Written By:
waffle-girl15 /
wafflegirl15 /
and
eat-fangirl-dance-repeat
melidancer123 /
u/4189270/
"I totally won!" Vanellope exclaimed, opening the door and walking out of the arcade.
"Psh, Nu-uh, no way!" Rancis denied.
"Yes way!" she continued to protest,though she was smiling nonetheless.
"Yeah? Well, who'd the screen say crossed the finish line first?" He retorted, determined to win this argument.
"Ok! Settle down now kids!" Felix interjected, "I'm sure it was a close tie! We'll be home in a minute, so sit tight 'til we get there!" He opened the driver's door with a loud, rusty groan and sat down while he waited for Vanellope and Rancis to get in.
Vanellope opened the door and scrambled up onto the seat. Because she was rather short for her age, it was difficult to climb up into the truck. Rancis hopped in after her and shut the door behind him. The children buckled up as the truck was started.
"Everybody buckled in? Ok! Here we go!" He started the engine, bringing it to life with roar.
"Pssst... Psssst, Vanny..." Rancis poked her, "What're we gonna do when we get to your house?"
"Psst... Psst, Rancis..." she poked him back, copying his actions. "I dunno. Whaddya wanna do when we get to my house?"
"Hmmm, we could play outside!" he mused, "and we could play tag or hide and seek or something."
Vanellope nodded. "Sure!" she smiled at him, and poked his side again. "Boop!"
The pick-up made a sharp turn around the corner onto Ash Street, causing Rancis to fall on Vanellope's lap. "Boop!" he returned the poke through a fit of giggles, trying to compose himself and sit back upright. Felix even let out a little chuckle at the incident.
The little girl busted into giggles. She poked him back. "Boop! Boop! Boop!" she said each time she poked him.
With each poke he gave another poke back. "Boop! Boop! Boop!" They went back and forth, Rancis even lightly kicking her shoe a few times.
"TICKLE ATTACK!" she yelled. Suddenly, she began to tickle the boy along his neck and underarms.
"V-Vah! Vanellope! Stop that!" He fought against her, trying to push her off of him, to no avail.
Vanellope didn't stop, and continued to tickle him. "Nope! Revenge is sweet!"
"Ok you two, settle down. We're almost there." Felix stepped in.
"Thank you!" Rancis let out, exasperated from the ordeal.
"Nyeh." Vanellope crossed her arms, sticking her tongue out at Rancis.
Rancis mimicked her gesture right as Felix pulled into the Silverman house driveway. He opened the door and scrambled out, helping Vanellope down too, remembering how she had a hard time climbing into the truck. Felix rang the door bell as the two ran up behind him on the doorstep.
Vanellope's father, Ralph, came to the door and oepned it. "Hey-o! Come in, guys!" he greeted them, moving out of the way so they could enter. The three walked into the house and Ralph closed the door behind them. "Did you guys have fun at the arcade?" he asked.
"Uh-huh!" Vanellope chirped. "Lots of fun!"
"Yup! For the longest time! Van even beat one of the highscores!" Rancis pitched in.
"Really? Cool!" Ralph smiled at the two, taking their jackets and hanging them up.
"Watcha wanna do first, Nellie?" Rancis asked.
"Um..." Vanellope glanced around, seeing if there was anything they could do. She looked at the door. "Let's go outside!" she exclaimed, taking his hand and rushing out the door.
"'Kay!" he responded, running out the door behind her.
A cool November breeze chilled the air. The leaves crunched under their feet as they walked outside onto the front lawn. Trees barely had any green left on them now as they were dressed up in red, yellow, and orange.
A smirk crossed Rancis' face, he leaned over and tapped her on the shoulder, "Tag!" Then ran in the opposite direction as fast as he could.
Vanellope gasped as a smile danced across her features. She turned around and followed him, her feet slapping against the ground as she ran. The cold fall breeze flew past her, making her hair blow past her as she ran. She neared Rancis and tagged his shoulder as soon as she was close enough to him. "TAG!" she yelled. She began to run the other way.
Ranics glanced over and grinned as he turned to tag her. "Nellie, I'm coming for you!" he shouted after her. Nothing could've seemed more perfect as the clouds lazily drifted through the sky. Nearing her, he bent over to tag her side, but leaned to far as he fell over into her hands. "Tag!" he yelled while still catching his breath.
Vanellope was about to tag her friend back, when she felt something fall on her forehead. She glanced up, looking at the sky. Another drop fell upon her face. And another! She was confused for a moment, then realized; it was raining. "It's raining!" she yelled gleefully.
Ranics lifted his head up to the storm clouds and let the droplets fall on his face. He scrunched up his eyes and nose as the rain landed on them. Pretty soon he was soaked and his hair was messed up, but he didn't care. He took each one of Vanellope's hands in his own and started to spin them in a circle. His eyes were closed, but his mouth was smiling and he was practically beaming with happiness.
Vanellope giggled as she was spun around, the rain pouring down on her. She was soaking wet now, but she didn't care. The little girl soon let go, spinning out. Her hair was loose and fell out of her pony tail, letting her hair go free. She closed her eyes and faced above, her arms spread out.
Rancis fell down next to her, content to lay in the rain. He looked over at Vanellope whose hair was all sprawled out while she was smiling, staring up at the sky. That's when he knew. His stomach felt light with butterflies and he knew he had a crush on her.
