The Urban Princesses: Mulan

Chapter 10

"Creeksdale High! Let me hear some noise!" The student body president's voice boomed over the loudspeaker. Everyone cheered and stomped their feet on the bleachers. The crowd was adorned with blue and white apparel.

There were cheerleaders running up and down the sides of the bleachers, holding large blue flags with white dragons on them.

Tonight was homecoming.

The MCs warmed up the crowd. Telling jokes and making conversation with members of the audience.

Christina and I sat in the very top bleacher. Spectating from a distance.

They announced all of the fall sports and finally, the varsity football team.

Two cheerleaders held up a large white banner with our mascot printed on the front. The music started and Shang broke through the banner.

He led the group, with Charlie following behind. Peyton was number fifteen in the lineup. Not bad.

The crowd cheered.

Christina and I banged our feet on the wooden bleachers.

The rest of the pep rally was filled with strobe lights, dancing, music, contests. Everything to make a pep rally a pep rally.

School ended and I rushed home to get ready.

"So, homecoming is tonight. Are you going with anyone special?" My mom's round head peeked in the doorway of my room.

"Just Christina and Manchu." I replied as I pulled a blue sweatshirt over my head.

"No special boy?" She sat down on my bed.

"If Manchu counts as special." I chuckled.

"Oh. Ok then." She got up sullenly and made her way out of my room.

If Christina told my mom, she is dead.

***

I rushed into the bathroom and leaped into a stall. I was already late for warm ups.

I quickly wrapped the bandage around my chest and put my hair up into a loose bun.

I rushed out of the bathroom and headed to the locker room.

Luckily, nobody was here yet so they wouldn't notice a girl running into the boys locker room.

I quickly put on my padding, jersey, cleats, then helmet. My bun was very loose and I hope it wouldn't come out of my helmet.

I rushed out onto the field and saw them running laps. I casually joined the group.

We finished running and we were called together for a pep talk before throwing drills.

"All right, guys. Hunter High. It is imperative that we can't let them win. Don't let our school down." Shang's deep voice whispered to us. It sounded like a pep talk from High School Musical.

Charlie and I were partners for passing drills.

I caught pretty solid but my throws were sloppy.

I threw the ball back when I saw a bus pulling into the parking lot.

It stopped and a large boy stepped out.

He had long black hair, very fair skin and a small black mustache above his lip. His scleras were a greenish yellow color. The irises were so dark, it blended in with his pupil. He rolled up his sleeves and large, meaty arms covered with dark hair were revealed. His mouth was carved into a straight, hard line.

He was scary, and I'm not scared easily.

A few other boys followed him out of the bus. They were almost as intimidating as he was. An entire team came out of the bus and headed to the visitor's locker room.

I was so mesmerized by the team I didn't notice that Charlie's pass was coming straight at my face.

***

Manchu held the ice pack up to my cheek. A sharp cold sensation spread throughout my face. Charlie throws a very hard pass. It hit me in the cheek and a bruise started forming. I guess it was payback for what I did to Shang.

"On homecoming." Manchu mumbled.

I took the ice pack off of my face and stood up.

"Manchu, it's fine really." I said.

I started to walk out of the locker room. I wasn't going to miss the game just because of a little bruise.

"Good luck, baby girl."

I turned and saw tears forming in Manchu's eyes.

I walked over and have him a hug. He has been like a parent to me.

I turned and walked out of the locker room for real this time. I put on my bulky helmet and walked over to the huddle of boys by the bench.

I snuck under two boys arms and joined the huddle.

"I am confident we can do this. Endurance, persistence, strength, strategy, everything we went over in tryouts. This is when it matters." Shang said.

He looked up at the bleachers.

"People are arriving. Let's go to the locker room." We broke our huddle and went back over to the locker room entrance.

Charlie stopped me before I could walk in the door.

"Peyton, I'm so sorry-" He started in his soft voice.

"Charlie, don't worry about it. Really. It was my fault." I said.

He looked down at his feet and kept walking into the locker room.

I followed him.

It was another half an hour until we were announced onto the field. Like out first game, we lined up and waited until Shang started running.

The moment I stepped into the fresh cold air, I knew something was wrong.