Inside the school, students were standing around, talking about their summer or joking around with one another. Taffyta spots Jubileena right away, talking with her sister, Citrusella, who was a trumpet player in the school band.
"Jubi!" Taffyta yells to her, running over to where the two girls are standing.
"Oh, hey, Taffy. What's up?" Jubileena asks her as she puts her lunchbox in her locker.
"Nothing much. Congratulations on making the cheerleading squad." Taffyta says, pulling off her jacket and putting it in her locker.
"Thanks. It wasn't easy since a lot of other girls were trying out as well. I'm surprised I even made the team. And I'm the cheerleading captain." Jubileena says, smiling. "You know that popular girl, Minty Zaki?"
"Somewhat, why?" asks her, closing her locker.
"She made the squad, too. But she's not the captain. She's the co-captain. She tries to make my life a living hell just because I'm the cheer captain. But she knows she can't get to me." Jubileena says, giggling. "But, anyway, me, Citrusella, Adorabeezle, and Rancis are all going to the mall on Friday night. Do you want to join us?"
"S-Sure, that sounds great." Taffyta says nervously. She mentioned Rancis' name...just the sound of it makes my heart skip a beat...
"Well, I better go to class. You should probably do the same. See you at lunch?" Jubileena says, collecting her backpack and cheerleading bag.
"Okay. Gloyd and Candles can join our table, right?" Taffyta asks as Jubileena walks away.
"Sure, the more, the merrier! See you at lunch, Taffy!" Jubileena says, running to catch up with Citrusella.
Taffyta grabs her backpack and lunchbox, then walks to her first class, her first thought being, Does she know about the relationship I have with Rancis?
Her mind races a bit. "Nah...she probably doesn't know. Adorabeezle is like her BEST friend. She invited Rancis because he's a drum major in the school band and Sticky plays the trumpet." Taffyta says, breathing a sigh of relief.
She walks to class, her thoughts still racing.
"Welcome to 12th grade English." A skinny man wearing a forest green t-shirt and jeans says to the students sitting in the room. "We'll start with introductions. I'll start. My name is Mr. Buckley. Good to know you students will be spending a semester with me."
A girl wearing a cupcake hat, a brown & pink striped shirt, a pink miniskirt, pink and brown polka-dot leggings, and black and pink tennis shoes stands up from her seat. "My name is Carrie Lowes, but everyone calls me Candlehead!" she says before sitting back in her seat and chewing a piece of mint chocolate chip flavored gum.
A girl in a pink dress, white and pink striped tights, and pink sneakers stands up next, adjusting her strawberry hat. "Name's Taffyta Muttonfudge. Don't cross me, I won't cross you. That's all I have to say." the platinum blonde says as she sucks on a strawberry lollipop with a smirk on her face.
A winter-themed girl stands up next. "My name is Adorabeezle Winterpop, future pro ice skater, skier, and snowboarder."
A girl with a snow cone afro introduces herself next. "My name is Snowanna Rainbeau, and I love to dance and have a good time."
The other students introduce themselves as Minty Zaki, Jubileena Bing-Bing, Nougetsia Brumblestain, Citrusella Flugpucker, Torvald Batterbutter, Gloyd Orangeboar, Sticky Wipplesnit, Vanellope Von Schweetz, Presley Peppermint, and Felicity Fruitloop.
"My name is Swizzle Malarkey, and I like doing my own stunts and hanging out with my friends." Swizzle says, crossing his legs under his desk.
The golden blonde boy stands up from his desk and introduces himself. "My name is Rancis Fluggerbutter, and I like shopping, Broadway musicals, looking in the mirror, and I'm always on the lookout for new fashion trends for guys like myself. I also like hanging out with friends." he says, taking out a silver compact mirror and looking at his reflection.
"Nice to meet you all. We're going to have a great time together." Mr. Buckley says as he pulls out an English textbook. "Now, if you turn to page 10 in your books, we'll explore the basics of sentence diagramming..."
This was just one of many classes that the students had to attend, just on the first day, too.
After several more classes, it was finally time to eat lunch.
Taffyta goes to a table with her lunchbox, and unpacks her lunch. She starts to take a bite of her sandwich as Jubileena, Gloyd, and Candlehead approach the table and sit with her.
