Air Ball

X: P.S.

JILL

"What the f-" Those were the first words I uttered today. Not good, I know. But when you realize you forgot to set your alarm the night before and wake up to find you only have forty minutes before your first morning class, those three words seem the most appropriate.

I took one of the fastest showers ever in my life and thanked the heavens that the university requires uniform or else, I would have worn mismatched clothes due to hurriedness.

Because of the daily motorists' woe that is called traffic, I made it to class fifteen minutes too late. Normally, I would have skipped a class if I was tardy but since Finals is approaching, every class mattered. Luckily, the professor isn't too strict on tardiness. She usually calls the roll at the end of the lecture.

"Nagsuklay ka ba?" Rica asked me as soon as I plopped down on my seat.

Way to go, Jill. You forgot to set your alarm last night and now you even forgot to comb your own hair.

"Does it look so bad?" I asked Rica.

"Hindi naman. I've seen your hair on it's best days kasi. Pero you can pull off naman the messy look so it works." She chuckled lightly.

The professor extended the lecture for a few minutes so when she went out of the classroom, the next professor already went in. I was thinking of running to the convenience store to grab a quick bite since I haven't had breakfast but I guess it'll have to wait. And this two-hour subject is not helping my patience.

By the end of four hours, three subjects, two surprise quizzes and no breaks in between, I was in a bad mood. I didn't have time to spare to eat or even buy food due to a meeting with our Varsitarian adviser, which was set exactly after my dismissal time. Then I had to run to the QPav to shoot the Tigers for a promotional video for the FilOil and UAAP, which is a rush since Finals week is just around the corner and we have to beat all our deadlines.

"Chubs, okay ka lang?" Kevin, who was practicing his dribbling asked. When I gave a noncommital shrug, he continued. "Bad day?" Kim, Aljon, and Kent turned to look at me.

"Yeah." I briefly replied and gave them a weak smile before going back to checking the video camera and the list of things we needed to highlight.

"Jill, parang ang tamlay mo ata ngayon. Kumain ka na ba? Galing kang class before ng meeting diba? Tapos derecho pa dito." Gerard inquired.

"Mamaya nalang." I replied. I really didn't want to talk right now 'cause I was feeling stressed, irritated, and tired, and honestly, I don't want to take it out on anyone so I'd rather keep my mouth shut. "Can we start na?" I asked him and Anne, who had the list.

"Five minutes. May iaadjust lang ako sa settings." Gerard answered. I nodded at him and went over to the bleachers to check my phone. I haven't paid attention to it since it betrayed me this morning.

I got two text messages from Jeric, a ton from Trisha and Mark on our group, and the usual notifications from my social media accounts.

From: Jeric Teng

woke up extra early today so I went out for a run. hoping you would run with me again soon. hahaha ;) good morning, pretty! :)

From: Jeric Teng

hey, chubby bunny! :)

I smiled a little upon reading Jeric's text messages but the conversation between Trisha, Mark, and I brought back the stress. They were talking about when to book the flight back to Cebu. They thought of days of when it would be possible for me to go with them but with the FilOil and my internship coming, I really couldn't squeeze in a vacation. It bums me out that I won't be able to see the whole barkada this summer.