The Brighter Side of Things

Chapter 22

I got stood up that weekend.

To be exact, we got stood up.

Jade and Zero who both lived an hour away from the city were running late. While Lexi? Well her parents took her somewhere.

And North who was standing right next to me while I text-spammed the three was so chill about this.

I was not. We'd been standing at the entrance of SM Tarlac, waiting for approximately thirty minutes and we'd been getting weird looks from mall-goers. If we stayed there longer, we could've turned into marble sentinels of the mall.

And here I was excited to give them the friendship bracelets I made the whole night.

That was until North suggested that we go around the mall to kill time.

"Why are we at the arcade station again?" I was expecting him to head to a milk tea shop, or at least to the food court. But he was leading me to Timezone.

"Don't you know this is the best way to master follow-through?" He went straight to the counter with me in tow and reloaded his card.

"The best way to master follow-through is to shoot hoops in a real basketball court," I pointed out.

"Then feel free to take us somewhere we could have a court all to ourselves. On a Saturday afternoon."

I ground my molars knowing he was right. He was indeed Lexi's cousin, step or not. They both made sense. "Fine."

"Besides, we can only have one ball and sweat under the blazing heat of the sun. While here," he extended his arms and made a dramatic sweep of the place. "We get five balls each. No sunburns and there's A/C."

"I said, fine," I muttered and headed to an empty hoops station.

He swiped his card in the reader for two booths and the balls came rolling. We started shooting as quickly as possible, trading curses whenever the ball bounced off the rim, or taunting each other. We claimed the station ours for quite a while, changing our distance from the ring to challenge ourselves every after round. Before we knew it, a crowd had gathered behind us.

"Panga-galing dang mag-shoot 'ne."

"Wa, bala mo, professional players la."

The constant side comments of our spectators in an unfamiliar language often distracted North. My winning more times than he did was inevitable. Soon, it got too stuffy and we called it quits, satisfied that our scores became the new scores-to-beat for our respective booths. The round of applause that we got was both embarrassing and wonderful, I wondered what it felt like to win an actual game.

"That was nice," North mused, circling his shoulders to release the tension.

While I stretched my right arm by pressing it to my chest using my left hand and vice versa. "Yeah. Thanks for the tip, by the way."

"Would you like to eat? My treat."

Though I wanted to refuse his offer, my stomach had other and announcing it with an audible grumble that sent North laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world.

"That's a yes," he grinned. "Are you down for burger?"

He already heard my stomach clamoring for food. "At this point, I could already eat anything. I'm famished."

Side-by-side, we rode the escalator down to Burger King, the fact that the eighth grade couple were more than an hour late not bothering us. I was already resigned to the possibility that I'd receive a message from Jade saying they won't make it afterall. Actually, I was more preoccupied by when and how I should give North his friendship bracelet than scolding those three.

Before I could decide on that, I found myself face-to-face with Brandon who deliberately blocked our way to Burger King.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't for the giant couple," he sneered at me before giving North a high five.

I glanced at North who made no move to correct the information. Wasn't he bothered by our being seen together sparking rumors about us? "We're not a couple," I said instead.

"Sure, sure," Brandon scoffed. "So North, when are you up for a practice for the charity game?"

I stiffened at his words and I gawked at North, my hands becoming clammy at the conversation that ensued. I didn't like the feel of this. The devilish grin on Brandon's face added to the sudden anxiety I felt.

"The usual. Sunday afternoon's good," North shrugged nonchalantly.

"Cool. I'll see you tomorrow then. Same time, same place?"

"Yeah, sure."

I blanched as it all donned on me. I took a step back and continued gawking in disbelief at North who still seemed nonplussed.

"What do you like?" he asked as soon as Brandon left.

"You're playing for the Sto. Domingo Comets," I stated.

And he nodded, his smiling face still turned to the menu overhead. "I'm going for Whopper Meal. You?"

"You're playing for the Sto. Domingo Comets for the September charity game," I clarified, unable to hide the tremble in my voice.

And it caught his attention because he looked at me, suddenly looking concerned. "Yes, Brandon asked me to play with them."

"And you didn't tell me?" I demanded, feeling my blood reaching the boiling point.

"I didn't realize it matters to you."

"Well, yes, it does!" My voice shook and I ignored the people who turned to look at us. "I can't believe this, North." I shook my head and started to leave, the gravity of the situation burning a black hole in my stomach that no food could satiate.

"Felicity!"

I picked up my pace. I had to get out of the place. I couldn't stand breathing the same air as North.

"Felicity!" He grabbed my arm and swung me around. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Do you know who you're playing against for the charity game?"

"Yes, San Rafael Voyagers. They told m—"

"Yes. The San Rafael Voyagers. It's my team, North. And I couldn't believe I practiced with you. I practically showed you their team plays! Oh my god!" I tore at my hair at the horrible truth that because of me, the Voyagers wouldn't stand a chance against the Comets.

"Felicity, calm down—"

"Calm down?! How do you think can I calm down when I practically showed you how to beat us?!" I rubbed my face with my cold hands, wishing I could turn back time or erase everything I had done that added to the Voyager's losing streak against the Comets. "Do us both a favor and stay away from me, North." That and I completely walked out on him, on the verge of panic attack.

How was I going to tell Kuya Six about this disaster, I had no idea. So, help me, God. 

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Panga-galing dang mag-basketball 'ne = They are so good at playing basketball, right?

Wa, bala mo professional players la = Yes, you'd think they're professional players