Lincoln's surprisingly not interrogated by his parents about where he went the night before. This is good because Lincoln's feeling groggy from his lack of sleep.
Unfortunately it's all too soon that he has to get ready and get on the noisy school bus.
"Say, sport, you're looking a bit ragged!" Evan calls out, "Maybe you could come home before curfew and get enough sleep like a big boy!" he makes sure all of Lincoln's classmates can hear him.
When Lincoln scowls at him before boarding the bus, Evan knows his job is done.
Evan's pretty high up the ladder in the observatory now. He has to make sure his logic is in tip-top condition.
Goodness, I had to really have him grind for the future technology skill...
Evan also rolls some wishes to work out. I indulge him, but only because Kipper is keeping such a good eye on him :D
"Maybe you two should work out together," Olivia suggests.
"Save the family time speech!" Lincoln snaps, "I'm fine with the amount of time we spend together already!"
Olivia does her best not to roll her eyes or laugh. He reminds her so much of her moody siblings when they were all teens.
Despite his claims that he spends "enough" time with his family, Lincoln spends much more than half of his time at home working on inventions. He thinks he's close to making a floor hygienator! If only he could figure out how to make them smaller...
When he's at school, he tries hard to play it cool around Heather. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he has a small crush on her...
"Hey."
An expression crosses Heather's face, something close to a smile, "Hey there."
That went better than expected! He finds himself happy for any attention she gives him, despite them hanging out outside of school. It's madness, he doesn't like it... and yet he can't stop thinking about her!
He should ask her out before his feelings get too out of hand.
So, the next morning, he decides to ask his dad for advice, clandestinely of course.
"So dad, my friend Ron is really getting on my nerves. He keeps yapping on about this girl he likes, and won't just, like, man up and ask her out. I want to give him some advice, so he'll quit pestering me about it."
Evan quirks an eyebrow. It's a decent cover, but Lincoln's never talked about a friend named Ron before... for his son's sake, though, Evan decides to just go with it, "Oh? Why won't he do it?"
"He keeps saying he's too scared of her rejecting him. He thinks she's really cool, and doesn't want her to stop being friends with him if it goes wrong."
"Well, it's natural to want to protect our feelings and the status quo. But you can tell Ron that a friendship stops being one as soon as one person develops romantic feelings for the other. Then, at worst, it becomes one person hoping for something romantic while the other person thinks they're just friends. One of them will resent the other, either because the one with feelings feels 'lead on', whether or not that's true, or because the one without feelings feels betrayed that what they thought was a genuine friendship was actually a cover, just pretend so the other person could get a romance." Evan pauses in his teen show drama speech, "Or, in the other case, they both miss out on a relationship because they were both too scared to make a move."
Lincoln nods. It all sounds so easy when his dad says it... but just the thought of asking Heather out on a date makes his heart hammer rapidly in his chest. "But isn't having a friendship better than losing the person? Can't the feelings fade over time?"
"Usually, I would say no, or at least not easily. If someone keeps spending time with someone that they have romantic feelings for, that time together keeps the feelings alive until the person can't take it anymore. In all that time, they won't be able to like someone else, because all of their energy and time are spent on that other person who doesn't like them back."
Lincoln decides to take his dad up on his advice, and asks Heather to hang out with him at the spring festival.
However, when faced with Heather in person, he's not able to form the words. He nods along as she tells him about the latest episode of Panicked Homemakers, not able to focus on the content of her words.
He's taken aback when she sweeps him into a hug.
"What was that for?"
She smiles, "You looked a bit down. I thought you could use a hug."
"Oh, thank you..."
They're both blushing and staring at their shoes.
"Hey, let's blow this kiddie party," Heather suddenly suggests.
"Haha, sounds good."
They end up at the karaoke bar.
Also in attendance: Tammi, her brother Wesley, her mother Andi, and her younger sister Chau.
"Wesley, stop acting funny," Tammi admonishes her brother, "The weather happens everyday! No need to act so amazed..."
"And smile! Good manners are important!"
Behind her, her mother tickles Chau. "You hear that, Chau? Your sister seems to think manners matter! Have you ever heard something so silly?"
Tammi clenches her jaw. Her mother is constantly mocking her! She hates it... but doesn't say anything directly. Andi's her mother, after all.
Lincoln watches, trying hard not to burst into laughter. What an odd bunch.
Heather's bemused at Lincoln's idea of a fun, teen activity- playing dominoes.
"This is all we played in the kids' home," she complains.
"We could play something else..."
"My older brother just got married," Lincoln sighs.
"The one with that really old lady?" Heather's nose crinkles.
"Yep. That's the one. I can't believe it. When I texted him yesterday, he said they were thinking of adopting kids together." Vincent may have cut off contact with Olivia, but he sends Lincoln frequent text messages.
