VIII. Mulan, September 14 to 15

After school on Tuesday, Mulan nervously made her way to the football field. The field sat behind the school, at the bottom of a hill. Mulan could see the school's football players practicing as she prepped herself for the conversation that was about to take place. She walked a little slower. When she reached the field, the coach, Mr. Hook, was yelling something to the team. Mulan knew all the players names, even the ones whom she'd never met. She'd done her research. The league Walt Disney High School was in was an eight-man football league, and the school currently had seven players. Most of the team was composed of seniors—Phoebus Chevalier, Gaston Dufort, Kocoum Algonquin, Shang Li, and Tarzan Simms were all seniors. Mulan didn't know much about Phoebus, Kocoum, or Tarzan, but she'd heard nice things about them. Gaston was nasty to everyone and was well-known for it. And Shang… well, Shang was another story entirely. The only other members were Hercules Olympiou, a junior, and Chien-Po Bau, a sophomore like Mulan. Chien-Po was one of Mulan's closest friends. He spotted her standing on the sideline and gave her a subtle thumbs-up.

Mulan knew being a sophomore put her at a severe disadvantage. Being a girl put her at an even larger disadvantage. But the team needed an eighth player if they wanted to play in the first game of the season on Friday. They needed her. Well, they needed someone. Coach Hook finished his speech and walked to the sidelines, fingering his mustache as he looked curiously at Mulan. He didn't say anything to her, though. He simply turned and looked back out onto the field to watch the team practice. Mulan would have to initiate the conversation.

"Um, Mr. Hook, sir?" Mulan said.

"What is it?" he asked, giving her a dismissive look.

"W—well sir," Mulan began. "I—I wanted to try out for the football team."

She finished the sentence with confidence, forcing herself to stand up straight and trying to look and feel as strong as possible. Mr. Hook looked her up and down, then quite literally laughed in her face.

"Sir?"

"You can't be serious," Hook said, trying to contain his uproarious laughter.

"Well… I am," Mulan said stubbornly.

Hook pulled out a handkerchief to dab at his eyes, as tears of laughter were beginning to spring from the sides. Mulan started to feel herself becoming angry but kept her temper under control. The team had stopped what they were doing, distracted by the coach's laughter, and were now all staring in Mulan's direction. She thought she might melt into a puddle of embarrassment but, to her despair, it didn't happen.

"Little girl, tryouts were last month—and that's the least of your problems," Hook said.

"I know you need another player," Mulan said. "You can't play on Friday without someone else, so why not me?"

"Do you need me to list the reasons?" Hook asked, raising his false hand to his mouth as he yawned. "You're a tiny little girl, Ms… what is it?"

"Fa."

"Ms. Fa. You seem to have forgotten that you are a girl. This is a football team. In order to compete on Friday, we need eight men. And we'll find our eighth man yet. There are plenty of guys at the school who would love to be on the team, and I'm sure we'll find one who's good enough. Better than you certainly."

"Mr. Hook, you haven't even seen me play," Mulan said, her rage clearly showing on her face. "And you don't need eight men. I've got the official rules right here, and nowhere does it specify that the members of the team need to be men. So you have no reason not to let me on the team besides your own bigotry—you're being sexist, Mr. Hook."

"Coach, we do need a kicker," Chien-Po walked up and interrupted in his quiet voice, giving Mulan a smile. "I've seen Mulan play, and—"

"Who asked you?" Mr. Hook looked at Chien-Po with disdain. "No, there will be no little girls on this team's football team. We don't need to be the laughingstock of the league."

Mulan looked at the other team members, who were all huddled around, staring at a distance. She felt angry at them, too, for not standing up for her.

"Do you all think this is okay?" she asked. "Is no one else going to say something?"

"I agree with Coach Hook," Gaston said. "Why don't you go find a kitchen and stay there?"

"Who asked you?" Mulan shouted angrily.

"While I think Gaston's sexist comments are completely unnecessary…" Shang said. "I think Mr. Hook does have a point, though a poorly stated one. But Mr. Hook, if I may… We need to have a tryout either way in order to find our eighth player. Why not let Mulan come to the tryout and show us what she can do? Either she'll prove that you were right and you can choose one of the guys, or she'll prove you wrong and we'll have a great new kicker."

Mr. Hook fiddled with his mustache, looking annoyed.

"Fine," he said. "The tryout will be tomorrow immediately after school. Spread the word to your friends. And Mulan is invited to come and make a fool out of herself if she so pleases."

"I'll be there," she said stubbornly, then turned and made her way back up to the parking lot.

Mr. Hook seemed disappointed with the number of people who turned up at the tryout, but Mulan was ecstatic. Thomas Bale, a junior, was there. Mulan sized him up. He was pretty scrawny, though as a kicker he might be okay. It seemed as though he was only there to insult Kocoum, though. Mulan couldn't quite figure out why. He went first and proved to be no competition for Mulan. She felt her confidence rise. Eric Strand was, by his own admission, only there because Hercules had told him to try out—he was more of a soccer fan and didn't know much about football. It showed.

"Hi. Flynn Rider."

Mulan looked to her side to see a tall brunette with a goatee giving her a toothy smile and extending a hand to shake. She shook it warily. Cockiness was not a very attractive trait as far as Mulan was concerned.

"Mulan," she responded.

"So… one of these guys your boyfriend?" Flynn asked. "Who are you here for?"

"Me," Mulan said, annoyed.

"Excuse me?" Flynn asked.

"I'm here for me," Mulan said. "I'm trying out."

"Oh… oh! I'm sorry," Flynn said. "I didn't mean to… I mean. That's great! Good for you. Good luck!"

