The Gospel Truth (A Disney Fanfic)

Chapter 8. Mulan

Chapter 8. Mulan

Mulan gulped, afraid to speak a word. She glanced around, her eyes not lingering on any one thing for too long. The boys started cleaning up the locker room, as there was nothing left to do. They didn't need a detective to figure out who did it.

Shang seemed to have fazed out, staring at the currently damaged trophy case that used to hold the awards from previous years. Behind the glass was now a piece of paper filled with words that ridiculed him about being the captain. Mulan could tell it affected him, for who wouldn't it affect?

"For what it's worth, I think you're a great captain," she whispered to him.

"Thanks," he nodded solemnly, then grabbed his tuna covered bag, and left. Mulan watched as he finally exited, not noticing that Mushu had come up right behind her.

"I saw that," Mushu teased with a smirk.

"What?" Mulan asked, confused.

Mushu shook his head, "nevermind. Come on get your stuff and let's go."

Mulan looked around for her bag, noticing that it had been swept aside to the other side of the room. She picked it up and left with Mushu, heading over to where Pumbaa and Timon were waiting near the bleachers.

"What's going on?" Timon asked.

Mulan sighed, not really wanting to explain, but nevertheless she did.

***

"See you later Mulan," Pumbaa said, as they dropped her off first. Mulan waved and walked up to the front steps where her grandmother was sitting.

"Hello Mulan," she greeted, with a certain type of tone Mulan had never heard from her before.

"Hello grandmother," Mulan greeted back.

Her grandmother's face was stoic as she remained quiet and rocked back and forth in the rocking chair. Mulan found it quite odd but entered through the front door to see one person she didn't think would arrive until an hour later.

"What's with the get-up Mulan?" her father asked, motioning to the football uniform she hadn't changed out of.

"Uhhh..." Mulan stumbled over herself, trying to find the right words.

He nodded once. "We've known," he stated, leaving to go back to his room. Mulan didn't know what to do as she stared out at the empty wall in front of her. They had known this entire time and didn't say a single word about it. Instead they waited, so she would be the one to reveal her secret. Except as she stood lonely at the doorway, it didn't turn out the way they expected. Mulan took a deep breath and went to her room, focusing only on schoolwork. She didn't step out for dinner, and zoomed through all the pages of mindless math she had been assigned that afternoon. At the stroke of midnight, her eyes began to droop until it was inevitable that she would fall asleep. Mulan changed into her pajamas, throwing aside her football jersey, and finally slipped under the covers, letting all of the day's worries fade away.

***

Mulan heard hushed whispers as she walked to the cafeteria the next day. Everyone seemed antsy and nervous, as if something monumental had changed.

"Mushu what's going on?" Mulan asked, sitting down next to him.

"Haven't ya heard? That other team y'all were supposed to play today doesn't have enough eligible players for the rest of the season. So instead they've switched the schedule around," Mushu answered, but something told Mulan he was beating around the bush.

"We're playing the Huns today aren't we?"

"And bingo was his name-o."

Mulan thumped her head against the table. They weren't supposed to play against each other till next week for the championship, and after the whole fiasco yesterday, Mulan knew the team wasn't going to be too friendly.

"Don't mope around, it doesn't look good on you," Mushu reprimanded while eating his school lunch.

"Thanks for informing me about the new fashion trends," she snapped back.

"Anytime."

Mulan thumped her head again on the table.

***

"One, two, three. DISNEY HIGH!" The team chanted together in a huddle.

Mulan lined up in her position and took the time to size up her opponents. They were all towering, broad guys that looked like they would crush anyone who got in their way. Her gaze finally fell upon Shan Yu, the captain of the Huns. He was the biggest on the field and seemed to know it by his arrogant stance and way of trash-talking. Mulan huffed in annoyance but kept her head in the game.

Shang yelled out plays and Mulan listened, waiting for him to actually start them off.

"HIKE."

And the game started.

***

It went well the first quarter, Disney High was winning by a few points but eventually the Huns caught up by half time. It was a competitive game that was for sure. Some of their players had been knocked out by the bigger huns, Shang was almost one of them if it wasn't for Mulan. He thanked her, or thanked Ping, when the Huns called for a time out. She didn't have enough time to revel in the moment, but it certainly made her feel better as she got back on the field. The game was getting closer to the end, the clock ticking down, but the score didn't change. When the buzzer rang, Mulan was glad they hadn't lost but was also a bit disappointed that they hadn't won either. The boys on both teams seemed to reciprocate that same feeling as they started yelling at each other colorful words and aggressive phrases.

"Face it, you will never have what it takes to beat us!" Shan Yu shouted.

"You wanna say that to my fist, big boy?" Yao shot back.

The two teams argued even louder, drawing more attention to them. The crowd watched in bated breath as one of the Huns swung a fist at Shang, hitting him square in the jaw. The rest of the Disney High Team joined into the fight for their captain's honor, and Mulan was pushed straight into the middle of it. She ducked some fists and even threw some of her own punches, but suddenly the wind was knocked out of her. Mulan hunched down to the ground, taking steady breaths as she clutched her side. Eventually she saw the sky above her along with worrisome and confused faces. Looking around she noticed that someone had laid her down on a stretcher and a circle had grown around her as everyone stared.

Yao, Ling, and Chien Po pushed themselves to the front, but their eyes widened when they saw her. Chi Fu followed closely behind and let out a gasp. "It's a girl, a treacherous snake! "

Mulan finally felt her hair brush against her face and saw her helmet laid down on the ground a few feet away. And as more people poked their head in to look at what was going, she knew the secret was out. A girl was playing on the football team.

A/N:

OH NO THEY ALL KNOW HER SECRET, WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NOW?

Find out in the next chapter!

Haha, but how's everyone doing? This chapter came out last moment since I started last night on it and just finished it right now while jamming out to Disney music... Any predictions? Thoughts? Questions? For those in the States, how was your Labor Day Weekend? How's school going for everyone? Not gonna brag, but I just found out today I made it on to the Freshmen Board (student council) at my school, so yep I'm super excited about that!

Hope you wonderful readers are doing well and enjoy the rest of your week! Oh and remember,

"The power to be strong and the wisdom to be wise. All of these things will come to you in time..."

~ReadingObsessedSteph