It was a beautiful day in Downtown City. College students filed out of Littlest University as they had all finished their due work or tests for their classes, and they were off to either go home for the weekend or hang out somewhere in small groups of friends. Three particular students of Littlest University were among them, making their way to the local sweet shop, Sweet Delights.

One of them was a young man named Russell Ferguson. He was one of the smartest and most academic students in the entire university, always making As on his tests. He always dressed formally, his trademark outfit a bright orange suit and pants, brown shoes, and green tie tucked neatly under his white undershirt. His brown hair was always a little on the messy side, however, for he could never get it to cooperate no matter how many hair products he uses; it would always result in it spiking out.

Another member of the group was a tall young man named Sunil Nevla. He and his older brother Shahrukh Nevla moved from their home in India a few years back with their parents and younger sister to attend high school and college in America. Sunil, unlike his brother, was a very shy and cowardly man, yet he loved to show off his magic tricks. He usually wore a blue sweater, dark blue jeans, and black shoes, and his short hair was dyed blue with a lighter blue streak running down the middle.

The third member of the group, the short one, was a young man named Vinnie Terrio. No one really knows how he managed to stay in Littlest University, let alone make it in in the first place. He rarely did his work, he'll sleep in class a lot, and he almost always fails his tests; whenever he doesn't fail he'll just barely pass with a D or low C. He's also known by the other students as "the dumbest student at Littlest University", yet Vinnie isn't really fazed by any of this; he himself knows he's lazy, but he doesn't care. He wears a bright green vest with fingerless gloves, dark green pants, and white and bright green shoes, and he has many colorful pins on his vest. His green pompadour slicks back neatly with the help of tons of hair gel, and he has quite a few chest hairs poking out of his darker green t-shirt.

The three friends were usually a group of six friends, consisting of Shahrukh, Esteban - a Mexican exchange student - and Shivers - the youngest member who loved to hoard things. Today, however, it was just these three.

Vinnie growled as he slammed the door to the sweets shop open and stomped inside. "I never wanna take another American History test for as long as I live! Mr. Jones always gives me Ds or Fs on them!"

"Maybe if you actually studied like I did you would have an A rather than a failing grade," Russell grunted as he walked in, Sunil following close behind.

"Oh, Russell," the Indian man smirked. "You know that Vinnie's physically unable to study unless you want him snoring on the notes.

"Ha, ha," Vinnie growled, shooting a glare at his best friend as he walked up to the front counter. "That was so funny I forgot to laugh."

"Welcome to Sweetsies-Treatsies-Sweet Delights, guys!" a giddy voice greeted the three. They smiled as Buttercream Sundae, one of the owners of the sweet shop, hopped up to the counter holding a pencil and notepad. She wore a buttercream-yellow dress with pink candy-like markings dappling it, as well as white stockings and brown dress shoes. She wore her yellow and brown-tipped hair in two ponytails held by a peppermint-shaped bow. "What're your rumble-tumbles rumbling for?"

Sunil began, smiling shyly. "Could I trouble you for a gummy worm chocolate pudding cup?"

"Not at all, Sunny!" Buttercream chirped, writing down the young man's order. Ignoring his retort of, "I hate being called that..." she turned to Russell when he began to speak.

"I'll just have a low-fat frozen strawberry yogurt, please."

"His mother put him on a diet," Sunil whispered to Buttercream jokingly, leaning over the counter, and Russell immediately yanked him back and an angry glare.

"She did not! And I am not fat!" he shouted at the laughing Indian.

"Got it!" the store owner squeaked. "How about you, Vinnie-bo-Binnie?"

Vinnie grinned and began counting off his fingers as he listed the sweets. "I'd like a candy corn sherbet cookie cup; a rocky road sugar cone; a cream-filled cupcake with extra sprinkles; a frozen chocolate banana bar; a dozen yogurt-dipped strawberries; two deep-fried jelly donuts; a macadamia marshmallow brownie; and a large mixed berry smoothie with a swirly straw!"

Russell and Sunil both stared at the short young man in shock as Buttercream blinked a few times. Her startled expression was immediately wiped away by a large grin. "You got it! Your yummy-nummies will be out soon, balloon-goons!"

The girl skipped into the kitchen, humming joyfully. Meanwhile, Vinnie noticed his friends still staring at him wide-eyed, and he shrugged. "What? Failing a test works up quite an appetite."


About an hour passed, and the table the three friends sat at had become a complete mess, mainly thanks to Vinnie. There were wrappers, cups, and spoons with curbs and splotches of ice cream dappled on the table. Vinnie pushed a pile of wrappers aside to place his finished smoothie on the table, and he leaned back in his seat, placing his hands on his comically inflated belly. He belched loudly, and Russell and Sunil grimaced in disgust as they finished their sweets.

