FORBIDDEN LOVE

Lincoln was making his usual trip to the comic book store that he frequents in the mall after a long day at school. He had made this trip to the store a million times before, but this one particular time would be special. He was nose-deep in another issue of his favourite comic book series Ace Savvy, avidly invested in what his favourite intrepid hero was up to, so much so in fact, that he was not aware of his surroundings. He was walking around the shop with his nose in the comic book, until suddenly...

SMACK!

He rammed into another patron of the shop. This had happened before with various other contestants, but most of them were isolated incidents and then after picking up the stuff that they dropped, they would go on their own way. But this time was a little different. Prior to actually getting a comic to read in the shop, Lincoln had his eye on an older lady, probably around 15 or 16, that day. She had light blonde hair and a blue streak in her hair. She was noticable because most of the people who would frequent this particular shop were a specific clientele. Sure the kids section where Lincoln was had it's fair share of kids, but most of the other people were men and women who... well for lack of a better, left something to be desired, so seeing a radiant beauty like her in the comic made Lincoln drawn to her.

After they hit each other because each one was avidly involved in their comic, Lincoln said, "Oh my Gosh, I am so sorry".

"Oh Gosh," she said, "I did not see where I was going."

Lincoln started to pick up the comic and he happened to notice the particular comic that she was looking at.

"What is it?" she asked the young man.

"You are reading Ace Savvy." Lincoln mentioned.

"Yeah."

"I've never seen someone like you reading this comic before."

"Well, I like it."

"Get out." Lincoln said surprised but excited, "I love Ace Savvy!"

"Really? That's cool."

"This issue is a great one."

"Really? Hmm, I am only on page 14 so please don't spoil it."

"Oh sure. What is your favourite issue?"

"Ooh, I am not sure. I am only up to Wave 3." There were 6 waves of the comic published so far.

"Wave 3 is excellent. You will really like the surprise ending at the end of the issue. It will keep you on pins and needles."

"Oh okay. I will keep that in mind." Lincoln could not help but stare at this girl. Normally, he wasn't into older girls, but there was something about this one that was keeping him under a sort of a trance. He tried to "keep it cool" and not let her in that he liked her, but he had a feeling that she knew from her adorable smile and giggle that she let out.

"I see you in here a lot. You must really like comics," said the girl.

"Yeah. Well, I was drawn into Ace Savvy from a young age. Since then, I have been reading it a lot."

"I like Ace Savvy. It provides an escape from me."

"Yeah, wouldn't you rather be in the teen section?" Lincoln asked, pointing to a section of the store full of teen comics and the typical clientele.

"Nah. Those comics bore me. All boring and lovey-dovey and dull. Blech. I would much rather read this."

"Yeah, same here."

"My name is Sam by the way."

"Uh... I'm Lincoln Loud."

"Loud... hmm... are you related to Luna by any chance?"

"Yeah, she's my sister."

"Get out. I'm good friends with her. We are starting a band together."

"Wow, that's cool. I always thought she should join a band."

"Well, we got to talking and got some of our friends together, and thought it was only natural."

"Makes sense."

"Luna has told me a lot about you, but she did not tell me that you are just cute as a button." Lincoln started to blush, no girl has openly told him how cute he was outside of his family.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I love your hair. It's distinct."

"Most people made fun of my hair."

"Ignore them. What do they know?"

"Yeah good point. I like your hair too."

"Thanks." Lincoln had a bit of a thing for girls with a streak in their hair a separate colour than their natural hair colour.

"Well... I think I better go and pay for this." Lincoln knew that this was his opportunity. He never felt this natural talking to a girl before and he did not want it to end.

"Oh uh... wait... uh, how about I pay for your comic?" he asked.

"Oh it's okay, you don't have to."

"No... I, uh, I insist. A pretty girl like you should not have to pay for comics." Sam then blushed a little bit, but not noticably. She appreciated how much of a gentleman he was being and could not help but to accept his request.

"Well... alright, since you are such a gentleman. But what about your comic?"

"Oh what, this? I already own like four of this issue. I don't mind." Lincoln was lying. He never read that issue before and was intending to use his money to purchase that issue, but something came over him and he felt it necessary to purchase the comic for her.

Sam handed Lincoln the comic and he walked over to the teller and purchased it. Afterwards, he handed her back the comic.

"Aw, thanks a million."

"You're welcome."

"Well... I guess I better get out of here. I got what I came for."

"Oh... uh," Lincoln said as she was making her way to the store exit, "where are you going?"

"Oh just over to the arcade."

"Get out! I was going to the arcade too. Maybe we can go together."

"That would be great."

They exited the comic book shop and started walking towards the arcade which was located on the other side of the mall, more closer to the food court. Along the way, they began to chitchat.

