Part One-My Shot

“Mariah. There’s a phantom around the castle grounds.” My dad’s voice was playing through the phone. I looked at Andrew, who was beside me, ready for me to explain everything. 

“I’m on my way.” I finished, hanging up the phone. I sighed. 

“Let me guess. Can’t?” Andrew asked. I nodded. 

“Phantom was spotted on the castle grounds. I’ve got to go.” I whispered, starting to make my way to the carriage. 

“Wait!” Andrew exclaimed, grabbing my arm. He quickly let go when I turned around. 

“You’ll tell me soon. Right?” He asked, a hopeful expression on his face. I gave him a sideways glance. 

“Of course.” 

***

“It was one phantom. If those guards can’t handle it, why are they even here?” I asked, Xavier and Lucy in my room. 

“I didn’t want you to deal with it. I wanted you home. I have a feeling we aren’t finished with the phantoms yet.” Xavier sighed. I chuckled. 

“You think? You simply took out their leader. There’s at least three other leaders that are next-not including myself. You have my Aunt, who was first in line. Then my cousin who was second. Third was my mom. I’m fourth in line.”  I explained the hierarchy. 

“I think what Xavier was trying to say was that he doesn’t want you anywhere but at the school and here without guards. We can’t risk it, honey.” Lucy’s sweet voice explained, sitting on the edge of my bed beside me. 

“Guards? Again? Are you serious right now?” I asked, glaring right at my dad. He sighed. 

“Xavi-Dad. Why? Tell me.” I lowered my voice, remembering the ‘dad’ word. 

“I can’t risk you getting hurt.” He said slowly, his eyes flickering to the ground. 

“Trust me, I won’t. I’m more trained than anyone else here. Your guards are probably nothing compared to-” I was cut off by Xavier, who held up his hand. 

“I don’t want to hear another word of this. Dinner will be shortly.” Xavier strode out of  the room, closing the door behind him. Lucy stayed, looking at me concerned. 

“He’s always been fearful of phantoms, dear.” Lucy explained, looking at a painting on the wall. 

“Why? He’s not scared of me.” I asked, fidgeting with the strings of my shorts. 

“Of course he isn’t scared of you. You’re his daughter. But normal phantoms bring memories of his father back to him.”

“What are you talking about?” 

“Your mother’s phantom army injured his father after Xavier took the throne. I was about to give birth to Olivia and Liam, so Xavier was already protective. Your grandfather was pretty badly hurt, Mariah. He nearly died.” Lucy stared at her feet. 

“What happened?” I asked. 

“Well, he recovered. I gave birth to Olivia and Liam, whom your grandfather loved very much. But when the Phantom King led an attack when they were about one, your grandfather took the lead. He passed on the battlefield. He was a stubborn man, just like you.” Lucy smiled. 

“I’m sure if he would’ve met me, he would’ve had a worse reaction than Lucinda.” I laughed. Lucy sighed. 

“I’m so sorry, dear. Some people just don’t understand.” 

“I don’t blame them. I have a… weird past. I get that.” 

“But your present-and your future- are bright.” Lucy finished, standing up. She patted my paw. 

“Thanks Lucy.” I smiled, giving her a hug. She returned the embrace. 

“Anytime.” 

***

“Hey Mariah!” I turned around to see Andrew rushing towards me with his literature textbook in his grasp. I waved, pulling my binder out of my locker. 

“Today’s the day!” He exclaimed, leaning against the locker beside me.

“Wait seriously? I thought it was tomorrow!” I exclaimed, almost dropping my Jamaa Geography book out of my locker while searching for my literature book. 

“Yeah! It’s Wednesday.” 

“No. It’s Tuesday.” 

“Mariah. Look.” Andrew laughed, pulling his phone out. Sure enough, it was Wednesday. 

“Oh.” I muttered. Then I realized it really was Wednesday, and my eyes grew wide. 

“Oh!” I exclaimed, dropping everything in my arms. My phone-which was a new, purple one- fell with it. Andrew caught my phone, but didn’t manage to save the binder and textbook. As the thud pounded through the hall, every royal had their eyes on me. 

“I’m so sorry.” I exclaimed, quickly picking up my belongings. I gave a small chuckle before the normal chatter in the halls commenced. 

“Professor Nyora wouldn’t like to see that happening to her books.” Olivia said as she walked past. 

“Shush it.” I replied, closing my locker. 

“I wanted to wish you two luck on the whole tryouts thing today. Andrew, I’m sure you got in.” Olivia replied, smirking right at me. I narrowed my eyes at her. 

“Mariah’s tryout was incredible. She made the team for sure.” Andrew said, noticing the tension. 

“Girls don’t play soccer, Andrew. She’s lucky they let her try out.” Olivia laughed, leading her friends down the hall. I groaned, slamming my hand onto the locker door. 

