A/N: It's my birthday tomorrow so I decided to write this chapter as an early gift to myself and you guys 😆 Thank you for still reading this book! Your comments in my previous post really motivated me to start writing again (I edited all the chapters in one night and barely got any sleep HAHA). It means so much to me that some of you are still interested in this even if I went on a hiatus for two years omg :< I promise my updates will be much more consistent from now on. Enjoy the chapter!

Meredith wanted to say that the Auradon Prep Fighting Knights were winning by a landslide. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case at all. The Sherwood Forest Falcons brought their A game to the tourney match, and they weren't holding back in the slightest.

Meredith and the rest of the cheerleading team had to do their part to support their school. This was one of the things she felt the most comfortable doing: cheering and dancing and hyping up the crowd. It seemed like such a contrast with her personality, but sports always seemed to bring out the more exciting side of her.

"Ohayohay!" Auradon Prep's audience and cheerleading team cheered and clapped to the beat of the music.

"This is a nail-biter, folks," the announcer said, his voice booming through the speakers and just barely being heard over the crowd's noise. "There's forty-seven 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."

Chad ran back to the benches to grab a sip of water. The game was intense, and even with experienced players like him and Ben on the team, they were going to lose if they didn't do something, just anything, to do better in those last forty-seven seconds on the clock.

Jay and Carlos hadn't even entered the game yet. It was understandable since they were new players, but Meredith secretly wanted to see them play. She was sure many of the other students were waiting for them to come up, too, so they could really see what else the Isle of the Lost kids were capable of.

"Get 'em, Chad!" Jay said encouragingly.

"Thanks, Jay," said Chad before jogging back to the field.

Coach Jenkins looked back and forth from his current team and to the benched players. After a moment, he decided to make a switch.

"Akiho!" he called out. One of the team members left the field to make his way to where Coach Jenkins was standing by the benches. Then, he faced Jay. "You're up."

"And now, a substitution!" said the commentator.

But Jay shook his head and pulled Carlos with him when he stood up.

"Coach, how about my buddy here?" Jay said.

"Oh no," Carlos said, swerving under Jay's arm and sitting back down only to be pulled right back up.

"Not so sure about that," said Jenkins uncertainly.

"Coach, he's been practicing."

"Jay..." Carlos tried.

"And you said yourself a team is made up of a bunch of parts," Jay pointed out.

"Jay, I'm not that good."

"Well," he went on, ignoring both his coach and Carlos. "He's kind of like my brain."

That seemed to do the trick. Coach Jenkins still looked a bit reluctant, but he just couldn't say no. With a sigh, he took out another member from the team to make way for the two of them.

"Come here!"

One of the Auradon tourney players exited the field. Coach Jenkins turned around again and threw the tourney stick at Carlos who caught it nervously.

"You heard him," he said. "Get out there!"

"Don't worry, bro. I got your back," Jay reassured, patting Carlos.

"How about my front?" he said, unamused.

"Pfft. Get out there!"

"He's bringing that hothead Jay in from the Isle of the Lost and that little guy Carlos can barely hold a shield!" the commentator announced.

Meredith perked up upon hearing that they were finally being put into the game. She watched as they put on their helmets and jogged into the field to huddle with their other members.

"Break!" they yelled in unison before separating.

And then, the last few seconds of the game resumed.

"When they break from their huddles, this is gonna be a big moment here," the commentator continued. "And the tipoff is ready. Here we go. Long pass goes to Jay. Jay dishes off to prince Ben."

Meredith was on the edge of her seat — well, toes, since she was standing up — as she watched them in action. An opponent came barreling towards Carlos, but he ducked swiftly and caused the other guy to stumble over him and fall.

"Yes!" she cheered excitedly at that smart move.

"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..."

"I'm open!" Ben shouted.

"Jay makes a nice pass to Prince Ben through the kill zone!"

"Jay!" Chad warned, helping him out by blocking a group of Falcons coming his way.

"Big block by Chad! Prince Ben moves over wide, gives it back to Jay. He's in the clear... shot!"

Meredith held her breath and waited for it to reach the goal, but the Falcons's goalkeeper blocked his shot. She groaned out loud, and so did the rest of her teammates. They almost forgot to continue hyping up the crowd because they were so focused on the game that instantly became ten times more interesting when Jay and Carlos entered.

Even the announcer sounded disappointed when he said, "Oh, what a save by Philip, the Falcons's goalkeeper!"

"Come on! All right, all right, let's do it!" Ben motivated his teammates.

"Come on, guys!" Coach Jenkins urged. "Come on, hustle, hustle!"

"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..."

Once again, Chad tackled a group of Falcons to prevent them from getting to Jay. Meredith had to admit that her friend was a very good team player when it came to sports. If only Chad was as genuinely nice to other people in his daily life as he was to his teammates, she thought in passing with a shake of her head.

