Chapter 2: Racing Heart
Afternoon had fallen across the Magic Kingdom and, just as it always was, Flynn's Arcade was packed with children of all ages, each of them eager to play the video games that had been set up around the large room dimly lit by the flashing lights and console screens, the sounds of electronic beeps and boops filling the air.
Making her way through the crowd of children and teenagers was a girl who looked no older than ten, dressed in a lavender t-shirt and cream colored capris. She had chestnut brown hair hair and wide blue eyes that she used to look around the arcade, smiling as she spotted the game she was looking for.
The girl walked up to one of the larger consoles in the arcade, which looked like two consoles fused together, each with a fake driver's seat in front of it, complete with wheels and pedals. The console was colored with pinks and light blues and the name "Sugar Rush" was written across it in a large, cartoony font, along with the subtitle of "Now with special guest racers!".
Sitting down in one of the chairs, the girl pulled a quarter out of her pocket and placed it into the machine, causing it to spring to life.
"Select your racer!" a excited voice declared over the console's sound system as a grid containing at least a dozen headshots appeared on screen. Using the wheel, the girl was able to move between the headshots, which caused an image of the character to appear to the side of the grid. Each of them were children roughly the girl's age, each wearing an outfit with a clear candy theme too it. Eventually, she came to a picture of Vanellope and the girl popped on screen. Vanellope blinked in surprise before smiling and waving.
"Hey Sofia!" Vanellope greeted, her voice carried through the game's sound system, "Didn't expect to see you in here!"
"I wanted to see you at work," the girl, Sofia, replied with a laugh, "You want to race?"
"You know it!" Vanellope replied, excitedly.
"Who are these special guests you guys got?" Sofia questioned.
"Lightning McQueen stopped by to do a couple of races, he's always trying to beat me," Vanellope explained with a chuckle before her smile turned awkward, "Turbo's also racing today too."
"Turbo?" Sofia asked in surprise before leaning closer to the screen and whispering conspiratorially, "Isn't he a bad guy?"
"Yeah, I guess," Vanellope shrugged, "But he's still a good racer and he's trying to be nicer overall. I mean, Ralph pointed out if I did the same thing to him that he did to me, I wouldn't be any better than he was, right?"
"I guess," Sofia agreed, a thoughtful look on her face which was quickly replaced by a broad smile, "Can I race as you?"
"Of course!" Vanellope replied happily, "That's what I'm here for!"
"Alright, let's do it!" Sofia declared with excitement as she pushed the gas pedal to select Vanellope as her character, causing the game to cut away from the screen.
After exiting from the character selection menu, the console cut to a camera angle behind Vanellope as she sat in her go-kart, a colorful vehicle that appeared to be made out of candy and frosting, sitting at the starting line to the race, a stoplight held suspended before her by a floating marshmallow. Multiple grandstands were set up on the side of the track, each seating dozens of candy people of various shapes and sizes. Vanellope was surrounded by other similarly made go-karts, driven by the children that Sofia had seen on the character select screen along with two racers stood out from the others.
One racer was apparently a living race car, the windshield replaced with bright, blue eyes and a smiling mouth in its bumper. The racecar was painted brightly red and decorated with a number of decals, the most prominent of which was the number ninety-five written red over a lightning bolt.
The other appeared to be older than most of the racers, dressed in a white racing suit with matching helmet on his disproportionately large head. His skin was sickly pale and his eyes were bright yellow, the his most striking feature was his complete lack of a nose. He sat in what looked like a go-kart mixed with an old fashioned racecar, painted white with a red stripe down the side.
As the camera settled behind Vanellope, all the racers began revving their engines before a countdown started flashing on screen. As the numbers counted down, Vanellope turned to look over her shoulder before smiling and giving a thumbs up to the camera. Sofia giggled in reply as Vanellope turned forward again before gripping the steering wheel in front of her tightly, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth in a look of determination.
As soon as the countdown finished flashing across the screen and the stoplight turned green, Sofia slammed her foot down on the accelerator, sending Vanellope rocketing forward along with the other racers, kicking up coco dust as they went while the bombastic announcer declared the race had begun. As they raced down the speedway, the pack began to separate, with Vanellope becoming one of the four racers fighting over first place.
