Thursday
"So, Cand, some of the girls and I were gonna head over to the fashion store next to PacMan. Wanna check it out?" Taffyta asked Candlehead.
"Sure! Let's invite Vanellope too!" Candlehead said happily.
"You sure, Cand?" Taffyta frowned. "I thought you were still mad at her."
Candlehead shook her head, her green pigtails swishing against her shoulders. "Not anymore. She can have Rancis if she wants."
"If you say so. Oh, and I got it all set up! Do you really want to do this, Cand?" Taffyta said.
"Of course I do!" Candlehead urged persistently.
"Got it. Now, you and Nella (nickname for VaNELLOpe) meet us at the store an hour after school ends. Stay sweet!"
And then they both headed to their separate classes. Candlehead told Vanellope during lunch about the whole get-together thing. Vanellope happily told her that she's love to come, and that they could go together.
During Kart-Ology (a class Candlehead and Rancis are in together)
"Alright then, partners, partners," Ms. Soufflina murmured, tapping her pencil on the desk.
"Alright the partners are Gloyd and Crumbelina," she said first. Both students beamed happily.
"Jubileena and Snowanna (NO YURI), Swizzle and Minty," she continued.
"Candlehead and Rancis, ..."
Candlehead looked up from her notebook. This was the last thing she wanted. Compared to Vanellope, she probably looked like a little goody two-shoes to Rancis. She looked over to him. He smiled his charming smile, the same one that he gave her the first day of school that made her like him. Her heart raced for a split second but she gave a little nonchalant wave and returned to taking her notes. He looked at her with a confused look on his face. Normally she would smile and blush like a toddler being told she was the most beautiful girl they had ever seen.
"Surprised?" Candlehead thought. "I'm not the sensitive little girl that craved your attention so badly anymore," she wanted to tell him.
"Alright then class, partner up and I'd like to see your project by the end of class! You've got thirty-five minutes."
"Thirty-five minutes?" Candlehead thought. Normally, she'd be overjoyed. But now, she felt burdened. Why did it have to be Rancis out of all people?!
Rancis took a seat next to her.
"Ok, Rancis, so I think I should start designing the body then you do the-" Candlehead started to say, tearing out a sheet of notebook paper for him to use.
"Wait wait wait, before we start, can I say something?" he asked.
"What?"
"Why have you been ignoring me for these past few days? And acting all emo?"
Candlehead's stomach twisted. "What do you mean? And EMO?!"
"I mean, you don't look at me when I say hi, you don't skip around from class to class, you don't smile or laugh anymore! It's not like you!"
"Not like me?" she asked. "What would you know about me?"
"We've been best friends since second grade," he reminded her.
She looked away. "Well, I just wanted to give you and Vanellope some time to, uh, bond," she stammered.
"Huh? Bond? I invited her over to help her with homework. You know Ms. Grannysmith."
"Yeah, I know. Well, now that we've clarified some things, let's just get this project over with."
"One more question," Rancis said.
"What is it this time?" she irritably responded.
"Who are you going to the dance with tomorrow?"
Candlehead froze. "Well," she stuttered. "I was just planning to go with Taffyta, Crumbelina, and the other girls. I assume you're going with Vanellope."
Candlehead stiffened. That last part had kind of slipped out by accident.
"How'd you know?" he asked.
"Uh... Lucky guess?"
He glared at her leerily. "I just want her to feel at home here at the school."
"Yes, of course you do," she said.
"And Cand, you're still my best friend," he said, looking her in the eyes. "I don't want you to think I'm ignoring you to be with Vanellope. I just want you to be yourself again."
"I..." she stammered. She gained her composure. "I know."
"Well, good then! Now that that's out of the way, let's get started on our project!"
Rancis cut a small loaf of pound cake to look like the body of a kart. He then cut out the wheels, engine, and bumper. Candlehead decorated the kart with frosting, sprinkles, and tiny pieces of candy, and Rancis also helped.
"Good job, Rancis and Candlehead," Ms. Soufflina said, observing their completed design admirably.
"Thanks," they both said proudly.
"Well, see you tomorrow, Cand," Rancis said.
"Bye," she replied, smiling a bit.
"You finally smiled! It feels like forever the last time I saw you do it!"
