MICHELLE
Napasapo ako sa ulo ko at pinunasan ang pawis na kanina pa tumutulo sa noo ko. I sat on the bench while catching my breath. Napalingon ako kay Bettina and I saw her doing the same.
"Balik na tayo sa dorm?" she asked and I nodded. Lumakad kami pabalik ng dorm from the oval. It's 8 am already at ramdam ko ang mainit na sikat ng araw na dumidikit sa balat ko. Pagbalik namin sa dorm, nadatnan naming nagb-breakfast ang Lady Spikers.
"Good morning!" they all greeted in unison. "Morning." I smiled at kumuha ng baso par uminom ng lemonade juice.
"Today's our championship game. Ready na kayo?" Ate Justine asked at napangiti naman kami, "Of course! Tayo pa ba?" Ate Kianna said while tapping everyone's shoulders.
"Breakfast na kayong dalawa," Ate KAF said while pointing at the plate full of eggs and bacons. "I'll just shower lang." I said and excused myself para pumunta ng banyo.
After taking a bath, kumain na din ako ng breakfast at nakipagkwentuhan sa kanila. They're all bullying Ate Des dahil kay Kuya Kib-syempre, nangunguna naman si Ate Kianna dahil siya ang pinakabully sa lahat.
Ate KAF averted her gaze to me at bigla siyang bumulong kay Ate Kianna.
I smell something fishy. Lol.
"Ay eto tayo... Sa babaeng late umuwi kagabi." sabi ni Ate Kianna at lumingon silang lahat sa akin.
"Ayan na lagot." Ate Dawn chuckled. They all gave me weird stares at nilipat nila ang mga tingin nila sa akin. I saw Bettina tried stopping herself from laughing. Lahat sila ay mukhang seryosong nakatingin. Feeling ko bumalik ako ng Elementary dahil sa pagiging mahigpit nila kasi ako ang pinakabata sa team.
"Where did you go last night?" Ate Tin asked at bigla naman niya pinatong ang balikat niya sa may upuan ko-which sent me shivers to my spine. I feel so attacc teka lang muna, mga mam and ser!
"Birthday party." matipid kong sagot. Binigyan naman nila ako ng makahulugan na tingin na nagsasabing kailangan nila ng major details.
I sighed and started talking, "I ditched Mr. Porter's class because I need to accompany a friend and-" Aduke cutted me off.
"Sinong friend?" she raise her left eyebrow at bigla naman sumagot si Ate Gyra, "Girl, boy, bakla o tomboy?" tanong niya at bigla naman akong natawa.
"Demonyo siya. Period." sagot ko sa kanila. I decided to finish all the milk that I have in my glass para sagutin lahat ng tanong nila kasi alam kong kahit anong gawin kong iwas about sa topic mas lalo lang sila magiging curious at kukulitin nila ako ng nonstop.
"Okay here it goes, sinamahan ko si Ricci para-" Ate Cyd interrupted me. "Ricci? Rivero?" she asked and I nods. Their eyes widened at tila gulat na gulat sila sa sinabi ko.
What's wrong?
"Teka nga muna, stop interrupting me and let me finish the story! Gigil niyo ako ha." sabi ko at isa-isa silang umupo sa harap ko like as if napaka interesting ng iku-kwento ko sa kanila.
"So ayun na nga, I ditched my class for Ricci dahil humingi siya ng favor. We ended up going to Toy Kingdom para bumili ng laruan. Akala ko hanggang dun ko lang siya sasamahan but I ended up going with him until Riley's birthday party. Dapat maaga talaga ako uuwi kaso hindi ko na namalayan ang oras, I enjoyed playing with Riley kaya inabot kami ng 10 pm sa restaurant." I explained.
"Okay na?" tanong ko pero wala ni isa sa kanila ang sumagot. Nakatingin lang sila sa akin at tila hindi maniwala sa pinangsasabi ko.
My phone suddenly rang and saw Josh in the caller ID. I look at my teammates and signaled them that I'm going outside because of the call.
"Hello babe?" Joshua's voice lingered to my ears. God damn, I miss him so much.
