[EDITING] Who Would Have Thought?

One

Chienna's POV

I was scrolling through my twitter feed nung makita ko yung tweet ng University Student Government na start na ng UAAP Season 80 sa September 9.

Napangiti ako.

I am fond of watching the UAAP ever since I was in high school. As far as I can remember, season 75 ako nagstart na mahilig sa panonood. It was also Jeron Teng's first playing year for DLSU. Limang season na yung lumipas at naka-graduate na ang mga players na sinubaybayan ko simula nung rookie days nila. No more AVO, no more Norbert and Thomas Torres, and no more Jeron Teng.

I am now in my 3rd year of being a Hospitality Management student sa Adamson University. A school na hindi ko inexpect na magugustuhan ko as the years passed by.

I exited the twitter app and tapped the Facebook icon sa home screen ng phone ko. As I was scrolling down, may isa akong friend na nagshare ng isang post.

Bago magstart ang UAAP, let's watch the infamous DLSU and FEU brawl in Davao. Maulit kaya ito sa darating na UAAP Season 80? Let's all wait and see.

I played and the video and watched it 'till the end. All I can say is, what the hell. I can't believe na ganito na pala ka-physical ang batch ng mga players ngayon sa UAAP. I mean, yes, there were a couple of clashes and minor physicality in the previous seasons pero parang iba ata yung ngayon. Invitational pa nga lang at hindi kasing-dami ng sa UAAP ang nanonood pero nagkakapikunan na sila.

Pumunta ako sa comment section at nagbasa-basa dito. One comment here provided another video link.

This is what happened before the brawl occurred guys. Watch nyo. facebook.com/video/100397052598?

I clicked the link and watched the video carefully. So FEU pala talaga ang nagsimulang mang-asar at manakit. And what I noticed pa is that yung guy na may jersey number 6 from DLSU ang talagang pinag-iinitan nila. Hindi kaya inangasan sila before the game or baka naman mayabang siya or something? Nagbasa rin ako ng ilang pang mga comments. Everybody, mostly girls, were defending the Green Archers especially yung Ricci Rivero daw.

Wait.

I think I've heard of him before. Inisip kong mabuti kung saan ko siya nakita or kung saan ko na-encounter yung name niya. I exited the app and opened Instagram tapos sinearch ko ang name niya. Nakakaloka, ang daming lumabas pero I immediately found yung legit na sa kanya.

Kaya naman pala familiar, lumalabas na pala siya sa feed ko dahil finofollow ko na siya. Pero bakit ko nga ba siya finofollow at paano ko siya nakilala? I scanned through his feed and found out na younger brother pala siya ni Prince Rivero who reminds me so much of my ex-fling way back in highschool. I remember rookie pa lang si Prince nung last time na tutok na tutok ako sa panonood ng UAAP basketball. Wala pa si Ricci sa team nun. It was Almond Vosotros, Jeron Teng, Thomas Torres, and the others. You probably think I'm weird kasi I'm from a different school pero DLSU and sinusupport kong team pero don't get me wrong, I love AdU. It's just that DLSU has been my dream school since grade 4 kaya team nila ang sinuportahan ko sa basketball at volleyball. Tsaka talagang magaling talaga yung teams nila. Too bad, di ko makapag-aral dun because of personal reasons.

Going back, I got more curious as to who Ricci is kaya I went back to his IG feed and continued to scan. Kaya naman pala ang daming fangirls ng isang to, gwapo nga siya and I must say, his body is to die for. I closed the app tapos bumalik ako sa twitter para i-check ang account niya. He doesn't tweet that much. 3 days ago pa ang huling tweet niya. I found myself stalking him more tapos I clicked the follow button pa. Matagal ko ng finofollow si Prince kaya nakakapagtaka na hindi ko kilala ang brother niya. I also searched for his snapchat kasi based sa ibang mga pictures nya online, may snapchat siya. After a couple of minutes, nahanap ko na din and added him as a friend.

Hindi ko maintindihan kung anong nangyayari sakin na pati sa youtube, sinearch ko rin ang pangalan niya. Lalo akong na-amuse sa kanya ng mapanood ko yung highlights niya. He's good at doing eurosteps and dunks and that 6 foot and 1 inch height got me thinking kung hanggang saan nya lang ang 5'3 na katulad ko. Hindi kaya because he is this good kaya parang naintimidate and ganun ang nangyari sa match nila against FEU? As I analyzed kasi, parang gusto ng FEU player na yun na mainjure si Ricci or something. I continued to watch some of his other highlights when I came across this UAAP Tough5 Questions video na siya ang featured. Naramdaman ko na lang na grabe na pala ang ngiti ko.

That last question and his reaction to that question got me so curious. That smile was what got me and sure enough, that Tough5 Questions video was the sparkplug. The sparkplug that triggered me into wanting to get to know him more and more and to for me to feel something.

Something weird and exciting.

From that moment on, alam ko na ang kababagsakan ko. Magiging fan ako ng basketbolistang to.