As the path led them into a canyon that the announcer declared to be Gumball Gorge, Sofia spotted what looked to be sugar cubes with designs drawn on their sides that appeared to be floating just above the ground ahead of them. Watching the race car in front of them, she saw him plow through one of the cubes, which broke apart in a shower of sugar as the announcer screamed "Sweet Seekers!"
"Man, I hate this part," the race car grumbled as the bits of sugar began to swarm around him before they condensed into what looked like a rocket launcher on his hood.
"Alright, let's do this!" the race car declared, though Sofia noticed that his voice was much more nasally than it had been before. A second later, a brightly colored rocket shot out of the launcher and went streaking through the air, a sparkling stream trailing behind it like a firework. Suddenly, the rocket swerved and seemed to home in on the yellow-eyed racer, streaking forward and slamming into his kart, exploding in a shower of colorful sparks and launching him into air, allowing the race car to zoom past him.
Seeing this, Sofia directed Vanellope towards one of the sugar cubes, which also exploded as the go-kart plowed through it. Sofia heard the announcer scream "Cherry Bomb!" as the bits of sugar formed what resembled a mortar cannon on the front of Vanellope's cart.
"Awesome!" Vanellope declared over the speakers, "Sofia, press the little button next to the steering wheel!"
Glancing down at the console, Sofia quickly found the button and pressed it, which caused the mortar on the front of Vanellope's car to launch what looked like a large, black cherry into the air, a thin trail of smoke rising from its burning stem. The cherry flew up and over the racers in front of Vanellope, landing with a plop on the track. The cherry sat there for a few moments, it's stem burning down, before exploding into a cloud of black smoke and cherry red fire as the racers approached it. The force of the blast sent the race car spinning to the side, allowing Vanellope and another racer, a girl with short, platinum blonde hair dressed in a pink racing suit, to speed past him.
As they drove, Vanellope stood up and reached into the mortar, relying on Sofia to steer the kart around the giant gunballs that rolled back and forth through the canyon. Pulling out another one of the cherry bombs, which automatically lit itself as it left the mortar, Vanellope turned towards the rear of the kart.
"Did you like that, McQueen!?" Vanellope questioned as she held the cherry bomb above her head, "How about another one!?"
With that, she tossed the cherry bomb behind the kart, the explosive bouncing and rolling down the road before stopping near where the race car was recovering, it's stem quickly burning down.
"Oh, come on!" McQueen groaned as the cherry bomb exploded, sending him flying through the air again.
"Nice driving!" Vanellope called to Sofia as she got back into the driver's seat just as they reached an area of the track called Cakeway, the rocky nature of the canyon giving way to a snaking path that led up a mountain that resembled an ice cream sunday, coated with what looked like whipped cream.
Zooming up the mountain, Vanellope and Sofia were quickly gaining ground on the blonde in front of them. As they approached the cherry-topped peak though, the road grew steeper and more slick with whipped cream while the turn grew tighter and tighter. Suddenly, the turn became too tight for Sofia to handle and she lost her grip on the wheel, causing Vanellope to slam into the guardrail on the side of the road.
"Oh my gosh, are you okay!?" Sofia gasped.
"I'm fine!" Vanellope called back, "Just keep going!"
Nodding, Sofia pressed hard on the pedal and Vanellope took off once more. As Vanellope picked up speed, the racer in the white kart sped past her, shouting "Turbotastic" as he went. Narrowing her eyes, Vanellope gripped the steering wheel tightly as Sofia pressed the gas pedal harder and they took off after the other two racers.
Reaching the peak of the cake-mountain, Sofia gasped in surprise to find the raceway ended abruptly, the momentum of the kart launching them into the air. Soaring above the valley beneath, the kart landed on top of a cliff across from the mountain where the raceway continued.
As they began catching up with the other racers, Vanellope saw that they were approaching a tunnel carved out of the ice and a thought came to her.
"Drive towards the wall!" Vanellope called to Sofia.
"What!?" Sofia questioned in surprised confusion.
"Just trust me!" Vanellope argued.
A worried look on her face, Sofia turned the wheel so that the go-kart veered towards the smooth walls of the cave. After bumping against the wall, the kart suddenly tilted and began to run along the wall.