"All right, so what do you guys think of school so far?" Jubileena asks the other three as she eats a bite of her spinach salad with cherry tomatoes on the side.
"I guess it's what I expected for senior year. A lot of hard classes, tough teachers, and sub-par lunch." Gloyd says, poking his fork into a plate of macaroni & cheese.
"Gloydie, I don't think school is THAT bad. I mean, sure, there's SOME hard classes, but I'm sure home ec will be fun, you know, because there's cooking and crafting and stuff like that in there." Candlehead says, playfully nudging her boyfriend's arm.
"I'm kind of looking forward to gym class, you know, because of the volleyball and stuff." Taffyta says, biting into a celery stick.
"All right, new topic. What's with you and Fluggerbutter?" Candlehead asks Taffyta, who puts down her celery stick and blushes furiously.
"We've been together for over 6 months now. He likes me and I like him. Can we please not talk about this?" Taffyta says as she goes back to eating her lunch, starting on the colby jack cheese stick. "We've gone out a couple of times, and that's it. And we went to the beach, too."
"Whoa...so are you two going to become an item? You know, are you going to go steady?" Gloyd asks, taking a bite of orange gelatin.
"What? No!" Taffyta says, blushing furiously.
"Well, I know me and Candles are going steady already." Gloyd says, kissing Candlehead's nose. "And I know that we've been together for a month now, but she's ready to go steady."
"Well, I don't want to be talking about Rancis around you and Candlehead, Gloyd. Rancis is the best thing to enter my life. But, my parents have been on my case about me going out at all hours of the night. I always tell them I'm hanging out with some friends if Rancis wants to see me." Taffyta says, finishing her cheese stick and starting on her strawberry yogurt.
"I know you and Rancis are together." Jubileena tells her, sipping her cherry-flavored mineral water and smiling. "You two are like peas in a pod, and you two always have fun together. I know you two are more than just friends."
"Thanks, Jubes. That means a lot, coming from you." Taffyta says, throwing away her lunch trash into a nearby trash can. Just then, Rancis walks over.
"Hello, Taffy-cakes." Rancis says, looking at the strawberry-themed girl with a look of love in his baby blue eyes.
"Oh, hello, Rancis. What are you doing over here?" Taffyta asks, sitting back in her seat.
"I was wondering, did you want to come over for dinner tonight? I mean, if you want to. My dad's grilling steaks and making a pasta salad and stuffed eggs." Rancis asks Taffyta, smiling a bit.
"Okay, that sounds good." Taffyta says, smiling back.
"Good, I'll see you tonight." Rancis says, walking away to deal with his lunch trash.
After school, Taffyta, Gloyd, and Candlehead are walking home, talking.
"What did Rancis ask you?" Candlehead asks Taffyta, who's putting her jacket on.
"He asked me to come over for dinner." Taffyta replies, still blushing.
"Girl, you have it BAD for Fluggerbutter." Candlehead says, chuckling lightly.
"Yeah, so what if I do? We've been together for over 6 months, but he does it to me. I can't help that his hair is so perfect, and he has the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen, and that he smells fantastic..." Taffyta says, sighing deeply, thinking of her Reese's themed boyfriend.
Candlehead just shakes her head playfully, then snaps her fingers in front of Taffyta's face. "Taffy, snap out of it! I know you like him in that way, but don't be describing him to me. I know what he's like."
"All right, Candles." Taffyta says as they approach her house. "I'll see you tomorrow?" she asks as she walks up to her front door.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Taffy." Candlehead says as she walks off with Gloyd.
She enters the house, throws her backpack into the hall closet, puts her lunchbox in the kitchen, and hangs up her jacket on the coat hooks in the living room.
"I thought I heard you come in." Misty says, coming out of her and Michael's bedroom. "How was your first day as a senior?"
"It was good. Nothing special, really. Look, can I go to a friend's house for dinner tonight?" Taffyta asks her mom as she gets an M&M cookie ice cream sandwich from the freezer in the kitchen.
"Sure, you can, just be home by 9:00. It's a school night." Misty says as she goes back into the bedroom.
"Cool, thanks, Mom." Taffyta says, unwrapping the cookie sandwich and eating it.
As she heads upstairs with her sandwich, she smiles, thinking about Rancis once again.