Always You

15

Raine has been very busy organizing the upcoming intramurals. Olly and I are coordinating with the other clubs to add any games para na man mas maganda at bibo ang intrams. Nakakatulong din kasi kapag may mga kaibigan kang active sa school activities because it helped me to interact more with other people.

Andito kami ngayon sa classroom to discuss who will be the players for the outdoor and indoor games. I didn't do much, kasi si Sir Gonzales ang nagsasalita most of the time since siya ang over-all coach ng aming unit team.

It has been weeks also since the incident that happened in the car. Official na talaga kami ni Zeke, and though we dated only once, hindi naman pumapalya si Zeke na tawagan ako o itetext. I remember our first official date, it was just a quick lunch date. After the activity sa school that Saturday, lumabas ako ng mabilisan para sa date na iyon. After an hour, bumalik ako ng school dahil susunduin ako ng driver ni dad. Mabuti nalang ay wala si Olly and Raine, kasi hindi naman din sila member ng artist's guild club.

Alam ni Olly na boyfriend ko na si Zeke. At first, ayaw pa niya sa idea na ganoon, masyado pa raw kasi akong bata and sa tingin niya mabilis ang mga pangyayari. Pero kahit ganoon, full support pa rin ang binibigay niya sa amin ni Zeke.

Pinipili ngayon ni Sir Gonzales ang mga players na magiging representative ng unit namin. Bukas kasi ang start ng practice training nila. The intramurals will be two weeks from now, and everybody wanted to be the overall champion. Since we will be graduating from high school next year, we have to do our best---achievement na kasi iyon. There are 5 unit teams, and each unit team is being led by the 5 sections of the 4th year students.

Nagulat na lang talaga ako when Sir Gonzales assigned us to supervise the badminton team. Hindi sa ayoko ng badminton, kaya lang kasi mas prefer kong i-supervise ang mga laro ng indoor games. Mas less hassle at wala masyadong problema in terms of dealing with the players. Sa badminton kasi, kelangan pa silang i-practice every after school, and on Saturdays. After the meeting, isa-isa na naming ime-meet ang players for the schedule of their practice.

Pumunta kami ni Nico sa faculty para ipasa ang napagkasunduan namin na schedule for the pratice. We needed a space kasi for our players, and ibinigay sa amin ang small area na hindi kalayuan sa volleyball court. Si Nico ang assigned sa boys at ako naman sa girls. After Ma'am Sevilla approved our request, bumalik na kami ni Nico sa classroom para kunin ang mga gamit namin para umuwi.

***

Last practice na namin ngayong hapon kasi sa Monday na ang start ng intrams. Busy ang lahat sa paghahanda---from the unit attire of all players to the food committee. Halos hindi ko na mabalance ang pag-aaral ko dahil sa preparations, kahit si Olly ay nahihirapan na din. Pero masaya ang bawat araw ng practice, you get the chance to meet students from the lower years.

I am sitting right now while watching the players for their last practice. It's quarter to five na and hanggang 5 in the afternoon lang ang aming oras to use the area. Mamaya, darating na ang team from the other unit para magpractice. Nakita kong papasok na rin ang mga basketball players sa gym. Ang aming badminton court ay nasa bandang kanan ng gym. Imbes sa gilid ng badminton court sila dumaan, it's the opposite. Bigla akong napatayo nang naputol ang practice dahil natamaan ang isang player ng shuttlecock.

There was a commotion going on, at dali-dali kong pinuntahan ang mga players ko. Nakita kong itinulak nila si Gio, ang sphomore player namin sa badminton. I came to the rescue.

"Hey! Why did you push him?", I angrily asked that basketball player. I helped Gio to stand up. "You're not supposed to cross this area, nagpapractice kami rito. Ang laki ng area, dito ninyo talaga naisipang dumaan?"

Sinabihan ko yung player, nagagalit talaga ako dahil sa ipinapakita niyang reaction sa akin. Tumatawa lang ito at parang walang naririnig.

