(The Next Day)
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* the alarm clock goes. "Danilo turn it off" i told him while I was slowly awaking from my slumber but still feeling drowsy, the beeping continues so I told Danilo the second time but no response, I got up and knew I was just talking to myself like a fool, he's maybe eating breakfast already. I looked at the clock *5:30am* I pressed the the button to stop that annoying sound it makes, got out of bed and went straight to the bathroom to rinse my face, went out of my room and came down for breakfast "Oh good morning sweety" mom greeted me "Come eat breakfast honey" she added "Goodmorning mom" I greeted back.
I still felt drowsy so I just went straight to the kitchen drawer and took out a bowl and a spoon and sat on the dining table with Danilo "Pass me the cereal and milk" I said to Danilo while he slid the box of cereal and milk "So you guys ready for your first day?" Mom asked us "Yeah" we both replied. "Hey Kuya, did she text you back?" Danilo asked with a weird look "What? How did you know I texted her?" I stared at him, how did he know? "Checked you phone last night" he answered "And how did you open my phone?" I again stared at him "I know you password." He replied "Just finish your breakfast." I said to him while I rolling my eyes "You know, you should make your phone more secure Kuya" he suggested "Ju-just don't do that again, okay?" I firmly said "Yeah sure" he replied.
After eating breakfast and cleaning the plates we used, I went to the shower to freshen up and brush my teeth. Went to my room checked on my phone still no reply so I just put my phone on my pocket and fixed all the books and things for school before I wore the school uniform. We went in the car to go to school, we drove through town past the shop, past the church, past the park, still waiting for her reply. Even we went down the car my phone still silent "Okay have fun you two, I'll pick you both up later at 4:00pm" she said to us before she drove to work "Okay Danilo here we are, let's go" I said to him as we passed the gate. It was a big and wide place, come in you see a waiting area at the right, bus/vans parked at the left and big old tree at the center it even has light bulbs. There was a pretty big gap between the high school and elementary building with the field beside the elementary and the courts beside the high school building and in that big gap there was a small house like building in the middle maybe that's the canteen? As we reached the buildings me and my brother went to our own ways. I went in and noticed not a lot of people were there yet, maybe I'm too early.
I walked through the hall way and saw these trophies and pictures of past winners in sports like football, basketball, tennis, etc. and a specific picture stood out, a very jubilant squad with their coach and a trophy in the center. The coached looked a bit like Gary from the shoe store but I'm not sure about that. I recognized some faces like David, Sergio, Anghelo, and Mauro in the picture, they looked so young then. There was a small shiny metal plate in the picture that said "2011 Cup Winners (Junior's Division)" so that was 5 years ago. Beside the photo is a big silver cup with an embedded message "Lateo College - Junior's Cup Winners - 2010/11" like in the picture. While I looked at the photos someone called out my name "Alex?" recognize that voice, I turned my head around and saw Clarissa walking towards me "Hey Clarissa! You go to school here too?" I asked her "Yeah!" "Whats section your section?" she added, I took out the folded paper out of my pocket which holds the info about my class and read it "Well it says here that I'm in class 10C" I answered her question "Too bad, I'm in the next class" she said "Why? What's your class?" I asked her "Class D" she answered "Oh" I replied.
Looking at the photos and trophies I saw a girl in the same squad photo looking a lot like her so I asked "Hey is that you there? In the picture?" "Oh yeah! We won a cup that day, I was 11 years old" "We girls were still in one team with the boys back then, ah good times" she answered "So you're in the club for a long time eh?" I asked again "Yep since the 3rd grade" "How about you Alex? You look like a athletic person?" She asked me "Oh me? No, didn't even join a club, just played in the park that's all and oh clinics" I answered "Whoa so never in your whole life you joined a school club?" She looked at me weird "Nope" I smiled "Well take your chance when it comes Alex, who knows you might be a first team player?" she said trying to encourage me "You think so?" I asked "Yeah! Of course!" She exclaimed. I decided to move on and go to class "Hey Clarissa, why don't we walk to class?" She I asked "Sure" she replied.
We walked through the hallway to the stairs and went way up to the 3rd floor. You could really notice the school's a bit old as the paint in the wall and the color of the tiles has already faded. We passed through the door leading to another hall with the classrooms aside and open windows in front of it, the atmosphere was good! Either that or it's just the fresh morning breeze. The school was just a a mile from the beach so you could slightly see the shore from a far "Oh so this town's near a beach, nice" I looked at the view through the window "Yeah, you didn't know?" again with that weird look at me "Nope" I answered "Well maybe we came go there sometime?" she smiled and thought to myself "Wait is she asking me hang out?" "Yeah sure, when?" I replied "Next week maybe?" she said "Yeah I think I'm free on a Friday?" I suggested "Friday it is then!" she affirmed.
