Chapter Eleven
VIP Ward – Private Hospital
Julia leaned against the wall just outside the room as her parents stood beside the doctor, nodding slowly, arms crossed like two stern statues of judgment.
She could still hear her mother's voice from earlier:
"You let your sixteen-year-old sister DRIVE to a PARTY?! Are you trying to kill her, Julia?!"
Julia winced at the memory. The tongue-lashing had come with such speed and ferocity, she was sure her eyebrows were still singed.
Now, as the doctor explained Jenny's stable but unconscious condition, Julia's guilt returned like a wave of hot coffee down her spine. Scalding and jittery.
"Your daughter had a minor concussion and a few bruises," the doctor was saying, flipping through the chart. "She hasn't woken up yet, but we're hopeful she will within twenty-four hours."
Sophia clutched her pearl necklace like it was a stress ball. "Thank you, doctor. Please take care of her. She's... she's my baby."
Engineer Hernandez, ever the composed statue of emotional constipation, gave a stiff nod. "We'll ensure the bills are settled. Just keep her safe."
Julia shifted awkwardly as her parents walked toward Jenny's bed. She followed slowly, guilt practically dragging behind her like a backpack full of bricks.
Sophia bent over Jenny gently, brushing a stray curl from her face. "Sweetheart," she whispered, voice cracking. "Mummy's here."
Hernandez looked at his daughter silently for a moment, then turned to Sophia. "Have you informed King Chester or Prince Henry?"
Julia's eyes widened, heart skipping. "You want to tell the royals?!"
Sophia nodded. "Prince Henry should know. He's her betrothed."
Hernandez sighed and waved his hand dismissively. "No need to alarm the King over this. Henry is busy with diplomatic matters. The last thing we need is royal drama on top of this mess."
Julia rolled her eyes so hard, she nearly gave herself a migraine. "Prince Henry hasn't even picked my calls. I've emailed, texted, sent smoke signals. He's seen them but no response!"
"He's a prince, Julia," Sophia said softly, still holding Jenny's hand. "He's busy."
Julia folded her arms. "Yeah, well, he's so busy he can't even check in on the girl he's supposed to marry? Jenny doesn't even smile when she sees his messages. Oh wait, he doesn't send any."
Hernandez stiffened. "You'll do well not to speak of the prince like that. He's from a respected lineage and. . ."
"...and he treats Jenny like a dusty souvenir," Julia cut in sharply, voice rising. "You sold your daughter to a royal family because of a business contract, and now she's lying in a hospital bed while her 'beloved' can't even send a single get well soon text!"
Sophia gasped, "Julia!"
But Julia wasn't done. The words had been building up inside her like lava. "This is about your obsession with royalty and power, Dad. Not love. Not Jenny. Just your stupid obsession with money and clout!"
"Enough!" Hernandez barked, his voice booming through the ward. He took a threatening step forward. "You reckless child! If you don't shut that ungrateful mouth, I swear I'll. .."
"WHAT?!" Julia shouted, stepping back. "You'll disown me too?! Add it to your royal checklist!"
Sophia jumped in. "Hernandez! Please! You're scaring the nurses!"
One of the nurses did peek in for a second, saw the tension, and slowly reversed like a cartoon character.
Julia's eyes welled with tears, but she blinked them away with a dramatic sniff. "Unbelievable," she muttered and stormed out of the room, nearly colliding with a wheelchair along the way.
The door slammed behind her.
Sophia shook her head at her husband. "You didn't have to yell like that. She already feels guilty."
"She should feel guilty!" Hernandez grunted. "She hid the truth from me. She let her sister drive. Lied! Lied to my face!"
Sophia sighed, rubbing her temples. "She's your daughter, not your employee."
Hernandez opened his mouth to retort, but Sophia raised her hand like a queen silencing a peasant. "Not now, please."
She turned and briskly followed Julia into the hallway, muttering under her breath, "I swear I raised adults, not drama magnets."
Meanwhile…..
Middleford High – The Aftershock
Morning
Middleford High was buzzing and not just the usual "forgot-my-homework" buzz. No, this was a full-blown cultural earthquake. The Mira Slam Saga, as it was now branded on TikTok, had taken over.
