Chapter Text
Ashlynn was absolutely hexcited.
How could she not be?
Book Ball season was once again in full swing, and everyone was just buzzing with energy. Ever since their first win against Beanstalk High, their team's morale had been off the page!
She'd never seen Hunter so engrossed in something before. Although book ball practice had lessened the amount of dates they were able to go to, the few that they did were full of excitement. He would always talk so animatedly about the formations and the strategies Cerise had made them learn for each of their opponents, and there would always be a glimmer in his eyes when he did so. Although all of the terms he used sounded like Riddlish to her, she was just happy listening and hearing her boyfriend talk.
Of course, everyone else was also hexcited for another year of Thronecoming, but since she’d already finished her float and readied the shoes she'd pair with her dress, she was only looking forward to watching her boyfriend play.
She was also happy that Briar was more invested in joining her to watch the Book Ball game this time around. Ashlynn was sure that not having to worry about their destiny was a fairy big factor to all of it, but it surprised her how eager Briar was to get to the stands and join.
Not that she was complaining. She wanted the best seats to see everything going on, and those seats filled up far too quickly for her liking.
The two of them sat smack dab in the middle of the stadium seats, allowing them to have a full perfect view of the field. They were also just close enough to the field that they could still see everyone's faces, but far enough that they wouldn't have to worry about rogue sweat or books hitting them.
Ashlynn animatedly looked towards Briar, feeling the excitement of the new game approach. But what she found instead was her roommate, already passed out beside her.
She shook her head before adjusting Briar's sleeping position, making it so that the sleeping girl at least wouldn't have the worst neck ache ever after.
The stadium then slowly started filling up with spectators from near and afar, with the announcers telling them they had a few minutes to spare before the actual game began.
With the announcement, Ever After High's Cheerhexing Team started rolling into the field, all wearing matching outfits as they went into formation. The band then started to blast their music as the cheerhexers started their performance.
Ashlynn spared a glance to her knocked out roommate and decided to not wake her up just yet. The board above them told her that they still had a solid five minutes before the game started, and she knew that there was still a sizable gap between when the clock hits zero and when the team actually played.
For now, she decided to enjoy the performance happening in front of her.
She must say, their Cheerhexing Team did an impressive job for this season, which was most probably Faybelle's own doing. She'd heard plenty of horror stories from her friends of how the dark fairy ran the team like it was a wool spinning factory. It honestly always made her amused on how despite all of the complaints, the team still stuck by and followed Faybelle's orders.
All the trouble and complaints seemed to pay off in the end however, since their cheers turned out to be absolutely spellifying. The crowd was entirely engaged and it made almost everyone in the audience invested in the routine, if not at least the field.
It was about a minute in the routine when someone from the sidelines seemed to throw a megaphone to Faybelle, who was currently on top of a pyramid.
The fairy didn't even falter when she yelled to the stand. “Ever After High, make some noise!!”
The crowd went wild. People with foam gloves raised their hands and cheered. Others had cheerhexing balloons and hit them against each other to make as much noise as they could. Ashlynn herself cheered far louder than she expected.
So, she wasn’t quite surprised when even Briar startled awake, fumbling with her sunglasses in her hair as she frantically asked. “Where am I? What time is it?!”
Ashlynn only felt slightly guilty for her rude awakening. “Don’t worry, Briar. The game hasn’t started yet and-”
“You didn’t wake me up for the cheer?!” Briar practically jumped out of her seat as she stood up and started shouting at the top of her lungs in cheers.
Ashlynn blinked. She didn’t expect Briar to react that way upon waking up. She didn’t even know Briar was that interested in the cheers. But the usually sleep-riddled girl must be, given how fast she realized and reacted to it.
Staring at the back of her friend, she watched as her roommate quickly became the loudest person in the audience. The other girl cheered at every spin, every move, and every throw done by the cheerhexers.
It was endearing to watch her friend react so lively. It was like she was treating the whole thing like one of her parties. It put a smile on Ashlynn’s face as she, too, joined in with the cheering.
Eventually, the routine wrapped up, and a new set of roars and applause sparked in the crowd as the cheerhexers held their final positions. She and Briar gave out their acclaim, with Briar especially giving them all of her ovation.
In the center of the cheerhexers was unmistakably Faybelle, who was absolutely reveling in the glory of it all. All of the cheerhexers were breathing raggedly, and they held their position for a long while before Faybelle started moving. As if it were their cue, the other cheerhexers came running towards Faybelle, practically tackling her with pats and hugs.
