, but not before taking one last glance at his beloved daughter. He closed the door ever so gently, turning off the lights so that Lynn could sleep soundly.
But that was near impossible to do for the girl in question, not when there were more thoughts raging in her head. She didn't know how long she'd stayed up that night rolling in her bed.