Once Upon A Player

Chapter 2: Date with the Balikbayan

By using her keen powers of observation, Val deduced that the privileged species preferred subtlety when it came to branding. A tiny Ralph Lauren logo? Acceptable. The words Ralph Lauren screaming on the shirtfront? Downright tacky—which included the cringe-worthy classification of pirated clothing to which brand names like Bebe, Juicy, Tommy Hilfiger, and yes, even the brand she was wearing—as proven by the manang she had brought her iced tea from in the cafeteria. She was wearing a loose, white shirt printed with an even bigger font size of Calvin Klein. Val wanted to cry.

It was when she was contemplating on wearing her shirt inside-out when a shadow fell across her table.

“Hi! This seat taken?”

She looked up to see a pair of the big, thick-lashed eyes framed by a head full of the springiest curls she had ever seen.

Val shook her head as the girl collapsed on the seat in front of her.

“Finally! I was wondering when they’d give us a break. Can you believe the amount of walking we just did? This school is humongous.”

She dug into her large paper cup of fries before remembering her manners. “Want some? I’m Dessa, by the way. You’re a freshie too, right?”

Val sighed inwardly, wondering what else about her made her stick out like a sore thumb while Dessa rattled on. “I think I saw you earlier while we were touring the covered courts.”

Val took a french fry covered in dark orange seasoning and munched on it. Barbecue flavor.  “Thanks. Yeah, I’m Val.” She took a swig of iced tea as she discreetly studied Dessa’s outfit—a collared loose, black shirt-dress printed with tiny white hearts. It was a bit too baby-dollish for Val’s taste but at least it didn’t scream out a brand name.

Dessa swept her curls into a high ponytail as she studied the sheet of paper she had removed from her big canvas bag. “It says here that after this, we’re going to Benito Hall for the big talk from the org leaders. Ooooh, recruitment time.” She nudged the cup of fries closer to Val.  “Have you chosen your orgs?”

Val shook her head as she took another fry. “No time. All my free time will be spent on training.”

“For what?”

“Volleyball.”

A scream echoed throughout the length of the cafeteria that had half of its inhabitants looking at Val’s table.

“Ohmygosh, OHMYGOSH!” Dessa was practically bouncing in her seat, along with her high ponytail. “You’re in the team? Me, too!”

With this new development, Val forgot about being embarrassed by her companion’s outburst and bounced and squealed along with her.

Time flew by as they compared notes on how they both ended up being recruited for the Phoenix Volleybelles. Val marveled at how similar their stories were—how they were scouted from their high school varsity teams and offered almost-full college scholarships, providing they passed the entrance exams, which they did, of course.

From then on, the two had become inseparable. Aside from adjusting to a whole, new culture, they also had to juggle their training with academics—which was how the BFF card started.

Val had only a week left to finish her book report for English class, but she wasn’t even halfway done.

“I could do it, you know.” Dessa said as they stood in the waiting shed. “I’m a whiz with words.”

“Seriously?”

“Yup.” Dessa hailed a jeepney and they both got in. “But to be fair, you owe me one.”