Seeing as the cheer was all over, Ashlynn sat back down and drank the juice they’d been offered in the stands. She was parched and she was fairy sure that she’d need at least a dozen of them if she wanted to make it through the game with her voice.
She sighed contentedly as the liquid rehydrated her throat and cooled her off. She was just about to offer her glass to Briar, when she realized her friend hadn’t sat down yet.
Looking up at her roommate, she found the other girl was still standing, a smile etched on her face as her eyes stayed glued on the field.
Following the girl's line of sight, Ashlynn realized that Briar was looking at none other than the cheerhexing captain herself.
Ashlynn watched as Faybelle shoved her teammates away and rolled her eyes as she seemed to shout out orders to get off the field. Although she was quite a distance away, she could still see that the faerie had the tiniest hint of a smile on her face.
Faybelle then took one last look at the crowd, her eyes darting from left to right, but then stopped in their general direction.
Briefly, Ashlynn and Faybelle's eyes met from across the stands. But the faerie quickly flickered her eyes towards the girl beside her, her face morphing to something Ashlynn could barely understand.
At first, she thought that Faybelle looked shocked, but then as quickly as the recognition settled in, her face shifted into some sort of scowl. But the thing was, she couldn't really describe it as a scowl. It was softer than that, but it was still just as intimidating. There was a glint in Faybelle's eyes that didn't look like her usual 'I'm going to curse you’ glint, but one of her eyebrows was raised as if she was raising a challenge.
She looked back up at Briar only to find her in a much similar state. No more was her bright smile placated on her face, in its place was a gentle yet sly smirk. Her eyes sparkled, but there was a dimness to it that almost seemed sardonic.
Ashlynn looked between the two, worrying and wondering over what was going on.
Eventually, Briar shrugged her shoulders with a wink and Faybelle rolled her eyes before going to the benches.
Briar sat down and immediately took her mirrorphone out, a self-satisfied smile lingering on her features.
Ashlynn was just about to ask Briar what that whole interaction was about, when the announcers came blaring into the speakers, greeting and welcoming everyone from near and afar to the annual book ball game.
Their team, along with the other school’s team, stood up from their benches and jogged to the middle of the field. Each of the members were waving at the crowd, with each having their own unique flare as they did so.
She spotted Hunter immediately despite their matching uniforms and headgear. Ashlynn instinctively started cheering, foregoing her wonder and burning question towards Briar to support her boyfriend.
She stood up in order for Hunter to see her better, and sure enough, Hunter spotted her and immediately started waving and blowing kisses and finger guns. She laughed at her boyfriend's antics, but he quickly had to divert his attention when the referee made them line up for the pitch.
Ashlynn sat back down, hexcited to finally watch the game unfold. She could barely contain herself when she grabbed onto Briar’s shoulders and shook her.
“The game’s about to start!” She exclaimed into Briar’s ear.
When she looked over at Briar however, she was only met with confusion.
Briar had clutched her mirrorphone to her chest, while her other hand held her sunglasses in place. When the girl recovered, she looked over at Ashlynn, puzzled, before looking over at the field and saying: “Oh yeah, the game. Woohoo!” She said half-heartedly, before turning back to her mirrorphone.
Ashlynn stared at Briar with an eyebrow raised, but her expression went unnoticed as the brunette only had her sights on her device. She would’ve asked what Briar was so focused on to be completely ignoring the game happening right in front of her, but her priority at the moment was giving her full attention to the game in support of her boyfriend.
So, she ignored Briar’s weird behavior and turned to watch the book ball game.
Throughout the game, their team went through many highs and many lows. At one moment, they were way ahead from the other team, the next they were falling behind. Ashlynn may not be the most invested book ball fan, but even she could feel how intense the game became. And yet, everytime she stole a glance to Briar, it seemed like the other was entirely unfazed, still glued to her mirrorphone.
She noticed that Briar only gave small cheers and whoops throughout the game, and only when the crowd was particularly loud at their cheers. She even saw the girl accidentally cheering for the other team, not looking up from her device and going off of the sound of the crowd.
The only time Ashlynn noticed Briar drop her mirrorphone was when their team was falling significantly behind, and it seemed like the chance of winning was slipping through their fingers.
