It was the day of the match between the Auradon Fighting Knights and the Sherwood Falcons. Y/n was walking through the hallway, about to go to the girls' locker room to change into her cheerleading outfit, when she heard a few girls call out to Mal.
"Look, It's Mal," one girl said.
"Hi, Mal! Love my hair, Mal!" another said to Mal.
"Hey, Jane!" y/n called to her friend when she saw her in the hallway. "What's going on? Why is everybody thanking Mal for their hair? And woah, what happened to yours?"
Y/n noticed that Jane's grew longer and curlier. It no longer was the bob cut she once had.
Jane shyly tucked her hair behind her ears. "Remember that day we went to talk to my mom during the Goodness class? Later that day, Mal offered to fix my hair and now look at it!" Jane said excitedly. "Isn't it beautiful?"
"I guess, but it doesn't look like you, Jane," y/n replied.
Jane huffed. "It's not my fault you're jealous."
"I'm not jealous. Why would I be jealous of my best friend?"
"Because now you're not the only one who's going to be making the boys fall head over heels for them," Jane said, almost smugly.
"Look, I didn't mean to offend you. Your hair looks nice, really," y/n told her.
After a moment of silence, Jane said, "Thanks. I'll see you on the field?"
"Yup." Y/n waved to Jane before turning away and almost bumping into Robert.
"Woah, careful there, princess," he said with a smirk.
Y/n was about to say something, until Ben and Audrey made their way to them.
"Do you think they actually paid for those?" Audrey asked y/n, Ben, and Robert, pointing to the girls who got their hair done by Mal.
"Maybe. I mean, I think so," y/n replied. "Anyways, how does it even matter?"
"She did it to Jane's hair, too, and the Fairy Godmother's not happy about it," Audrey continued.
"What's the harm?" Ben asked, seemingly fine with it.
"It's gateway magic! Sure, it starts with the hair. Next thing you know it's the lips and the legs and the clothes and then everybody looks good and then... where will I be?" Audrey said to Ben with a pout.
"Listen, Audrey..." Ben started.
"I will see you at the game after my dress fitting for the coronation, okay?" she told him.
"Okay," he replied.
"Bye, Bennyboo."
"Bye."
Audrey waved to y/n and Robert as well before leaving.
"We should get going," Robert told Ben. He draped his arm around y/n's shoulders just as Mal and the VKs appeared in front of Ben.
"What was that for?" y/n asked irritably.
"Don't you want to spend time with me before my game?" Robert asked.
"You should be on the field," she said.
"Don't I at least get a good luck kiss?" he asked.
Before y/n could answer, Carlos and Evie approached them.
"Hey, y/n. My friends and I made a batch of cookies last night. Do you want one?" he asked nervously.
"They're chocolate chip," Evie added in a smooth voice.
"Sure," y/n said.
Carlos took one and handed it to her, but just as her hand brushed Carlos's, Robert grabbed her hand and pulled it back.
"What she means is, she sure won't be taking it," he told the VKs.
"What? Why?" Evie asked.
"Yeah, why?" y/n asked him with a glare.
"She's on the cheer team, so naturally she's off sugar. We need our cheerleaders to stay in shape, don't we?" he said to her. "Besides, we don't take food offered by the kids of villains."
Evie glared at him with daggers in her eyes, and if looks could kill he would've been dead.
"Well, thank you guys," y/n said to them. "Next time."
"Yeah," was all Carlos could manage to say.
Evie pulled him away, whispering, "Now what?" just soft enough so that y/n couldn't hear.
Robert tried to pull her with him to the field, but she pushed his arm off her.
"I'm going by myself," she said coldly.
"Oh, come on y/n, don't be like this," he said, annoyed.
She ignored him and continued walking on her own, doing her best to keep her anger in control.
***
The game had started, and it was intense. The cheerleaders were cheering their hardest, except for y/n, who had no motivation to cheer.
"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 announcer spoke into a microphone. "The teams get into their huddles and take up positions along the kill zone. Akiho! The dragoneers have been laying down a withering hail of fire."
Y/n watched as the cutthroat game continued, until a break was called.
"And now a substitution..." the announcer said.
Y/n watched curiously as Jay spoke with Coach Jenkins before pulling Carlos onto the field. Suddenly, she found her motivation.
"He's bringing that hothead Jay in from the Isle of the Lost and that little guy Carlos can barely hold a shield," the announcer called.
