The day went by quickly, with today's races becoming a total blur and the setup for the party going as quickly as it did. The decorations are hanging all over the castle ballroom, the cake was set up on a fancy table, and the gifts were all wrapped.
At the racetrack, Vanellope made an announcement to everyone.
"Today's Roster Race will only be one lap because of Minty's party. We need time after this race to get ready. I know we're all looking forward to it!"
The racers cheered excitedly. They couldn't wait to see the look on Minty's face when they all shouted "Surprise!"
Swizzle arrived at the racetrack just in time to see his fellow racers getting excited.
"Hey, you guys!" Swizzle said, hopping out of his kart.
"Hey, Swizz!" Rancis said, high-fiving him. "Everything ready for the party?"
"Yep." Swizzle nods, and tells Rancis, "I even have my tuxedo all ready for tonight. I hope she'll like everything I've done for her." he says nervously.
"Dude, don't worry about anything. Everything will be fine, trust me." Rancis says as he puts a hand on Swizzle's shoulder.
"I hope so, too." Swizzle replies. "I even have a song for our slow dance."
"Swizz, that is awesome." Rancis replied.
Soon, Vanellope announces that it's time to line up for the Roster Race's "pay-to-play" ceremony, so the two boys join the other racers in that area of the racetrack.
As the other racers pay their Roster Race fees, Sticky's phone buzzes in her jacket pocket.
Sticky quickly throws in her coin and walks over to her kart. She picks up the phone, and sees a text from Minty.
"I'm not racing tonight. I have so much on my mind about my birthday. I'm just going to rest before whatever happens actually happens. Your sister, Minty."
"What was that about?" Jubileena asks Sticky, walking over to her Cherriot.
"It was Minty." Sticky replies. "She's not coming to the Roster Race tonight. She's just going to rest a little while longer."
"Oh, okay. I just hope she'll actually show up to the party. Swizz and Vanellope have worked so hard planning it." Jubileena said, adjusting her racing helmet.
"I hope so, too." Sticky replies, getting into her kart and adjusting her helmet.
Meanwhile, Minty was sitting on the couch wearing an apple green jogging suit and she turned on the footage of today's Roster Race.
As the race began, she started laughing at everything that was going on, from Jubileena getting A-La-Moded by Adorabeezle to Swizzle getting stuck in a Sticky Slick set by Taffyta. Before you knew it, she felt so much better.
She stood up and walked toward her bedroom, where she found an emerald green formal dress with a gold bow tied around the waist and an emerald tiara along with it. Attached to it was a note.
"Mints, you're everything to me. Sorry I forgot your birthday. Wear this stuff to the Candy Castle tonight, and meet me there for a special dinner. Love and kisses, Swizz."
"He does care!" Minty says to herself.
Minty took the dress out of the bag, feeling the silky material. She puts on the dress, lacy green tights, and black dress shoes she bought at the mall a while back.
She then curled her long green hair, put on some makeup to match her dress, and finally, she put the emerald tiara on her head.
Minty hopped into her Veloci-Wrapper and drove off to the castle.
After the Roster Race, Vanellope announced the next day's avatars.
"...And here are tomorrow's racers!" President Vanellope declared over the microphone. "Let's all give a big round of applause to these racers who made it to the roster list today!"
The crowd went crazy as they cheered for Taffyta Muttonfudge, Rancis Fluggerbutter, Candlehead, Swizzle Malarkey, Adorabeezle Winterpop, Jubileena Bing-Bing, Snowanna Rainbeau, Sticky Wipplesnit, and Gloyd Orangeboar.
"All right, my sweet subjects, now we must get ready for a very important event happening tonight. As you know, today is Minty Zaki's birthday! She's really sad that we all forgot, but that's about to change." Vanellope announced over the microphone.
The racers got excited as she said that, and they all cheered wildly.
"This event is going to be a very formal one, so come dressed your best! See you all there!" Vanellope concluded, stepping down from her grandstand and hopping into her Candy Kart.
The other racers, including Swizzle, hopped into their karts and headed home to get ready for Minty's surprise party.
Swizzle arrived back at his house and turned off his kart. He unlocked his front door and walked inside his house.
