Chasing Boundaries (Parallel Rhythms Series 1)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The practice went smoothly. Archein even seemed like he was enjoying it. For the first day, halos pina-warm up lang kami at pagkatapos ay nagkaroon ng mabilis na briefing. Pagkatapos ay itinuro naman sa amin ang mga naaayong tindig at kung paano ngumiti.

Bukas pa daw kami tuturuan kung paano rumampa dahil nasa gym lang kami. May gumamit kasi ng auditorium kanina kaya't hindi kami doon nakapag-practice.

"This pageant is not only a battle of beauty and grace, but also to determine who's the most intelligent of them all. Those who excel on both aspects will be qualified to be titled as Mr. and Ms. Eco-Modelo 2023." si Ma'am Yen.

Sir Ed giggled. "'Wag niyong masyadong seryosohin ang battle. Winning is not everything, you know. But if you want to prove something to yourself, then go for it. Fight for the title. But still, what's important is that you had fun over the course of fighting for the title." saad nito.

"May cash prize naman, kaya galingan niyo ha!" Ma'am Yen winked at us, she then giggled softly.

"Do you want to win?" napapitla ako nang marinig ang boses ng katabi ko. It was Archein. He leaned closer to me and whispered it to my ears.

I faced him, I then showed him a small smile. "Actually, no." tugon ko.

Just like what Sir Ed said, winning is not everything. And that is exactly the case for me. In fact, ayoko naman talagang sumali rito. If I know to myself that I cannot achieve something, I will not even try to fight for it. Yes, fighting for something you want is always a better option. But I don't want this. I don't want to win.

"By the way, since this is not a super serious competition, ibibigay na namin sa inyo ang mga questions for the question and answer round." saad ni Sid Ed.

Hindi na iyon bago sa akin dahil noong sa high school ako ay sinali rin ako sa isang school pageant at binigay rin naman nila sa akin ang mga questions.

"But isn't that cheating?" rinig ko ang pag-boses ng isang kasali sa kompetisyon.

"No, not at all, Chloe." Ma'am Yen answered. "We are not giving the answers, aren't we?" she playfully said.

"The theme for this year's Science Month is something unfamiliar to some of you. Kaya't ang mga tanong ay maaaring hindi pa nako-cover ng mga previous lessons niyo." si Sir Ed.

"We are just giving you a heads up. Maaari niyong pag-aralan ang mga tanong at maagang makalikha ng mga sagot para rito. We will give you twelve questions, since there are ten contestants. Ang mga maibibigay sa inyong tanong sa mismong kompetisyon ay random." paliwanag naman ni Ma'am Yen.

Tumango-tango ang marami ngunit nanatili lang akong nakatingin sa kanila.

"But there is another phase of the competition. Sa last round ay magkakaroon tayo ng photo analysis round. But unlike the question and answers round, the answers for this round will be entirely up to you." Sir Ed smirked.

"May ipapakita sa inyong litrato at i-e-explain niyo o magbibigay kayo ng saloobin niyo ayon sa litratong nakikita niyo. We will give you only thirty seconds to speak your answers." si Ma'am Yen.

"The photos we will show you will be completely linked to our theme or to Science itself." ngumiti si Sir Ed. "Don't worry, madali lang naman iyon." dagdag niya.