(Luna's POV)
My sisters and I are all sitting at the table, eating a big breakfast—complete with stacks of pancakes, sausages, bacon, and different types of eggs (since we all like our eggs done differently). Dad's restaurant, which he opened up called Lynn's Table, was doing a fair amount of business, so he decided to pull out all the stops today.
"Lincoln, come downstairs before the food gets cold!" Mom shouted up the stairs.
"Ugh, that twerp better start apologizing for what happened yesterday, or else," Lori stated.
"Yeah, he should have stopped the twins from fighting—my ball got ruined because of it," Lynn complained, and all the sisters nodded.
"Why were you guys fighting yesterday?" I asked.
"Lana had her disgusting frog near my tea set," Lola said.
"Hey! Don't call Hops that—and he thought the butterfly design on the cup was real!" Lana said defensively.
Just as Lola was about to retort, Lincoln entered the dining room, looking around with a strange expression on his face before seeing the empty seat next to me. He walked over and sat down.
"Hey sport, you sleep okay?" asked Dad.
"I slept rather well, thank you for asking," Lincoln replied—not sounding like his normal self at all.
"Well, go get your plate and grab whatever you like," Dad said, not noticing anything.
That's when Lincoln got up and made his way to the kitchen. A minute or two passed before he came out with his plate full of food—even more than Lynn and Lana, who have the biggest appetites in the house. He also had a mug of coffee.
"You sure you can eat all that, Stinkin'?" Lynn said, eyeing his plate. "You know you shouldn't grab more than you can eat."
"I wouldn't have grabbed it if I wasn't planning to eat it," Lincoln stated calmly, then started to drink his coffee.
We all expected him to spit it out like last time, but no—we were shocked. After a few gulps, he put the mug down with a satisfied sigh, then proceeded to eat his mountain of food, which he ate in record time.
"Whoa… you alright, little dude?" I asked, slightly beginning to worry.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a little hungrier than usual," he stated.
"Well, does anyone have plans for today?" Mom asked.
"I was thinking of taking us on our regular trip to the mall," answered Lori.
"Sorry guys, but I'm gonna have to bail," I said as the others started to complain. "I know, I know—but I gotta go rehearse with my band, and we've got this new speaker system to set up. So it's gonna take the whole group."
"Do you need some help?" Lincoln suddenly asked.
Everyone turned to him.
"You said it's going to take your whole group, so it must be a lot. Do you want some help?"
I looked at him, trying to understand what he could be thinking. Normally, yes, he does help us out—but he seems to be acting strange. And not the "I have a plan or I'm hiding something" kind of strange. Just… strange. He was hard to read, which is unusual since we've lived together our entire lives.
"Sure, thanks for the assist, bro," I said, a little skeptical.
"That's sweet of you to offer, Lincoln," Mom said. "Now me and your father have to leave for work, so I want you back before 7:30 PM, and call if you need anything."
"Yes, Mom," we all said as they left.
"Go get ready, little dude. My friend Chuck will be here soon to give us a ride to Sam's," I told Lincoln. He just nodded before taking his now-empty plate to the kitchen, then proceeded to go upstairs.
We all stayed quiet until we heard his door close.
"Does anyone else think Linky seemed to be acting strange?" asked Leni.
"Yeah! And did you see the amount of food he ate? It was more than me and Lana combined—and that's saying something," said Lynn, fully aware she and Lana eat the most.
"Well, our male fraternal unit is about to enter his adolescence stage of development and is probably consuming a great deal of sustenance to compensate for it," Lisa stated.
"Huh?" we all said, looking confused.
"Oh for the love of— He might be going through a growth spurt soon and he might be hungry to support it," Lisa said, dumbing it down for her sisters.
"Ohhh," we said.
"Well, Luna, since he's going to be with you, keep an eye on him," Lori told me. "For all we know, this could be part of some scheme he's planning."
"You got it, sis," I said—though I couldn't get the look in his eyes out of my mind. Before I could dwell on it longer, I heard a car horn outside.
"Well, that must be Chuck. I'll call you guys if anything turns up."
They all gave a nod as I walked to the front door. I saw Lincoln standing next to it, dressed in his regular blue jeans and orange polo—nothing out of the ordinary.
Except he had that same look in his eyes.
Usually, you can read him like an open book. But now… he's as hard to read as Lucy. Maybe even more.
Could something be bothering him? Was it the fight yesterday… or something else? I thought as he opened the door and walked through.
I followed right after him.