*Chapter 15*

"How did I know I'd find you out here?" Zane chimed with his deep, yet youthful voice. He beamed a cheerful smile in Tessa's direction.

"There are only three places in this User forsaken Arcade you'd be able to find me, anyhow... Either here, Sugar Rush, or EZ Living," Tessa spat, her annoyed smirk told a thousand grimaces and complains. She readjusted her criss-cross sitting position on one of Game Central Station's golden benches, just outside of Sugar Rush's glorious outlet.

"Parents still not letting you spread your wings?" Zane wondered softly, he knew it was a sensitive topic for his friend. He gently sat down next to her, he was draped in his usual surfer-esque clothing. Tattered cargo shorts and a usual dark blue tee hung over his figure, his shirt was plastered with a hot white logo from Dead Zed, the game he was proud to call home.

"Does it look like they are?" Tessa asked in a nonchalant, yet annoyed tone. She gestured her hands towards the outlet she was dwarfed before. She heaved a hard, breathy sigh and let her eyes lull closed, "I sort of just feel like if I give up fighting, maybe they'll let me go to school, because they'd be so tired of seeing me so bored."

"That could work," Zane's voice was coated in false hope, though he faked a genuine smile to her hazel eyes. Tessa wrinkled her nose and gave him a look as if to express that she could see right through him.

"I had a sleep over with Tammy, Penny and Emery the other night," Tessa started as she looked down to the glowing, golden tiles underfoot. The afternoon sunlight coated the station with warm nostalgia. She knew dinner would be soon; the feast after a long, racing day was usually enough to feed the masses.

"Fun," Zane prod, as if to remind Tessa that she had started a thought aloud. He eyed her to continue; he furrowed his eyebrows and wondered if she had lost her train of thought. He looked around slightly before he held his piercing blue eyes to the defeated soul before him, "Did something bad happen?"

"No," Tessa scoffed quietly with a small smile, she shook her head and pulled herself from her comfortable stare. Her eyes delicately trailed from the big, tattered pockets of Zane's pants to the bold lettering on his shirt. She inhaled a breath and readied her ever so famous annoyed tone, "I guess Game Central Station is having a ball coming up, or something."

"Oh yeah," Zane said as his eyebrows raised, "That's an annual thing. Anyone can go, really."

"I wonder if my parents will let me go," Tessa questioned as he eyes gazed back to her home outlet; it sat in a daunting, glowing wait. Tessa barely shook her head, her eyes coated in still defeat, "Maybe then they'll change their minds about me going to Academy."

"Who knows," Zane said with true hope this time, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask, right?"

"I guess," Tessa hissed.

"Though, it IS better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission," Zane said with a sly smile, though it also led to suggest that the sad soul in front of him probably shouldn't take his poor advice anymore.

"I don't think either way is better than the other, at this point," Tessa said through a tired sigh as his eyes fixated on the lettering on Zane's shirt, yet again, "Besides. I don't have a proper dress... Let alone a date."

"A date?" Zane said in an incredulous tone, "You don't need a date to go to the Game Central Station Academy ball. User, I don't have a date and I'm still going. It's more fun to go with friends, anyhow."

"You're going?" Tessa wondered loudly as she finally ripped her eyes from Zane's shirt and looked him in the eye once and for all. She could feel a strange lump gather in her throat.

"Of course I'm going," Zane laughed, his incredulous look only worsened, "I went last year. Just because I took a bit of time off from school doesn't mean I don't still attend the events, if I consider them to be worthy of any fun, I guess. I went with Tammy and a group of her friends last year."

"I keep forgetting, you've been around for forever," Tessa teased, Zane gaped.

"I'm only Tammy's age," Zane snapped with a playful smile before he nudged Tessa's shoulder. The two shared a laugh before they softened; Tessa nervously looked down at her larger hands and quickly furrowed her expression to that of self hate.

"Not like I'd be able to snag a date anyways," Tessa growled as she opened her palms, "I love my dad and all, but... Did he really have to give me THESE?" Tessa urged as she largely opened her wrecking hands and gestured them outwards towards Zane. He flinched, though he gave her a wrinkled smile through annoyed eyes.

"Stop it," Zane argued as his hands gently came around the backs of her larger knuckles. He quickly closed her hands into fists, though his hands surprisingly cupped around hers with more ease than what either of them thought. Tessa raised her eyebrows lightly, though she still looked at Zane through stubborn eyes; he breathed a readied breath and lightly shook his head, "There are far more odd-looking creatures in this arcade, you have nothing to worry about. I think your hands are awesome. Wrecking, though a destructive ability, can still be a wonderful thing to have."

"How would you know?" Tessa spat, though she let her stubborn front drop as she could feel tears sting her eyes.

"Trust me," Zane said deeply with a sincere face, "I know what it's like to be hated and treated like an enemy. I may not be able to fully relate to your dad, Ralph, but... Trust me when I say, I get it."

"What do you mean?" Tessa perked up in a confused way, "Who treats you like an enemy?"

"Well, I-I," Zane stammered nervously for a moment before Tammy's voice pierced their bubble.