We continuously walked though the hall until we suddenly stopped on a class "Well here we are, 10C" she gazed her hand to the door. I noticed each class has its own lockers next to the door "And look there's my class just next to yours" she added "So neighbors?" I joked "Yeah neighbors" "See you later Alex" she said as she walked in her own class. I opened my class' door went in, as I pass through I suddenly bumped into someone then I heard a splash seconds later "My drink!" a girl "Oh I'm so sorry I didn't see you there, here I'll buy you a new one" i was surprised, the girl turned and began "What's the deal ma-" she seemingly looked shocked when the moment she stared at me, didn't know what was all that about maybe theres something in my face? She then said "Alex? Is that you?" "Uh, yeah?" I replied, she then pointed at herself "It's me Stella? Don't you remember?" I couldn't recognize her as I've known a lot of Stella's, she kept trying to make me remember "We were best friends since pre elem?" that phrase finally snapped me, Stella! My childhood best friend, the friend who I've been with for a very long time "Oh Stella! I remember now, I'm so sorry I didn't notice you. Don't worry I'll get you a new drink" I humbly asked her "We can buy it later at lunch, plus you owe me Alex" she said to me "What? Can't recall you saving me?" I smirked "You owe me, I'm sure of it" she said as she went out of the class with a smile. Stella wasn't my classmate or anything we met at the clinic where my mom used to work so as her mom. After that we became friends, all the mischief and all the fun, we even used to hang out in the laboratory all the time. Then time passed and I moved, so never saw her again until now.
When I finally entered the room there was a guy waving over the corner it was David "Hey David!" I greeted him with a wave back "So you go to school here too huh?" He asked "Yeah! Looks like I'm gonna see your more often big guy" I joked "Yes, you will" he laughed, I went to pick a chair and sat there, on and on people come close to you and ask what's your name and your basic info, you know? The usual new student experiences. Even got to know Stella more, luckily I sat next to her bag so we interacted more.
The teacher came in the class "Good Morning Sir" the students stood up and greeted the teacher "Good morning class, sit down." He replied "I'm Mr. Rubio, I'm your class teacher for the rest of your school year" he said to the class, Mr. Rubio looked like a laid back dude and the way he speaks is also calm as in the middle of the sea. After fixing his files in the desk he called roll call after that he called me up to the board "Okay class, we have a new student, please introduce yourself" I've done these like a lot of times considering I moved schools often, heck I might even leave this one for another "Hello, my name's Alex Santiago, fifteen" after I introduced myself to the class went to my seat. *The Bell Rings* Looks like the first period has started, sir left the class then another teacher came.
The periods just went by faster as I felt, the next thing you know the bell rings it was lunch time already, I saw the other students who got up from their seats and started to leave class "Hey it's lunchtime" Stella smiled at me "Time to buy me a drink" we got out of class headed to the canteen, the canteen in between the two building looked of course like a normal cafeteria with beige paint on the walls with the counter and kitchen in the corner middle of the room, what I like about it is the outside look as its well designed on the outside looking like a resto. When we got in there it was already packed with people "Looks like we have to eat outside" said Stella "Yeah but at least the line moves fast though" I replied "We can find a spot in no time" when we got to the counter we bought our food then headed out of the canteen with our trays to check the other seats outside, I saw Clarissa waving to us to a table she was sitting with her friends others I recognize so pointed to her and said "Hey Stella what about we sit over there with her?" "You know her?" She asked "Yeah she's my friend" I replied, she hit her elbows to my side and teased "Ooh your first day and you already hit the ground running eh" "Nah not really, let's just go" I denied her accusation "What ever you say so" she smiled.
We headed to Clarissa's table and sat there with her friend "Hey Alex! Who's she?" she said "Hey Clarissa this is Stella" I introduced Stella to her "Hi" Stella said as they shook hands, there were two other people with her in the table which she introduced to us "Let me introduce you to Kate Montenegro, she player in the girl's basketball club" Kate waved at us, Kate looks athletic like Clarissa but she's more muscular on the upper torso but also have the looks of a cute girl and she's more mestiza than her. "And this guy is Philip Poland, he's the bookworm in our group but let me tell you he's not all books, did you know he got chosen as one of the clubs full back defenders" Clarissa continued and Philip also waved at us, Philip was a tall and is a silent guy but as Clarissa said he's not all read but that's not the trait that you would notice with the first looks at him.
After we got to know each other Clarissa asked "So Alex, how's the rest of your first day been going?" "It was okay, pretty boring but reunited with my friend here" I pointed at Stella "How about yours?" I asked "Pretty boring too but we got practice later waiting for that" she answered, I looked at at Philip and asked "So Philip you got picked as a full back for the team?" "Yeah, it was when I joined the school football club" "I did well during our trainings so coached picked me in the first eleven often as a right back" answered Philip "After a year in varsity I left the team" he added "What happened?" I asked him again and he then said the reason "Well I lost interest on football, I knew it wasn't for me thats why I left the team." He then continued eating his lunch.
