Sophomore Year

The Loud household had many traditions. Some were heartwarming, like family dinners and movie nights. Some were strange, like Lincoln's desperate attempts to keep the bathroom schedule organized. And some were so painfully predictable that they had become part of the furniture.

Unfortunately for everyone in the house, Lynn Sr.'s morning puns belonged firmly in the third category.

The kitchen buzzed with the usual chaos of a Loud morning. Plates clattered, chairs scraped against the floor, and the scent of breakfast filled the air. Luan Loud sat at the table in her Royal Woods High School hoodie, preparing herself mentally for her sophomore year.

A new year meant new classes, new teachers, and new opportunities.

It also meant surviving her family's daily barrage of jokes.

Lynn Sr. walked toward the doorway with a grin that immediately made Luan suspicious.

"Have an eggcelent day at school, Luan," he said proudly.

The room went silent.

Luan stared at him.

Lincoln Loud slowly lowered his cereal spoon.

"Egg puns again? They're not funny, you two."

Lynn Sr. placed a hand over his chest dramatically.

"You're being eggceptionally harsh today, Lincoln."

Lincoln immediately brought his hand to his face.

"Why do I even try?"

Luan couldn't help but laugh a little. Even though the puns were terrible, she had to admit that her family had a strange talent for committing to the bit.

Before she could say anything, Lynn Jr. appeared behind her.

"Morning punch tradition!"

Luan's eyes widened.

"No, Lynn, wait!"

Too late.

Lynn Jr. delivered a rapid series of playful punches to Luan's shoulder.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

Nine.

Ten.

Eleven.

Twelve.

Thirteen.

Fourteen.

Fifteen.

Luan grabbed her shoulder and groaned.

"Lynn!"

"What?" Lynn Jr. said with a grin. "It's tradition."

Luan looked around the kitchen.

Her dad was making egg jokes. Her brother was arguing about egg jokes. Her sister had just used her as a human punching bag. Her younger siblings were running around like tiny tornadoes.

She sighed.

"Why can't this house just be normal for 5 minutes?"

Without waiting for an answer, Luan grabbed her backpack and headed toward the door.

As she stepped outside, a tiny voice echoed from behind her.

"Poopoo."

Luan stopped.

She slowly turned around.

Lily stood near the hallway, smiling innocently.

Luan blinked.

"Thanks, Lily. That really completes the morning experience."

Lily giggled.

Luan shook her head and walked toward the school bus.

Despite everything, she smiled.

This was her family.

Loud, ridiculous, embarrassing, and completely impossible to replace.

---

Royal Woods High School looked exactly how Luan remembered it.

Students crowded the hallways, lockers slammed shut, and conversations bounced around the building like invisible tennis balls. Sophomore year had officially begun.

Luan adjusted her backpack and walked through the halls with a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

Freshman year had been a strange experience. She had entered high school expecting everything to change overnight. She thought she would suddenly become more confident, more mature, and somehow magically understand how everything worked.

Instead, she had learned that growing up was a slower process.

A little awkward.

A little confusing.

And occasionally interrupted by her family embarrassing her before eight in the morning.

Her first class was English, where she found herself sitting beside a few familiar faces.

"So, sophomore year," her classmate said. "Think you're ready?"

Luan leaned back in her chair.

"Ready? Absolutely. Prepared? That's a completely different question."

Her classmate laughed.

"Still making jokes?"

"Always."

But as the teacher began the lesson, Luan found herself thinking about something deeper.

Comedy had always been her thing. Everyone knew her as the joke-loving Loud sister. The girl who could turn almost anything into a punchline.

But lately, she wondered if people saw anything beyond that.

Did they know she worked hard?

Did they know she cared?

Did they know that sometimes being the funny one could feel exhausting?

She shook the thought away.

No.

Sophomore year wasn't going to be about worrying what everyone thought.

It was going to be about proving to herself that she was more than just the class clown.

---

By lunchtime, Luan had already survived three classes, a surprise quiz, and a hallway collision involving two freshmen carrying an unreasonable amount of textbooks.

She sat outside with her lunch and watched students moving across campus.

High school had its own rhythm. Everyone seemed to be searching for where they belonged.

Some people had sports.

Some had academics.

Some had music.

Luan had comedy.

But she wanted to discover what else she had.

Her phone buzzed.

It was a message from Lincoln.

"How's school?"

Luan smiled and typed back.

"Pretty good. Nobody has punched me 15 times yet."

A second later, Lincoln responded.

"Give Lynn five minutes."

Luan laughed.

Even from miles away across campus, her brother somehow understood the chaos of their household.

She looked around the school courtyard.

Sophomore year was going to be unpredictable.

There would be difficult days. There would be embarrassing moments. There would probably be plenty of family-related disasters.

But there would also be good moments.

The kind worth remembering.

Luan Loud had spent years making everyone else laugh.

Now she wondered what she could discover about herself when she wasn't trying to be the funniest person in the room.

The bell rang.

She grabbed her backpack and stood up.

"Time for round two."

And with that, Luan walked back into Royal Woods High, ready for whatever sophomore year decided to throw at her