It was finally Friday, the best day of the week. It was the students' free period, so that meant they could do anything they wanted. Most of the boys were preparing for basketball tryouts that were happening afterschool, and three of those boys were Rancis, Gloyd, and Swizzle.
They were sitting together on the fold-out metal chairs that lined the wall. "You guys ready for tryouts?" Rancid asked his friends.
"Yeah, I'm ready. Why, you're not?" Gloyd asked, standing up and bouncing a basketball.
"Yeah, I'm ready. I just... I don't know." he trailed off. He wanted to tell them about his crush, but didn't know how. Unconsciously, he began to fidget with his hands. "Once I get back into the swing of things, I'll be fine."
"What's up, man? Something wrong?" the boy asked, facing Rancis. "You seem like you have something on your mind. You can tell us."
"Yeah, wassa matter, bro?" Swizzle asked from his seat.
Rancis' eyes darted around the room, making sure no one was looking. No one seemed to be so he went on, "Ok guys, you can't tell anyone... and don't laugh, but... I think I have a crush on Vanellope."
The boys were quiet for a moment, then gave a nod of approval. "Not bad, man. Not bad at all." Gloyd commented. "You should invite Vanellope to try-outs. Try to impress her, y'know?"
Rancis stood and considered the idea for a moment, weighing in his mind what could happen if he horribly messed up tryouts. "Yeah guys, but what if she's busy or if I just totally bomb try-outs? I mean I could do horrible!"
"Just give it a try!" Gloyd said, shooting the basketball into the hoop. "You'll be fine! Worth a shot, right?"
"And dude, don't even kid, you're like one of the best players on the team." Swizzle said getting up and catching the ball. "Besides, you wouldn't know if you don't ask her." He finished while making a shot.
Rancis sighed. "Ok I'll go ask her. Don't let tryouts start without me!" He took off out of the gym and down the hallway.
Vanellope was at her locker, getting out her backpack. She heard footstepts and turned around to see who they belonged to. "Hey, Rancis! Whachya doing here?"
"Oh um, hi Vanellope! Do you wanna come and watch my basketball try-outs? You know, for like moral support! He asked while walking over to her.
She shrugged and closed her locker. "Sure!" she swung her backpack over her shoulder. "Why not?"
"Really? Great!" he grabbed her hand, "C'mon let's go! I don't wanna be late!"
"Okay, okay!" she laughed as she was pulled along to the gym.
There was still 5 minutes before try-outs started and most of the boys had already warmed up and were practicing. "Hey guys!" Rancis said as he walked over to Swizzle and Gloyd. "Look it worked!"
"No kidding!" Gloyd said, glancing at Vanellope. She was sitting on the bleachers, doing math homework while she waited for try-outs to start.
Just then Coach Calhoun walked out of her office. "Ok cadets, who's ready for practice?" She narrowed her eyes with each word she spoke. "Go line up against the far wall for role call!"
The boys did as told, some nervous for trying out.
She called out each boys name one by one starting with Gloyd and ending Swizzle. "Ok, ladies, the order I called out your name is the order I want you to shoot. You each get 5 shots." She began to pace down the line as she talked. "You have to make it in at least 3 out of the 5 times to make it on the team. Am I clear?"
The boys nodded. They went down the line. Some boys made it, others didn't. But when it got down to Rancis, the pressure was on him. Vanellope looked up from her homework, excitement on her face. She crossed her fingers, praying Rancis would make it.
Rancis grabbed a ball off the rack. A fairly old one, that had been sitting on the bottom rung. He bounced it a few times and carried to the free throw line. He could feel the sweat begin to form on his palms, his throat run dry. His heart rate began to quicken and he glanced over at the Vanellope who gave him a thumps up. He smiled back and prepared to take his first shot. Knees bent, arms close to his sides, he straightened up and threw the ball at the hoop. It bounced off the backboard and swoosh, it made it through the hoop. 'One down, at least two to go.' He thought to himself.
Rancis swallowed hard and took a deep breath. He threw his second shot, but was dismayed as it bounced off the rim. He bent and bounced the ball on the hardwood floor a few times. Lifting his head he aimed, and took another shot, satisfied as it fell through the hoop this time. After missing the fourth shot, he had one last chance to make it on the team. Getting more anxious each second, he took another deep breath, sank down on his heels, and-
"Would you hurry up already?" One of the boys that hadn't made it on the team taunted.
Rancis' head swung around right as the ball left his hand, throwing his balance off. He turned back just in time to see the ball, by some miracle, sink through the netting.
"Congratulations, kid, looks like you've made it on the team." Coach Calhoun said, patting him on the back.
Rancis sat back down in his seat as the next kid got up for his turn. Giving him time to soak in the joyful feeling that was known as success; proud smile left on his face.
Vanellope squeeled and stood up. She ran over to Rancis and gave him a huge hug, even though she knew tryouts were still going on. "Congrats, Butterfingers! Ya did it!" she cheered happily.
"Thanks Vanny!" he squeezed back.
"Miss! Could you sit back in your seat! We still have other kids that are trying out!" Calhoun addressed, noticing the disruption.
"Yeah, yeah!" she waved her off, running back to her seat. "Sorry!"
Rancis was almost positive that he impressed Vanellope.