"Hey! Sinong may sabing sigawan mo ang team ko?", I heard someone shouted at me.

I turned around and saw this student na batchmate ko. Sa kabilang section siya at ibang unit team---si Kiel, ang star ng basketball varsity ng school namin. I heard he's quite arrogant. At kahit basketball star siya at sikat sa school, nakaka-discourage ang kanyang attitude.

"He pushed him!" Tinaas ko ang isang kilay ko. Ang yabang nito! Akala mo kung sino. Nakipagsukatan ako ng tingin sa kanya.

"So?", he sarcastically replied.

"Bakit kayo dadaan dito eh alam niyo namang may naglalaro?", mataray kong sabi.

"Tsk! Lalampa-lampa kasi yang player ninyo." He smirked and walked away, kasama din umalis yung ibang players, lahat tumatawa.

I could feel my blood boiling with so much anger towards him. Napakabastos, ni hindi man lang nag-apologize. Medyo nasugatan si Gio sa left knee niya, and I assisted him to the clinic.

"Gio, kelangan galingan mo sa game ha. Dapat matalo natin yung unit ng mayabang na iyon. Are you sure that you're okay?" He just smiled and assured me that he's okay, and that he's going to do his best to win. May araw din sa akin ang lalaking iyon. Umuwi na si Gio after namin sa clinic, at ngayon I'm waiting for Olly here at the oval field.

I scrolled down my phone, and replied to Zeke. Kelangan namin itago muna ang relasyon naman hanggang sa maka-graduate ako ng college. Mahirap gawin, pero kelangan. I know that dad and mom will be disappointed if I tell them right away, so kelangan tapusin ko muna ang pag-aaral ko before nila malaman. Iyan din kasi ang advise ni Olly.

Nakita kong papalapit ang tatlong batchmate ko kung saan ako nakaupo. Sila yung mga 'IT' girls ng school. I can see Chesca fuming with anger as she approaches me.

"Nilalandi mo ba ang boyfriend ko?" Her question bothered me.

"Excuse me, hindi ko alam ang sinasabi mo." Naguguluhan ako. Sinong nilalandi? Wala naman akong nilalandi ah! Baka kilala niya si Zeke? Pero mukhang hindi naman.

"Don't believe her Chesca, maraming nakakita kanina na kinakausap niya si Kiel." I heard one of her friends said.

Nanlaki ang mga mata ko. Boyfriend niya yung mokong na iyon? Talaga naman! Bagay nga sila, parehas sila ng ugali. Kinakausap? Baka ibig sabihin doon inaway.

"Chesca, hindi ko nilalandi yang boyfriend mo", I defended myself calmly. "At wala akong planong landiin si Kiel."

"So you're going to deny it? Wow ha, matalino ka nga, sinungaling naman", she answered back.

"Hindi ko kinausap yang boyfriend mo, inaway ko siya", mataray kong sagot. "His teammates pushed our sophomore player and bullied him. So anong gusto mong gawin ko?"

"So you are acting like a hero just to get his attention. Nice one", she sarcastically said.

"Wala akong gusto sa boyfriend mo, okay?", I answered back. I didn't expect that she would say that. Bakit niya iniisip iyon? Is she crazy?

"Huwag kang maniwala sa kanya Chesca", narinig kong sabi nung isa niyang kasama.

This is so absurd! Kelan ba naging malandi ang tumulong at i-defend ang kapwa?

"Hey hey hey! What's this?" I heard someone said and saw Raine and Olly aproaching us.

Chesca looked at me from head to toe, saka siya tumingin kina Olly at nagsalita, "Pagsabihan mo yang kaibigan ninyo na huwag lalandi-landi sa boyfriend ko."

Nakita kong galit na galit ang mukha ni Raine. She glared at her and said, "Get your facts straight Chesca, baka mapahiya ka lang."