Air Ball

XVI: Meet and Greet

JILL

"Hi, you must be Jill." A tall guy with chinky eyes and eyeglasses spoke.

"And you must be Drew. Hi." I smiled as he took the seat next to me. The coliseum was slowly being filled up with people because it's a Rain Or Shine versus Barangay Ginebra night.

"Hey, Drew. Long time no see." Jeron, who was sitting on my left, greeted him. "Nasaan sila Les?"

"They just bought food. Bilin kasi ni Jeric wag daw gugutumin si Jill." He chuckled.

Jeron burst out laughing while I gave Drew an 'are-you-serious' look.

"O, ayan na pala sila e." Drew turned his head sideways as two guys were carrying popcorn, nachos, and drinks.

"Hi, Jill. Nachos or popcorn? I'm Lester by the way." One look and you could tell he's quite the ladies' man. I'm not being judgmental. He has this aura of confidence and a charm to go with it.

"Hi, Lester." I gave him a smile. "I'm okay. Kaya niyo na yan."If Trisha and Mark were here, they would have laughed at me and called me a 'faker'.

"Hi, Jill. I'm Charles." He waved at me and I waved back. I immediately thought of how close his resemblance was with Robi Domingo.

"Nahiya ka pa." Jeron commented and I glared at him.

"Jeric told us you might say that so nachos nalang sayo. And here's your rootbeer." Drew gave me the food and drinks.

"Alagang-alaga ka ni ahia. Kinikilig ka no?" Jeron commented. I wished Almira was sitting next to me instead of Jeron because it would look more acceptable to vent out the kilig on Almira.

"Pag sinabi ko bang slight di mo na ako aasarin?" I whispered.

"Sabi na e, pagkain talaga magpapakilig sayo!" Jeron laughed. I hit his arm since Tito Alvin and Tita Susan weren't here as well.

"Alam mo ba, ngayon lang nagbilin ng babae samin 'yan si Jeric." Drew said to me while Lester and Charles nodded.

"Mukha daw kasing I can't look after myself." I joked.

"Baby ka daw kasi ni ahia." Jeron teased while the others laughed.

"Tumaas balahibo ko dun. Wag ganun." I responded with a shiver.

The game began with Rain Or Shine doing their usual run and gun. They easily converted fastbreak points because of how quick they set themselves up in transition. During the second half, the pressure of their defense forced the scorers of the other team to shoot out of their range, resulting to low field goal percentage. At the end of the game, the Painters clobbered the Kings, 106-86.

Paul Lee lead the scorers with seventeen markers, Jeff Chan with fourteen, and Jeric with ten. Defensively, it was a great game for him since he managed to contain one of the opponent's usual scorer while collecting six rebounds, two steals, and one block. He also had four assists in the game. Cheerleader slash statistician mode: ON.

The five of us waited for Jeric outside the coliseum where many people asked for photos with Jeron. After a few minutes, we heard a few girls scream from behind and there we saw Jeric walking through the gates, a huge smile on his face. He knows he did well. Being the proud fangirl that I was, I too grinned at him as he made his way over to where we were standing.

"Congrats!" I exclaimed happily. I would have hugged him but I was conscious of the people, most especially other fans, standing close.

"Thanks, babe." He kissed my cheek and draped his arm around my shoulders as if it was a normal thing then he greeted Drew and the others. I could hear a few gasps and whispers from the back but I decided not to turn around. It makes me feel uncomfortable knowing they're going to be talking about me. Ironic thinking coming from a courtside reporter.