"Oh, man, that was good!" Vinnie exclaimed, patting his belly a few times. "I'm so glad we came here!"

"Let's just hope you can pay for all that food you ate," Russell commented as he put his cup down and pulled out his wallet from his pocket.

Vinnie's eyes widened in surprise and he immediately sat up in his chair in alert. "What, what? You're paying for my food, remember?"

"Nnnooo...? You never asked me anything of the sort," the organized young man furrowed his brows. "Just because I offered to pay for everyone's snacks that one time, that doesn't mean it's an everyday thing."

As Russell spoke, Sunil had pulled out his magician hat from behind his back and his magic wand from under his shirt. He tapped his hat a few times before the contents exploded in his face, blowing his hair back and turning his face gray. After coughing up a cloud of smoke a five-dollar bill pops out of the hat and flutters down onto the table.

"B-But-!" Vinnie began, his eyes widened in panic.

He was interrupted by another young woman, a woman darker in skin color with a pale dress and hot pink markings on it. She wore white gloves and dress boots, and her white hair was held up in a whipped cream dollop fashion with a light blue bow. Her hot pink bangs hung over her face, and she wore multiple multicolored sprinkle-shaped pins in it. "Hy, boys. I hope you enjoyed your food."

"We most certain did, Sugar Sprinkles," Sunil smiled as he handed her his money. "Your pay for all your had work."

"Thanks so much, Sugar Sprinkles," Russell agreed as he gave her his money as well.

Sugar Sprinkles smiled brightly and took their money humbly before cooing, "Aww, you boys are so cute, thank you!" She turned to Vinnie, who looked up at her nervously, and she blinked in concern. "Didn't you enjoy your food, Vinnie? You look worried."

"N-No, it was great," Vinnie spoke hesitantly. "It's just I didn't really bring any money with me, so I can't pay for anything."

"You know our policy," the young woman sighed in sympathy. "If you can't pay for your food, you'll have to work it off."

"What?" Vinnie's eyes flew wide open. "Can't I just owe you the money?"

"You mean my money you plan on borrowing but never pay back?" Russell grunted with an irritated glare.

"Exactly!"

"I'm sorry, Vinnie, but it is what it is," Sugar Sprinkles pushed on calmly. "You'll have to clean the tables and run the register as Buttercream and I make more treats to sell."

"But!" the young man began loudly, standing up and slamming his hands on the table, trying desperately to reason with the shop owner. Finally realizing his efforts were futile, he sighed in defeat and sat back down. "Okay, fine..."

"We are truly sorry, Vinnie," Sunil spoke softly as he and Russell stood up from their seats, "but we must be on our way if we're to catch the bus to Uptown City for the movie playing."

"No!" Vinnie wailed, leaping up immediately. "All three of us were supposed to go together with Pepper and Shivers! You can't just leave me! It's not fair!"

"If you had remembered to bring your money you would've been able to catch it with us," Russell retorted sternly. He couldn't hold back a look of sympathy in his eyes for his unfortunate friend, however.

"Can't you guys just go back to our dorm and get my money for me?"

"Didn't you spend it on that new pair of tap-dancing shoes you have now?"

"Well, yeah... Please, Russell, I'll pay you back, I swear!"

"No, you won't. You always say that and then you never remember, and when I remind you you deny ever borrowing money in the first place. I'm getting a little tired of it, Vinnie."

"Please..." Vinnie begged, now going so far as to get down on both knees and shaking his clamped hands together in a begging motion. Russell and Sunil both exchanged uncomfortable glances.

"We're sorry, Vinnie, but you need to learn how to take responsibility for your actions," Russell sighed, grabbing Vinnie by the arm and pulling him up to his feet. "Look, we'll all go see it again next weekend should I earn enough money working at Downtown Library to take us."

"C'mon, don't do this, guys..." Vinnie whined.

"Russell, if we don't move, we'll be late," Sunil suddenly spoke, pointing to his wristwatch.

"Right. Sorry, Vinnie, but you gotta learn to own up to your mistakes. We'll see you later." And with that, the two boys walked out of the shop.

Vinnie sighed sadly and walked slowly over to Sugar Sprinkles, who frowned at him in sympathy. "Okay, I'm ready to work... I guess..."


Saturday came and went, and it was Sunday afternoon. Vinnie was still working off what he ordered at Sweet Delights; the food he ate had added up to nearly fifty dollars, and he had to work the entire weekend to work off his pay. The young man was not happy at all, and he found it both boring and difficult, mainly because he would constantly be surrounded in delicious sweets but was forbidden to eat them unless he wanted to work next weekend, and then he'd have to miss the movie with his friends again. It wasn't worth it he finally decided.

