*Chapter 38*
"Penny, I don't know how many times I have to tell you," Tessa muttered; freshly laundried school clothes, messy bags and a moseying pace was that of the three classmates Tessa wormed through Sugar Rush's wires with, as well as Oliver. Tessa shot Penny a wide smile in her peripheral, "Lickity won't bite you."
"Are you certain?" Penny worried, she hung a good dozen feet away from Tessa, Tammy, Emery, Oliver and Lickity. Lickity laid her ears as flat as she could and peered at Penny with a puppy dog longing.
"Penny, trust me," Emery heaved a small laugh and shook her head, "Of all the dragons, from Dead Zed, I think this one is the least likely to harm you."
"C'mon Penny, lookit her face!" Oliver said in a whiny, almost annoying voice as he gently cupped Lickity's chin with his large hand. Lickity lightly opened her mouth and the tip of her black tongue stuck out in a fit of delight, as Oliver began to scratch under her chin.
"And those teeth," Penny worried as she took a step or tow farther away; the six slowly moseyed out of Sugar Rush's massive outlet and into the even more massive, glowing station.
"You'll warm up to her, eventually," Tessa heaved a small laugh and waved her hand, Penny wrinkled her nose.
"I've been around Orion my whole life, and I STILL am not used to that beast," Penny volleyed as she put her hands on her hips, though she nervously glanced at Oliver once he put up his finger and lightly wagged it.
"Though, you DO remember that one time you stood up to Orion, don't you?" Oliver wondered with a side eye and a sly smile, "That was pretty bomb, if you ask me."
"That was different," Penny argued as they slowly pressed on, idle footwork moved towards Game Central Station Academy at the end of the hall, though they began to easily bee line towards Dead Zed, to drop of Tessa's massive pet, as well as Oliver, for the day.
"Right," Tammy chuffed as she crossed her arms, though everyone jolted once Lickity bellowed a gentle grunt of a high pitched growl and began to playfully bounce towards the certain person across the way, patiently waiting at his outlet. Her wings hung tight above her body, though her long, sturdy tail flopped about. Everyone exhaled a few knowing laughs as Tammy continued, "The only difference is Orion is a forty foot, crusty 'ol giant and Lickity is an over-sized puppy dog. I can see why you're more scared of Lickity, I mean, truly. I can see it."
"Yeah, yeah," Penny grumbled, "Orion can do whatever he wants, cause I'm always in my own game when he's around. That stupid idiot never leaves the game. Though, I'm outside of my game, and Lickity is prancing around like it's no big deal."
"I'll bet you could get Orion to leave Sugar Rush," Oliver beamed as everyone finally approached Zane and Lickity; he was busy rubbing the top of her head, like she liked.
"ME?" Penny largely gestured to herself, "I'm the least of his worries. Vanellope, on the other hand."
"Vanellope can get anyone to do anything," Emery chimed as they all finally slowed to a gentle stop, with a handful of minutes to spare before Academy started, "Sort of comes with the territory, no?"
"Why would you want Orion to leave the game, anyways?" Tammy wondered lightly, each student was dressed in casual clothes for the day. She lugged her worn backpack further up her shoulders, though she glanced at Tessa and Zane; it was clear that everyone was tuned to the conversation, though they were idly watching the side show that was delicately unfolding.
"Thanks for taking Lickity, today," Tessa eased to Zane with a kind smile; he eagerly returned it, though he exhaled a hard cough as she firmly shoved her snout into Zane's center, her signature hello.
"No problem," Zane chuckled as he firmly rubbed Lickity's snout, "I'm going to see about getting this saddle off of her... Would you be interested in fitting her for a new one? One that's custom fit for you?"
"For me?" Tessa wondered nervously as her and Zane's eyes locked; she furrowed her eyebrows in mild confusion, "Do you really think she'd let me fly her?"
"You're going to fly Lickity?" Emery wondered with excited, girly glee as she removed herself from the conversation she was just in, and pushed into Zane's and Tessa's.
"That's sort of the idea," Tessa shrugged, "I'm sure she'd let me... I-I've never flown before, though."
"That'd be so rad," Zane beamed as Lickity peered up at him in expecting wait. She tried her very hardest to keep her tail from flailing about as she shifted on her large, clawed paws.
"Wouldn't it, though?" Tessa furrowed her eyebrows in confused delight, "Maybe she can be taught to race."
