Alyssa is in a coffee shop now with Gretchen, Marge, Ella, Jirah, and Mich -- mga former AWVT. They have some catching up to do since matagal tagal din nagtago si Aly kaya nagkayayaan after their meeting.
"I think your team has a chance this season. Maganda ang composition, may mga former awardees: best libero, 2 best scorers, 2 MVPs. I'm expecting a great run from you guys," said Gretch.
"Naks naman. Commentator na commentator kung makacomment," biro ni Jirah.
"Daming 'comment' nun ah. Redundancy. Iwasan natin yan. Haha. Siyempre naman. I have to live up to the expectations ng mga volleyball fans, lalo na ni Tita Mozzy."
"At ikaw na ang magka ex-boyfriend na tv host. Ewan ko lang kung di ka mapressure na maging mas better sa kanya," sabat ni Ella.
"Teka, bakit ako ang nasa hot seat? Hindi ba dapat si Aly?" asked Gretch.
"Well, just like you Greta, I think the team's pretty solid," Aly said.
"Wow Phenom. Ayos makadeflect ah. We're not here to talk about your opinion about the team," said Marge.
"Pero wait. Since nagbanggit naman na siya ng opinion, what can she say about her teammate naman?" habol ni Mich.
"You mean 'our teammates' right? may S sa dulo," asked Aly.
"No. I mean 'the teammate'," Mich clarified while gesturing the finger quotes.
Aly smiled when she realized who they are talking about. "Ah, you mean Bang?"
"Yun! Nakuha din!" shouted Ella. Nagsipag high five ang lima except Aly.
The whole AWVT knows that Aly has a crush on Bang UAAP days pa lang. Before she even noticed Den, there's Bang.
"O what about her?" Aly asked.
Bagsakan ang mga balikat nung lima.
"Ano ba yan, Aly? Matagal ka lang di nagpakita, ang sabaw sabaw mo na kausap. Kanina ka pa." said Marge.
"Iwas kasi ng iwas e. Well, about Bang, she's your teammate na kaya you'll get to spend more time with her," said Gretch.
"And so?" tanong pa din ni Aly.
"Di ba crush mo yun? Malay natin this will lead to something better," dugtong ni Mich.
"Baka hindi mo mamalayan, tinamaan ka na," Ella added. She then pulled out a finger gun, fired it at Gretch, while shouting "Bang!"
"Uuughh," Gretch acted like her heart has just been shot.
Nagtawanan lang silang lahat sa kalokohan nila.
"Did I just heard my name?"
Alyssa went frigid when she heard the girl's voice.
"Uy Pineda! Nandyan ka pala. Join us," said Marge while placing a chair beside Aly.
Bang sat down, faced Aly and said, "Hi Ly!" She then faced the others and asked, "So you guys were talking about me?"
"Yes." "No."
It was Aly who said no at yung lima naman yung nag-yes.
Bang looked confused.
"We were talking about this action flick that we saw a few years back. Favorite namin yun e. Ella just reenacted a scene na may gunfire. I guess that explains kung bakit mo narinig yung name mo," Aly explained.
The other five just smiled and gave Aly a that-was-lame look.
"Pero yes din kasi before we talked about the movie, we were talking about you," panlalaglag ni Jirah.
"We were assessing kasi the new members of the team kaya napagusapan namin kayong mga bago," mabilis na singit ni Aly.
"Pwede ka ng quicker. Bilis mo mag-isip e," whispered Mich to Aly. The Phenom elbowed her lightly.
It seemed that Bang is satisfied with Aly's explanation so Gretchen broke the silence.
"So, let's get back to the hot seat. Alyssa, how's your heart?"
Ang kulit talaga ng mga 'to! Aly thought.
"Ay, personal pala yung topic niyo. I think I better go," said Bang.
Aly felt Bang's uneasiness so she touched her arms and said, "Just stay. Okay lang naman. Ang kukulit talaga ng mga ito, so ibigay ang gusto."
"Well, I think my heart's okay. Stable pa naman. I can't say I'm a hundred percent okay but I'm getting there," Aly continued.
"So, you have given up?" asked Mich.
"Nung una hindi e. I followed Den almost everyday. There are times when I just really want to talk to her and hug her. But something always stops me. She said other reasons when we broke up pero at the back of my head something's telling me na she just really fell out of love. Nung nag med school siya, nung nag PSL ako plus work, alam niyo naman na medyo nahirapan kami with our sched. Hindi naman siya kadali bibitaw if she still loves me. So, hindi ko na pinagpilitan yung sarili ko. Pero ganoon pa din. I couldn't help it. I always wanted to see her kahit from afar lang. Sa ganoon lang ako sumasaya e. Until on the 5th month, she started seeing someone else," kwento ni Aly.
"So you stopped," Gretch said.
"Nope. I think there was this masochist side of me na kahit na nasasaktan, ayos lang. I followed them telling myself that this guy could never equal the love and happiness that I gave Den. But then eventually, I saw how happy Den is whenever she's with him. Their love felt so genuine. That's all I want for Den - to be happy and to be loved. So that's when I stopped."
"I actually met the guy. Mabait naman. Pero Den didn't talk much about him. Isa pa Aly, like you, umiwas din si Den sa amin. Tagal na din namin hindi nakikita. She felt daw kasi na she hurt the whole team (AWVT) when she hurt you," said Ella.
"E mukha namang hindi niyo naman kami masyadong kinailangan. Seems to me that both of you found a way out of your heartaches kahit walang support group," said Marge.
"Mabuti na lang kamo hindi nalaman nung mga fans yung reason ng break up. Kung hindi kawawa si Den," Jirah said.
"At mas lalong mabuti na they didn't get to know na she broke up with you after she said yes to your proposal. Buti na lang you did it in another country kaya hindi lumabas," Mich added.
"She dumped you after agreeing to marry you?" gulat na tanong ni Bang.
Wala nga palang nakaalam nito aside from the the AWVT. Aly thought. She just nodded her head to answer Bang's question.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Ly. I knew about the break up pero hindi ko alam yung proposal. That must be really painful," Bang said while touching Aly's hand.
Aly just smiled and said, "It's okay. I'm okay. It's over."
