Taking Chances

Decisions

JIA

Thank God it's Friday!

Walang pasok bukas, I can finally work on those papers.

Naglalakad ako ngayon papuntang Gonzaga dahil may usapan kami nila Mich and Jho na sabay maglu-lunch.

Napadaan ako sa may Athletics Office at napansin kong familiar ata yung tao na nasa loob.

The person was a girl. Sitting with her back against the wall, nakatalikod sa akin. She was wearing a blue shirt, with her hair loose and which she was occasionally running her hands through. May katabi din siyang lalaki, who seemed slightly older, and may pinag uusapan ata sila na seryoso.

Then I noticed na lumabas si coach sa door, tumayo yung dalawa at nakipag kamayan sa kanya. When the girl turned slightly towards the side, that's when I realized why she was familiar, it was Bea, and the man beside her must be her dad. Matangkad, gwapo, with an air of authority around him, halata sa tayo palang na mayaman. He was speaking with coach while si Bea was just listening to them at tumatango din paminsan-minsan. I noticed she was smiling a lot.

She's beautiful when she smiles...

The thought suddenly occurred to me.

Beautiful? Saan galing yun Jia?

Parang masaya naman ang usapan between coach and her dad, and after a few minutes nag shake na ulit sila ng kamay at parang aalis na, so tumuloy na din ako papuntang Gonzaga.

Baka makita pa ako at isiping ang tsismosa ko.

Late na ako, siguradong matatalakan nanaman ako ni Jho.

Nakita ko naman agad sila nakaupo sa table near sa wall. Kumaway si Mich when she saw me.

"Hi guys, sorry I'm late" sabay upo sa tabi ni Mich.

"Haaay naku Jia" nakasimangot na sabi ni Jho "kanina pa kami naghihintay dito oh! Ang tagal tagal tagal mo dumating! 12:00 noon na, kanina pang 11:30 natapos yung class mo ah! Gutom na gutom na ang mga alaga ko!" tuloy-tuloy na salita ni Jho.

"Sorry na nga bibi..." malambing kong pagkakasabi. Alam ko namang hindi talaga galit si Jho, talagang madali lang uminit ang ulo nito pag gutom na.

"Oo, na sige na, halika na, kain na tayo please lang..." sabay tayo nito at hila sa amin ni Mich para mamili ng food.

After ordering and coming back to our table, nagtanong na si Mich.

"Ba't ka nga ba natagalan babe? It's a 10 minute walk lang naman from your classroom to here."

"Ah, medyo lagpas ng 5 minutes kasi after kami na dismiss ni Prof. Gomez" sagot ko habang kumakain.

"And may nakita ako dun sa office ni coach kanina na akala ko di ko na makikita dito"

"Ano?" interesadong tanong ni Jho.

"Hindi ano, kundi Sino." Nakatingin na ngayon sa akin yung dalawa waiting for me to continue. Ang sarap ibitin, hehe

"Remember yung isa pang rookie na kasama nila Maddie at Therese na pinakilala ni coach, ano nga ulit name nun? Yung sobrang tangkad?" kunwari ko pang di maalala, eh siya lang naman lagi kong iniisip lately.

"Si Bea?" mabilis na sagot ni Jho.

"Ah, Oo, siya nga. Andun kasi siya sa office ni coach, may kasama, Daddy siguro niya. Yung Dad lang naman niya at si coach yung nag-uusap. Bakit kaya sila andun?" kwento ko.

"She said they were also considering La Salle di ba? So maybe she already made her choice." sabi ni Mich.

"Ah baka nga, kasi she hasn't attended the practice din dba? Unlike Maddie and Therese na nagsimula na yesterday" si Jho

"Maybe they were just declining the scholarship offer properly." Pagpapatuloy niya.

"Hmmm." Ito nalang ang nasabi ko habang tumatango at nagpatuloy na kumain. Ewan ko ba kung bakit, pero nung sinabi ni Mich na sa La Salle na siya, bigla nalang bumigat yung dibdib ko,

Bakit naman ako nalungkot? Hay, ang weird mo lately JIA. Ito nalang ang naisip ko.

"I guess we'll see her sa court" patapos na sabi ni Mich. At tinuloy na naming ang pagkain talking about other stuff.

BEA

It's Friday, time to make the decision as promised kay Dad.

Actually, I've made up my mind kagabi pa. I've weighed the pro's and con's between La Salle and Ateneo. I know they are both great schools, and both could help me achieve my goals in the future, but for me, there was this one thing na meron ang Ateneo na wala ang La Salle, and that was a certain Julia Morado.

Napapangiti ako habang naiisip ko siya, and the thought na I will be spending a lot of time with her brings me happiness, so I guess tama naman ang decision ko.

After waking up at around 7:00 am, I went down and found Mom, Dad, and Kuya in the dining table.

"Good morning everyone." And gave Mom and Dad a kiss, habang pinalo ko naman si Kuya sa may balikat.

"Good morning hija." Mom said "kain na" at iniabot ang food sa akin.

Dad was reading the newspaper, so I tried to catch his attention.

"Uhm, Dad..." I started.

He put his paper down and looked at me "Yes Bei?"

"Uh, diba I promised you na I will give you my decision by today?" I said, and saw him nodding, allowing me to continue.

"I've thought about all the pros and cons between the 2 schools Dad, and although both are great, I've chosen the one where I think Ill be able to maximize my potential, not just as a student, but as an athlete as well..." I said this na nakayuko, and after I finished I looked at the 3 of them with my eyes, landing on Kuya.

He smiled and said "Go on sis, we'll support you naman whichever you choose eh."

I smiled at him and saw my Mom and Dad smiling at me as well waiting for me to continue.

"I have full confidence that you will make the right choice Bea." This coming from my dad.

"Thanks" I said, feeling so much happier with my decision.

Later that day, Dad offered to accompany me to La Salle to talk to the Admin for Academics, and all the coaches sa WVT. And I knew kahit wala siyang madaming sinasabi, Dad fully supports this decision because of this small gesture.

Like I said, he is a man of few words, but I love Him to bits.

After that, we decided to proceed to Ateneo na din to talk to the same people. Of course we had to properly inform both sides of the decision and thank them for the great offer as well.

When we got out of the office, napalingon ako sa my right ko before crossing to the car, and saw someone familiar walking away, "Was that?" But then Dad called my attention and said that we must hurry to beat the traffic daw, so I didn't have the time to look closely. I kept hoping pa naman na I would bump into her today, but malas lang, wala eh.

A/N: Hi! I'm so excited na may nagbabasa na ng story! Nakakagana magsulat... I'd also love to hear from you guys, feedback and whatnots are appreciated! 😁