He walks into his bedroom, grabbing his blue tuxedo from his closet. As he put it on, he begins to think.
"Minty is so beautiful. She deserves this after the way everyone treated her today. She's finally 12 years old, just like me. I want her to have the best birthday ever."
After adjusting his indigo blue bow tie, he sits on his couch, and tears start brimming in his eyes.
Trying to hold them back, he says, "I'm going to be there for her, no matter what. She's everything to me." He wipes away the tears and picks himself up.
"Now, I better get to the castle before Minty does." he said, hopping into his kart and driving off.
Minutes later, Swizzle arrives at the castle, ahead of some of the other racers. Rancis, wearing a Reese's tuxedo, takes Swizzle by the hand and walks him inside.
Gloyd and Adorabeezle arrive in Gloyd's Kernel, wearing their formal clothes. Gloyd in a black tuxedo with an orange bow tie, and Adorabeezle in a navy blue formal dress patterned with silver stars and her hair in a bun held in place with silver star hair accessories, walked into the castle hand in hand.
Taffyta and Candlehead arrived in Taffyta's kart, dressed in their new dresses and shoes. Taffyta curled her platinum blonde hair and put on pink lipstick in a shade that matched her dress. Candlehead was even wearing a silver tiara with a jeweled cupcake in the middle.
Snowanna, Crumbelina, and Jubileena were inside already, sitting at a table and talking. Snowanna is wearing a long purple dress with a V-neck collar and her hair is in two afro puffs that are held with violet ponytail holders accented with big purple bows. Crumbelina is wearing a milk chocolate brown dress with one sleeve accented with chocolate brown rhinestones, and her hair is in a high ponytail. Jubileena is wearing a cherry red strapless dress and her hair in a single braid.
Citrusella is dressed in a blueberry blue formal dress that goes down to her knees, and her hair is also in a single braid. Torvald and Sticky came out in gorgeous golden yellow and teal dresses with short draping sleeves. Torvald's hair is in a bun and Sticky's hair is in two ponytails.
Nougetsia is dressed in a cotton candy pink dress that falls off the shoulders and her hair is out of its braid.
President Vanellope is absolutely gorgeous, and all heads are turning as she walks in wearing a sparkly, grass-colored green dress tied at the waist with a big chocolate brown bow, and her candy-laden black hair is in a half-ponytail that is held in place with green peppermint hair clips. Rancis' jaw dropped as she walked in.
"Nelly, you look gorgeous!" he says as he took her hand and lead her into the ballroom.
"Thanks, Butterfingers. You don't look half bad yourself." Vanellope replied as she walked up to the stage and picked up a microphone.
Rancis blushed cherry red as he walked towards Gloyd and Adorabeezle.
"Wow, you guys look good!" Rancis tells them.
"Thanks, Rancis. You look great!" they tell him.
"All right, everyone, find a place to hide! Minty will be here any minute." Vanellope says into the microphone.
The racers do just that, and Swizzle turns off the lights, but not before grabbing the bouquet of fruit-flavored lollipops for Minty.
Minty pulls up the castle and gets out of her kart.
She knocks on the door, looking around nervously.
"Hi, Minty. Follow me to the ballroom." Sour Bill tells her as he opens the door to let her in.
Minty follows the little green sour ball to the castle's ballroom, and takes in a deep breath.
"Here goes nothing." she says as Sour Bill opens the door.
She walks in and turns on the lights. The racers jump out of their hiding places, and then they yell, "Surprise! Happy Birthday Minty!"
Minty's jaw drops as she looks around the room. The fancy decorations, the big cake, the presents, the flowers, and everyone in their best clothes. She starts crying tears of joy.
"Guys, I don't know what to say." Minty said, walking further into the ballroom. Swizzle walks up to her and gives her the bouquet of lollipops.
"Thank you, Swizz, these are beautiful." Minty says, gently kissing his cheek.
"Not as beautiful as you, Mints. Happy birthday, sweetheart." Swizzle says, kissing her back.
(Next chapter: Felix, Calhoun, and Ralph arrive, and the slow dance that is guaranteed to make Mint Swirl fans squeal with delight! You don't want to miss it!)