"Floor it!" Vanellope shouted, prompting Sofia to slam her foot against the accelerator, pushing it down as far as it would go. The kart's engine roared as Vanellope continued to veer towards the wall, the speed that the vehicle was moving at allowing it to start riding up the slick ice. Speeding along the wall, Sofia continued to veer the kart to the side, causing it to climb higher and higher. Eventually, the curve of the wall sent them driving briefly along the ceiling just as they caught up with the racer in the white kart. Looking up, the racer stared up at Vanellope in astonishment as she drove above him, the young girl winking at him as she passed. The momentum carried Vanellope across the kart and down the other wall before slingshotting them forward past the other racer.
Speeding out of the tunnel, Sofia could see that they were entering the home stretch of the race with only the blonde racer in front of them. As she continued to push the kart to its limit, Vanellope could see the finish line rapidly approaching, too fast for her to be able to pass the other racer. A final idea came to Vanellope as she looked back to the camera.
"Tap the breaks three times while holding the accelerator down!" Vanellope shouted.
"What?" Sofia asked in confusion, "Why?"
"Just do it!" Vanellope shouted back.
Nodding her head, Sofia quickly tapped the breaks three times while keeping her other foot on the accelerator. The reaction was immediate as Vanellope and her kart suddenly dissolved into a cloud of bright blue pixels. As Sofia watched in wonder, the cloud swarmed around the blonde racer in front of them, the girl letting out an angry and surprised shout. In a flash, the pixels had reformed into Vanellope and her go-kart on the other side of the blonde racer, the kart shooting forward as its wheels dug back into the ground.
Seconds later, the kart shot across the finish line in first place, the blonde racer hot on their heels. It was at that point Vanellope was allowed to retake control of the kart and she slammed her foot on the brakes, causing the kart to skid to a stop. Letting out a whoop of joy, Vanellope hopped up onto her seat and thrust her hands into the air, cheering as she turned to face the camera.
"We did it!" Vanellope declared as Sofia celebrated in her seat, "We won!"
"You cheated!" a shrill voice shrieked, catching Vanellope and Sofia off guard. Turning towards the source of the voice, Vanellope saw the blonde racer hopping out of her kart and stomping towards the young girl.
"What are you talking about, Taffyta?" Vanellope questioned in surprised confusion.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" the girl, Taffyta, growled as she stopped next to Vanellope's kart and pointed an accusatory finger at the girl, "You cheated to win the race!"
"Again, what are you talking about?" Vanellope inquired as she hopped down from her kart.
"You glitched in front of me!" Taffyta growled in reply as a crowd of the other racers began to gather around them.
"So?" Vanellope questioned, still not getting Taffyta's point, "I've glitched in front of you a hundreds of times before and you've never complained!"
"Only because I held my tongue before but this is the last straw!" Taffyta shot back before pointing towards the camera, "You told her how to activate your glitch!"
"She's my friend, of course I told her!" Vanellope spat as she waved her hand at the camera as well, growing more irritated by the second.
"So, it's okay to cheat when it helps your friends!?" Taffyta scoffed as she rolled her eyes, "What a surprise coming from President Vanellope!"
"What the bits is that supposed to mean!?" Vanellope demanded heatedly.
"It mean's that ever since you started running the show around here, all you've cared about is helping yourself and your friends!" Taffyta elaborated angrily, "You use that little glitch of yours to win races and run off with your little friends whenever you want. You don't even care about the place that you're supposed to be ruling!"
"Of course I care!" Vanellope shouted back.
"Oh, you do!?" Taffyta snapped, before pointing at Turbo, who was standing with the other racers a short distance from the arguing girls, "Then maybe you can explain to me what he's doing here!?"
"Wait, what?" Turbo questioned in surprise as everyone's attentions turned towards him.
"What about him?" Vanellope questioned heatedly as she gestured at Turbo as well, "Why do you care that he's here?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe it's because he's an insane dictator who stole all our memories!?" Taffyta countered.
"He-He's not a bad guy," Vanellope replied, though her voice uncertain.
"That's exactly what he is, Vanellope!" Taffyta screeched, "He's a bad guy! You, out of anyone here, you should know the most about that!"
"You're right," Vanellope stated coolly, narrowing her eyes at Taffyta, "I do know a thing or two about bad guys."
"Sorry, I forgot you got adopted by one," Taffyta spat sarcastically, causing Vanellope's eyes to go wide with surprise.
"He….Ralph's not my dad!" Vanellope sputtered, caught off guard by Taffyta's comment.