The Ever After High band had suddenly started to play again whilst the cheerhexers started to chant and cheer. They worked the crowd into cheering for their team and it seemed to have motivated their players to push through and carry on. During that moment, Briar had put her mirrorphone aside and joined the crowd in their effort to raise their players’ spirits.
After that, the cheerhexers seemed to be much more active in the game. They even seemed to not only boost the morale of their players, but also deter the other team as well.
When the other team was just about to score another goal, their cheerhexers started cheering, not to encourage a goal, but to distract and taunt the other team.
The taunts had Faybelle’s name written all over it, and Ashlynn found it funny how the faerie’s personality had turned into something productive in their favor.
The game continued, but now with a much more active crowd. Briar had turned back to her mirrorphone as the game went on, but Ashlynn noticed that she’d always drop it the moment the cheerhexers went out to cheer or taunt the other team.
Eventually the game concluded, and Ever After High won with a close 15 point lead. The crowd went wild. The Ever After High team ran to Hunter and started carrying and throwing him around. He had managed to secure their win in the final minutes of the game with the help of Cerise, and the final touchdown went to him.
Ashlynn screamed at the top of her lungs, and unlike the last scores, Briar was also standing this time, yelling in celebration when their team had finally won.
Briar even laughed at her when she yelled “That’s my boyfriend!” one too many times.
After the few moments of the utter high everyone felt as they won, the crowd started to disperse and get off of the stadium.
Ashlynn grabbed Briar’s arm to join her onto the field to catch up to Hunter, but the other girl quickly declined, stating that she needed to go to the restroom and freshen up.
Ashlynn barely gave herself a moment to mind as she quickly said her goodbyes and ran to the field.
The moment she saw Hunter, she ran up to him and jumped into his arms. He was sweaty, sticky, and smelled horrible, but she didn’t care. She pulled him into a deep, loving kiss and Hunter only reciprocated tenfold, much to the chagrins of everyone on the field.
When she pulled back, she was greeted by a dopey, bright, and adorable smile.
“Congratulations on the win, dear.” Ashlynn said as she was put back down on her feet.
Hunter sheepishly rubbed the back of his head with a smile. “Thanks, sweetie. But I couldn't have done it without my team. Without Cerise's spelltacular game plan and the team's hard work, we'd be dragon meat.”
His eyes then flickered to the back, lighting up as he added. “And the cheerhexers were a wicked motivator too. Like, who knew being yelled at could give you a strength boost?”
Ashlynn then turned behind her and smiled as she saw some of her friends resting and cooling down.
She decided to walk over and congratulate them too. “Hey guys! Congrats on those cheers. You guys were fantastical!”
The group gave her their thanks while Maddie ran up to her, giggling as she put her hands up.
“Ashlynn! Did you see our stunts? Hunter was amazing out there! Did you know you could affect a team’s performance by just cheering them on? It was so fun cheering! Faybelle was a great captain! I’m so sticking to cheerhexing.” Maddie exclaimed in rapid fire.
At the mention of Faybelle, Ashlynn was suddenly reminded of her earlier curiosities. Looking around the field, she noticed that the dark fairy wasn’t there. Her absence only deepened Ashlynn’s wonder since everyone else was still spellebrating and hanging around in the field. Even the band hasn’t packed up yet.
“Hey Maddie, do you know where Faybelle went? I want to congratulate her too but it doesn’t seem like she’s here.” It wasn’t exactly the truth of why she wanted to find Faybelle, but it wasn’t exactly a lie either.
Bunny had been walking past them when she asked the question, so the other wonderlandian must’ve heard what they’ve been talking about since as the question left her lips, the girl chimed in. “Are you guys asking about Faybelle? She already left.”
They both turned to Bunny. “Why'd she leave so early?” Ashlynn asked, to which Bunny only shrugged.
“She said something along the lines of going to the restroom and getting all the muck out of her body before the party. She probably just hit the showers before anyone else could.”
Bunny had walked off after she said that but Ashlynn stayed and watched.
For some reason, she took a mental note of Faybelle's absence, not quite knowing why.
She was in some sort of daze, but she quickly snapped out of it once Maddie came into view.
She shook her head and turned to the people around her. She smiled at Maddie and turned to her boyfriend who was being hounded by his teammates. When their eyes met, Hunter gave her a wide grin and shoved one of the guys aside to jog towards her.
Right.
Whatever questions she had for what Briar and Faybelle had going on could wait. Right now, she had much better things to do. Like spellebrating a well-deserved win thanks to her lovely boyfriend.