After talking to Philip I proceeded to Kate who was just about to finish her lunch "So Kate you're a basketball player huh?" I asked "Yeah, I play Shooting Guard in the varsity team just so you know" "How bout' you Alex? Clarissa told me you never played varsity, why is that?" said Kate, I looked at Clarissa and said "You told her?" she just smiled and nodded at me and told her why "Well I was born in a small town, I only played with my friends usually in parks after school and there were very few of us who knew how to play" I then continued "and growing up in my place there were only very few chances that popped up through my life and some of it I didn't grab like varsity chances?" they stopped eating for a second and Kate broke the silence and said "Oh so that's why" "You should've have taken them while it was right in front of you" she added "Well how can I take them if I keep changing schools?" I explained "Well you gotta point" said Philip.
We went on topic to topic as if we're surfing from page after page of an article in a website then the bell rings ending our seemingly long conversation the whole lunch time. We then headed class and passed through a series of periods which felt like a life time. After the last bell rings every student rushes to pack their bags and go home, Stella and I packed up and headed out, I looked at the my watch *3:40pm* and then looked at the window seeing the skyline is beautiful for a Monday it already looked like dusk, the clouds mixing with the sun's slowly dimming light. When we got down we looked at the bulletin board to see if there were any announcements and there were, a lot of posters were there usually saying to sign up but there was a specific poster that made me look at it, it said "Sign up for the football club TRY OUTS, this Friday, Wear complete gear" I thought about it for a second and remembered what Clarissa said, then I decided to take that chance and I signed up for it "Well look who decided to play for the varsity" Stella smiled "I just think it's time you know?" I looked at here "Well whatever happens I'll be there" she replied.
We continued out to the hall way and we saw Danilo just outside maybe waiting for me Stella approached him "Oh Danilo! Is that you??" she said pinching his cheek and by the looks of it he had missed her "He had grown! Wow time flies fast" she added "Well, it's been like 5 years" I said to her "Hey how about you guys go straight to the waning area I just gonna roam around" I told her "Yeah sure Alex" she said and took Danilo straight to the waiting area.
I remember Clarissa saying they got practice later so I decided to roam and go to the stands by the field. I got to the stands and went up to the middle where I could see everything in a nice angle,the team was already practicing on the field and there I see her with the other girls crossing side to side with the cones then sprinting towards goal. I think she saw me cause when she turned back after she shot she looked at me and waved and of course I waved back, after the warm up she went out of the field and went up to the stands and sat beside me "What are you doing here?" She asked "Well I remembered that you have training today so decided to watch" I answered "Oh so you remembered" she glared at me "and I can say you look hot in shorts" I complimented her and she answered by punching me in the shoulders "Oh shut up!" "Is that all you got?" I smirked "Yeah, that's all" she smiled at me then a voice boomed in the field "Mallorca stop wasting time now! Get back to the field!" "Well the coached called me, so see you next time?" she put out her hand for a shake "Yeah see ya" i replied and shook her hand. They started playing but I have to get back to Danilo to check if mom's there.
I went to the waiting area and saw Stella eagerly waiting for you "Hey where have you been? Your mom's outside already waiting" "Wait, she is?" I asked "Yeah! let's go" she came with us with the car "Wait you're coming with us?" I looked at her "Yeah I am, I just live near your house you know?" She explained "You do?" I looked at her again "For the last time yes Alex" she looked annoyed, Danilo was already in the car and we all sat at the back "So how was the first day kids? And how are you Stella?" Mom asked "I'm fine Tita" she humbly said "Yeah it was good" I replied on mom "It was awesome!" said Danilo. We drove home and 3 blocks away from our house we stopped and Stella stepped out of the car "Thanks for the ride!" She thanks my mom "And hey Alex, nice to see you again" she smiled at me and I waved back".
We got back home and side all the daily routines that we got, it's the first day so no homework! I just laid in my bed and thought about what has happened today, you got in the new school again, met your old best friend, and a chance to play varsity for this school. After all that I can say I look forward in the upcoming days.
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Author's Note:
Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated this story for a very very long time. Just got busy and all, you know? Tell me how was this one? Just wanna dedicate this chapter for my friend Estelle. Been a long time, Idk where you are but if you do find this just wanna say I miss you buddy!! That's all for now.
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YOU ARE READING
Ninety Minutes
Teen Fiction(Paused) Alex Santiago, a promising player but lacking experience, until one day. See as he helps his team work their way to the top and passes his way through challenges he faces in and off the field.
