I sit with some girls who are squealing about their hair. I smile. Mal has been using hair spells to help out some insecure girls. Audrey is pretty mad about it. I know if she asked Mal, she would laugh in her face. I lean against the brick wall seperating the school and the yard, playing with the hem of my dress.
"Oh, hello." I look up to see Jay leaning against the rail, right above me. He's talking to me and the girls- who jump up and race over to where I am to get as close as possible.
"You all going to tourney game tonight?" I grin and respond "yeah" with the girls.
"Keep a lookout for number eight, all right? Scoring the winning goal." I grin and say, "Step back." He does and- with Audrey watching me like a hawk- I jump up and grab the metal railing. I hoist myself over it and stand in front of him, grinning confidently. He applauds and I laugh, bowing.
________________________________________________________________________________Audrey watches the two of them, seething. Brielle has a line of suitors longer than anyone else. For her beauty, and charm, and position. But this boy seems different. "Bennyboo-" Audrey taps Ben's arm repeatedly, "Tell your sister to stop flirting with that villain kid." Ben turns around and smiles when he sees his sister flirting with Jay. He smiles and turns to Audrey, "Let her have fun. She's really happy." Audrey sighs heavily. ________________________________________________________________________________
I lead the cheerleaders throughout the match. Everyone is excited and super nervous about the close match.
This is a nail-biter, folks. There's 47 seconds left on the clock. We're all tied up. The Sherwood Falcons, two. The Fighting Knights, two. What a game between Auradon's fiercest rivals. The teams get into their huddles and take up positions along the kill zone.
I notice Jay convincing the coach to let Carlos in. The coach allows Carlos to join and I smile, leading the cheerleaders into a louder chant. The boys race to the field and the announcer continues to narrate the match.
He's bringing that hothead Jay in from the Isle and that little guy Carlos can barely hold a shield. When they break from their huddles, this is gonna be a big moment here. And tip-off is ready. Here we go. Long pass goes to Jay. Jay dishes off to Prince Ben. Nice little block by Carlos. He does a little dancing jig in his opponent's face.
The cheerleaders and I laugh at Carlos's dance.
And now Jay gets the ball back. Here comes Jay! Jay, hurdling maneuver at mid-field.
We clap and yell, "C'mon!" We hoist each other up into a pyramid.
Prince Ben moves over wide, gives it back to Jay. He's in the clear! Shot! Oh, what a save by Philip The Falcons' goalkeeper! 23 seconds left. You could cut the tension with a sword.
We clap harder, screaming and yelling words of encouragement.
The long ball is played into Jay. Jay, great jump, great leap. And a great move by Jay. Big block from Chad. 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 on. Jay, hurdling maneuver at mid-field. He's in the clear. The ball goes back to Jay.
Carlos uses his shield to hoist Jay up and we scream as loud as we can as Jay gets closer to the goal.
He passes to Prince Ben. He scores! Ben has win it! What an unselfish play by Jay!
I scream and lead the girls in our cheer. I am so proud of Jay. The announcer is right. It was a very unselfish play. He could have easily scored the goal. But he let Ben take the victory.
What a team! Incredible! And it's the new guys, Jay and Carlos, who set up the Prince for the win here. What a victory! An absolutely wonderful end to one of the best games ever. Here they come, folks. The winners of the first tourn--
Ben takes the microphone from the announcer, "Excuse me! May I have your attention, please? There's something I'd like to say." He looks around then yells, "Give me a M!" He makes a M.
"M!"
"Give me an A!"
"A!"
"Give me an L!"
"L!" I watch Audrey's face fall when she realizes what she just spelled.
"What does that spell?"
"Mal!"
"Come on, I can't hear you!"
"Mal!"
"I love you Mal! Did I mention that?" Audrey runs off. "Give me a beat! Whoo!"
"UNO, DOS, TRES, QUATRO!"
The band plays a beat and my brother starts singing and dancing with the team. We- the cheerleaders- laugh and join in the singing and dancing.
Did I mention that I'm in love with you?
And did I mention there's nothing I can do?
And did I happen to say
I dream of you every day
Well let me
Shout it out loud!
If that's ok
Hey hey
Hey
If that's ok
Hey
I met this girl that rocked my world
Like it's never been rocked
And now I'm living just for her
And I won't ever stop
I never thought that it could happen
To a guy like me
But now look at what you've done
You got me down on my knees
Because my love for you is
Ridiculous!
I never knew
Who knew?
That it could be like this
My love for you is
Ridiculous!
My love is r-i-d-i-c-u-l-o-u-s
R-i-d-i-c-u-l-o-u-s
It's
Ridiculous
Just
Ridiculous
And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss!
Well did I mention that I'm in love with you?
And did I mention there's nothing I can do?
And did I happen to say
I dream of you every day
Well lemme
Shout it out loud!
If that's ok
Hey hey
Yeah
If that's ok
Hey
I gotta know which way to go
Come on now give me a sign
You gotta show me that you're only
Ever gonna be mine
Don't wanna go another minute
Livin without you
Cuz if your heart just isn't it
I don't know what I'll do
Because my love for you is
Ridiculous!
I never knew
Who knew?
That it could be like this
My love for you is
Ridiculous!
My love is r-i-d-i-c-u-l-o-u-s
R-i-d-i-c-u-l-o-u-s
It's
Ridiculous
Just
Ridiculous
And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss!
Come on now
Uh
Oh yeah
Yeow
Alright
Alright
Because my love for you is
Ridiculous!
I never knew
Who knew?
That it could be like this
My love for you is
Ridiculous!
My love is r-i-d-i-c-u-l-o-u-s
R-i-d-i-c-u-l-o-u-s
It's
Ridiculous
Just
Ridiculous
And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss!
Come on now
He appears right in front of Mal and goes to kiss her, but she shrieks and blocks him with his jersey. Jay and I rush to the stands, both out of breath from laughing.
"I love you, Mal. Did I mention that?"
Audrey takes the mic from him, "Chad's my boyfriend now! And I'm going to the coronation with him. So I don't need your pity date." Then she kisses Chad in front of everyone.
Ben takes the mic back, "Mal, will you go to coronation with me?"
Mal sighs and yells, "Yes!"
"She said yes!" Everyone cheers and applauds the new couple. Jay and I reach Ben, the trophy in Jay's hand. "C'mon, Ben. The team's waiting for you." I grin as I follow Ben back to the field. Jay is named the MVP and I cheer loudly with everyone. When the players put Jay down, he asks me, "What now?"
"The team go for victory pizza and they take the cheerleaders with them. They pick a cheerleader and carry them on their shoulders and- hey!"
He picks me up and puts me on his shoulders, "Ben's right. You ramble a lot." I laugh and watch Chad struggle to carry Audrey. I can't remember being happier.