"Oh, please," Taffyta replied with a role of her eyes, smiling as she saw Vanellope's reaction, her voice practically dripping with venom, "I see how you throw yourself at him, begging for the attention no one ever gave to you. It's pathetic."
The outlookers in the crowd began nervously glancing at Vanellope as the girl stiffened, occasionally blue pixels sparking off of her.
"Just think, all you need to find is some ugly bimbo to marry him, and you'll have the happy little fake family you dreamed of back when you were living in some hole in the wall," Taffyta continued, ignorant of the grinding sound coming from Vanellope's clenched teeth, "But really, what sort of loser would ever want to be with someone like that?"
"I don't even know why I'm complaining," Taffyta sighed dramatically before she grinned maliciously at Vanellope, "After all, things were better when he was in charge and you were nothing but a g-g-glitch."
The gathered group of races let out soft gasps at Taffyta's words while Sofia covered her mouth in shock, unable to do anything but watch from her seat at the video game console. Vanellope, for her part, went stock still, her hands clenching into shaking fists and angry tears filling her eyes as Taffyta continued to smile mockingly at her.
Then, with shocking abruptness, Vanellope let out a hateful shriek and leapt at Taffyta, her edges blurring with blue pixels as she moved towards the other girl, who let out a hateful snarl of her own. Before either of them could reach each other though, a loud horn blared as McQueen came roaring towards them. Both girls quickly hopped away from each other as the race car skidded to a halt between them.
"Alright, that's enough!" McQueen shouted as the dust settled around him, his narrowed eyes darting between the two girls.
"What was that for!?" Vanellope demanded as she glared at McQueen.
"That was to keep this from getting any uglier than it already has," McQueen replied sternly.
"Good, you wouldn't want to have seen what I was about to do to your ugly face anyway!" Taffyta spat.
"That's enough out of you!" McQueen snapped as he turned his attention towards Taffyta.
"Hey, who do you-" Taffyta began to argue before she was cut off by McQueen angrily revving his engine.
"I mean it," McQueen snarled, "Shut your mouth and get lost."
Taffyta looked at McQueen warily, put off by the look he was giving her that dared her to try and challenge him. After a moment, Taffyta collected herself and shot McQueen a sneer.
"Whatever," Taffyta replied haughtily, "I've got better things to do than hang around these losers anyway."
With that, Taffyta shot Vanellope a final smirk before hopping into her kart, turning it on a speeding away. Sensing that the show had come to an end, the other racers began drifting away, many shooting looks of one kind or another towards Vanellope. McQueen watched Taffyta leave for a moment before turning his attention back to Vanellope.
"You okay?" McQueen questioned, his tone turning sympathetic.
"I didn't need your help," Vanellope replied curtly as she swiped quickly at her watery eyes, "I could have taken her."
"I'm sure you could have," McQueen agreed, "But you know that's not what I'm asking."
"What do you care?" Vanellope snapped, glaring at McQueen.
"I care because I'm your friend, Vanellope," McQueen answered with a sigh before he glanced up at the camera still hovering overhead, "And I'm not the only one."
Following McQueen's gaze, Vanellope's face went pale as she looked at the camera and realized that Sofia had seen everything.
"Look kid, why don't you take a drive or something?" McQueen suggested quietly, "Maybe get some fresh air and clear your head? Maybe bring your friend along too?"
"Yeah, I….I'm just going to go," Vanellope agreed, nodding numbly before turning from the camera and walking over to her kart. As she reached her kart, she noticed Turbo hesitantly approaching her from out of the corner of her eye.
"What?" Vanellope asked coldly, turning to look at Turbo with narrowed eyes, "What the bits do you want?"
"I just….I wanted to…." Turbo mumbled, trying to find the words for what he wanted to say.
"You know what?" Vanellope snapped, cutting Turbo off before he could continue, "Save it. I don't want to hear it."
"Vanellope-" Turbo tried to speak again but the girl silenced him with an angry glare.
"Shut up!" Vanellope snarled, angry tears forming in her eyes again, "I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to be near you, I don't to have anything to do with you! Taffyta's right, I should never have let you back in here. I should have never listened to Ralph! You stole my life and tried to kill me! I don't want you to show you ugly face around here ever again!"
