*Chapter 26*
"Tessa, how many of those have you eaten?" Penny laughed; the six friends finally moved to the beckoning dance floor, though they hung near the walls of sprawling vendors of delicious foods.
"Judging?" Tessa glowered as she picked up yet another chocolate covered strawberry.
"I wish I could stress eat and still hold your figure," Tammy giggled as she crossed her arms, "You probably get that from Vanellope."
"I don't know how half of those racers do it," Emery giggled, "They're surrounded by delicious things all the time. How they're not all obese, by now, is beyond me!"
"We've been plugged in for almost twenty years, too, so that's a feat!" Penny held up her finger.
"Yeah, but fifteen of those years, they were different versions of themselves, right?" Zane chimed in, he stood near Tessa calmly, as if his steady and soothing presence would somehow how ease her worries.
"Wait, what?" Oliver furrowed his eyebrows.
"It's true," Tammy giggled as she nudged Emery a little, "All of the Sugar Rush racers got a massive upgrade a few years back. They used to be no taller than my dad."
"Fix It?" Oliver looked completely baffled; Tessa tried her very hardest to stay intrigued, though somehow her worried mind made nearly anything impossible.
"Yes!" Tammy giggled as she lulled her arm over Emery's shoulder in a friendly way.
"That'd certainly be a sight to see," Zane breathed a chuckle and glanced at Tessa, though he double took and furrowed his eyebrows lightly, "Hey... You okay?"
"I'll be fine," Tessa muttered kindly to him, though her face read anything but the truth. She gave him an apologetic smile and looked down.
"You're going to do great," Zane eased to her as he grew closer, so that only she could hear him.
"Zane," Tessa started calmly as she braved his eye contact.
His eyes gazed into hers earnestly, he raised his eyebrows only barely, to prove he was holding his undivided attention on her and only her. Tessa felt her heart jump in a nervous way, though she mentally beat herself up. She knew this hopeful slope was a downward one. She opened her mouth to speak, though no coherent thoughts came to mind. She wanted so badly to ask questions she wasn't even sure she could form words for. She didn't know where to start, she didn't know where they stood; all she knew was, she had his whole attention in this moment. She felt her shoulders scrunch as her eyes tried their very hardest to remain on his. She finally inhaled enough air to converse, or so she thought.
"Zane, I-I just want to say that... That-" Tessa flinched as a deeper voice from behind suddenly became present.
"There you are," Selka heaved a kind laugh as he pushed into their world. Tessa furrowed her eyebrows in startled confusion as she whirled around.
"Selka," Tessa said calmly as she forced a smile to her face; she could feel her heart pound an uncomfortable speed in her chest, "I-is it already time for the last dance?"
"No, but I'm sure it's sometime soon," Selka chuckled as the three of them glanced out to the dance floor; gowns, couples and lovers twirled and danced around gracefully in such a sophisticated way that had Tessa wondering if this was even a school function.
"Oh," Tessa said through a breath, though she gently glanced at Zane in a politely nervous way.
"Didn't fetch yourself a date this year, Zane?" Selka laughed as he nudged Zane's arm. Zane remained solid, though he closed his eyes for a few seconds and shook his head lightly.
"I came with my friends," Zane said kindly, mostly in Tessa's direction.
"Yeah, I guess I sort of did the same thing," Selka shrugged as he slid his hands into his pants pockets; he was wearing a proper, sleek tuxedo with a bold, red tie that slunk down his strong chest.
His brown hair was spiked and fluffed in a delicate sort of way, he looked stunning. Tessa lightly crossed her arms and cocked in eyebrow in his direction; she was beginning to see just how conceded he was underneath it all. She felt inhuman standing in between Selka and Zane, as if the two were so far apart in worlds, they didn't even speak the same language.
"But I haven't forgotten about our dance," Selka said to Tessa as he delicately took her hand in his. Tessa lightly furrowed her eyebrows and let it happen; for some reason, she was hoping the tension raising off of Zane would throw him over the edge and steal her for himself once and for all. Once again, Tessa was stumped by his self control as he remained solid.
