Dark Ray of Sunlight

The Big Game

         Marissa followed Mal, Evie, and Lonnie into the stands with the rest of Auradon Prep's spirited student body. The announcer of the game's voice blared through the speakers.
       "This is a nail biter folks. There's forty seven seconds left on the clock, were all tied up. The Sherwood Falcons '2', Fighting Knights '2'. What a game between Auradon's fiercest rivals!"
         Down on the field Chad was just finishing up water falling some water form his sports bottle. "Get em Chad!" Jay told his fellow team mate.
        Chad turned and gave Jay a small nod. "Thanks, man," he replied, before charging out onto the Tourney field. The coach looked down at his clipboard, then back to field, calling one of the players to return to the bench. He to turned to Jay, "You're up."
       Carlos gave his friend a supporting hand on the shoulder, shaking it, trying to throw the jitters away. It was another moment before Jay said anything. "Coach," he said at last, standing up to increase his point. "How about my buddy here?" He slung his arm around Carlos, forcing him up with him.
        The little bit of confidence that Carlos may have had dropped in a matter a of seconds. It had taken him a lot of guts just to walk onto the field; there was no way he could play. "Oh, no!" he said, quickly wiggling out of Jay's grasp.
       The coach shook his head. "Not so sure about that."
      "Coach, he's been practicing," Jay argued, pulling Carlos back next him.
      "Jay." Carlos said, trying to get him to stop 'helping'.
      "And you said yourself that a team is made up of a bunch of parts," Jay continued, completely ignoring the pleads from Carlos.
      "Jay, I'm not that good," Carlos protested.
      Jay disregarded him. "Well, he's kinda like me brain."
      The coach considered what Jay had brought forward and let out a sigh, "Amir!" he shouted, getting the attention of a boy on the field. Coach signaled for him to come back, and turned to Jay and Carlos. "You heard him," Coach tossed the tourney stick to Carlos. "Get out there!"
        "Don't worry bro," Jay said. "I got your back."
        "How about my front?" Jay rolled his eyes, and pushed Carlos onto the field in front of him.
       "He's bringing that hothead, Jay, in from the Isle of the Lost. And that little guy, Carlos, who can barely hold a shield," The announcer narrated as the boys came jogging out to join the team huddle. Marissa growled lowly, hearing the announcer talk about Carlos and Jay in a more negative light. Jay wasn't a hothead, he was just used to doing things by himself. And Carlos may not be the strongest when it comes to anything physical, but he's super smart.
        The Auradon team broke from their huddle, moving to their slated positions. "Right from their huddles, this is gonna be a big moment here," said the announcer, watching as both teams were ready to begin. "And the tip off is ready...here we go!
         "Long pass goes to Jay, Jay dishes it off to Finn. Nice little block by Carlos! He does a little dance jig in his opponents face!" Marissa, Evie, and Mal cheered excitedly for Carlos. Who would have thought that he'd be doing this well? Blocking guys that are two times bigger then him? They wouldn't have ever believed it back on the Isle.
         "And now Jay gets the ball back. Here comes Jay! Jay, hurdling maneuver at mid-field. Jay makes a nice pass to Ben through the kill zone. Big block by Chad! Prince Ben moves over wide, sends it to Finn! He's in the clear! Shoot! Oh! What a save by Phillip, the Falcon's goalkeeper."
         Marissa never would have thought she'd be this into a game like tourney, something that seemed to be meant for the higher ranked. But here she was, cheering for the Auradon team to win.
         The announcer continued to narrate the game, "Twenty three seconds left, you could cut the tension with a sword. The long ball is played into Jay. Jay, great jump, great leap. And a great move by Jay, thanks to a double block by Chad and Finn! Jay dishes off to Prince Ben, and then Carlos, with a big block, goes down. Jay through the kill zone, picks up Carlos. Oh, he's being hammered by dragon fire, still going! Jay, hurdling maneuver at mid-field again, he's in the clear! The ball goes back to Jay, he passes to Prince Ben. He scores!"
         Auradon's entire student body erupted with screams. Even Marissa cheered along with them, laughing and clapping her hands together.
       "Prince Ben has won it! What an unselfish play by Jay! Incredible teamwork! And it's the new guys, Jay and Carlos, who set up the Prince for the win. Here they come! The winners of the-"
        The announcer never finished because Ben, who was under the love potion, had taken the microphone from him. "Excuse me? Excuse me, can I have your attention please?"
       Everybody in the stand fell silent, wondering what it could be Ben had to say. Ben stepped up onto the disc shooter post. "There's something I'd like to say!" He hesitated for a moment, looking down at his peers that were below him, and the one's in front of him in the bleachers. "Give me a M!" He put both his hands up over his head in an arched manner.
       "M!" The students put their hands like his.
       "Give me an A!" Ben brought both is hands sharply to the side, and spread his legs.
       "A!" The students repeated his actions.
      "Give me a L!" He put his arms out at a ninety degree angle.
       "L!" Everybody did the same.
       "What does that spell?!"
       "Mal!" Everyone shouted.
       "I can't hear you!"
       "MAL!" The students yelled again, louder this time.
       "I love you Mal, did I mention that?"
        Marissa could have sworn that every girl within that tourney field turned to Mal, giant smiles spreading widely across their faces. Of course, this was hard to understand for the Isle residents, but in Auradon, Ben was among the most popular of princes. For him to make such a public announce was beyond most girls comprehensions.
        "Give me a beat!" Ben shouted, pointing at the marching band.
        In the marching band section Doug counted off his fellow band enthusiast, "Uno, dos, tres, cuatro!"
         "What was in that cookie?" Mal asked, though the question was directed more towards Marissa and Evie. Evie clasped her hands together and continued to gush over Ben's serenade to Mal.

        Ben stopped in front of Mal, panting hard from all the dancing. Mal gazed up at him, holding his jersey close to her chest. He leaned in to kiss her, but Mal quickly put the jersey in between them. Instead, Ben swung his arm around her, pulling her into a close side hug.
        "I love you, Mal. Did I mention that?" He said, still speaking into the gold colored microphone.
          Audrey strutted up into the bleachers, steam practically pouring out of her ears. She ripped the microphone away from Ben and put her arm around Chad, who had followed her up. "Chad's my boyfriend now," Audrey announced, so the entire student body could hear. "And I'm going to the coronation with him. So I don't need your pity date." She leaned down and kissed Chad.    Quickly, Evie looked away, taking in slow deep breaths, trying to remain calm.
           Ben grabbed the microphone back from Audrey and asked, "Mal, will you go to the coronation with me?"
           Mal was able to put on a smile and she nodded, taking the microphone. "Yes!"
        "She said 'Yes!'!" he cheered, excitedly. Jay bounded into the stands, bringing Ben back down, where the rest of the team was waiting for their captain.
         Marissa looked at Evie who had a pained look on her face as she watched Chad and Audrey walk off the field together.
        "You know, I feel really sorry for Audrey," said Marissa.
       "You do?" Evie asked, turning to Marissa, a bit curious to hear what she had to say.
        Marissa nodded, confirming to her friend that she was the lucky one. "Yeah. I feel that if she were talented like you and knew how to sew and knew beauty tips that she wouldn't need a prince to make her feel better about herself."
       Evie smiled genuinely at who she was beginning to not feel so ashamed to call her best friend. "I guess I am kind of talented."
         Marissa laughed lightly, "You are definitely gifted."
        "Thanks Rissa," Evie said giving her a side hug.
        "Any time, E. Any time."