Candlehead laughed and said her goodbyes. At least now she wasn't too bitter with Rancis anymore. He said himself they were still best friends. Maybe things weren't going as bad as she thought.
After School
"Crumbs! This outfit would look perfect on you!" Taffyta exclaimed, gesturing to a chocolate brown sleeveless dress with a layered skirt and caramel brown ribbon-bracelet. Crumbelina gasped in excitement. She definitely knew her stuff when it came to fashion. Crumbelina was one of the richest racers but didn't mind getting dirty and sly if it meant winning a race. She was the brains behind the whole "shopping" night out.
"Crumbelina! Does this dress look good on me?" Snowanna asked frantically, holding up a plum-purple dress with short sleeves.
"Tsk tsk," Crumbelina sighed. She looked around. Grabbing another dress off the rack, she held it up and handed it to Snowanna. "This color would go better with your eyes, don't you think?
"It's perfect!" Snowanna exclaimed. It was a short frilly one-shoulder-strap lavender purple dress. "Thanks, Crumbs! See you tomorrow!" Snowanna turned around to pay, clearly in love with her new dress.
Crumbelina sighed. "All in a day's work," she thought.
Candlehead and Vanellope walked through the door, with Candlehead in the front and Vanellope, still a bit shy.
"Hey guys," Taffyta said, scannning the racks for a dress for them.
"Cand! Vanellope! You made it!" Crumbelina exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement.
"Yup!" Candlehead smiled.
"Oh yeah, I found the PERFECT outfit for you, Vanellope!" Crumbelina said. Taking Vanellope by the hand, she lead her to the other side of the store.
"No way!" Vanellope said in horror.
The dress was a knee-length teal tube-top dress with magenta trimming.
"Why not?" Crumbelina said, placing her hands on her hips. "It's beautiful!"
"On someone like you or Taffyta! Can I get something more... I don't know, modest?"
"Modest, modest," Crumbelina chanted, placing her chin on her hand. "What do you have in mind?"
"I dunno, maybe like a t-shirt and some jeans?"
"Vanellope, you're not gonna get any guys unless you learn to be daring sometimes!"
"Daring? Guys?"
Crumbelina rolled her eyes. "Yeah. For whatever reason, guys love it when they see girls stepping out of their comfort zones to get attention."
Vanellope eyed the dress wearily. "Do I really want attention?" she thought to herself. "Rancis is cute, but I'm not sure he'd like me because of something I wore."
"C'mon Vanellope," Crumbelina urged, snapping Vanellope out of her little trance. "Just for one night?"
"Oh what the Gobstoppers," Vanellope sighed. "Fine."
"Yes!" Crumbelina exclaimed happily.
"But just for ONE night," Vanellope quickly said.
"Yes, yes, I know," Crumbelina said, pulling the dress off the rack and shoving it in Vanellope's arms happily.
Meanwhile...
"Cand, look at this dress I found!" Taffyta said, holding up a shimmery hot pink dress with a white belt.
"Cute!" Candlehead said excitedly.
"What are you getting?" Taffyta asked.
"I dunno," she said. "I'm not sure."
"How about this one?" Taffyta said, darting over to another rack.
With a flourish, she pulled out a sleeveless brown dress with pink lace at the bottom.
"Pretty," Candlehead said, adoring the dress.
"You should totally wear it! Rancis will definitely notice you!"
"Actually, Taff, this time I'm doing it for myself. I don't need his attention anymore. Rancis just isn't the one for me. I just want to have a guyfriend for now."
"Really? Bold move," Taffyta observed proudly.
"Yeah. I'll pay for the dress, and let's head to my house for practice," Candlehead said, taking the dress from Taffyta.
Candlehead's own words echoed in her head. She smiled proudly at herself. She didn't need to tell Vanellope off. She was happy the way she was.
"This time I'm doing it for myself."
Author's Note: And scene! Thanks for all the nice comments guys, I'm starting to really like this story. Next chapter's probably gonna be the last! But fear not, I'm planning on writing a sequel, if I get enough requests to do so. Leave comments, suggestions, and positive critisism if needed. Follow and favorite plz! Thanks for reading, and keep checking back for more! -Mars