Kissing the fire

Kabanata 21

Passion

"They're late again,"

We should have started our warm-up exercise 20 minutes ago pero wala pa sina Ariane, Georgie at Dina na kasama din namin sa cheerleading squad.

"I think we should start now, era,"

This competition is important for our upcoming intramurals at kapag nag-champion kami doon ay may chansa kaming makapasok sa regionals.

The cheerleading competition is the highlight of our 1 week college intramurals and they're just wandering around like this competition is easy? They need a good scolding later.

I was just about to turn on the music when we heard multiple steps running towards us.

"Guys, we need to practice in another location!" Georgie enthusiastically said.

"Okay na tayo dito sa auditorium, bakit pa tayo lilipat?" I asked, walking into their direction.

"The basketball team will practice here from now on. Sa field sana kaso inunahan na sila ng volleyball at soccer team," saad ni ariane habang may ngininguyang bubblegum.

We had no choice but to leave kasi unti-unti na ring nagsi-datingan ang basketball team.

"Hey, era!" Tinanguan ko lang ang ibang tumawag sa akin bago umalis.

Pag-dating namin sa field ay malalakas na hiyaw, mga atleta at mga dancers ang bumungad sa amin.

Nakahanap kami ng puwesto pero ang puwesto namin ay malapit pa sa volleyball team.

"Nice choice, ariane," nag-thumbs up pa si Dina kay Ariane bago ngumisi sa akin.

"Looks like, our cheerleader here is going to be inspired throughout our practice!" Ariane clapped and I just rolled my eyes at her.

Hindi naman yata kami napansin ni zone dito dahil kanina pa siya seryosong nag-lalaro.

He's wearing a black cycling shorts and an oversized VCU Jersey. He's already sweating so much and his moreno skin stands out because the sun is shining fiercely above them.

Mas madadagdagan yata ang pagka-moreno niya dahil intramurals week at mas babad sila sa init ngayon.

Kahit mainit ang panahon ay mahangin pa rin sa puwesto namin kasi may iilang puno rin dito sa field.

"Let's start again from the top!" Inis na saad ni ariane, "what's wrong with you? You seemed distracted," saad ni ariane nang nakalapit siya sa akin.

"Let's just take a break muna for 10– ah no, for 5 minutes lang," bago pa siya makapag-salita ay nilampasan ko siya at pumunta sa direksyon ng bag ko para kumuha ng tubig.

I heard her angry footsteps near me so hinarap ko siya at tinaasan ng kilay.

"Is it because of Zone?" Naiinip na tanong niya.

"Ofcourse not!" Bakit naman ako madi-distract kay zone? Gwapo ba siya? Oo at totoo naman kaso ayaw ko lang aminin! "It's just hot and I'm not used to it. Nasanay lang ako sa auditorium but I'll get used to it now, so don't worry!" I smiled to re-assure her kahit mukhang hindi siya naniwala sa akin.

While rehearsing, I caught a glimpse of him staring at me but he immediately averted his gaze and I just rolled my eyes at him kahit hindi niya nakikita.

"Era!" Bago ko pa makita ang nasa harapan ko ay agad akong napahiga at doon ko na unti-unting nararamdaman ang sakit ng noo ko.

"Who threw the ball?!" I heard ariane say and the girls were helping me stand up.