Taffyta had made a point of avoiding Vanellope for the next week. She didn't talk to her, or even look at her. Vanellope honestly didn't care. She was just glad to have the Wicked Witch off her back. But the next week, things were back to normal. Well, as normal as it got.
"Oh my gob, what is she doing to her hair?" Vanellope heard Taffyta whisper loudly to Candlehead one Monday morning when she walked up.
Vanellope glanced up. She'd actually liked what she'd done with it. She'd put it up in her favorite hairstyle-a high ponytail-and decorated it with all these barrettes Ralph had gotten her. They all looked like candy, and as Ralph had joked, "Looked good enough to eat."
"It just looks so messy!" Taffyta continued.
"So messy!" Candlehead nodded.
Vanellope stood up straight, remembering what Coach Calhoun had told her. "What did I ever do to you Taffyta?" Vanellope said, staring her straight in the eye. "Just because I beat you at everything doesn't mean you have to hate me."
Taffyta gasped.
"Uh, you don't beat her at everything?" Candlehead said, clutching Taffyta's arm as Taffyta looked like she was getting ready to explode. "Taffyta's like, so much better than you? You're not cool, like her."
"Yeah!" Taffyta hissed.
Vanellope rolled her eyes. "I don't care if you guys make fun of me anymore," she said. "I have better things to do with my time."
Taffyta glared at her. "You know what Vanellope? I was going to say sorry for pushing you down the other day, since I'm like, so nice. But I changed my mind. I'm not sorry anymore. You're so annoying and I hate you."
Vanellope didn't know how to respond. She wasn't annoying, was she? Why should she care what Taffyta thought anyways? Taffyta was the "lame" one, not her. She didn't need her approval. Instead, Vanellope acted like she didn't hear her and sat down with her back to Taffyta, turning her attention to Adorabeezle, who had just walked in, looking nervous to have to sit by them all.
Miss Mary walked in and clapped her hands together excitedly. "Good morning boys and girls! I have exciting news for you today, so let's get settled down!"
The kids ran to their seats immediately, each anxious for the news. "What is it?" Gloyd called from his seat.
"Well, now that it's October, the annual fall festival is in town, and we are going get to attend it as a class field trip!"
The students broke out into excited conversations and shouts.
"Oh yeah!" Jubileena said, doing a fist pump.
"This is going to be so cool!" Swizzle said, high-fiving Rancis.
Snowanna got up and danced.
"What's the fall festival?" Vanellope asked Adorabeezle, looking confused.
"It's so much fun!" Adorabeezle gushed, her eyes glittering with excitement. "Every October, the fair comes to town, and they have all kinds of cool stuff! There's jack-o-lantern carving, apple bobbing contests, a Ferris wheel, a carousel, hay wagon rides, games, prizes, and lots of candy!" She sighed happily. "And there's even a corn maze, too!"
Vanellope's eyes widened. "Oooh! That sounds like fun! And we are going to get to go there?"
Adorabeezle nodded and smiled. "It's the best! My parents usually take me, but we've never gone as a class!"
Vanellope nearly jumped out of her seat. This was going to be the best field trip she'd ever had! Well, technically the only field trip she'd ever had, but all the same she couldn't wait.
"Okay everyone, I know you're excited, but I need you to all to listen-this is very important." Miss Mary said, waving them all down. "We'll visit the festival Wednesday, but before you go you'll need to have your parents sign this permission slip." She walked around the room and placed a small piece of paper on each desk. "If you don't get it signed, you won't be allowed to go," She said warningly. "On Wednesday, we'll have Reading and Science, like normally, but instead of Music, you'll visit Professor Felix for Math instead. Then we'll leave when you would normally have your break. Just make sure you get your form signed! And if you want to bring extra money to buy some treats there, that would be a good idea too!"
Vanellope heard Taffyta groan. "Ugh, I thought we would get to skip Math!" She said to Candlehead.
"Ugh, I know! I wanted to skip Music, this sucks!" She replied.
"What?" Taffyta said, looking puzzled.
Vanellope looked down at her bright yellow slip. It had a description of what the trip was going to be like, what they should bring, and had a space for their parent/guardian to sign.
"I don't know why they even add the guardian thingy." Taffyta was saying, looking at her slip as well. "I think we all obviously have parents!"
"Yeah?"Candlehead said. "I mean, I don't even know what a guardian is?"
Vanellope bit her lip and said nothing.