"You home already, Juswah?" I asked and I heard him sighed, "I'm not yet home, I'm not in your arms pa eh." he says while chuckling.
"Ha? Di ko gets..." I muttered.
"Aside from four walls, you're also my home Michelle." sabi niya. My heart started beating so fast and I can feel the butterflies in my stomach.
"Haha, babe. I'm here in my condominium already. I can't wait to see you," he said with full of enthusiasm.
"Can't wait to see you too, oldie." I chuckled. I can imagine his face frowning right now dahil ayaw niya na tinatawag siyang oldie.
"I'll watch your game later, good luck my champ!" Josh said before ending the call. I kept my phone in my pocket and smiled widely while walking my way back inside.
My teammates were nowhere to be found-maybe they're all in their rooms already. I decided to go upstairs as well para makahiga at makapahinga.
But before I could do that, lumabas si Ate Kianna at biglang sumigaw sa buong dorm causing everyone to go out of their rooms.
"Guys prepare na daw sabi ni coach! The coaster will arrive in any minute!" she shouted at bigla naman kaming nagpaunahan papuntang banyo dahil dalawang banyo lang ang meron dito sa dorm. Isa sa taas-near the rooms and the other one is in the kitchen. As usual, isa ako sa mga nahuli dahil mga kalaban ko mahahaba ang legs. Ano ba naman ang laban ko kila Ate Majoy, Ate Tin and Aduke diba?
-
After we took a bath, nagligpit na kami ng mga gamit namin at nagtipon-tipon kami sa sala para antayin ang coaster na sasakyan namin papuntang Araneta Coliseum.
I wore my Animo Nation shirt with my surname and jersey number at the back. Nagkukulitan ulit ang buong team and I'm thankful that they didn't ask for further details about what happened yesterday.
We heard the loud horn of the coaster outside of our dorm kaya we immediately went outside para makaalis na kami. It's 12 pm and for sure, we'll stop by into a restaurant before heading directly to the venue.
"Good noon, mga kots!" masiglang bati ni Ate Tin sa mga coaches namin. Isa-isa kaming umupo sa upuan and I sit beside Ate Arriane.
"Hi Baby rookie!" bati niya sabay pisil ng cheeks ko. "Hello Ate Arriane," I greeted her back at sumandal ako sa bintana dahil medyo nahihilo ako sa byahe.
RICCI
"Brent wake the fuck up!" sigaw ko sa kanya habang paulit-ulit na hinahampas ang unan sa mukha niya pero tulog mantika pa din si pango!
"Pre! Puta!" I cussed dahil hindi ko mapigilan ang hindi mainis sa kanya. I've been waking him up since 12:30, and it's freaking 1:15 di pa din siya magising.
"Bro, what's wrong?" Ben suddenly entered the room. His forehead were creased at napatingin naman siya sa tulog mantikang si Brent. Mukhang nagets niya ang problema ko kaya pumunta siya malapit kay pango at binigyan niya ng isang malakas na pitik sa ilong.
"ARAY!" napahawak si Brent sa ilong niya at unti-unting binuksan ang maliit niyang mata.
"Daddy Ben?!" singhal ni Brent at bigla naman siyang tumayo. "We're going to watch the championship game today, hobo." sabi ni Ben, Brent widened his eyes at napatingin siya sa cellphone niya.
"Fuck this shit. May 7 na pala?!"
He asked and I slowly nodded. "Tangina pre, almost 16 hours ako natutulog!" sabi niya at napahilamos siya ng mukha. He hurriedly went to the bathroom at bumaba naman kami ni Big Ben sa sala. Halos lahat kami ay manunood ng championship game ng WVT. It's going to be a big day for them.
Pagkatapos namin mag-antay kay Brent, dumiretso na kami sa Araneta Coliseum. We're just in time dahil 3:30 kami nakarating sa venue, Brent's too slow to function.
"OMG SI RICCI!" I heard a bunch of girls screamed noong pagbaba namin ng sasakyan. Napalingon naman ang ibang mga tao at isa-isa silang pumunta sila sa amin.
"RICCI!"
"OMG girl, picture-an mo kami!"
"HALA RICCI!"
