Dive Deeper

Chapter Twenty-One

[GAVEN]

"I call that the archaeological dig," Lé boasted with an egoistic smirk after perfectly digging my full-blown spike, allowing Eric to earn a point with his clean cross-court hit.

We were doing a scrimmage within the team. Kakampi ko sila Cav, Ted, Jeremy, Patrick at Jim. Nasa kabilang net naman sila Lé, Cleo, Clark, Vin, Eric, at Heince. Ngayon ay imbis na opposite hitter ay outside hitter muna ang posisiyon ko.

"Archaeological dig, huh?" bulong ko na may pahapyaw na bungisngis.

It was witty of him to name his dig with a very clever pun. Wala sa vocabulary niya ang humbleness, or any words synonymous with it. Pero nakakaaliw ang kayabangan niya. He could be obnoxious and adorable at the same time. Naaalala ko sa kaniya iyong mga bibong bata sa mga patalastas sa telebisyon.

"Bawian mo," nakangising bulong ni Cav sabay palo sa likod ko.

"Kahit dalawa pa kayo!" sigaw ni Lé sa'min. He may be deprived of height but he was cursed with such a loud mouth.

Nakahahawa ang enerhiyang pinakikita niya. Tila kinakargahan ako nito ng gasolina kahit na papatapos na ang laban.

Heince delivered a float serve. Jeremy caught it with an overhead pass. Ted and I switched positions. Bumuwelo ako sa labas ng dos. Cav tossed the ball into a parabolic arc. I soared in defiance of gravity, eyes locked to the ball approaching on me. I ignited a fire upon hitting it, executing a hardcore cross-court hit. The ball travelled through the air like an unstoppable bullet. Lé hurriedly dived into the surface of zone five, but he still couldn't touch the ball. Pagkahinto niya sa pagdausdos sa sahig ay napasuntok siya sa ro'n.

"I call that the hedgehog spike," I boasted with a smirk.

"Not bad," mahangin niyang komento nang makatayo.

"Keep up!" ngumisi rin ako.

I found deflating his ego pretty amusing. I thought the thrill of having a rival would be gone when I shifted from libero to wing spiker, but Lé was there, making a whole dang show-off.

"You wait," mapanghamon niyang sambit.

Well. I couldn't wait any longer. My fingers were ready to count how many services I was going to ace.

Patalikod akong tumakbo palabas ng court para mag-serve ng bola habang sinisigaw ang, "You sure you can keep up?" I couldn't help but engage with his showing off knowing very well we were far behind in points.

"Give it to me!" Hiyaw ni Lé pabalik.

Habang pinatatalbog ko ang bola'y may sumundot na alaala sa isip ko. It had been a while since the last time I executed a shuriken serve. I wasn't certain if I could still pull it off, but maybe this could be my first step of re-fine-tuning it.

I shot the ball skyward. I took two strides before soaring. As I struck it, a flame erupted, sending the ball on a shuriken-like trajectory. Lé couldn't drive a decent reception, but at the very least, he managed to catch it. Naging free ball ito para sa amin.

I saw him twitching his lips. "Madaya!" sigaw niya.

Kita ko sa hand gesture ni Cav--na nakatago sa likod niya--na tumatawag siya ng back row hit mula sa'kin. Jeremy tossed the ball to Cav. Nakita kong tinatagan ni Lé ang mga tuhod at binti niya kaya nagkaroon ako ng ideya na hard-driven spike ang inaasahan niyang ipapalo ko, marahil gano'n rin ang tatlong blockers na nakaabang na sa'kin. So, I tricked them. Nang i-toss sa'kin ni Cav ang bola, imbis na mag-full-blown spike, nag-offspeed ako.