CHAPTER 1

Lovesickness

"Alright, alright! Get goin'! Hurry up!" Sgt. Calhoun ordered Ralph and Felix. They had just gotten back from saving Sugar Rush and the arcade was going to open in a few minutes. "You gotta show the owner of this place your game isn't busted!" Ralph and Felix quickly rushed out of the shuttle. Felix turned back and looked at Sgt. Calhoun who then looked over at him, but swiftly looked away.

"Excuse me, Sgt. Calhoun," Felix timidly but cheerfully said.

"What? Make it quick!" Calhoun was anxious to get back to her game.

"Oh, yes! Sorry! Um…when can I see you again?" he asked then gave a big toothy grin. Paired with his wide hopeful eyes, Calhoun couldn't help but to smile.

"Soon," she replied. She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Felix's face went pink and his eyes grew wider. "By the way, you can call me by my first name, Tamora. If you'd like. Seeing, how, you know…" Felix smiled and gleefully nodded. He stepped back as the shuttle flew swiftly out of their game. Felix gave a blissful sigh as he put his hand over the exact spot Calhoun kissed.

"Hey! Felix!" Ralph called out from the distance. "Come on! The arcade's opening!" Felix shook his head and scurried off the apartments. The Nicelanders were overjoyed to see them both. When Mr. Litwak removed the Out of Order sign from the arcade cabinet, he was thrilled to see Ralph back and the game working perfectly. It needed no repairs and their game remained in the arcade. Which was a huge relief to all its inhabitants.

Felix promised the Nicelanders that him and Ralph would tell them all about the whole ordeal after gaming hours. The whole day, Felix was conflicted about whether he should tell the Nicleanders about how he felt about Calhoun or not. He really wanted to, but he didn't want them getting excited or worked up over something he wasn't 100% sure about yet. He was sure of how passionate he felt about her, but unsure of how it would play out. Was it just a brief crush? Or would it really last?

Finally, after hours came and the Nicelanders were all gathered in the penthouse where Felix and Ralph were telling them all about what happened. It got to the point where Felix was describing his experience in Hero's Duty that everyone began to become a bit giggly. "Okay, so then I went looking for Ralph in Hero's Duty," Felix began. "I almost got my head blown to smithereens! But when that misunderstanding got cleared up, I met Sgt. Calhoun, who Ralph mentioned earlier."

"Not very ladylike," Ralph joked.

"Yeah, she sounds like a brute!" Gene commented. Felix's mouth dropped to a frown.

"She's really quite a lovely lady," Felix defended. "I mean, sure, she's, you know, tough. But I think she's magnificent!"

"You think so?" Ralph chuckled. "I mean, you spent more time with her than I did."

"And once you get to know her, she's great!" Felix said. "Not to mention how wonderfully determined and wonderful and gorgeous as all get out she is!" He then realized he was getting a bit too giddy talking about Calhoun. "Ahem…I mean, she's, uh, very nice looking…for a modern game. You know? Modern games aren't that great…even if they do have amazing graphics and are in glorious high definition." He whispered that last part to himself. He noticed a few of the lady Nicelanders smirking a bit. Felix would've been lying if he said he wasn't completely and utterly embarrassed.

A little later, after they told the Nicelanders the whole story, Ralph had left to go check up on Vanellope while Felix stayed with the Nicelanders. The problem was that Felix wasn't talking to the group much. He was staring out into the perpetual black that was the sky of his game. He found it kind of a strangely beautiful thing to be in a world where the stars were always out. "Felix…" said Mary, abruptly interrupting his spacing out. Felix shook his head and looked back over at Mary.

"Oh, I apologize, Mary!" Felix said. "I was thinking about someone —something."

"What were you thinking about?" Mary asked.

"Oh, it', um… Don't worry, it's nothing bad! Just a bit puzzling. I don't want to say anything until I'm sure about it. Alright?"

"Well, if you're sure, Felix," Mary said, patting him on his back. "Felix, quick question, do you know what Ralph favorite flavor of pie is?"

"He's always struck me as really likin' cherry – Wait, why?"