"They are the fastest of their breed," Emery agreed as her and Zane nodded in agreement.
"How can you tell?" Tessa wondered, though she began to feel annoyed that Academy figuratively began to tap on all of their shoulders; students of all kinds began to mosey into the building.
"Well, just lookit her," Emery gestured towards Lickity as her ears perked. With care, Emery held Lickity's jaw and smoothed her hand over Lickity's soft, flat head, "Her head is aerodynamic, she's got a really flexible wing span, and sharp tail fins, which makes it easy to cut tight, quick corners... The bridge of her nose and snout is wide, for larger amount of air-intake. Clearly, she's a runner as well."
"How do you know so much about dragons, Ems?" Tammy asked with a curious smile as she put her hands on her hips; Emery bashfully tucked some of her dark, green hair behind her ear.
"They fascinate me," Emery giggled as Lickity gently lapped at the back of her hand with her tongue, a kind gesture to prove her kindness farther, "I never thought I'd actually have one at my disposal. She's beautiful."
"Alright, guys, I think the bell rang," Penny said in an annoyed tone, towards the school; she peered back at Tessa, Emery and Tammy in mild, apologetic delight.
"Alright," Tessa nodded as she peered back at Zane; him and Oliver high fived in a brotherly way as they hung near each other, with Lickity. Tessa lightly pat Lickity's snout and smiled into Zane's eyes, "I-I'll see you after school."
"We'll be here," Zane eased kindly.
"Woohoo, dude day!" Oliver clenched his fists and was suddenly nudged by Lickity's wing. He wobbled and raised his eyebrows, "C'mon, Lickity, you'll be a dude for the day!"
"She'll roast you, dude," Tessa mocked sarcastically as she pointed with a wide smile, though Oliver and Lickity easily caught eyes. Lickity flared her nostrils and teasingly let steam rise from them, which caused Oliver to heave a hard noise and duck behind Zane.
"Gold," Tammy beamed as the four girls slowly began to stroll away, "See you guys later!"
"Bye," Zane called with a wide smile and a gentle wave, though he raised his eyebrows in mild surprise as him and Tessa caught eyes; she gave him a smile, only meant for him. She lightly wrinkled her fingers and, with one last, innocently teasing smolder that was hardly noticeable, the four girls began to head to Academy.
"Bro," Oliver chuffed as he gestured his arms; Zane flinched and furrowed his eyebrows, "I'm standing right here, you think I can't see the googly eyes?"
"Okay, I may be a surfer, but not once have I ever followed through with the surfer vibe," Zane beamed an annoyed smile and tried his hardest to avert Oliver's attention from the subject that wanted to unfold.
"Radical," Oliver joked as Lickity suddenly shook her head, her large ears flapped over her head a few times.
"Tubular," Zane joked as he sagged his posture and gestured the 'hang loose' hand sign, though he quickly straightened and shot Oliver a playfully, annoyed glare, "No, you act like that at EZ Living, and you will be the beach's laughing stock."
"Gotta remember that," Oliver chuckled as the two boys, as well as Lickity, began to stroll into Dead Zed.
As if routine had finally started to set in, after her first full week at Academy, she lightly slunk into her first hour class. She raised her eyebrows in mild surprise to notice that either she was a tad early, or a lot of people were absent today. Nonetheless, she picked her favorite seat, at the back of the class, and relaxed. she pulled out her notebook and began running through her notes. She tucked her loose, crazy auburn hair behind her ear and intently focused on her studies, though she wrinkled her nose lightly the second Zane bugged her thoughts. She tried her hardest to force a small, girly smile from sprawling her face. She shook her head lightly and knew she could somehow keep her day dreamings in check.
"Doodling, in class?" Selka suddenly, yet quietly chimed as he carefully approached the wrecker, "You'll fail, that way."
"What, like you?" Tessa spat, though her eyes immediately held to his with annoyed curiosity. Selka beamed an annoyed smile and breathed a hard chuckle. He shook his head and smiled down to Tessa, though much to her dismay, he took a seat next to her, though he made sure to keep his distance.
"I didn't know you were in this class," Selka wondered, Tessa was extremely curious to his soft and kind demeanor. She furrowed her eyebrows and felt all of her shields fly up; she knew Selka was a smooth talker.