Posters on lockers had been defaced overnight with doodles of tall stickmen falling at the feet of a tiny, bold stickgirl labeled "Queen Mira." Someone had drawn a crown on the school's welcome banner and scribbled #MiraMode beneath it in Sharpie.
Group chats were burning:
"Did y'all see that spin move she did before dunking?"
"I'm convinced she's genetically engineered."
"Middleford finally has a myth, people. A real one."
Online – Various Platforms
Twitter: "Mira for prom queen AND senior president. We don't care if she's a junior."
Instagram Polls: Is Mira human or superhuman ?87% chose "Both."
TikTok Sound of the Day: Mira's slam dunk remix with 200K uses in 12 hours.
Reddit Thread: r/MiddlefordMemes now had a banner with Mira in anime filter holding lightning.
Even the staffroom wasn't safe from the gossip.
Mr. Jenkins, the physics teacher, peeked over his coffee mug. "So... anyone else witness that miracle on the court last night?"
Mrs. Ramos, with her glasses perched on her forehead like binoculars, muttered, "She moved like she had Wi-Fi in her feet."
Coach Bryant just stared blankly at his protein bar. "I'm still processing. I trained those seniors. They are the state champions . Those were my boys. What the hell happened?"
"Maybe Mira's on protein powder too," Miss Kent from English department added dryly, flipping through essays. "Or divine vengeance."
Laughter erupted, but the conversation quickly dropped to a hush as Principal John entered, clearly suppressing a grin.
"Let's just say," he said, pouring his coffee, "the Hall of Fame Committee had an emergency meeting this morning."
Gasps.
"No!" Miss Kent nearly dropped her essay stack.
"Oh yes," he said with a smug nod. "They added a special category. 'Most Humiliating Senior Defeat.' It's official. It's laminated. It's history."
---
Meanwhile... Senior Lunch Lounge – 4th Period
You'd think someone died.
Trey slammed the table for the third time in ten minutes. "I still can't believe it," he muttered. "I used to have fans. Posters. Stickers. A Snapchat filter!"
"Now we're a meme," Kirby said with a sigh, scrolling through his phone. "It's... it's bad, bro."
Claire groaned and slapped her phone on the table. "My Insta fan page ClaireBearQueen has turned into a Mira shrine. They reposted a slo-mo clip of her breaking Trey's ankles and added sparkles in my "Good morning world" comment section. Sparkles!"
"Can someone explain why she spun like that?" Lulu asked, biting her straw violently. "Like, who taught her that? Jet Li?"
Leo glared at everyone, voice low and dramatic. "Let's not forget who started this mess. Patel."
The table went quiet.
Britney nodded. "You were mocking him. Being... jerks. If you hadn't tossed the ball at him like he was our court jester, she wouldn't have jumped in to avenge him."
"She was like some guardian angel," Agnes mumbled. "But like, if the angel bench-pressed cars."
"Exactly," Trey smirked. "We poked the wrong bear. And now the whole school's laughing. But their laughter won't last for long"
Meanwhile... Cafeteria – Tables Near the Window
Fred, Meyer, Spark, Dave, Sasha, Linda, Amy, and Demi huddled at the far table like sports commentators at a national tournament.
"Okay, but did you see the footwork?" Fred exclaimed. "Bro, I felt it in my spleen!"
Spark clutched his chest dramatically. "I saw my ancestors during that last slam."
Meyer leaned in, dreamy-eyed. "I've... always admired Mira. She doesn't talk much. But she doesn't have to. She just is."
Sasha rolled her eyes so hard it made a full circle. "Ugh. I hate her. But also... respect. Like, I'd sell three toes to have that kind of power."
"You'd fall over," Demi snorted.
Linda gasped mid-sip. "Do you guys know that Mira's already at 800k views on TikTok? One video. ONE. From some Year 9 kid named Marvin."
Amy giggled. "I saw that one! Someone added sound effects. Every time she moved, it went 'WHOOSH!' like a Marvel movie."
Meyer smiled at his sandwich. "She's going to be a legend."
Fred raised his juice box. "To Mira."
They all clinked their juice boxes in silent reverence.
Sasha added, "To the girl who made our seniors look like extra fries."
Afternoon. Middleford High. Hallway.
Patel sighed as he closed his locker with a dull clunk. His eyes drifted to the right;Jenny's locker.
