SOMEONE’S POV
“What are you still doing here?”
Bumukas ang pinto at iniluwa noon ang pinakakinamumuhian kong tao sa buong mundo. I gave him a jerk-ish smile as I placed my feet on top of his collection of magazines.
“Ginabi ka na naman ah. Over time?” I chuckled. He knows what I mean.
He sighed deeply before going to his closet.
“You better go now. Before Dad sees you here.”
I clenched my fist. Bigla na namang uminit yung ulo ko.
“So what if he sees me?” panghahamon ko sa kanya.
Sinara niya yung closet ng padabog at agad akong kinwelyuhan. Ginawa ko din agad sa kanya yun at parehas kaming nagsukatan ng tingin.
“I promise to hunt you till death when something bad happens to Mom.” Seryosong sabi niya habang unti unting hinihila ang kwelyo ko.
“Siya pa nga ba? O natatakot ka lang na masira yung perpektong pamilya na kinalakihan mo?”
Hindi naman siya agad nakasagot. Tinulak ko siya palayo sakin at agad naman siyang napabitaw sa kwelyo ko. Sinuot ko ang itim kong hoodie at naglakad papunta sa pinto.
Nilingon ko siya sa huling pagkakataon. I smirked.
“Everything you believe is perfect will soon fade like bubbles in the thorny bushes.”
BEA’S POV
We’re warming up for our game later. It’s us vs. FEU, but we have to beat them twice since they got the twice-to-beat advantage in order to move up to the finals.
The atmosphere’s kinda weird since Jules isn’t in the mood to sing. She always sings before our game no matter how irritating her voice was. Kaya siguro it’s unusually quiet today.
“Beh, kuha mo naman ako ng hot water sa dispenser.” Pakiusap naman sakin ni Jho as she handed me her glass tumbler with a sunflower printed on it.
“Tamad mo din eh no.”
I still stood up to get her some anyway. While I was filling her tumbler, bigla nalang pumasok sa isip ko yung mga palo ko na nag-aoutside. I shook my head, happy thoughts lang dapat. Happy thoughts.
Nung mapuno na, kinuha ko na ulit para takpan.
Pero bigla nalang dumulas sa kamay ko yung tumbler ni Jho at nagdirediretso sa sahig. The tumbler was broken into pieces since it was made of glass. I immediately looked at Jho who hurriedly came for me.
“Jho I’m sorry.” Sabi ko agad sa kanya nung makalapit siya sakin.
“Mabasag mo yung tumbler ko is okay, pero you’re bleeding and that is not okay! May game na tayo in 20 minutes! Jusko naman Beatriz.”
I couldn’t find any words to say. Sorry lang ako ng sorry kay Jho habang ginagamot niya yung sugat ko na natalsikan ng basag na bote.
Matapos lagyan ni Jho ng band aid yung maliit kong sugat, bumuntong hininga siya ng malalim. She looks really sad and I feel really guilty.
“I’m gonna find a better one Jho. I promise. I’m really sorry.” Sincere na sabi ko sa kanya.
Tumawa naman siya ng konti. “Ulaga ka, hindi yun yung iniisip ko.”
“Eh ano?”
“Nakapag-desisyon na ko.”
Bigla naman akong kinabahan. If she is this serious, paniguradong about to sa career niya sa UAAP. And from the look on her face, mukhang madaming sunflower ang madidisappoint sa sasabihin niya.
“Last year ko na to. Tutal baka last two games ko nalang din naman to sa UAAP eh.” She shrugged before dusting herself off after sitting on the floor.
“What do you mean last two games? May finals pa.”
She smiled sadly at me, almost teary eyed.
“No matter what happens out there, remember our mantra okay? Always put that in mind Bei.”
She left me there hanging until the next thing I knew, it was our turn for the game.
--
We lost.
No more finals, no more championship.
I looked at my team mates and I can see that most of them are trying really hard to stop themselves from being emotional. I looked at the crowd, it felt sad. Although the yellow crowd are celebrating, mas naramdaman ko yung sadness ng blue crowd.
I looked up. And I saw Jho on the screen. She’s tearing up, but I can also see that she’s still fighting herself. She doesn’t want to cry in front of all these people.
I looked down again, Jho’s in front of me and I could only see her back, her shaking shoulder. This is actually better than seeing her actual face. It’s unbearable.
“No matter what happens out there, remember our mantra okay? Always put that in mind Bei.”
Then it hit me. She knew. She felt that this was going to happen. From the atmosphere palang kanina sa dug out, yung tumbler ni Jho na nabasag, something’s really not right. And the last two games that she mentioned, it’s probably this one, and the battle for third.
I closed my eyes as the view from what my eyes are seeing starts to smash my heart. But Jho's right. I have to live with our mantra until the end.
After the alma matter ended, I went to my team mates and hug each one of them.
“This is not the last time that they'll be hearing our names. We'll come back stronger, we'll get the crown back and dedicate it to our seniors who graduated without a championship.” I smiled at them and they nodded.
Halos lahat sila lumuluha na. I have to bite my lower lip hard to prevent myself from crying.
You have to be strong Bea. You have to.
I looked at Jho who's now tearing up so bad. She looked at me and tried to smile.
I went to her, kissed her forehead and hugged her tight.
“I did my best beh. Pero wala talaga.” she whispered sobbing.
“I'm sorry Jho, I really am.” I whispered back as I burried my face on her shoulder.
This is not the season I was expecting. My best friend deserves so much more than this. And I failed to give her that, we failed.
--
This is dedicated to Jhoana Maraguinot. Thank you so much for the One Big Fight! Anuna. BH na BH pa din ako jsq huhuhu.