"OMG BEEEEN!"
"DADDY BEN!"
"Brenty!!"
Madaming tao ang pumunta sa amin para magpa-picture. We gladly accomodate them at napansin kong may isang batang lalaki ang naiipit-looks like he wants to take a photo as well.
"Wait guys," I paused for the photo op at pinatigil sila. "Naiipit niyo yung bata." sabi ko at nilingon nila ang isang cute na maputing singkit na bata.
He looks like Michelle. Boy version? Haha.
"Come here, little boy." sabi ko doon sa bata at hinawakan ang kamay niya. "are you lost?" I asked him but he shook his head. "Can I have a photo with you?" he asked and I nodded. Kinuha ko ang phone na hawak niya para makakuha ng magandang picture.
"Thank you!" he said. I pinched his cheeks at tumakbo siya palayo. Cute. After that, we decided to go inside dahil magsstart na ang game in few minutes.
-
"Ricci, sino ang favorite mo sa Lady Spikers?" tanong ng isang journalism student ng La Salle.
"Ops. Alam na!" singit naman ni Brent habang tumatawa. Ben's laughing beside me as well.
"Umm. Michelle." I answered at naghiyawan naman ang dalawa kong katabi. Brent started slapping my arms at sinamaan ko siya ng tingin.
"Bakit si Michelle?" dagdag na tanong niya pa.
"Umm. Wala lang. Inspiration." sagot ko at mas lalong tumawa si Brent at Ben. Sarap sapakin amp.
Pagkatapos ng interview, nagpasalamat sa akin yung journalist at umalis. These two horrible monsters beside me kept on teasing me about Michelle.
It's the last set of the game and medyo umiinit ang laban dahil humahabol sa score ang Ateneo-lamang naman ang La Salle pero hindi dapat lagi magpa-kampante.
Michelle's sitting on the bench while talking to her other teammates. Bakas sa kanilang mukha ang pagka-kaba.
The game was finished by a service ace by Ate Des and the next thing I knew, green confetti is all over the place. Everyone's jumping for La Salle's win.
"Fuck! Animo!" Ben shouted at tumawa naman kami ni Brent. We stayed in our seats at pinatapos ang mga photo ops na nangyari.
The Lady Spikers are crying for joy. I can see the pure happiness in their eyes. Napatingin sa gawi ko si Gyra Barroga. She smiled at me and kinawayan niya ako, I did the same at napatingin naman si Brent.
"Luh, nangc-chicks ka na naman." Brent nudged me at tumawa ako. "Gago hindi." I shot back.
"Aduke!" I shouted at napalingon siya. "Yes?" she asked.
Grabe, lodi ko din 'to! Ang galing eh.
"Can I have a photo with you?" I nervously ask and she smiled, "yeah sure." Aduke smiled at the camera of my phone.
"Thank you!" I muttered before she went back to her teammates.
The three of us went to the dug-out para makapagpa-picture sa ibang Lady Spikers. Hinahanap ko si Michelle pero hindi ko siya makita. Kingina, ganon nalang ba talaga siya kaliit kaya mahirap siyang mapansin?
"SMALL BEAN!" my lips curved into a smile noong nakita ko siyang pumasok ng dug out with a teddy bear on her hand.
"We won, Ccickenjoy!" she jumped for joy at nagulat ako noong bigla niya akong niyakap. I was caught off guard at hindi ko alam ang gagawin ko kaya niyakap ko nalang siya pabalik.
"You did great, Small bean." I muttered noong bumitaw siya sa yakap.
"Isang beses lang ako pinasok sa game but it's okay!" sabi niya at nagthumbs up.
"I guess, kailangan kitang abangan next season?" I smirked at tumawa siya, "Yeah, you should." sagot niya.
"Mga teh at kuya, picture kayo dali!" sabi ni Brent at biglang hinablot ang cellphone ko.
"Okay... 1... 2... 3!" he muttered. I don't know why. When I stood beside her, naramdaman ko ang pag-init ng pisngi ko. My tummy suddenly went upside down.
Weird.
~
May 6, 2017
riccirivero06
Congrats 💚
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