He shuffled off awkwardly. Mulan rolled her eyes. Weirdo. She could just tell that he only wanted to be on the team for the status, and that would be his downfall. It wasn't about football, and he didn't really want it. Mulan really did. She watched Flynn try out. He was okay. He certainly wasn't bad, but she knew she could do better.

When her name was called, she proved it. There were people cheering for her. Some of the guys who were already on the team were clapping—not just Chien-Po. They hadn't made any sort of applause for any of the other guys who were trying out. She had this. She had it. If Mr. Hook didn't choose her to be on the team, she would make him choose her because of everyone who had tried out, she was the best, and everyone knew it. Even him.

"I'm going to consider all of you… worthy candidates," Mr. Hook said, giving Mulan a positively evil sneer. "Come back in ten minutes and I will announce my decision."

Mulan turned and headed for the school building to get a water from the vending machine. She heard someone jogging up behind her. Unsure if they were trying to catch up with her or planning to jog by, she didn't turn and look.

"Hey."

It was Shang.

"Hi."

"You were great out there," he assured her. "You don't have anything to worry about. Hook's not going to be able to say no after that performance. He'd be a fool not to let you join the team."

Mulan smiled and looked at the ground to hide the fact that she was blushing.

"Thanks," she said.

"I can't wait to have you on the team," Shang said. "You're just what we need… See you."

He turned and jogged back down to the field. Mulan felt like fireworks were going off inside her. She shook her head. She would need to have a clear head during football games, so she'd have to get Shang off her mind. She reached the building, paid for her water, and headed back to down to the field to hear the inevitable results.

"The eighth member of the Walt Disney High School football team will be…" Mr. Hook looked directly at Mulan. "Flynn Rider."

The members of the team and those trying out all looked completely shocked. Flynn appeared to be the most surprised of all.

"Er, if you don't mind me asking…" Flynn interjected. "Why? I mean, I want to be on the team and everything, but… I know Mulan was much better than I was."

Mr. Hook shot Flynn an annoyed glance, "Because I said so, that's why."

"Mr. Hook, you aren't being fair," Kocoum said, stepping up. "To Mulan or to the team. Of all the candidates, Mulan is the best choice to help us win. And let's be honest, that's what this is all about. She deserves the spot way more than any of these other guys—no offense, Flynn."

"None taken."

"And to give the position to anyone but her is just foolish."

Mulan felt like she could just run up and hug Kocoum. But she didn't. Mr. Hook didn't look like he was ready to give in and give Mulan the position. He scowled at Kocoum. Mulan was afraid for a moment that Hook might whack Kocoum in the face. It looked like he wanted to.

"Sir, if you don't let Mulan have the eighth position on the team, I'll… I'll leave the team," Chien-Po said.

"You can be replaced," Mr. Hook said with the wave of a hand.

"Can I be replaced?" Shang asked, stepping forward. "I'm with Chien-Po—no Mulan, no me."

Mr. Hook's mouth contorted into a twisted shape, creating a bizarre expression of frustration. Kocoum, Hercules, and Tarzan stepped up to agree with Chien-Po and Shang, knowing that Mr. Hook would have to let Mulan join because without the star football team, Hook was nobody at this school. Nothing but a lowly physics teacher.

"Fine!" Mr. Hook finally shouted. "Mulan—you're on the team. But one wrong move—one single slip up, and you're gone! I can't have a woman ruining plays."

Mulan felt a mixture of happiness and anger. She was ecstatic to be on the team, but she wasn't sure if she could put up with this every day. There was no doubt in her mind that Mr. Hook would continue his sexist tirades and do all he could to make Mulan's life a living hell. But no. She could deal with it. It wouldn't be a problem.

"When's my first practice?" Mulan asked, not giving Mr. Hook the satisfaction of a reaction.

"Tomorrow, after school. Practice every weekday except for game days," Mr. Hook said. "Unless you can't handle that."

"Oh, believe me, I can," Mulan said assuredly.

One thing she wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle was her family's reaction. She lived with her mom and dad and her grandmother. Her parents always seemed to want her to be especially feminine. Mulan was pretty feminine in a lot of ways. She liked dressing up, she wore make-up, she had relatively long hair that fell mid-way down her back. She had no problem with girly things—she wasn't a tomboy in that way. But she liked being active as well. She liked sports, and she especially liked football. It seemed as though her parents' number-one priority, however, was to discourage Mulan's interest in football.

But she had to tell them. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep it a secret from them and, honestly, she wanted to be able to look up at the stands on game day and see her parents smiling, waving, and cheering her on. That was obviously a long way off, but maybe if she gave them a little time they would grow to be okay with it.

"I have something to say," she said, putting her spoon down on the table at dinner. Her parents looked at her expectantly and she took a deep breath. "I tried out for the football team today."

Her parents groaned.

"Mulan, honey, that's… it's just not reasonable to think that you'd be able to do something like that," her mother said. "Football is for men. Of course you wouldn't—"

"I made it, actually," Mulan said, quite annoyed at her mother's pessimism.

"You what?" her father said.

"I made the team," Mulan said, sitting up straight. "There's a game on Friday, and I'm going to play in it, whether you're there supporting me or not."

She put two tickets to the game down on the table and stood.

"You cannot do this," her father said. "I forbid it!"

"Try and stop me," Mulan said through gritted teeth, then headed to her bedroom and slammed the door, locking it behind her.

She walked to the vanity and looked in the mirror. There were tears forming in her eyes, but she pushed them back. She looked down and saw a small pair of scissors. She picked them up, hesitating. She pulled a strand of her black hair forward and held it at about shoulder length. Then she brought the scissors up and cut.