"Right," Tessa uttered with a gentle smile, she kept her eyes locked on Selka in a new sweep of self confidence she had suddenly gained.
"Did you want to come hang out with us for a little while?" Selka smiled at Tessa in an endearing way, though Tessa almost cringed with the sheer fact that his eyes didn't hold the same amount of honesty she was used to from Zane. Selka continued with a small chuckle, "Guess it also makes it a bit easier. That way I don't have to chase you down when it comes time to dance."
"Sounds good," Tessa said gently as the two began to painfully peel away from Zane; she could see her four other friends in the background looking on in an eager way. Tessa turned back to Zane with a small, almost apologetic smile, "I guess I'll catch up with you later, yeah?"
"Of course," Zane said softly with a smile Tessa knew was painful to form, "Go get 'em."
Tessa delicately waved to her friends behind Zane, though she lightly furrowed her eyebrows and held eye contact with Zane for a few moments, as Selka gently held her hand and pulled her away from her safe zone. Tessa finally peeled her eyes away from Zane in a painful string of regret and finally pushed away with Selka.
Zane finally slumped his shoulders as Penny, Tammy, Emery and Oliver strolled up to him. He knew the cat had to be out of the bag, by now, and he was fully prepared for anything the four had to say. He felt his heart pang as he watched Tessa finally disappear into the crowd. He exhaled a hard sigh as Oliver lightly gripped his shoulder and shook it, in a brotherly way.
"Sorry, bro," Oliver said lightly; Zane gently glanced at him and breathed a small noise, as if to convey understanding.
"This isn't fair," Penny finally stated as the five painfully gazed in the direction Tessa had disappeared in.
"At first, I was excited for her to dance with the cutest boy in all of Arcade, but now..." Emery trailed off as everyone finally landed their eyes on Zane, "I really feel as if it should be you she's dancing with."
"It's okay," Zane breathed a small laugh and turned to finally face his friends. He shook his head and looked down a little, "I'm just glad I got to help her out."
"Oh, Zaney boy," Tammy giggled lightly as she lulled her arm around Zane's shoulder; he wobbled lightly as she continued, "You're going to cause yourself a lot of grief by letting her continue to walk away."
"I'll catch my ray of sun eventually," Zane concluded with a twinge of snark.
"Hey, guys," Selka chuckled as he gently continued to hold Tessa's hand. They neared a group of gamers that were a year or so older than Tessa, and had clearly been in Academy for about as long as Tammy, Emery and Zane had been. Selka pressed on, "I found her!"
"We've heard so much about you," said one girl out of the four in the group they approached, each one looked on another level; dressed to the nines and sophisticated as could be.
"You snagged a first year, Selk, congrats!" One of the guys chuckled as he swung his arm around his supposed date.
"C'mon guys," Selka pushed, "She's next in line to run her game, Sugar Rush."
"You're the King and Queen's daughter?" Another girl asked in a surprised tone; suddenly, the air in the group shifted to that of teasing delight to stunned surprise.
"No way, you're Sugar Rush's first heir?" Said the first girl as she wormed her way closer to Tessa.
"You'll fit right in," spout someone else from the group as all of them immediately had eager eyes, "You have to be royalty to hang with this crowd."
"Come off of it," Selka laughed as he rolled his eyes, though Tessa was surprised to feel him hook his arm around her waist. She nervously slunk into his grip and suddenly felt alien.
"My name's Tessa," she said with very much forced confidence; she felt the gears in her brain whir at the speed of light. She knew if she were to fit in, she'd have to keep up, "I'm next in line for the throne, but I don't want to be treated like royalty, really. Too many gawkers."
"Who wouldn't want to be treated like royalty?" Said the first girl, she wore a dark green dress that was rather revealing, "You get all the perks in Academy. Not to mention, all the boys."
"Speaking of boys, I think poor, little Zaney thought he actually had a legitimate chance with you," Selka suddenly spout; Tessa cocked an eyebrow and gazed off into space for a second before she could suddenly feel her position in the group switch. She felt a protective rage begin to boil and bubble at the bottom of her being. She looked up at Selka for a moment and gave him a look as if to dare him to continue on.