"Yeah, guess I can't really help myself, I sure do love Applied Coding," Tessa sarcastically gestured to the glorious, warmly lit classroom; Academy's sun equaled in strength to Sugar Rush's boasting gleam, "Though, unlike you, I won't come back for seconds."
"Two for two," Selka chuckled as he gazed down to the wooden counter beneath their arms and notebooks, "Wanna go for a third?"
"I don't know, are you?" Tessa didn't miss a beat as she cocked an eyebrow.
"Sheesh, lasers set from stun to kill, will you relax?" Selka furrowed his eyebrows and let out a calm laugh, "I was kidding!"
"Well, I wasn't," Tessa smiled a cheeky smile and gently closed her notebook, "You got anything else to say?"
"Yeah," Selka smiled down to the counter, in a curious way, before his eyes met hers, "How in Arcade did you manage to befriend one of Dead Zed's dragons?"
Tessa's snark slowly dwindled as she slumped her shoulders. She furrowed her eyebrows and tried her very hardest to remain pissed at Selka, though his gentle and tender demeanor had her wondering if he was secretly sorry for the events at the Academy ball a week and a half ago. She lightly side eyed him, after a moment, and gave him a confused look.
"You mean to say, you pulled your head out of your butt for long enough to notice that I have a dragon?" Tessa's smile wormed across her face, yet again; Selka rolled his eyes.
"Guilty, I guess?" Selka chuffed as he shook his head in a playfully annoyed way, "Look, are you mad about what happened at the dance?"
"Uh, yeah?" Tessa's eyes bulged as she snarkily shook her head, "Really, nothing gets passed you."
"I'm sorry, for what happened," Selka said gently as he nervously glanced about Tessa's hands; though they were worlds smaller than Ralph's, they still held massive amounts of destructible power, "I-I guess... When I'm with my group of friends, it's easy for me to get wrapped up."
"Yeah, I'll bet stealing girls isn't something you would have done if it weren't for your friends, huh," Tessa gave him a harshly sarcastic, sympathetic look. She tsked lightly and shook her head.
"So, you have a dragon, and Zane mysteriously has a Tron light bike," Selka breathed gently as he rubbed his chin; it was free of facial hair, "Anymore secrets you two got up your sleeves?"
"Welp," Tessa hissed a small breath and idly looked away, though she carried on in a voice laced with sarcastic sorrow, "I'm currently pregnant with Zane's baby... We're planning on eloping to Hero's Duty next Tuesday, where we will raise the baby in complete solitude, annnnd, oh! Zed is secretly my guy on the side. Don't tell Zane."
"You're funny," Selka heaved a hard chuckle and shook his head.
"Hey, I may get my ugly looks from my dad, but I have my mom's sharp wit," Tessa waved her finger, "Now, if you don't mind, I've got some studying to do."
"Our test on inanimate objects coding isn't until next Friday," Selka continued to laugh from Tessa's wild string of lies, told a few seconds prior.
"I know," Tessa stated dully, "That's gibberish for 'get out of my face'. For someone so popular, you really can't take hints, can you."
"Fine, fine," Selka put his hands up and lightly stood, he began to take a step to walk away, though he pointed a finger to Tessa, lightly, "By the way, Zane didn't technically steal you if he didn't make you his."
"Make me his?" Tessa wildly wrinkled her nose and gave Selka a confused glare.
"Either become your boyfriend, or swap codes," Selka shrugged and took a step backwards, "Whichever one your innocent, little mind can handle better. Just saying."
"None of that is really your business, is it?" Tessa furrowed her eyebrows in rising anger, Selka shrugged.
"Well, considering I was a part of the equation," Selka beamed in a sly way, "And followed through, with Jeska... I figured, since he was man enough to prove a point, he'd be man enough to make the scales even."
"You're such a pig," Tessa spat in a hiss of a whisper as she reopened her notebook.
"I may be a pig, but you know I'm right," Selka raised his eyebrows lightly and, finally, found a different seat across the room.
Tessa harshly furrowed her eyebrows and kept her glare hard on the back of his head. After a few moments, she lightly let her shoulders relax from their stiff, defensive position, though, dare she wonder if Selka had a point. She heaved a hard sigh and looked away in a fit of annoyance. She bit her lip and knew her and Zane were two shy individuals, and things had to move at a pace that was normal for them and them only, though she had to wonder exactly what was going on between them.