Dating A Neat Freak

Chapter 02: The Baseball Tryout

When I went back to our table, Austin and Hazel were just looking at the on-going bickering of Kenneth and Ella. I felt Austin playing with the tips of my hair as I placed Lorenzo's gift inside my bag.

"For once, kampihan mo naman ako Clauds." sabi sa akin ni Ella nang maramdaman ko sa kanan kong braso ang kaniyang napakahigpit na kapit. I looked at her and saw her nostrils flare.

"Ako ang dapat mong kampihan, Clauds." sabi naman ni Kenneth at naramdaman ko ang hawak niya sa kabila kong braso. Napailing nalang si Austin habang natatawa. Sakit sa tenga talaga 'tong dalawang 'to.

"Bakit ka naman niya kakampihan eh loser ka?" pagpapamukha ni Ella kay Kenneth habang naramdaman kong hinila niya ako papunta sa direction niya.

"Ikaw nga 'tong barbaric kaya bakit ka niya kakampihan?" tanong naman ni Kenneth sa babae habang naramdaman kong hinila niya rin ako papunta sa direction niya but Ella is much more stronger kaya walang nagawa ang hila ni Kenneth.

Austin caught my attention when he suddenly stood up and carried both his and Kenneth's bag. "Mauna na kami ha?" he said as he pulled Kenneth in his left arm dahil pupunta pa sila sa Quadrangle for the baseball tryout. Dahil wala naman na kaming ibang gagawin ay sumama na kaming tatlo sa kanilang dalawa.

"Panalo ako," proud na bulong ni Ella sa hangin habang nakangiting sumuntok-suntok sa kawalan.

When we got there, we separated with Austin and Kenneth kasi magpi-prepare na rin sila for the tryout. We sat at the bleachers and it seems like nauna yata kami doon kasi aside sa mga players and participants who were there, kaming tatlo palang ang nandoon together with some students din naman na mabibilang mo lang sa kamay.

We waved our hands wide when we saw Matt busy in the field, wearing his baseball uniform. "Matt!" sigaw ni Ella to catch his attention. He smiled and went towards where we were seated in a jiff.

"Matt! I missed you." palambing na sabi sa kanya ni Ella, arms wide open waiting for a hug. Matt just obliged like it's nothing. I mean, it's already normal for us to hug and be sweet with each other from time to time.

He sat beside me and placed his right arm around my shoulder. "Bakit pala kayo nandito?" tanong ni Matt, eyeing us three. "Tanungin mo siya." sabi ni Hazel kay Matt habang nakaturo sa akin dahil si Ella ay naging busy bigla sa kaniyang cellphone.

Matt faced me inquisitively then tinaas niya ang kilay niya asking why, "Wala. Gusto ko lang kayo makitang maglaro ng baseball. Bawal ba?" I answered.

He answered back with a smile, making me pinch his cheeks. "Eh paano ba 'yan? Wala naman kaming laro ngayon. Magre-recruit kasi kami ng bagong players for the team." sabi niya habang ipinatong ang dalawang kamay sa magkabila kong shoulders.

"Pero malay mo, palaruin kami ni Coach." he added as he averted his gaze back towards the people in the field.

Bigla na naming narinig ang whistle ni Coach John. Their coach is a huge and tall man, mostly towering all the players there were in the current baseball team. Nagpaalam na si Matt and he ran towards the coach together with the other baseball players.

Hindi namin namalayan na ang dami na palang participants na nasa Quadrangle na nagtipon-tipon para sa tryout. There were new faces and while some were familiar, the similiraty of them all was that they were kalat-kalat and hindi pa alam kung saan ba talaga pu-pwesto.

"Look Ella, nandoon ex mo oh." I said to her to grab her attention as I pointed to a guy named Kyle. Nakita kong inalis niya ang tingin niya sa kaniyang phone and looked at where I was pointing.