"There you are!" Tammy said with a wide smile, though she eyed the two as they yanked their hands away from each other. Tessa's face grew hot red, though Tammy tried not to make their little moment a big ordeal; she knew just how gooey and tender Tessa's interior was, past her hard exterior.

"Hey, Tammy," Zane said with surprising ease, Tessa attuned her attention to him and felt as if she was always learning something about him, no matter how big or small; she discovered that he had the incredible ability to stay calm and unmoving, no matter the situation. She had to wonder just how he was able to hone that trait of his so well. No situation caught him off guard. He was as sharp as they come.

"Aunt Vanellope said dinner is going to be soon," Tammy suggested gently as she approached the two, she eyed Zane in a curious way, "I'm sure Zane could join. There's usually always enough food left over."

"J-Join? For dinner? Oh I-I... I'm not sure," Zane said in a nervous tone he tried to hide, Tessa tried not to ogle at this sudden behavior change of his; he stammered on, "I've never been to Sugar Rush. I-I'm sure the king and queen wouldn't want strangers in the game."

"What?" Tammy smiled incredulously with a furrowed expression, "Nonsense, Aunt Vanellope and Uncle Ralph are the most welcoming people I know... King or Queen, I'm sure it'd be fine to add another body to the table anyways. Emery comes over for dinner all the time."

"You sure?" Zane prod, his eyes began to shimmer with a dewy curiosity for the new game he's never entered, "I just don't want to impose."

"Of course," Tammy nonchalantly waved her hand, "Probably a great time for everyone to meet you, anyways. You ARE best friends with the heir to the throne, anyhow."

"No pressure," Zane gulped as him and Tessa stood on cue, his face suddenly grew a giddy, yet nervous, shade of red, as if he were about to meet celebrities he had adorned from afar. Tessa wrinkled her nose and eyed Zane up and down, as if she didn't even recognize him.

"You've never shown this much worry about my mom and dad," Tessa let out a breathy chuckle as the three began to mosey into Sugar Rush's outlet, it sat in an impatient wait.

"They're royalty," Tammy shrugged before she nudged Zane's shoulder, "You'll be fine. They're used to us bringing around our friends, anyhow. I bring Emery around all the time, and Sugar Rush isn't even my game."

"You ARE coded for it, however," Tessa reminded as they strolled down Sugar Rush's wire riddled tunnel.

"True," Tammy tilted her head and gazed down the dimly lit tunnel; Zane nervously looked on as she continued, "Still. I think they trust us, anyhow."

Zane furrowed his eyebrows gently and kept his eyes glued to the beautiful, dim hue that radiated from the end of the tunnel. A gentle, humid mist could be felt, something he was familiar with. He suddenly could feel his throat close with nervousness as his feet somehow carried him onward with the two girls that held more confidence in their steps. As they approached the broadening entrance, Zane let his eyes take it all in. The game was as glorious as ever, more so than the rumors he had heard. He blinked a few times, as if to wonder if this world was even real. The game sat underneath glistening, citrus dripping stars that twinkled a boasting roar of Sugar Rush's powerful core. The land was still, yet somehow excitement was written all over the gumdrop mountains.

"Home sweet home," Tessa said in a dull tone that seemed to grab onto Zane's excited aura like a palpable dampener.

"You kidding?" Zane suddenly choked with a wide, still nervous smile. Tammy eyed him playfully as he carried on, "This game is huge!"

"What were you expecting?" Tammy laughed as they strolled down the rainbow road, "One track and a shack on a hill? Pedal pushers?"

"W-well," Zane stuttered with a scrunched face, his eyes continued to try to take everything in, "I really don't know what I was expecting. Something a lot smaller than this."

"Your game may be pretty massive," Tessa started as she waved her finger around, "But it's definitely not the only one."

"No kidding," Zane hissed as he held his hand to his forehead and the crown of his head. His fingers messily parted his jet black hair.

"So big, in fact, we still have uncharted land," Tessa laughed softly as she shook her head, "Believe it or not."

"How is that possible?" Tammy wondered with a confused smile, "Ralph and Vanellope have the whole game in the palms of their hands."

"I'm not sure," Tessa lightly shrugged as they made their way to the edge of the rainbow road and down through the candy trees, a worn path that worked as a make-shift shortcut to the castle, "All I know is mom sometimes suggests we expand the map that we have. Only way to do that, though, is to actually travel to said uncharted areas."

"Is that dangerous?" Zane prod, he felt an extreme curiosity, for the mechanics of the game, take over.

"Not if you're programmed for the game," Tessa side eyed him with a cheeky smile, "So don't go running off."

"Noted," Zane's voice shook a little as his eyes were graced with the massive castle they were happening upon.

His eyes trailed up it's long spires, walls and tiers of palace chimneys and shingles, they were graced with every worthy, pearly speck of sugar the game could boast. Everything about the game was coated in a fresh deliciousness that was so hard to resist. He often wondered when he'd have the humbled opportunity to grace the insides of the most secure stronghold in the arcade. He swallowed hard and kept his eyes glued to what lie ahead, though he tried his hardest to keep his cool; an act he thought he was a master at.