Chapter 6 – Definitely a Keeper

Bobbing lazily in floaties, standing on the deck, but mostly sitting in a long row along the deck's edge with their feet in the cola, the 15 Sugar Rush racers mingled around the shallow end of the pool, all of them eating pizza. Sour Bill had just finished distributing the many pizza boxes that Vanellope had sent for delivery while Waferhead kept the groovy evening atmosphere alive with relaxing summertime mixes. Everyone was munching happily on slices of gummy-lover's and Hawaiian-Donut pizza, chatting about the day's events and what they would be doing tomorrow. And to Snowanna's relief, Dum-Dumino's did not mess up this time on any of the twelve different flavours that had been ordered.

"Attention please, my Buckaroos and Dunkaroos!" Vanellope spoke out, raising her hands, one of which clutched her half-eaten slice of peppermint pizza topped with crushed toffee bits. "Lend me your ears for just a couple o' seconds…"

"Sure, here ya go!" interrupted Gloyd, tossing something towards her. Vanellope caught it instinctively – and jumped in shock before realizing what she was holding was not a human ear, but a gummy shaped like one.

Well, it's nice to see someone found his lost mojo," she said, scrunching her face in both annoyance and amusement; the prankster simply laughed before resuming stuffing his face with pizza.

"You just carry that around with you?" Minty asked him skeptically.

Swizzle smirked with his mouth full of 3-cheese-cake pizza. "You should see what he stashes in the glove compartment."

"Anyways, as I was saying," Vanellope continued loudly, "Just wanted to take this moment to remind you all of a couple things. First thing that you're all aware of unless you've got your head in the chocolate frosting is that this is summer, which always means ridiculously big business for us arcade dwellers. And as long as we keep those players smilin' and filled with happy memories of us, then we are chocolate soufflé-okay!"

"Second thing is…I don't like frowns," she said in a more serious tone. "None of us do. So as your humble leader, I'm decreein' a new rule right here and right now. And here it is: if you happen to see any of your fellow-racers in need of a pat on the shoulder, a nice set of words, or even a step to the extra mile, don't hesitate to give 'em just that."

As Vanellope said this, she let her eyes wander around to certain racers sitting before her. She glanced towards Torvald, who was holding a pizza slice in one hand and the big cola gun in the other with Sticky close by. Then over to Minty, who was in the pool with Swizzle, the latter of whom was once again cradling his girlfriend securely in both arms while she snuggled up to him and hand-fed him pizza with a dreamy look in her eyes. And over to Gloyd and Crumbelina as they sat very close together, preferring to keep their canoodling in public to a minimum. Vanellope even looked at Taffyta, who was lounging again, but this time aboard an inflatable bubble gum floatie chair in the pool with Candlehead squeezed contently right beside her as the girls shared the same seat.

Vanellope smiled.

"We're here for each other, you guys," she said strongly. "And that means we help each other out when we can. If ya see a need that needs to be filled, I want you to remember that it's up to you to grab your tubes of fun-coloured icing, and start filling those ugly holes where needed! Sound cool to everyone?"

"Oh no, I think I left my icing tubes at home," Candlehead fretted.

"Not those icing tubes, Candi," Taffyta said with a smirk.

Other than that exchange, there was a round of agreements and excited chatter among the racers. It made Vanellope's candy heart swell.

"That's what I like to hear!" she beamed. "You folks sitting before me are some of the craziest friends I have ever met. I couldn't ask for a better crew to share this game with than the goofballs I'm lookin' at right here. The MVP award goes to all of us for making Sugar Rush the best game to ever exist. But our vacation is what's the real deal at the moment, and it's just getting started! We got a big camping trip in Apple Crumble Canyon coming up in two days. My pal Molly has geared me up with a buttload of ideas that I can't wait to show ya! I'm talkin' large-scale scavenger hunts here, chicken peeps!"

Sticky tilted her head. "What's a scavenger hunt?" she asked as the other racers started talking with eager anticipation.

"You'll find out soon enough, Sticky," Vanellope giggled. "But for now, let's enjoy this poolside hoe-down while it lasts!"

As her final duty as host for the night, she pulled out her BuzzzTube communicator, the same one she had acquired from the Internet and had used primarily to keep in contact with Ralph and the racers while she had been away. But tonight, it would be used for a much different function. Switching its camera feature to selfie mode, she wedged it into the hooked end of a candy cane and held the improvised selfie stick high above them all. "Gather in folks, and say Sweet Summer!"

"Sweet Summer!" the racers chorused as one.

"I just know that one's a keeper," laughed Jubileena as Vanellope retrieved the communicator with its latest photo captured safely inside.

Adorabeezle rolled her eyes, but matched her best friend's smile. "Yeah, this one definitely is."

THE END

A/N: And that wraps up a sweet summer 2023! Both a sendoff of summer and a comeback for me to the writing world of WiR, if I do say so myself! Sorry this update took longer, as I wanted to release the final chapter at the same time as a special sketchdump on DeviantArt that features scenes directly from this story. Go check that out as my Kids Bein' Kids #6: Sweet Summer Part 2!

It's time for me to thank all you lovely readers who have read all the way to the end and especially to those who reviewed it, lending me your inner thoughts on the tale. I love to hear them, but most especially the ones that dipped deeply into the tiniest of all details. I love to talk, but I also love to listen to those who equally love talking. Awesome to see you again, Seth. Muff1n, thanks for all your creative work in both art and writing! And PrincessLayla20, great to see you here from DA. And thank you to my fellow friends on Discord who also lent me their thoughts over on that platform. This story, like I mentioned way at the start, was originally just a single chapter long. But I found so much fun in writing it out. I mean, c'mon…I placed the kids at a swimming pool, a setting I've never seen them used in before. Why not expand on that as much as I can and still create the sweet story I always aim for? This writer says go for it! Making this short story has definitely rekindled my love for writing WiR once again after not publishing anything new for quite some time. As for what's next, well, we'll just have to wait and see.