Officially Meeting You

Chapter 33: Laughter

Tahimik lang kaming lima habang pababa kami ng stage pagkatapos ng competition. No one was speaking and none was smiling either. There was a complete silence between us.

But when we were already at the backstage, near the locker rooms, nagkatinginan kami at doon na nagsimulang magtatalon-talon. Literal kaming nagtilian, not minding the people who can hear us.

"We won!" Athena yelled in glee at yumakap sa amin.

Yeah, right. For the first time, Rutherford won the debate. It turned out that the last round where our team chose not to defend the given side to us isn't needed. Because in the first three rounds, our team got higher scores. As in all three of them.

We couldn't believe what we heard at first. Hindi kami pinayagang mag-research and we don't have concrete evidences. We all just based everything from experience and used logical thinking.

But we still won.

And that made us realize one thing. Others may have the upper hand in a game, but there will always be a power they can't take away from you. It will just depend on you if you'll use it or not.

It's true, winning isn't our main purpose why we are here. But we are glad we made it.

"Well, we have celebrants here."

Napatigil lamang kami nang marinig ang boses na iyon. We all looked at the person who spoke and saw Maggie with her team behind her.

Hindi kami kaagad nakapagsalita and I can feel the awkwardness between the two teams. But Maggie broke the ice by smiling as she held her hand out.

"Congratulations."

Oliver accepted her hand and smiled too. "Congratulations, too. Both teams did great."

"Well, that's a tough fight," Maggie said and looked at me. "And this lady over here made it more harder than before."

Napatingin sila sa akin kaya ngumiti na lang ako. I made it harder for them? Why I get too many compliments for the past few days?

"Is that your first time?" Ernest asked. "Just curious."

Tumango ako and their mouths formed an 'o' shape. Then they nodded while smiling.

"Was that beginner's luck?" the other girl in their team asked.

I shrugged. "I guess so."

"But you sounded like a pro."

"I know right," Walter said.

Natawa na lang kami dahil parang ang gaan na ng loob namin sa kanila. Well, it seems like they are nice. They just looked moody and mad during the debate but what we see isn't always the real thing.

"Oh well, celebrate your success. Because next year," Maggie said and smirked, "we'll beat you."

They are nice, just competitive.

"We'll see about that," Oliver said with a mischievous smile.

We are nice too, but can be a little badass.

Team GCU congratulated us one last time before bidding their goodbye. Nagkatinginan naman kaming lima ulit at nagsitilian.

But we also composed ourselves when we saw Dean approaching.

"Oh? Why did you stop?" natatawang tanong niya and clapped her hands. "Just continue celebrating."

"But I think this is not the right place," Athena said.

Dean shrugged and said, "Gusto niyo bang mag-celebrate ngayon?"

"Let's have a feast today!" Leona said and everyone agreed.