"Zane?" Said another guy that came to the forefront of the group a little. He clapped his hands together and furrowed his blonde eyebrows into his dark blue eyes; everyone in this group was unnaturally gorgeous, as if the first thing they did within the first two hours of being awake was tediously tend to their looks. He pushed on loudly, "That poor beach slob."
"He's so scrawny," giggled a girl from the group of about seven that practically clung to Selka's every word. Tessa crossed her arms and smiled lightly, as she finally came to a few opposing realizations.
"I know," Selka chuckled as he nudged Tessa's arm, "The way he was looking at you when we walked away ... Poor dude."
"You stole his date from him," said the girl in the green dress; she covered her mouth and obnoxiously giggled to one of the other girls next to her. Tessa shot them subtle daggers and kept herself poised in listening stillness.
"Guess it's becoming a trend," Selka chuckled as he shrugged, as if to act innocent.
"You stole Jeska from him last year, didn't you?" Asked one of the guys closest to him.
"Bet your ass I did," Selka barked quietly as he furrowed his eyebrows downward in a playfully aggressive way. He smiled down at Tessa and gently hooked his arm around her waist, yet again, "This year, I was lucky enough to snag royalty from him. I don't think he could handle courting a princess, anyhow, don't you think?"
"That's cute," Tessa heaved a girly giggle, to mock the girls in the group. She shoved out of Selka's arms and moved closer to the group that surrounded the two, "You wanna know what else I think? I was wrong about all of this. I DONT want this kind of attention."
"What do you mean? You have it all!" Wailed the girl in the dark green dress, though she flinched once Tessa set her dominant air towards her and stepped a step closer.
"Girl, you have GOT to do something about your dress," Tessa looked her over and gestured to the boys in the group, "You're giving these boys the wrong idea. It's clear from the look in their eyes."
"Tessa," Selka said in a tone that was mildly offended.
"I don't give two flying sugar coated craps what you have to say," Tessa barked as she pointed her larger finger at him, "You all have a very different view about how royalty should act. At this rate, you're nothing but low lying scum in this User forsaken Academy. To think I wanted to be raised to your guys' level of 'sophistication'... I now see you all are a bunch of wannabes."
"Now, hold on a second," Selka argued as a few of the girls in the group raised their eyebrows in stunned surprise.
"No, YOU hold on a second," Tessa barked back as she harshly shoved her finger into Selka's chest, "Zane trusted you with the truth, about stealing his date last year. You lied to him. He thinks you guys are good friends, and it's clear you just keep him around to judge and make fun of him."
"Looks like your idea at being King is down the drain, Selk," said the guy with the blonde hair that hung near him. He looked at Selka in a befuddled way.
"True story," Tessa stabbed as she averted her attention back to Selka, "You're nothing but an attention seeking leech. Zane is more of a King than you ever will be."
"Tessa," Selka said in a shocked and hurt tone as he reached his hand out to her, he gently grabbed her wrist, though Tessa firmly yanked away and shoved his chest lightly. He jolted and peered at Tessa in stunned surprise, as did everyone else.
"I'm going to find Zane. I wanted to go to this dance with him, as my date, anyhow," Tessa said proudly, though she kept a hard glare on Selka. She took a step or two backwards and suddenly felt a rush of freedom.
"You're really going to give up the popular group for that dork?" Selka loudly argued.
"Yeah, I am," Tessa beamed, "And, he's not just any dork, he's MY dork."
"You'll never be able to hang out with us ever again," Selka defended as he wagged his finger.
"I'll take my chances," Tessa said sweetly with a thick coat of all the sass in Arcade.
"You can't just walk away from me," Selka bellowed in dismay as the rest of his group remained shocked and quiet. Tessa heaved a hard laugh and waved her hand lightly.
"Yeah I can, it's easy. Y'watchin?," Tessa asked with a cocky smile as she finally turned heel and broke free.
"Damn, Selka," the guy with the blonde hair muttered, he crossed his arms nervously as the group looked to him in a stunned way, "Look what you let get away."
"That's the first time one of your dates stuck up for herself," one of the girls giggled.
"Whatever," Selka muttered as he let his angry glare chase after Tessa.