"Wha? But he's so young! And she's so old! And that poor kid- imagine being adopted and your new adopted parent just dies on you," Heather's tone becomes heated, "Like they haven't suffered enough trauma in their lives!"
Tammi very obviously eavesdrops on their conversation.
Her distraction causes her to lose some of her spaceships.
"Da-darn it!" she tries hard to display good manners at all times.
"Hey," Heather's tone becomes low and quiet, "I think Tammi's listening to us. Let's bait her into thinking we're real nutjobs."
Lincoln grins, "Good idea."
"But Heather! We can't have a kid! We're not even 18 yet!" Lincoln raises his voice.
"Well, Watcher damn it, if you won't have a kid with me, who will!? I want-" Heather has to bite her lip to keep from laughing, "I want your genius babies, Lincoln! Once we graduate, let's get married and start making a big, happy family!"
"WHAT!?" Tammi's screech is loud, "...darn it," she mutters more quietly, realising she's been caught.
Heather and Lincoln burst into laughter.
"Shall we go downstairs, future mother of my children?"
Heather collapses into giggles again. "Lead the way, my genius baby daddy."
They choose to sing "We Are the Champions", earning a disapproving glare from Tammi.
It was initially meant as a way to be mean to Tammi, but they get really into singing.
"Oooh, Wig Wig Wag! We gotta sing this one!" Heather insists.
On the other side of town, Evan and Olivia pay a social visit to her parents. Evan congratulates Felix on his latest promotion to Robot-Fish Crossbreeder.
"Impressive. It takes most people until they're near retirement to get this far!"
"If I weren't a werewolf, I certainly would be."
"Well, here's hoping that I'll reach astrophysicist before I have grey hairs!"
"Oh, I was also told by my superior to apologise for the telescope incident," Felix says, not making eye-contact. The observatory and science lab are in a constant prank war with each other.
"Well, cleaning the egg off of the main telescope was pretty annoying. But since I'm not a janitor anymore...I'd be willing to let it go... for a price."
Felix raises an eyebrow. "What would that be?"
"I want a robot-fish. A cool one."
Nicole's also been recently promoted.
"Wow, Governor, really? Will you have to move?"
"No, I realised how much you and Isaac disliked moving when you were young, and I like it here. Your father's been overjoyed for the opportunity to do long term research ever since we settled down here. I'll just be travelling a lot."
Olivia and Nicole start sharing gossip.
"The other day I got a call asking me to track down a unicorn. Can you believe it? This far away from Moonlight Falls? What kind of idiot do they take me for?"
Nicole giggles. This town is really full of fools.
The teens are having a blast until they aren't.
"Man, this is not great."
Her adoptive father Mark has suddenly appeared, unassuming, smiling, and Heather suspects definitely ready to embarrass her.
"Hey, let's hang out somewhere else. Can I come over to yours?"
Lincoln is surprised by her abrupt request, but doesn't say no. "Of course... let's go."
Lincoln spends the entire time agonising about whether or not to hold Heather's hand. The opportunity passes before he can do anything.
Heather looks around the living room quietly, but not judgingly.
"Looks like both of our parents like bright colours," she says finally.
They sink down into the couch.
"I think it looks pretty hideous, honestly. Who thought these colours could ever go together?"
Heather quirks a smile at him. "Well, true, it's not the most, ah, intuitive colour combo. But it's kinda cute."
"You really think so?"
"Yeah, it's pretty cosy."
An awkward silence passes between them, It's Heather who breaks it. "Wanna dance?"
She ends up having to take the lead. "You are so hopeless."
"What? Did you learn ballroom dance in the kids' home?"
"Haha, no. In PE class, dummy. It's one of the units we covered this semester?"
Lincoln smiles guiltily, "I might have skipped."
"Such a rebellious bad boy," she teases.
"Let's try an underarm turn."
"You vastly overestimate my abilities," Lincoln replies.
"Shh, just let me guide you," Heather laughs.
Lincoln's one beat off and off balance by the end of the turn. He catches Heather's waist for support.
She gives him a long, searching look...
Lincoln really hopes he's reading the signals right.
When she runs her hands through his hair, he knows he made a good call. He sighs with relief.
"That was nice."
He giggles, then his eyes widen in surprise. He's never made that noise before. "It was also my first kiss, sorry if it was...weird."
"It was mine too. I liked it...I hope you did too."
He leans forward and gives her a more confident kiss.
"I did."
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AN: Ah sappy teen romance! I hope I don't have too many more screenshots to get through before generation 4...
So as you might have guessed, Lincoln's career will be inventor. The rules allows for heirs to start earning money in their jobs as soon as they can, so I already had him selling inventions at this point.
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