Air Ball

III: Very Soon

JILL

"That's a wrap! Thank you, ladies." The photographer announced.

We've just finished doing a photoshoot for the UAAP magazine. I never imagined a photoshoot was part of the job description. Well, I did, but in my mind it was us wearing just our school shirts, jeans, and shoes and ta-dah! But no, we had to be in three sets of outfits (all with the theme of our school colors). First up was what I'd like to call "the girly set" because they required us to wear skirts or dresses and have our hair and make-up done. For this set, I chose wear to a black spaghetti top paired with a yellow mullet skirt and black open-toe shoes. I asked the hair and make-up team to style my hair to a minimum - simple waves would do - and my make-up natural. They gave me a gold band as my headpiece which really went well with my outfit. Being a photography hobbyist, I'm familiar with the workings of a photoshoot but this was the first one where I was the model and not the photographer. Let's just say I found a deeper respect for the models since I realized it's hard to pose and look comfortable at the same time, or maybe I am just that awkward. Next up was "the official courtside reporter set". Okay, I made that name up again but to defend myself, we had to wear our official courside reporter shirt, jeans, and flats. The name was justifiable. No? Okay. Moving on, the last set was my favorite which was the "the school spirit" set. We had the freedom to choose any item of clothing we wanted as long as it was from our university. I brought my favorite black UST hoodie, denim shorts, and my ever trusty black low-cut Chuck Taylors. We had individual and group shots per set. All in all, this was a great experience for all of us to get to know each other.

I bade the others goodbye after gathering my things. I didn't bother to change since I was already comfortable with my outfit from the last set. When I opened the door to the studio, someone was on the other side. I don't know if it was because I used more force than neccessary or because of surprise but the action made the person take a few steps back. I choose the latter.

"Sorry. I think I pushed the door too hard. Are you alright?" I asked as I came out. Call it serendipity, destiny, fate, or just a lucky day but the person on the other side of the door was The King Tiger himself, Jeric Teng. It took me a few seconds to recover from my surprise (and fangirl feels) but at least my ability to speak did not leave me. "Jeric, ikaw pala 'yan. Sorry ulit."

He was clutching his forehead as I spoke and when he turned to see who the perpetrator was, he blinked a few times before a smile of recognition registered in his face. Was my push too strong that he had temporary amnesia? Or was I just that forgettable? I couldn't blame him though. He probably meets a lot of new people every day and after all, it's been a month since we last saw each other.

"Jill, sorry I didn't recognize you at first." He said. So he did forget who I was for a moment. "Akala ko kasi sinong artista e." It took a while for my brain to process what he said. That's when I realized I still had make-up on from the photoshoot and I tied my hair into a ponytail. Na-starstruck naman pala sakin e. Lol kidding.

Good thing I was still wearing make-up because I definitely felt myself blush. "Ah. We had a photoshoot kasi kanina. All the courtside reporters. Ikaw ba next na photoshoot sa loob? Pero I heard lunch break daw?"

"Yeah, kami ni Jeron. Early bird nga lang ako 'cause I went straight here after working out. I thought traffic ngayon, hindi pala. After lunch pa kami, actually." He laughed.

I checked my wrist watch and it was only 11:45am. "So you're an hour and fifteen minutes early. Talk about being punctual. Or excited." I joked.

"Oo nga e" he replied as he scratched his neck. Ugh, Jeric Teng, you are too cute. I thought our conversation was going to end there so I was coming up with a decent goodbye line but I was surprised with what he said next. "Uhm, are you going to have lunch na ba? Would it be alright if I come with you? Mamaya pa kasi si Jeron e." he explained shyly. OMG, my fangirl feels.