"Big block from Chad! Jay dishes off to Prince Ben. And then Carlos with a big block, goes down!"

A Falcon player had pushed Carlos, but Jay picked him back up so easily that it almost made Meredith laugh.

"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..."

This was the moment of truth. There were barely five seconds left, and Meredith could see the desperation based on how they were all moving double-time.

"Hey, Jay!" Carlos yelled.

"Carlos," Jay said warily.

Carlos blocked the ball, crouched down with his shield over his body, and said, "Go up!"

Jay put his full trust in Carlos. He ran at him in full speed and used his shield as a spring board to jump up higher. He hit the ball with the tourney stick and shouted, "Ben!"

"He passes to prince Ben..." said the commentator.

Right on time, Ben came to the rescue. He swung his stick and shot the ball straight into the goal.

"He scores! Prince Ben has won it!"

The Auradon Prep crowd went wild. Meredith couldn't focus on a proper cheer with her teammates anymore because they were also too busy celebrating, squealing and jumping down enthusiastically. Jay brought Ben and Carlos into a hug, and the other boys joined them in their victory.

"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."

The Auradon Prep Fighting Knights came walking over to the their school's side, right where the announcer was speaking. Meredith bumped into Carlos, and because both of them were at a high from that win, they hugged each other with bright smiles. It took a second for them to realize what they were doing, and Meredith found herself jumping away from him abruptly. Carlos cleared his throat awkwardly and scolded himself for not realizing what he was doing sooner. They both moved back from one another just a bit, pretending that never happened.

"Here they come, folks. The winners of the first tourn —"

And then, Ben did something unexpected, which Meredith didn't know at that moment that it would only be the first out of many. He snatched the microphone away from the commentator and brought it with him to the center, even dragging the stand along the way.

"Excuse me!" he said. "Excuse me. Can I have your attention, please?"

Almost immediately, the crowd was silenced. Ben stood up on the podium.

"There's something I'd like to say.... Give me an 'M'!"

Thinking this was just one of his fun ways to get the crowd excited again, Meredith ended up following him along with the rest of the Auradon Prep students and placed her hands over her head to form an 'M.'

"'M'!" they copied Ben.

"Give me an 'A'!"

"'A'!"

"Give me an 'L'!"

"'L'!"

"What does that spell?"

Meredith's jaw dropped. There was no way that he was spelling —

"Mal!" the crowd yelled.

"Come on, I can't hear you!" Ben said playfully.

"MAL!"

"I love you, Mal," Ben confessed, his voice softening. "Did I mention that?"

Meredith was in shock. For one, wasn't he still with Audrey? Secondly, when did they become so close? She knew he got along with her and he did say he wanted to go on a date with her earlier which was already strange on its own, but to profess his love for her so soon? It didn't sound right with Meredith.

And yet, some part of her was actually relieved. She knew it wasn't right that Ben didn't properly break up with Audrey, but in all honesty, Ben needed to get away from her one way or another. He was just staying with her to be polite, and it wasn't fair to the both of them. Maybe this wasn't the best way to end things between them — in public, with no warning whatsoever — but it could turn out for the better in the long run.

Audrey gasped and ran away from the field, sped past the bleachers, and was out of sight within seconds. Meredith felt slightly bad for her, but that was cut short.

"Give me a beat!"

"Uno, dos, tres, quatro!" Doug chanted. His fellow band mates began playing a song, and Meredith wondered how the heck they came up with that so quickly. Was this rehearsed?

"Did I mention that I'm in love with you," Ben sang.

Hold up, Meredith thought. When did he have time to learn that song?

"And did I mention there's nothing I can do." He jumped off of the podium, a little dance in his step by now. "And did I happen to say I dream of you everyday? But let me —"

"Shout it out loud!" the audience joined in. Meredith jumped, startled. How did everyone know the lyrics?

"— if that's okay..." Ben continued.

"Hey!"

"That's okay..."

"Hey!"

"Hey?" Meredith tried. The beat was really catchy, though, and she found herself unable to stop from bopping to it, too. And then, Carlos joined Ben in dancing.

He dances? she thought with her eyes wide. This day was just full of surprises.

"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!"

The tourney team dropped to the ground on their knees in unison. This was when Meredith's fellow cheerleading teammates started dragging her to the back where the rest of the squad was, urging her to join in on the dancing. She protested a bit, but she eventually found herself with the rest of the team again all dancing in sync with one another.

" Because my love for you is ridiculous! I never knew —"

Carlos and Jay hoisted him back up to his feet as the crowd sang, "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!" Meredith ended up cheering along. As weird as it was, it was strangely enjoyable.

"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?"

They all pointed at Mal who stood out among the others in her purple ensemble. She looked like she was both flattered and unbothered at the same time.

"But let me shout it out loud
If that's okay, 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!"