"Oh, we were going to make him a pie! Just as an apology for the way we acted before."

A smile spread across Felix's face. "Cherry! Definitely cherry!" he told her, delighted with their kindness. Felix mingled with the Nicelanders a bit after that, but his head was still full of dueling thoughts and conflicting emotions. The others did notice that Felix was a bit more spacey than normal, but just assumed it was because of what he had been through. They were partially right.

When Felix went back to his apartment for the night, he just lied down on his couch and stared up at the ceiling, thinking. Amidst his thoughts, he began to smile slightly. He was thinking about what he had been through the past day and a half. The ones that stood out the most were when he and Calhoun escaped the Nesquik sand and when Calhoun actually kissed him. That thought sent his heart aflutter! Felix eventually fell asleep right there on the sofa, still wearing his work clothes.

The next morning before the arcade opened, Felix went downstairs and stood outside. He once again got lost in thought and was staring blankly out into the arcade when Ralph walked up and found him. "Mornin' Felix!" Ralph called out. Felix jumped a little.

"Oh, good mornin', Ralph," he greeted back. Ralph noticed he wasn't his normally peppy self.

"Felix, you been okay?" Ralph asked. "You seem like you have something on your mind.

Felix couldn't stand it anymore. He had to let someone know, and he knew he could trust Ralph. Felix gulped and rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. "Ralph, can you keep a secret? For me?"

"Sure, I can!" Ralph agreed.

"Well, you see, I…I sort of have a thing for Sgt. Calhoun."

"No kiddin'," Ralph sarcastically said. "That's your big secret?"

"What? But I never told you!" Felix was a bit troubled by how transparent his infatuation with Calhoun was. He wondered if it was so obvious to others.

"Well, yeah, just the way you were talking about her made it pretty apparent. Is that what's bothering you? Isn't that something someone would be happy about?"

Felix let out a sigh and glanced up at Ralph. "Yes, normally. And I was for a while. I mean, she's the most beautiful woman I ever did see and she gives me some fierce honey glows!"

"Gives you some what now?"

"Never mind," said Felix. "My point is that…what if she doesn't want me? Ralph, I've never felt like this before in my life! I'm not sure how to handle it or talk to her about it. I'm so confused!"

"Well, Felix, does…Calhoun like you back?" Ralph asked. Felix really thought about that for a moment.

"I think so," Felix replied, a bit hopeful. "It's a bit hard to tell right now."

"Any hints maybe?"

Felix let out a little chuckle as he did think of one thing. "I mean, well, she did kiss me."

"No way!" Ralph exclaimed in a cheerful disbelief. Felix laughed, but was a little embarrassed.

"Well, yeah! It was pretty wonderful…" he said dreamily. "I did sort of kiss her first though."

"Oh, you dog you!" Ralph joked. They shared a laugh together. "But seriously, you don't think that's a big enough hint? Come on, Felix. You can at least say you tried."

"You're right, Ralph! I'll never know unless I try!" Felix mustered up determined smile.

"Yeah! There you go! So why not ask her out on a date or something tonight?"

"Ralph!" Felix could not believe how blasé Ralph seemed about this. "Tamora Calhoun is not a lady you just go up to and ask out on a date. I wouldn't even know where to take her."

Ralph thought for a moment. "I guess there's nowhere in the arcade that's really ideal for anything too romantic. Why don't you just invite her back here and, you know, just talk to her?"

"…Like, just out in the little garden we have behind the apartments?"

"Yeah! That sounds good!" Ralph patted Felix on the back. Felix was still very nervous and unsure of how he would approach this problem. Now he had to ask Calhoun out on a date. His thoughts, however, were cut short when a quarter entered a machine and they all had to take their places. It was a pretty normal day after that. Gamers would play and they would do their jobs. But in between games, Felix's mind would wander off to his ladylove.

After the arcade closed, Felix has never been so simultaneously happy and anxious. He was really wondering if he was going to get with the girl of his dreams or if he was about to receive the bitter taste of rejection. Felix knew that this might be a chance at true love and he was just going to have to try his hand at it.