Greatest Prize Chapter One - Fiolee

Fionna's POV

     I got rejected. Again.
     I try to hold in the tears but instead I begin to choke on the aching burn
I feel within the back of my throat.
     I, Fionna, the 17 year old brave human girl, turn my back on Prince Gumball and start heading towards the royal candy door. PG apologizes, but I'm too afraid to reply a simple "It's okay," knowing that if even the slightest weep or sniffle escapes me, the tiny sound would become audible as it would echo throughout the high ceiling room.
     I should have known that he would reject me. He doesn't know how much his words emotionally scar me. No one knows. The prince just merely thinks that when I ask him to go out somewhere with me, that it would just be a pal kind of thing, to hang out, but it's not. Either way, my heart ends up a mushy, sappy mess.
     As soon as the castle door closes behind me, I finally let one tear run down my left cheek. I keep my arms crossed and I push against my lower chest to relieve the pain I feel trying to escape from inside of me. I can't show any sign of weakness in public. I immediately hide my face from anyone's view along the way and begin to walk toward the tree fort. I'll just sit there and possibly mope for awhile.
     I am sick and tired of feeling the same way every single time Prince Gumball hurts me. I should know better than to let him break my heart time after time, and I should have learned by now. It's been 5 years since I first loved Gumball, and I'm done giving him a world of chances. Sure, it was reasonable at the start since I was just a kid and he claimed it was inappropriate. The thing is, I've grown over the years. I'm not that immature little human girl who runs around in the dirt all day anymore.            
     Now, I know that PG didn't like me not because of my age, but because of who I am. He still doesn't have certain feelings for me, and I know he never will.
     Suck it up, Fionna. You're stronger than this.
     I take a deep breath, and close my eyes for a moment to stop the tears. Once my breathing slows down to its normal and calm pace, I continue walking home.
     I simply turn the knob and walk right into the tree fort. It's dark and feels empty, so I turn on the light, only to see the same furniture Cake and I have had since we moved in years ago. Speaking of Cake, she left two days ago to attend alongside Lord Monochromicorn to his family reunion. She won't return for probably a month, but having them spend time together is fine by me, since, well, Cake's
pregnant and all and LoChro is the daddy.
     Just thinking of Lord Monochromicorn reminds me of Prince Gumball and brings me back to the ache in my throat.
     I'm heartbroken, and all these words begin to spill out of me out of pain. I grab my personal journal I hide under my mattress, and I begin to write everything on my mind. I think about all of the injuries I've received, all from saving Gumball's butt. I wrote how I would promise never to fall for him again, without knowing if he's ready to catch me. I flipped back to the first page I wrote in my journal. Of course, it was about how I thought Gumball was cute, but that was when I was 12. I ripped the page out of my book, crumpled up the piece of paper, and threw it across the room. I wrapped a blanket around me and I sat at the side of my bed.
     I grab the bass that Marshall Lee gave me for my 14th birthday, and he taught me how to play. I fiddle with the strings, but then some chords fill the quiet room. I look at all the things I've wrote in my journal for the day, since I didn't really think about it. I just .. wrote. I'm humming as I play, and I find myself singing what I'm reading out loud instead. I decide to continue this songwriting madness for the heck of it. I've got nothing else to do, and it's already getting dark.

Marshall Lee's POV

     Laying around in my cave all day is unbelievably boring. Waiting until the sun sets is pretty lame, but I guess it's better than having to walk around with a stupid umbrella that has holes in it. Fi and I were supposed to have a jam session right now at my place, but she hasn't come. I called her just awhile ago, but she didn't answer. Lump. It's about 7 at night, so I decide to just go to her house if she won't come. I grab my axe bass and start to fly off.
     I arrive at little Fi-Fi's house sooner than I thought, and just as I was about to randomly enter the front door uninvited, I hear a bass chord being strum in a pretty amateur way. I can immediately tell Fi's jamming without me. The girl's pretty terrible when it comes to playing bass, but she's a work in progress.
     I float up to her bedroom window and I spot her just sitting there. She's completely oblivious to the chuckles that come out of me when she struggles putting her tiny fingers on the right strings, but then I realize that she's working on a song. I turn myself invisible, and I squeeze through the window, trying to not make a sound. I sit in front of her while she sings some junk. God, her voice is beautiful. The last time I've heard her sing was when she was trying to gather the cat, me, and Prince DumButt together to get our missing stuff back. That was when she was 13, though. 4 years later, I'm surprised.

Fionna's POV

"I've been bruised and I've been broken
Can't believe that I have put up with all this pain
I've been used and I was choking on the promise
I would never fall again

And I am done with your twisted symphony
The words that had me sound like stolen poetry
I tore the pages and I can finally breathe

'Cause all I want is everything you're not
So go ahead and slam the door
'Cause you can't shut me out
And no I don't, I don't care what you say
'Cause all I really, all I really want
Is everything you're not."

     I strum the bass a final time. It's not perfect, it's not complete, but it made me feel better and over Gumball. To top it all off, I'm a pretty sucky bass player, too. I close my eyes for 5 seconds to catch my breath, and once I open them, I see Marshall Lee.
     MARSHALL LEE?!
     "What the stuff?!" I shriek and jump a little, and I blink twice to make sure he's real and I'm not imagining things.
     He laughs at my sudden reaction, and I blush from embarrassment. I punch him on the shoulder, but he continues to laugh. I settle down and cross my arms, shooting him a glare.
     He apparently calms down too as he stops laughing. "You didn't come for our sesh so I just came here. Oh, and by the way, you need more bass lessons."
     Reality hit me, and I realized what he could have seen. "How long have you been here?"
     "Long enough to know you're pissed at something."
     "Ugh. Lump off, Marshy." I push my palm against his face and he grabs a hold of my wrist.
     "Okay, first of all, don't call me Marshy. Second, it's about prissy pink-faced Princess Bubba Gumball, isn't it."
     My eyes widen at his correct answer. "W-whaat? Noo. Let go of me, and I'm not pissed!"
     "Yeah, you are."
     I roll my eyes, and I shout back at him, "Okay, I'm pissed! At you! Now lump off!" I jerk my arm away from his grasp, but mostly it feels as if he let go himself.
     After a moment of silence, he gains the guts to break it. "That song you wrote," he begins. "It was pretty BA if you ask me."
     I hesitate and I take a moment to think. Did Marshall Lee really just compliment me? "Err, th-thanks. It's not exactly a masterpiece or anything."
     "No, it's great." he assures me. I nod and give him a slight smile to show my true appreciation. Once I turn my back on Marshall to go to the bathroom real quick and wash my face, he says something faintly that I couldn't exactly make
out before he starts talking again.
     "W-wait," he stutters and I hear him inhale deeply and exhale. "F-Fionna, would you like to go on a date with me sometime?"