Ben fell backwards into the arms of his teammates, only for them to throw him back up and forward. He landed skillfully on his feet and didn't even stop singing to catch his breath, causing Meredith to gape at him in awe.

"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!"

Meredith couldn't control herself from mimicking Ben's dance steps, joining her teammates and the boys from the tourney team, too.

"It's..."

"Ridiculous!"

"Just..."

"Ridiculous!"

"And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss!"

Before she knew it, Meredith was being lifted into the air to form pyramids. It was practically second-nature to be doing it since she was a flyer in her cheerleading team due to her small stature, but it was odd how it almost felt like this was all planned when she had no idea this would happen. It was almost as if some universal force was controlling them to sing and dance together... but she was actually enjoying the whole thing and didn't really care about those little details.

"C'mon now! Yow!"

Ben took off his jersey and threw it at the bleachers. Mal was able to catch it perfectly and the crowd gushed at that.

"Alright! Alright!"

Ben made his way to the horse mascot at the side and literally hopped on it for a ride. Meredith laughed in amusement, wondering how the people underneath that horse costume were holding up.

"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!"

Some of the cheerleaders prepared to toss Ben. At the right moment, they threw him into the audience, who caught him successfully.

"R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S!"

The crowd turned him over to face Mal's direction.

"It's..."

"Ridiculous!"

They started to surf Ben nearer and nearer to the girl he just professed his love for.

"Just..."

"Ridiculous!"

He was almost right in front of her...

"And I would give my kingdom for just one kiss! C'mon now!"

Ben landed directly before Mal. The song finished with a loud trumpet note coupled with the shouts and applause from everyone around them. Meredith swore Ben nearly made a move to kiss Mal, but the girl quickly blocked it with the jersey she caught. Then, Ben slung an arm around her shoulder and brought the microphone to his mouth again.

"Did I mention that?" he teased.

Just then, Audrey returned. She came up the bleachers with Chad hot on her heels, storming through the row of students to where Ben and Mal were. Once she had reached them, she grabbed the microphone from Ben's hands.

"Chad's my boyfriend now," she declared smugly. "And I'm going to the coronation with him, so I don't need your pity date."

Audrey pulled Chad closer to her and kissed him right on the lips. Everyone gasped, but Ben couldn't care less.

Well, this wasn't the breakup I was expecting from them, Meredith thought, watching the scene with interest. It wasn't the smartest way to do it, but it was very entertaining.

"Mal!" Ben directed the attention back to him as he snatched the microphone again. "Will you go to the coronation with me?"

Mal tilted the microphone towards her and said, "Yes."

"She said yes!"

The crowd erupted into cheers for the nth time that day. Meredith joined in, too, because it did look like Ben was happy. She badly wanted to ask him why everything had happened so suddenly, though, but if this really made him much happier than he ever was with Audrey, then she wouldn't question it too much.

Jay then came bounding up the steps to Ben.

"Let's go, Ben. The whole team's waiting for you," he told him with a large grin.

"Yeah," Ben nodded.

"Bye," Mal said with a cheeky smile.

"What a victory," the announcer spoke again after finally being given back his microphone and its stand from Ben. "What a day for the Auradon Knights, finally winning back the trophy after so many years."

The cheerleading and tourney teams gathered at the center as the Auradon Prep Fighting Knights claimed their trophy. Meredith spotted Carlos again and tapped him on the shoulder. Ignoring the awkward hug they shared earlier, she decided to formally congratulate him.

Carlos turned around and found Meredith, all dressed in her Auradon Prep cheerleading uniform, red hair tied up in a high ponytail, and wearing a bright smile that Carlos was sure he hadn't seen yet before. It took him aback slightly, but it wasn't a bad thing at all.

"Congrats, Carlos!"

"Oh, it was all Jay," he brushed it off right away.

"No, I'm serious. You played really well," she said genuinely. Carlos couldn't stop the corners of his lips from turning up. Sure, his teammates were congratulating him, too, but it was expected that all the attention would mostly be on Jay since he had owned the game. It felt good to be personally congratulated by Meredith, who was only talking to him and not Jay or even Ben at that very moment.

"Thanks," he beamed at her.

Meredith, Carlos, Jay, Ben, and basically the entire Auradon Prep were in such high spirits. Since Jay was declared the MVP of their team, he had the honor of representing them and their win. His teammates hoisted him up, showing him off and the trophy he held to everyone at the field.

"And there he is: Jay, the Most Valuable Player. How do you like that?"

A/N: I had no idea how to write the singing scenes, so Meredith almost broke the fourth wall a bunch of times here HAHAHA. Also, can I just say that the Descendants movies are such feel-good movies ahhh I could watch them everyday and never get tired of them even though I'm not a kid anymore :>

Please do comment your thoughts! I'd love to hear them especially since it's been a while since I wrote here. I haven't read any Carlos content either since 2015 so I'm really rusty and just writing completely from scratch and coming up with things as I go 😅