Special [D1]

6 - Tourney

I was standing at my locker the next afternoon, using the mirror on the inside of the door to make sure my ponytail was perfect for the game. As I was putting a bobby pin into the top of it, Carlos appeared in the reflection behind me.

"Hey." I greeted with a warm smile. "Ready for the game?"

"Uh, yeah." Carlos nodded, seeming nervous. I caught Jay leaning over the railing, talking to all of the ladies that got their hair done by Mal. Mal and Ben were talking a few lockers down, and Ben looked worried for a second before he took a cookie from Mal and took a bite out of it. I scrunched my nose up in confusion, but slowly nodded as Carlos tried to hand me a cookie too. "I brought you a cookie. Seemed like you could use it after last night."

"As thoughtful as that is, Carlos." I started. "I try to avoid sugar before being tossed into the air by my fellow cheerleaders."

"Oh, right, yeah." Carlos said, sounding disappointed. "Beware of treats offered by villain kids."

"It's not tha-"

"I'm sure every kid in Auradon knows that." Carlos continued.

"Really it's not that, Carlos." I tried to defend.

"No, I get it." Carlos nodded. "It's smart, really. Don't tru-"

I took the cookie out of his hands and my eyes glowed blue briefly, causing Carlos to stop talking.

"Really, it's not that I don't trust you." I huffed, realizing that the cookie was laced with a love spell. "Although I shouldn't because you just tried to spell me."

"W-what?" Carlos stammered.

"I have magic of my own, Carlos." I reminded. "And if you wanted to go out with me, you should've just asked."

"I-" Carlos started. I handed the cookie back to him and closed my locker door.

"I'll see you at the game." I waved. "Good luck."

I walked over to the field, adjusting my cheer skirt as I went. Audrey was just finishing up her pre-game speech when I arrived, and she glared harshly at me.

"Where have you been?" She hissed, grabbing me.

"Fixing my hair, Audrey." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Well, we changed up the routine." Audrey stated. "You have ten minutes to learn it."

I rolled my eyes again, heading over to my stunting group to learn the new routine. I was supposed to load into a basket toss, back flip twice, land, and then load into a single base extension which turns into a liberty heel stretch, then a twist cradle and a back walk-over dismount. How I managed to get it down the first time we ran it, I will never know, but I did it.

The game started, and Audrey lead cheers enthusiastically. The whole game was tied, and I was upset that Coach Jenkins didn't put Jay or Carlos in. I left my position and went to talk to Coach Jenkins.

"Coach?" I called. Jenkins looked over at me and smiled.

"What can I do for you Ozzy?" He asked. Jay and Carlos looked over at me, both smiling widely.

"You should put them in." I stated, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Why?" Coach Jenkins asked.

"You put them both on this team for a reason. If I recall correctly, Jay had pure talent." I recited. "I think they'd be great against our rivals, is all."

"And what do you know about tourney?" Jay sounded.

"I know that I'd be on the team if Chad didn't make such a fuss about a girl being on his team." I retorted. "Anyway, something to think about. Now, excuse me, I have a stunt to load into."

"I'll consider it, Ozzy." Jenkins said, waving me off. "Good luck in that stunt."

"Only had ten minutes to learn it, I'm going to need it." I rolled my eyes, heading back to my stunt group. I sighed deeply as Audrey began a count. I loaded in perfectly, did my flips perfectly, and landed perfectly. I felt a genuine smile overtake my face as I loaded into the single base extension. The transition to liberty heel stretch was smooth, but my base slipped in catching me in my dismount, and my tailbone met the solid ground.

"Ozzy!" I heard Doug call from the band section.

"I'm good." I winced, standing up with the help from my base. "Let the record show that I totally had that."

"You need to sit down." Audrey stated, a slight smirk on her face. I rolled my eyes at her and limped over to the closest seat, which was the bench Jay and Carlos were on.

"Are you okay?" Carlos asked as I sat gently beside him.

"Oh, I'll be fine." I winced. "Give me a few minutes and I'll have the magic I need to heal it."

"Those stunts were pretty cool." Jay complimented.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"You work on that magic," Jenkins said, looking at me sternly. "Jay, you're in."

I tuned them out as I focused on my magic. I felt it where it was strongest, in my hands, and concentrated on moving it to my lower back so that it could heal quickly. After a few seconds, the pain I was feeling was gone. When I tuned back into the game, Ben had a microphone in his hand.

"Give me an 'M'!" Ben started. I jumped up and joined the cheerleaders.

"M!"

"Give me an 'A'!"

"A!"

"Give me an 'L'!"

"L!"

"What does that spell?" Ben called.

"Mal!" We chorused. I laughed as Audrey ran off the field.

"Come on, I can't hear you!" Ben called again.

"Mal!"

"I love you, Mal!" Ben smiled. "Did I mention that?"

"Oh?" I smirked, catching Mal's shocked gaze. She looked scared and mouthed 'I can explain' to me. I rolled my eyes, and shook my head at her. 'Don't worry about it.' I mouthed back.

"Give me a beat! Whoo!" Ben cheered. I navigated my way to the bench and sat down as the whole tourney team and the cheerleaders started singing and dancing together. In the middle of the spontaneous musical number, Carlos pulled me to my feet, trying to get me to dance.

"Yeah," I said over the singing. "I'm not really into the whole singing and dancing thing."

"You are now." Carlos stated with a smile, making me dance alongside him. I tried to fight it, I really did, but a smile took over my harsh features and I started dancing with Carlos. He beamed with pride and pulled me close to him as Ben finished the song by telling Mal he loved her.

"Chad's my boyfriend now!" Audrey snapped into the microphone. "And I'm going to the coronation with him. So, I don't need your pity date."

"Finally!" I called.

"Mal, will you go to the coronation with me?" Ben asked, taking the microphone back from Audrey.

"Yes!" Mal answered.

"She said yes!" Ben cheered. We all clapped for him, and I turned to Carlos.

"Want to come to the coronation with me?" I asked.

"Aren't I the one that's supposed to ask you that?" Carlos asked.

"I told you my family was weird," I commented. "We don't follow stereotypes. Especially not with dating."

"Let me take you out before coronation, then." Carlos countered.

"Sure." I smiled. He wrapped his arms around me and spun us around.

"Alright, let me down." I giggled. "Go celebrate your big win, I'll see you for our date."