VANILLA, BABY • KENICKIE

TWENTY ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE - Graduation

The last week of school flew by in a blur of exams, yearbooks, and promises scribbled onto notebook paper. Before anyone could blink, summer had arrived and that only meant one thing - the annual Rydell Summer Fair but this year was different, they were graduating high school and Ducky would soon be leaving for college. She was excited but scared, new experiences, new faces and new curriculum.

Bright lights lit up the late afternoon sky and it was now the end of term and the beginning of Summer. Another Summer and this one felt one hundred percent right. She was were she was meant to be.

The Ferris wheel towering over everything, the smell of popcorn, hot dogs, and cotton candy clung to the air and it made Ducky hungry. Music blared from speakers while students dashed between rides and there was plenty of laughter carrying across the fairgrounds. Ducky and Frenchy headed straight for the popcorn and candy floss stand where they met up with Marty.

"How many?"

"Three." Marty looked at the girls and ordered candy floss. Ducky took hers and began to eat the strawberry flavoured sugar,

The Pink Ladies all met up, all exchanging results of exams,

"I got all A's." Ducky announced as she quickly looked at her papers with a relieved expression, thank god.  French failed a few classes but it wasn't anything to worry about,

And then came the T-Birds, leather jackets in their glory. Danny with Sandy at his side, grinning like he owned the place. And Kenickie who quickly approached Ducky. She jumped on him and wrapped her legs around his torso, "I got all A's, I fucking done it."

He kissed her gently as he put her down and everyone was smirking at the two.

Nobody whispered anymore. Nobody doubted. They were back together, stronger than ever, and they didn't care who knew it.

"Looks like the lovebirds made it official," Sonny teased, earning a playful glare from Ducky.

"Careful, Sonny," Kenickie warned with a smirk. "Don't make me throw ya on the Tilt-a-Whirl."

The group laughed, falling into the rhythm of the fair.

Cotton candy shared between kisses, Ferris wheel rides, winning cheap stuffed animals at rigged booths. Ducky found herself laughing more than she had in months, the weight of the past year loosening its grip.

When the sun dipped low, the fairgrounds lit up in glittering neon. Danny and Sandy disappeared toward the dance floor. Frenchy and Doody were screaming on the rollercoaster. Even Rizzo, for once, seemed content to just sip her soda and lean against the railing.

Kenickie pulled Ducky toward the Ferris wheel. She raised a brow. "You? Ferris wheel? Didn't think you were the romantic type."

"Shut up," he muttered, tugging her closer. "Just get in the damn seat."

There's her Kenickie. She giggled as she quickly got in the seat and watched as he followed.

That's what he would spend the rest of his days doing, following her to the end of the Earth if he had to. He wouldn't let her go again.

As the wheel lifted them high above the fair, Ducky looked out at the tiny twinkling lights below, the crowd buzzing like ants. Then she glanced back at Kenickie, his arm wrapped snug around her shoulders.

"Hey, Ducks," he whispered.

"Yeah?"

"We made it."

And for once, she let herself believe it.

THE END