It was a sunny Tuesday afternoon and Davina was taking Cherry, Kiki, and Daniel to the school arcade, The Mellow Gamer Center. "Wow," Candy said. "This arcade is really cool."

"That's right," replied Vice Principal Cherry. "This is where the students of RDA go to when they have after school activities."

"That's good," replied Daniel, "because my sister is inviting her friends over for a study group and Mom doesn't want me disrupting them."

Next to the Whack-A-Clown, they saw a pinball machine called "Miss Johns' Wonder Circus." Vice Principal Davina told her that it was first plugged in when she first came to the Reginald Dwight Academy. Also, she had the top score.

Dav: 300,000

"Wow!" exclaimed Kiki. "No one can have a beating that scores for three decades."

"Ever since I was a young girl, I played the silver ball," VP Cherry replied. "I must've played them all."

On the front of the machine, Daniel could notice a little sign.

To be tossed out

"Too bad," sneered Alice from behind. "Sounds like VP Cherry is pinned out."

"Hello, Alice," growled Cherry. "Shouldn't you be at your dweeb dance club now?"

"Correction," replied Alice, "I have my tap dance club today. It's a good thing I didn't sign up your stupid ballet club."

"Wow, Alice," replied Kiki. "You really want to avoid Candy, don't you?"

"She's such a loser," boasted Alice, "just like one of her mothers."

"But she ain't seen nothin' like you in any amusement hall," replied Candy. "That deaf, dumb, and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball."

As Alice pushed Candy out of the way, she started playing the machine. Daniel and Kiki tried to warn Alice that it was going to be scheduled to be tossed, but Alice just ignored them. Seeing their sad faces, Candy decided that they should use their imagination.

With two shining smiles, Kiki and Daniel joined in. All four of them started imagining a circus named Cirque De Cherry.

XxoxX

The tent was covered with piano and music decorations, Concession Boy Benny and Concession Girl Ronnie were giving out slices of cherry pies for refreshments, Tight Rope Walker Nordland was entertaining the crowd, the Omazing Otto was pulling rabbits out of his hat, and Nikky the Clown was making balloon animals. VP Cherry was curious because she wanted to know who was in charge of the circus. "That's easy," Candy answered. "You are."

Looking at her clothes, VP Cherry realized that she had become Ring Master Davina. "Even on my usual table," she said, "I can beat the best to liven up this place."

In the middle of the circus, VP Cherry announced Dana, Dawson, and Dakota the Daredevil Trio, Regina the Lion Tamer, and finally Candy, Kiki, and Daniel the ball dancers. Kiki did a few hand stances on her ball, Daniel moved around and was wobbly, and Candy did pirouettes on her ball. In the ring, they did a little routine that looked like a pinball machine.

XxoxX

Back in reality, Candy, Kiki, and Daniel accidentally bumped into Ms. Nordland. She wasn't mad but was surprised that they got to mimic a pinball machine. "Forgive us, Ms. Nordland," explained Candy. "We're trying to cheer VP Cherry up."

"I was just coming from the dance department, and Mrs. Hext was taking roll call and noticed that Alice hasn't taken attendance," Ms. Nordland explained. "Do you know where she is?"

With three smiles, Cherry, Kiki, and Daniel decided to tell Ms. Nordland where Alice was.

At the pinball machine, Alice was starting to get a little annoyed because the pinball machine wasn't working. "We were trying to tell you, Levy," replied Ms. Nordland. "That pinball machine has had it. I also came to tell VP Cherry that the new pinball machine is here."

"Now that's Regina's job to get the new pinball machine," replied Davina. "She told me that it was a surprise."

After Candy poked Alice on the shoulder, Alice turned her head in rage. "Watch it," she growled. "I just moisturized my skin." When she looked up, she saw her dance teacher, who was mad. Ms. Nordland took Alice by the hand and dragged her to her jazz dance club.

Suddenly, a pair of movers came in with a space-themed pinball machine. Looking closely, VP Cherry realized that the new pinball machine was the sequel to "Miss Johns' Wonder Circus."

Miss John's Circus Galaxy

"All right, Aunt Davina!" exclaimed Candy. "Looks like you get to keep your title."

"She's a pinball wizard who scores a trillion more," cheered Kiki. "And best of all, she gets to keep her high score."

"We better get home," Aunt Davina answered. "I'm making chicken cannelloni tonight."

Kiki and Daniel looked at each other and decided that they should play the machine first, for Vice Principal Cherry.

The End