Best Friends (Prequel)

Tryouts

(Monday morning)

"Good morning." Ben greeted Mal when Mal opened her door.

"Morning." Mal responded as she shut the door behind her.

"So excited for today." Ben mentioned.

"Why's that?" Mal questioned.

"Because I get to tryout for tourney today after school." Ben answered.

"Oh yeah. And Evie wants us to tryout for cheerleading." Mal said.

"You don't want to?" Ben asked.

"Not really. That's not really my thing." Mal replied. 

"Then why don't you tell her that?" Ben suggested.

"Because it means a lot to her to do this." Mal answered.

"Well you shouldn't be forced to do anything you don't want to do just because someone wants you to." Ben told her.

"Yeah I guess you're right." Mal agreed. 

(At school)

"Mal! Are you ready for today?" Evie asked as Mal and Ben walked into school.

"Yeah about that Evie... I don't really want to tryout. Like if you want to go ahead, but it's not really interesting to me." Mal explained.

"Oh. Well um that's okay. I don't want you to force you to do anything." Evie responded. 

"Cool and I'm sorry." Mal said.

"It's okay." Evie told her. "So Ben are you trying out for tourney." 

"That's the plan." Ben replied. 

"I'm sure you'll make the team." Mal said.

"You're just saying that because you're my best friend." Said Ben.

"No I'm being serious. I really think you'll make the team." Mal assured him.

"We just have to wait and see." Ben spoke.

(After school/tryouts)

"Wouldn't you rather be with Ben?" Evie wondered.

"Well I feel bad that I'm not trying out with you so I figured I should watch you tryout and support you." Mal explained.

"Well thank you, Mal." Evie smiled.

"So you think you'll make the team?" Chad asked Ben while they were waiting.

"Not sure. Hopefully though." Ben answered.

"Hey guys." Jay said running up to them.

"Jay, you're trying out too?" Chad checked.

"Yeah. Is there something wrong with that?" Jay replied and asked.

"No, no not at all." Chad was saying. 

"Good." Jay slightly smiled and gave a little nod.

"Okay well we'll let you know what the results are." The cheerleading coach told Evie.

"Thank you." Evie said with a smile, then walked back over to Mal.

"Evie that was so good!" Mal exclaimed.

"I'm not gonna make the team." Evie responded.

"Why do you say that?" Mal questioned.

"Because Audrey's gonna tryout and she's been doing gymnastics and this type of stuff since she was like four." Evie explained her reason.

So? That doesn't mean you won't make the team." Mal tried to assure her.

"We'll see." Evie said with a slight shrug.

"Ben pass the ball!" Chad was shouting at him.

"You really want to let these guys on the team coach?" One of the seniors asked the coach as they were watching Ben and the others.

Instead of passing the ball to Chad. Ben passed the ball to Jay.

(After)

"Alright boys! Come on back!" The coach called to all of them.

"What the hell dude?! I told you to pass it to me." Chad said pushing Ben.

"It doesn't matter dude. Get over it." Ben fought back.

"It does matter! The coach isn't gonna pick me because he's gonna think I can't play. Thanks to you." Chad shot back.

"Dude chill. Ben is allowed to make his own choices. He doesn't have to throw it to you if he doesn't want to." Jay defended Ben.

"Whatever." Chad rolled his eyes and walked away.

(Later)

"Hey how tryouts go?" Mal asked when her and Ben met up.

"It went good. Except for the fact Chad got very triggered." Ben responded. 

"Why?" Mal wondered.

"Because he wanted me to pass him the ball, but I passed it to Jay instead. Now he thinks Coach is gonna think he's a bad player and not put him on the team." Ben explained.

"Typical Chad." Mal stated rolling her eyes.

"Yep." Ben agreed. "Anyways, how'd Evie's tryouts go?" 

"Well she's convinced she's not gonna make the team because of Audrey." Mal answered.

"What'd Audrey do?" Ben questioned.

"Evie says that Audrey's been doing gymnastics and that kinda stuff since she was four. And I know you have a crush on her, but she's not the nicest when it comes to these kinds of things." Mal explained more.

"Yes I will admit she can be competitive, but we all are at times, right?" Ben replied and checked.

"Sure, but most people aren't rude about it." Mal mentioned.

"Yeah." Ben nodded. "So you wanna go to that diner with Jay? We can invite Evie if you want." 

"Wait since when do we go diners? Especially with Jay?" Mal was asking.

"Well after tryouts he asked if we would want to meet him there." Ben told her. "And I said yes, but if you don't want to you don't have to."

"No, no I'll go." Mal shook her head and agreed. "I'll ask Evie."

"Cool." Ben smiled.

(At the diner)

Mal and Ben walked into the diner and Jay was already sitting in a booth.

"Hey guys." Jay waved them over.

Mal climbed in the seat across from Jay and Ben sat beside her.

"Hey Jay." Mal greeted. 

"Hey Mal." Jay responded. "So is anyone else coming?" 

"I invited Evie so she should be here soon." Mal told him. 

"How come you didn't invite Carlos?" Ben wondered.

"I did, but he said he couldn't. So I didn't want to go alone so I invited you guys." Jay explained.

"Do you guys usually come here?" Ben asked.

"Yeah we usually come here a few times a week." Jay answered. 

A couple minutes later the waiter came over and they ordered milkshakes and a couple snacks. Then Evie walked in.

"Hey guys hope I'm not late." Evie said as she took a seat beside Jay.

"Not at all." Jay said.

"Oh and I ordered you a chocolate milkshake." Mal added.

"Thank you. You are a good friend." Evie told her.

A few more minutes later the waiter brought the drinks and food over. The four talked and hung out for about an hour.