“Don’t listen to her-” Andrew began, but I held up a paw. 

“Save it. She’s not worth my time.” I explained, taking a deep breath. 

“I guess it’s time to go into class and wait for the announcement.” Andrew changed the topic, leading me down the halls to our English class. 

“I guess so.” I replied, my heart starting to pound again. 

“It’s gonna be okay.” He said calmly, opening the door for me. 

***

“Welcome back, students!” Professor Nyora beamed, the chalkboard reading “test” behind her. This was my third week in school, and this was actually my first test. When the paper was passed over to me, all I could think about was what Lucy had told me two weeks ago. My mother almost killed my grandfather. I mean, if he was anything like Lucinda, I could see why. He died fighting my kind. I feel like it’s my fault. I’m the reason he died. 

“Mariah. Please don’t be looking around for answers.” Professor Nyora stated. 

“I wasn’t. I spaced.” I defended, but Andrew gave me a look, “sorry.” I finished. She smiled. I looked down at the paper. 

Which of these is an example of irony?

A cow in a field 

A girl playing dress-up

A fire station on fire

Pizza with pepperoni on it

I circled the third one. This stuff was easy. It was stuff I learned when I was a kid.

But you want to know a real example of irony? The fact that I’m fighting my own kind, and lost my grandfather because of what I’ve done. I’ve never met the wolf, but he probably would’ve hated me anyways. I wouldn’t blame him. Or the fact that I’m a ‘failure’ to my kind for accepting my princess role. I’m the Destroyer who so happens to be Jamaa’s future ruler. My entire life is one big piece of irony! 

“Mariah, honey.” Professor Nyora’s voice whispered. I jumped out of my thoughts to see my teacher standing in front of me. I stared at her. 

“Are you alright? You seem pretty out of it today. Is it because of the announcement of the soccer team?” She asked. I nodded, not even caring about the real reason. Sure, I was a bit nervous. But I was scared. 

“I’m sure it’ll be alright, sweetie. And I understand you’re nervous. But we’ve got to make sure we’re focused on our test, alright? Let me know if you need anything.” She finished, walking back to her desk. I sighed, going back to the test. 

“Princes and Princesses! I hope you’re having a fantastic morning here at Magestia Prep. Before I begin announcing the soccer team, I wanted to let you know that there are sign ups for cheerleading tryout times for today in the office. If you’re interested, make sure you stop in. Here’s Coach Taylor with the results.” Headmaster Cruizer’s voice blared in the speakers. I started to feel my heart racing out of my chest. I saw Andrew tense up. This was a big deal for everyone who tried out. 

“Good morning students! I’m your Royals Soccer Team coach with the list of twenty lucky students who get to play on the team. As always, we have our returnees. We had sixteen of them this year. They are the following,” Coach Taylor named off a bunch of Prince’s names. There were cheers in the class as siblings, friends, and classmates in other courses were named. 

“Out of fifteen kids, I chose four Year 7’s to join our team this year. These four individuals stepped up to the plate and had an outstanding tryout. I’m very pleased to have three of the younger league players joining my team. They’ll make our team stronger. The other individual was a very unexpected tryout. However, this person is going to do great things on this team. The amount of talent they showed at their tryout is none I’ve seen in a very long time. Here they are, folks!” 

“First we have Prince Liam of Jamaa! He will be joining us as a goalie.” I whipped around the room to see Liam beaming. 

“Second we have Prince Justin of Maradema. He will be joining us as wings.” I looked around to see a boy being praised. I smiled. I looked at Andrew, who looked horrified. 

“Next we have Prince Andrew of Siri. He will be joining us as an attacking and defensive midfielder!” I jumped out of my seat, smiling at Andrew. His face was lit up with the proudest look I’ve ever seen. He gave his friends high fives before turning to me. He took a deep breath, giving me a thumbs up. 

“Our final 7th year is a quite unexpected player, but she’s going to do well here. Everyone, welcome your first ever female soccer player, Princess Mariah of Jamaa as center midfielder. Your jerseys and numbers will be in the office at the end of the day. Congratulations.” The intercom shut off. Before I could even process what I just heard, Andrew embraced me with a large hug. I heard a lot of the girls cheering, including our teacher. 

“I actually did it.” I whispered. Andrew nodded. 

“Heck yeah you did!” He exclaimed, high fiving all his buddies. I knew they were all too excited to care that a girl was on their team, but it wouldn’t last much longer. I knew how angry people were when they saw me at tryouts. But none of that mattered to me right now. All I cared about was that I made the team. And I couldn’t wait to prove myself worthy of the spot. 

“I am NOT throwing away my shot.”

I promised this at the end of September, but I needed a few days to finish it up. I have to warn y’all: Get your tissues kids. Part Two’s gonna make you cry.

There’s two parts only because it was too long to be all one part. Enjoy! Jam On!