Before Turbo could say anything in reply, Vanellope turned on her kart and gunned the engine, the vehicle shooting away in a shower of chocolate grit. Turbo shut his eyes and held his hands up in front of his face to shield it from the cocoa dust and by the time he had blinked his eyes clear, he was standing alone on the racetrack. Sighing, Turbo spared a glance at the finish line before making his way over to his kart and leaving.
Meanwhile,
Ralph walked alone down the alley that led to the Ink and Paint Club, a shopping back in one hand and a pad of paper in the other. As he walked, Ralph's eyes were focused on the pad, which he held up so that he could read the words scrawled across the pages.
"Man," Ralph sighed as he flicked the pad closed, "I'm starting to wish I had taken notes during Clyde's meetings when I had the chance."
Reaching the entrance, Ralph paused as he looked at the metal door leading inside.
The door was covered in flyers, each done in eye catching colors. Among those advertising new drink specials or the club's weekly karaoke night was one proclaiming that tonight was the first meeting of Bad Guys Anonymous, with Ralph's name posted clearly right under it.
"Man, what did I get myself into?" Ralph questioned with a sigh, uncertainty scrawled across his features. Sighing, Ralph reached out and pulled on the door's handle.
The door did not budge.
Surprised, Ralph pulled on the door again, but it refused to open, clearly locked.
"Uh oh," Ralph said to himself before leaning down and gently knocking on the door, the sound of his knuckles rapping against the metal door echoing loudly into the room beyond.
"Hello?" Ralph called through the door, "Is anyone there?"
Silence was the only reply Ralph received.
"Fantastic," Ralph grumbled to himself, running one of his large hands over his face and through his hair as he pondered his next move.
"Excuse me?" a voice called from down the alley, "Can I help you?"
Looking back the way he had come, Ralph found a female, anthropomorphic rabbit standing at the end of the alley, giving him a cautious and questioning look. She was tall, slim, and strikingly pretty, dressed in a pair of purple short shorts that showed off her long, athletically muscled legs, and a matching zip-up sweatshirt. She wore the sweatshirt unzipped, revealing the yellow tank top underneath that came to just above her toned stomach. Her fur was a mixture of light brown and cream and Ralph noticed her long ears were actually pulled back and held together with a hair elastic while a small tuft of blonde hair covered her head. She adjusted the duffle bag slung over her shoulder before she began walking down the alley towards Ralph on bare feet.
"I said, can I help you?" the rabbit asked again, more pointedly this time, and Ralph's face flushed as he realized he had been staring.
"Oh! Um….I was just trying to get it," Ralph quickly answered, "I have a, uh, a thing today and, well….the door's locked."
"It usually is," the rabbit replied neutrally and Ralph felt she was trying to puzzle him out, "You said you had a 'thing'?"
"Yeah, um," Ralph paused as he looked over at the door before reaching over to it and pulling the flyer advertising Bad Guy Anon off of it and handing it to the rabbit, "Here."
The rabbit took the offered flyer and began reading it over, a small smirk forming on her face.
"That's me," Ralph added, reaching over and indicating to his name with one of his large fingers, "Wreck-It Ralph."
"Oh, right!" the rabbit exclaimed, realization crossing her features as she looked back at Ralph, "You had that movie about a year ago, right?"
"Yeah, that's me," Ralph replied with a chuckle as the tension in his chest started to ease, "I don't think I've seen you around before."
"You haven't, I've been out of town," the rabbit confirmed as she handed the flier back to Ralph and offering her hand for him to shake, "Lola Bunny."
"Lola, huh?" Ralph questioned with an amused chuckle.
"Well, my mother was a showgirl," Lola replied with a shrug and a chuckle of her own.
"Your mother?" Ralph asked, his brain picking up something about Lola that he couldn't quite put his finger on, "You said you've been out of town. Did you mean…."
"Outside the Magic Kingdom?" Lola supplied, "Yes, I did. I live with my husband at the Warner Brother lot."
"Your husband?" Ralph questioned.
"Bugs Bunny," Lola answered with a smirk, "You may have heard of him."
"You're married to Bugs Bunny!?" Ralph replied in surprise, his eyes going wide at the news.
"I'll take that as a yes," Lola stated with a laugh.
"If you're from the Warner Brothers lot, what are you doing here then?" Ralph asked in confusion.
"This is my hometown," Lola answered, "I'm visiting my parents."
"Your….parents?" Ralph asked, his mind slowly putting together all the facts.
"If it helps, my maiden name is Rabbit," Lola stated with an amused smile and a roll of her eyes.
