Whispers of the War

Kabanata 20

KABANATA 20.

He Said.

            EVERYONE BECAME BUSY. As in, lahat. Fita and Spica on their schoolworks. Rafa on something I don’t know. Alonzo and Apollo on their OJT.

When second semester started, everyone became busy. Including me. The first round schedule for the women’s volleyball came and we have a game on the first day. Geez, the pressure!

The training these past few weeks are intense. Medyo sumakit pa ang katawan ko. Two days before our game, we didn’t have heavy training. Just simple practice.

I’ve been shaping our new Libero. She’s a freshman and has great talent but lacks experience. She’s great though. That keeps me busy until the game day.

“Girl! Kaya mo na ba talaga? Kung hindi mo pa kaya, sigaw ka lang, ah? Itatakas ka naming!” Ang OA ni Rafaela at Fita. Panay tanong kung kaya ko na ba raw talaga maglaro. Aba, nag-training camp na nga ako.

“Good luck,” ani Spica. Buti pa ‘tong isang ‘to. Medyo normal.

Nagpaalam na ako sakanila nang tawagin kami para sa warm up. We are against a team with a great defense. They are known for that so I can’t let my guard down.

“Remember the angles, girls. Don’t hesitate to attack. We can win this, okay?” Our team captain gave us words before the game. I looked at her, she’s a senior and it’s her last year.

Napatingin din siya saakin nang mapansing nakatingin ako. I smiled at her and tapped her back.

“Don’t hesitate to attack too, captain. I’m always at your back,” she nodded at me and smiled. We did our usual cheer before lining up.

I am on the back line. I stared at my teammates for a second. Our captain is official setter for the match. The ball always go to the setter after receiving it. I played with her for years and I know we can fully depend on her.

Being a captain, after all, is not a privilege. It’s like an additional workload. You need to have a strong mental strength to keep the team together. She’s like the foundation of the team.

We’re going to receive first so I readied myself. The opponent’s serves are good as hell so I have to prepare. When the whistle blew, the server threw the ball on the air and slammed it to my direction.

I smiled, I knew it. I received the serve and perfectly passed it to the setter. Our spiker hit it with a straight. We scored the first point. That marked the start of the game.