Y/n frowned at his choice of words, but when she caught Carlos's eye, she raised her pompoms in the air and cheered louder than ever.
"When they break from their huddles, this is gonna be a big moment here. And the tipoff 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. And now Jay gets the ball back. Here comes Jay! Jay, hurdling maneuver at mid-field. Jay makes a nice pass to Prince Ben through the kill zone. Big block by Chad! 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!"
Coach Jenkins said a few words to his team before they got back onto the field.
"23 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. 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. He passes to prince Ben. He scores! Prince Ben has won it! What an unselfish play by Jay! 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..." However, the announcer was cut off by Ben grabbing the microphone and jumping up onto a platform.
"Excuse me. Excuse me. Can I have your attention, please?" he said to the crowd. "There's something I'd like to say. Give me an 'M'!" he suddenly said, cupping his hands over his head to form an 'M'.
"'M'!" the crowd repeated, imitating his movement.
"Give me an 'a'!"
"'A'!"
"What the hell?" y/n whispered to herself as she formed the letter. She then looked at Audrey, who was grinning widely.
"Wait..." y/n whispered. Was her brother proposing to Audrey?
"Give me an 'I'!"
"'L'!"
"What does that spell?" he asked the crowd.
"Mal!" they screamed.
"Come on, I can't hear you!"
"Mal!" The crowd screamed louder.
"I love you, Mal! Did I mention that?" he said, earning many oohs from the audience.
"Oh my gosh..." y/n muttered. She turned to Audrey, who whimpered and ran away.
"Give me a beat!" he yelled. "Whoo!"
"Uno, dos, tres, cuatro!" Doug shouted.
"What the heck has gotten into him?" y/n said to herself as the beat continued and Ben started singing and the tourney team danced along.
Ben:
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 everyday
But let me shout it out loud, if that's okay ay ay
If that's okay (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 never 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 everyday
But let me shout it out loud, if that's okay ay ay
(Yeah!) If that's okay
I gotta know which way to go, c'mon gimme a sign
You gotta show me that you're only ever gonna be mine
Don't want to go another minute livin' without you
Cause if your heart just isn't in it, I don't know what I'd 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, c'mon now!
Ben took off his jersey and the team pointed at Mal as he threw it at her. Mal caught it while everyone around her gasped and giggled.
Alright! (Hey!)
Alright! (Hey!)
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!)
The team hoisted Ben up and launched him into the crowd, who moved him through the stands until he was right next to Mal.
And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss, c'mon now!
"I love you, Mal! Did I mention that?" Ben spoke into the microphone, as if no one knew by now.
Before Mal could say anything in response, Audrey grabbed the microphone from Ben.
"Chad's my boyfriend now! And I'm going to the coronation with him. So I don't need your pity date," she told Ben before kissing Chad.
"Whoa!" the crowd gasped.
Ben ignored her and took the microphone back. "Mal! Will you go to the coronation with me?"
"Yes!" Mal announced through the microphone.
"She said yes!" Ben exclaimed.
"Let's go, Ben. The whole team's waiting for you," Jay said.
"Yeah," Ben replied.
"Bye," Mal said to Ben.
"What a victory. What a day for the Auradon knights, finally winning back the trophy after so many years," the announcer spoke.
"Yeah, yeah!" Jay exclaimed as the announcer announced his name.
"And there he is. Jay, the most valuable player. How do you like that?"
The cheerleaders cheered once more, y/n included. When Carlos caught her eye, she cheered even louder, a huge smile plastered across her face.
The team made their way off the field, and y/n walked towards Carlos.
"You did amazing!" she exclaimed.
"Really? You think so?" he asked hopefully.
"Of course. I'm actually pretty impressed."
Carlos blushed slightly. "Wow, umm... thank you."
She chuckled. "I'll see you around?"
"Y-yeah. See you."
Forcing himself to tear his eyes away from her, Carlos walked away with his teammates, who were cheering loudly for their victory.
"Hi, my little cheerleader," a voice said from behind her.
"Robert! Hi," she said as she turned. "Aren't you supposed to be with the team?"
"Yeah, but I wanted to thank you first. I mean, with all that cheering you did for me, I played so much better," he said with a grin.
"Right, I was cheering for you." She forced a smile. "I don't want to take too much of your time. Go, celebrate with your team." Y/n pushed him away until he started jogging towards his team.
As she watched him leave, she thought about what he said, that she was cheering for him. But was she really, or was she perhaps cheering for someone else, someone she realised she cared about a lot more than she should?