With that, everything clicked for Ralph.
"Holy bits, you're Jessica and Roger's daughter!" Ralph exclaimed in shock.
"Got it in one," Lola replied, snapping her fingers and pointing at Ralph with one hand.
"I, uh, wha….I didn't…." Ralph mumbled, trying to collect his thoughts back into some semblance of organization.
"You didn't know they had a kid?" Lola provided helpfully.
"I didn't even know people around here could have kids," Ralph corrected, "At least not ones that weren't created for them."
"Oh yeah, of course they can!" Lola replied with a laugh, "In fact, most couples around here have kids the old fashioned way instead of having them given to them by the creators."
"Wow," Ralph said, blinking a few times as he processed the new information, "I had no idea."
"Well, while you mull that over," Lola said as she reached into her duffel bag and fished out a small ring of keys, "How about I let us in?"
Ralph chuckled in reply and stepped aside, allowing Lola to walk up to the door and unlock it.
"So, this Bad Guys Anonymous thing, it's like what you had in the movie, right?" Lola questioned as she pushed the door open and allowed Ralph to enter behind her.
"That's the idea," Ralph answered with a nervous sigh as he stepped into the hall, "I'm probably going to mess it up though."
"I'm sure you'll be fine," Lola reassured him as she closed the door behind them, "My mom trusts you enough to let you use the back room, and that's not nothing."
"Thanks," Ralph replied, stepping aside to let Lola pass and lead the way.
"So, twenty bucks says my dad was supposed to give you a key and forgot," Lola said as she led Ralph down the hall towards the entrance to the club's main room.
"Deal," Ralph replied with a chuckle as they stepped through the doorway at the end of the hall. Glancing around as he entered, Ralph could see the staff were preparing for when the club opened in a few short hours, with the bartenders cleaning the bar, the waiters setting up the tables and the band tuning their instruments on stage. Jessica stood at the center of the room giving the occasional order to her staff, Roger standing at her side observing the proceedings.
Glancing over in their direction as they enter, Jessica's face lit up with joy at the sight of Lola.
"Lola!" Jessica called as she began walking quickly over to her daughter, "My beautiful baby! Come, give your mother a hug!"
Grinning, Lola dropped her duffel bag to the floor before walking over to her mother and embracing her as they met.
"My sweet baby girl!" Roger exclaimed as he came running over, "It's so good to see you, Lola!"
"It's good to see you too, Daddy," Lola giggled, kneeling down so she could give her shorter father a hug and a kiss on his forehead.
"Was your trip alright?" Jessica asked with a motherly tone that Ralph had never heard before from her.
"Yeah, it went fine," Lola replied as she stood back up and nodded her head back in Ralph's direction, "I even made a friend."
Looking in the direction Lola had indicated, Jessica blinked in surprise as she saw Ralph before smiling.
"Ralph," Jessica greeted, placing her hand against her forehead as she began walking over to him, "I'm sorry. I completely forgot that tonight was the first meeting."
"It's alright, I only just got here," Ralph stated with a shrug, "Lola let me in."
"Let you in?" Jessica asked in confusion before turning her attention towards Roger, "Roger, didn't you give Ralph that spare key?"
"Spare key?" Roger replied in confusion, "What spare key?"
"Maybe the one that's sticking out of your pocket, Dad?" Lola observed as she reached down and pulled on a lanyard hanging from his pocket, revealing a key hanging from its end.
"Oh….oops," Roger replied, looking embarrassed as he played with his fingers, prompting Jessica to roll her eyes.
"Looks like you owe me twenty bucks," Lola said as she tossed Ralph the key.
"Guess you do," Ralph replied with a snort as he caught the key and pushed it into one of his pockets.
"Come on, Ralph," Jessica said, motioning for the wrecker to follow her as she began walking away, "I'll show you the back room and then we can get some of the staff to help you get set up. Roger, why don't you go help Lola get settled?"
"Sure thing, sweetheart!" Roger replied as he began walking in the opposite direction.
"See you around, Ralph!" Lola called as she left, scooping her duffel bag up off the ground as she went, "Good luck with your meeting."
"Thanks!" Ralph replied before sighing as he felt the anxiety twisting in his chest again, "I'm gonna need it."
A/N: Been awhile since I got a chance to update this one. Was a lot of fun to write though. Feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!