"And don't forget, you all need a pick out two other people to spend the day with at the fair." Miss Mary said, going back to the front of the room. "So we should have 5 groups in all. I'll give you 3 minutes now to quick find your partners."
"That's perfect!" Taffyta squealed to Candlehead. "Then I can be in a group with you and Rancis!" She sighed dreamily and waved Rancis over.
"Or with Swizzle?" Candlehead said, looking hopefully at her.
"Um, no." Taffyta said, looking annoyed.
Vanellope looked around the room. Who should she pair up with? She turned to Adorabeezle, but she was already waving to Nougetsia and Jubileena. Snowanna was running over to Crumbelina and Torvald, and Minty, Sticky, and Citrusella were all looking at each other. That left…
"Hey chumps!" Vanellope said, walking up to Swizzle and Gloyd. She tugged at her arm nervously and gave them a hopeful look. "Need a partner?"
"Yeah!" Gloyd said. "You're cool, and we're the only 3 left in the class anyways."
"We were going to be with Rancis but he went with Taffyta." Swizzle muttered, looking annoyed.
"But at least we're not with Taffyta," Gloyd reminded him.
"Thank gob." Swizzle said, which caused all three to laugh.
Later than afternoon, Vanellope raced off the bus and into her house. She had to get Ralph to sign this form immediately, before she forgot or lost it. "Ralph! I need you!" She exclaimed, throwing open the front door.
But instead of finding Ralph sitting on the couch watching Dr. Phil like she had that one time last week (which he'd hastily turned off, insisting that he'd just been browsing through the channels), the house was empty.
"Grr! Stupid demolition work!" Vanellope muttered. She threw her backpack on the ground. Walking over to the kitchen, she grabbed a bag of chocolate chips and retreated to the couch. Flipping on the TV, she found herself watching a show where everyone was yelling at each other. There were so many words bleeped out and the audience was roaring so loudly that she couldn't even tell what was going on. "You ain't my baby daddy!" This woman yelled, jumping up and down.
Vanellope snickered. "Baby daddy?" She said, the words tickling her mouth. She ate a handful of chocolate and turned back to watch.
"Alright, settle down everyone," the host said. "The test results are in!"
Finally the audience was quiet, which was good, since Vanellope's head was starting to hurt from all the noise.
"Deonte, you are NOT the father!" The host said, after about 30 seconds of silence. The audience broke out into more yelling and more stuff was bleeped out.
"Is this supposed to be funny?" Vanellope said incredulously. "What kind of dumb story is this, anyways?"
15 minutes passed ( along with more "baby daddies," yelling, and fighting) and soon Ralph walked in. "Hey-oh!" He called. "I got pizza!"
"Ralph!" Vanellope exclaimed, relieved to get away from the show. She ran up to greet him. "RalphIneedyoutosignthispermissionslipsoIcangototh efaironWednesday!"
"Wait, slow down," Ralph said, putting the box of pizza on the counter. "Did you say something about a trip? And what are you watching!" He exclaimed, gesturing to the TV.
"I told you! I told you! Shut up!" Another lady was shouting, jumping around in front of the camera. She held up her hand and a big blurry spot appeared on it.
"What the heck is that thing on her hand?" Vanellope exclaimed, laughing. "Did she get her fingers cut off or something?"
"This stuff is garbage!" Ralph said, not answering her question. "You shouldn't be looking at this."
Vanellope shrugged. "It was an accident! I swear! Well, sort of. And it was so stupid anyways, the exact same stuff happened over and over again."
Ralph walked over and turned it off. "Now, say what you were saying before, and this time slowly."
Vanellope took a breath. "Our class is going to the fall festival on Wednesday, which is like this fair thing, and Miss Mary said you have to sign this slip so I can go. So can you sign it please? Can ya?"
"Oh yeah!" Ralph said, nodding. "I know that festival. I've never gone to it though."
"Why not?"
He shrugged. "Never felt like it, I guess. You'll probably like it though. Felix is always talking about how great it is." He waved her over. "Show me the paper."
Vanellope smiled and ran over to her backpack. She got it out and brought it to him. "Sign here guardian." She said, pointing and nudging him playfully.
Ralph did.
"Boy, you're handwriting is messy!" Vanellope laughed, looking at her slip with pride.
"It's not my fault we can't all write with perfect little cursive like some people." Ralph smiled back, giving her a look. "Now let's eat that pizza before it gets cold."
"I bet I can eat more than you!" Vanellope said.
"I don't doubt that, but it's on." Ralph said, smiling at her.