"I didn't know you liked video games," Lincoln began.

"Yeah, well... I find it's a good way to unwind after a long day at school, you know, either that or I just strum on my guitar. Sometimes, I just spend hours experimenting around with music and lyrics, writing songs and just composing."

"Hmm... I was never that good playing musical instruments. I can see why you and Luna get along well."

"Yeah, totally."

"Tell me more about you, please."

"Sure. Well... I have two brothers. Steven and Sly. And I have my Mom and my Dad. They are great. I got my guitar from my Dad in fact. I started to learn to play at church get-togethers and became a natural. Now the two things I love the most is music and Jesus."

"Interesting."

"You ever go to church?"

"I don't think my family ever took us."

"Maybe you could go to our church one day. It's really sweet. My Dad's the Pastor."

"I might take you up on that." It was then that Lincoln noticed the cross around her neck. Something about knowing that she was a good girl kinda made her more appealing.

Lincoln then told her about himself, about life with 10 siblings and what he likes to do.

"Wow... and I thought life was hard with two brothers. I cannot imagine what it would be like if they quintupled."

"Yeah... sometimes I like to pretend that I have a T.V. Show too. You know, just for fun."

"Maybe it'll happen one day." Lincoln didn't usually do things like that. Walking with an older girl he just met to hang out at an arcade, but there was something about her that he could not get out of his head.

After more walking and talking, they finally made it to the arcade. Trying to be a gentleman, Lincoln paid for the tickets between the two of them. Sam was again very grateful for the gesture, even though she was capable of paying herself. Soon, they tried out nearly every machine over the next two hours. The Jurassic Park shooter, the Mario Kart racer, the DDR dancer, all the while having fun and cracking jokes and laughing. For Lincoln at least, the time seem to fly by. He did not remember the last time that he had this much fun with someone else, let alone with another girl. Sure he had fun with other people at arcades like Ronnie Anne or Clyde, and sometimes he would go by himself and have a good time, even on bad days or days where he was going through the motions, but he felt that today was special.

At the end of the two hours, Lincoln and Sam had collected together their remaining tickets and picked out a prize at the concession. They had enough for a stuffed animal that Lincoln gave to Sam. He thought she looked so cute when she was holding the plushie.

"It's so cute," Sam said. "Thanks for getting it for me, Lincoln."

"Yeah, well for someone like you, it's worth it," he replied.

"Wow... I did not realize how hungry I am. Yet I don't really want to spoil my supper."

"Ooh, supper!" Lincoln realized, looking up to a clock in the mall hallway that read 5:00 p.m., "can't be late for fish-fried Friday."

"Thanks again Lincoln for being so sweet to me. I had fun."

"You're welcome. It was my pleasure." Lincoln could not help but stare at Sam. He did not want to stop, but he knew that he did not want to be late for dinner. He was confused. Then Sam started to walk away. She got about a couple of meters and Lincoln started to run after her, saying "Wait!" She stopped and turned her head, then in an unexpected move, Lincoln decided to kiss her. After he finished, Sam shared a look of confusion, which made Lincoln very disconcerned.

"Oh... Oh my Gosh, I am so sorry," Lincoln said very quickly, to the point of almost babbling and stuttering his words, "I did not mean to do that. Something came over me. I normally don't do that. I don't even like kissing, but I just thought that you were very pretty and I wanted to do nice things to you to get me to like me and..." then Sam interrupted him and calmly said, "Shhhh, it's okay, Lincoln. I understand why you did that. To be honest, I kinda got the idea from you being so nice to me."

"I hope you are not mad."

"No. Takes more than that to get me mad. Honestly, kid, I can't really share the same feelings for you," Lincoln started to feel down about what she said, "however, I do like spending time with you. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I feel a sort of a special connection with you. You remind me so much of... uh... someone I knew. Sometimes in life, you feel special connections with people and I feel that you can be any age to be good friends with people. I see something in you, kid, something I really, really like."

"Gosh, that's... that's sweet of you to say."

"Besides, I can't stay mad at your adorable face." She then proceeded to give Lincoln a noogie, followed up with Lincoln laughing throughout. "I wouldn't mind hanging out some more tomorrow though, how's about Gus' Games and Grub tomorrow?"

"Oh wow. That would be awesome!"

"Here, let me give you my number and I can text you some details." Sam then whipped out her phone and Lincoln did the same and they exchanged phone numbers, "I'll text you after I eat supper. How's about that?"

"Sounds great. I think I'm really gonna like spending time with you."

"Yeah, me too." They then walked their own separate ways, with Lincoln excited to have a new friend and excited to hang out with her the following day.