Vinnie was cleaning the front countertop with a soapy rag, a small bowl of warm soapy water next to him. He was wearing a hair nit and a light blue apron from when he was helping Buttercream and Sugar Sprinkles may more sweets, and he found it really didn't go well with his trademark all-green style. He looked up when he heard the door open, and he gasped when he saw Russell and Sunil walking up to him.

"H-Hey, guys," Vinnie greeted hesitantly. "What are you doing here?"

"We wanted to check up on you," Russell replied.

"We also wanted to inform you that we did not make it to the bus stop in time," Sunil chimed in. "We just missed it. Seriously, it drove off just as soon as we ran up to the bus stop!"

"Oh, wow, I'm sorry, guys," Vinnie sympathized. "I know how much you two wanted to see it."

"Coincidentally, Pepper and Shivers couldn't make it, either," Russell added. "Turns out they had made a mess in Pepper and Zoe's dorm room and they had to clean up after themselves. They missed the bus by fifteen minutes."

"Sheesh, tough break. So... does that mean we can go next weekend?"

"I didn't spend my money, so we'll have enough to not only buy tickets but also buy snacks."

"Sweet!" Vinnie grinned. "So, did you guys wanna buy anything or something?"

"Nah, we just came to drop in and check up on you," Russell replied. "Well, tomorrow we have to take a benchmark test. Hope you're up for it."

Vinnie groaned loudly and hunched over the countertop as his two friends walked out of the sweet shop. "Great, I didn't get to do anything fun this weekend and now I have to take a benchmark test tomorrow..." I could really use some good news right about now..."

"Congrats, balats!" Buttercream's voice squeaked from behind him. "You worked off all you bought and the candy shop, pop!"

"No kidding?" Vinnie gasped. He whipped the hair nit and apron off and leaped over the table, sliding on his rear over it, and ended up slamming into the ground with a shout of pain. He leaped back up almost immediately and grinned. "Thank you so much! I'm so happy!"

"Thank you for helping us out today, Vinnie," Sugar Sprinkles smiled. "If you want, you can even apply here to work part-time. We'll be able to pay you."

"Uhh... Lemme get back to you on that," the young man grinned sheepishly.

"See you tomorrow in class, bass!" Buttercream chirped, waving her hand energetically as Vinnie made his way out of the shop.

"Don't forget, we have a benchmark test tomorrow," Sugar Sprinkles added, waving calmly.

Vinnie let out an exasperated sigh. "How could I forget?..."


"You ready for the benchmark test?"

"No! I am not ready for the benchmark test for the last time!"

Vinnie threw his hands up into the air to emphasize his point. Shivers - who wore an orange hoodie with multiple pockets, messy orange hair, and had buckteeth sticking out from his upper lip - recoiled a bit, and the young man sighed. "Sorry, Shivers, I'm just kinda stressed out. I didn't get a chance to study this weekend because I was working off something I ate at Sweet Delights all weekend."

"Oh, yeah, Russell and Sunil told me and Pepper about that," Shivers recalled. "It's a good think we're seeing it next week instead so you didn't have to miss it."

"Speaking of which, what did you and Pepper do to her and Zoe's dorm room?"

"What do you mean? We didn't do anything."

"But Russell and Sunil told me you two missed the bus to Uptown City because you had to clean up a mess, and they missed the bus because they stayed a bit too long at Sweet Delights on Friday."

"I dunno why they told you that because it wasn't true," Shivers shrugged. "Russell and Sunil asked us if we could push the movie to this weekend instead since you couldn't catch it. They didn't want you to be left out because of a mistake you made, and since you finally owed up to your actions they figured they'd, well, reward you by waiting to see it. Guess they told you that because they didn't want you to feel bad for them not going to the movies."

Vinnie eyes began to water and he sniffled a bit. "R-Really? They pushed back the movie date for me?"

"That we did, Vinnie," Sunil's voice spoke from behind. Vinnie turned to see him and Russell standing there smiling warmly.

"Oh, you guys are the best!" Vinnie exclaimed. He ran over to his two best friends and hugged them tightly, who hugged back.

"Don't mention it, Vinnie," Russell smiled before adding jokingly, "Just be sure you actually have money before ordering a ton of food."

"Don't worry, I will!" Vinnie broke the hug and grinned at his three friends. "Now c'mon, you guys! We have a benchmark test to ace!"

As Vinnie walked away triumphantly to his next class, Shivers chuckled. "Wow, he must be in a really good mood if he's eager to take a test."

"You have no idea," Sunil chuckled as he and the others followed after.

And Vinnie miraculously made his very first B of the school year.