Still untouched.
The pink sticker of a smiling narwhal was still crooked on the door, just the way she had left it. Her books, her glittery keychain with the letter "J," and that annoying fake spider that always freaked him out . everything was frozen in time.
He missed her.
Her peaceful laugh.
Her weird obsession with baby goat videos.
The way she used to greet him like she was auditioning for a Disney Channel show:
"Heyyy Patel!" with jazz hands.
But now? Just... silence.
Just the echo of forgotten narwhals and unopened gum packs.
Suddenly…
"YO PATEL!"
Patel blinked as Mat popped into view like a human jump scare. Sheldon and Nattie followed right behind, all grinning like they were about to reveal juicy celebrity gossip.
"Dude!" said Mat, leaning on Patel's locker. "How does it feel to be the boyfriend of the most famous girl in the school?"
"She's not my girlfriend," Patel muttered.
"Not yet," Sheldon added with a wink, dodging Patel's eye roll. "You're practically school royalty now."
"Bro, even the janitor asked me this morning, 'Is Patel the one Mira annihilated five seniors for?'" Nattie said, impersonating Mr. Grimble with an overly dramatic gasp. "LIKE, NON ACADEMIC STAFFS ARE SHIPPING YOU GUYS."
Patel sighed. "I haven't even seen her today."
"What? You're not secretly hiding her from the world like a celebrity baby?" Sheldon teased.
"No. I swear," Patel replied, glancing down the hallway like she might randomly appear doing cartwheels or something.
"Maybe she's gone full celebrity mode," Mat mused. "New haircut. Sunglasses. Releasing her own perfume'Mira: Eau de Slam Dunk'."
Patel chuckled despite himself. "I'm gonna check on her after school."
"We're coming," Nattie said quickly. "We can't miss the behind-the-scenes documentary of this viral queen."
AFTER CLOSING HOURS – SCHOOL GROUNDS
The hallway was empty. A suspicious quiet buzzed in the air. Patel and his crew tiptoed like fugitives escaping a top-secret lab.
"Alright," Patel whispered, "once we get past the library wing, it's a straight shot to the gate. No eye contact. No distractions."
Unfortunately, destiny had other plans.
"THERE HE IS!"
"IT'S PATEL!"
"HEY! IS MIRA REALLY YOUR GIRLFRIEND?"
A mob of junior students rounded the corner like caffeine-charged zombies at a One Direction reunion.
"RUUUN!" Mat screamed.
Chaos broke loose.
Mat sprinted like he was in a Nike commercial. Sheldon leapt over a trash can. Nattie slid under the closing hallway gate like she was starring in Mission: Impossible. Patel screamed, "THIS IS WHAT FAME FEELS LIKE?? I HATE IT!!"
"JUST ONE QUESTION!" one of the juniors shouted.
"WHAT DOES MIRA EAT FOR BREAKFAST?"
"DOES SHE LIKE CATS OR DOGS?"
"IS IT TRUE SHE ONCE DUNKED ON A TEACHER?"
Patel veered left, nearly collided with the janitor, apologized mid-sprint, and kept running.
They burst through the main doors, gasping, wheezing, tripping over themselves.
Free at last.
They huddled behind a bush like war survivors.
"Is this... what... being popular feels like?" Patel panted. "Because I'm ready to go back to being irrelevant."
Mat nodded, gulping air. "I just saw my life flash before my eyes... and it was mostly me losing at Mario Kart."
Sheldon lay flat on the grass. "Next time we are coming to school, we're wearing disguises."
Nattie stared up at the sky. "We could borrow wigs from the drama club."
"I'm thinking fake mustaches," Sheldon added.
"Fake mustaches make everything better," Mat agreed solemnly.
They all lay there in silence for a moment... until a group of freshman girls passed by.
"OMG, IT'S PATEL!"
"RUN!"
They all screamed, scrambled up, and bolted again.
MIRA'S HOUSE – EVENING
The gates of the Bells Estate creaked open as Patel, Sheldon, Mat, and Nattie stepped into what looked like the cover of a real estate magazine.
"Sheesh," Mat whistled. "Is this a house or a presidential palace?"
"Do they have a bowling alley?" Nattie muttered, eyes scanning the mini-fountain and trimmed hedges.
Near the garage, they spotted Miles, Mira's tall, athletically-built elder brother, hanging out with a group of boys. Laughter burst from them like a broken tap as they argued loudly.
"I'm telling you, bro, pineapple on pizza is a federal offense.." one of the guys said.
"Cap! Cap! You just got no tastebuds!" Miles shouted, throwing an empty soda can at him.
When he noticed the group approaching, he waved. "Yo! Mira's in. Just head inside, y'all."
Patel nodded, and they made their way into the mansion. Marble floors. Polished staircases. Chandeliers. A house that smelled of new money and old tradition.
They found Mira in the living room, dressed in workout gear, running on a treadmill like she was trying to outrun bad decisions.
"Why are you working out?" Sheldon asked. "You already embarrassed five full-athletic seniors. The state champions. Save some strength for the military."
Mira laughed, still running. "Cardio's important. Keeps the ego from inflating."
Nattie crossed her arms. "You didn't come to school. Why?"
Mira clicked the treadmill off dramatically, stepped down like a warrior off a chariot. "Because I knew I'd stir a storm. The memes. The stares. The 'Oh my God Mira, sign my forehead!' I wasn't ready."
Patel shook his head with mock disappointment. "Well guess what? I had to suffer it. They've been calling me 'Mira's muse.' Someone even asked for my autograph… on a juice box!"
Mira smirked. "You have to suffer. I became famous because of you."
Sheldon dropped onto the couch. "So technically, Patel's like your sidekick-slash-manager."
"Or mascot," Nattie added.
Patel groaned. "I hate you people."
They all burst into laughter.
Mira grabbed a bottle of water and sat on the couch arm. "My dad's returning this weekend."
Patel's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Yep. War veteran. Legend. Chest like a brick wall. I got my fearlessness from him," Mira said proudly.
"He's literally Captain America" Miles said from the hallway. "And he arm-wrestled a lion once."
"That was a dog, Miles," Mira shouted back.
"Same thing."
Everyone laughed again.
"Mom's organizing a welcome party," Mira continued. "It's gonna be huge. Food, music, boring aunties asking awkward questions... you guys should come."
Sheldon raised his hand. "As long as there's canapes."
Nattie smirked. "And no pineapple on pizza."
HOSPITAL – EVENING
Sophia found Julia outside, sitting alone on the bench, her arms crossed, still steaming with frustration.
"Still mad?" Sophia asked gently, sitting beside her.
Julia gave a dramatic sigh. "He doesn't listen. He just... barks orders and expects us to smile."
Sophia paused before speaking. "Julia, your father loves you. More than you know. He's just... hardened by responsibility. Everything he's done, including the contract with the royal family, was for our safety. Your safety. Jenny's safety."
Julia bit her lip. "But…."
"No. Listen." Sophia turned to her. "You might not agree with him. I don't, sometimes. But you need to understand the why. He lost everything once. He doesn't want to lose his daughters to a cruel world."
Julia's eyes welled up. "I just feel like I don't matter sometimes."
"You matter," Sophia said firmly, brushing a hand over Julia's hair. "He's just too proud to show it. But you? You're his lioness. And lionesses roar."
Julia gave a small smile. "That was deep. Did you get that from TikTok?"
"I made it up," Sophia said with mock sass. "I should start my own podcast."
They stood, hugged briefly, and walked back into the hospital.
INT. VIP WARD – EVENING
Engineer Hernandez sat beside Jenny, whose face remained pale and quiet. He hadn't moved much, just stared at her as though watching over treasure.
Julia hesitated, then walked over and wrapped her arms around him.
"I'm sorry, Dad," she whispered. "For shouting… and being dramatic."
Hernandez gently patted her back. "You're your mother's child. Fire in your lungs."
Julia laughed. "And you're stubborn."
"Runs in the family."
He was about to speak again when a soft "Ah-choo!" echoed in the room.
They turned.
Another sneeze.
Eyes wide, they rushed toward Jenny.
She blinked slowly, her lips dry, her face tired. She opened her mouth softly and whispered:
"Patel… Patel… call Patel…"
Her parents froze.
Shock. Relief. Confusion.
Sophia gasped. Julia's hand covered her mouth.
And Engineer Hernandez? For the first time since the accident...his lips parted.
"Who's Patel?"