SPIKING THE PAIN (Varsity Series #1) (PUBLISHED)

19

Hindi lamang ako nagsepilyo. I took a bath, too. Yes, I still have my clothes here and I found them in her closet.

Wearing my gray pants and upper body naked, I exit the comfort room brushing my hair using my bare hands. Her white towel is hanging on my shoulder.

I looked at Meg. She's on her bed fully dressed already. She's wearing a white pajama and a white sando.

She's fixing her chessboard.

She's very flexible. She can do chess, she can do volleyball, she can do the cooking, she can do coaching and such. She's very good. Ready na siya mag-asawa pero siyempre, kailangang ako ang pakakasalan niya.

"Want to play?"

She turned her gaze on me. She raised her eyebrows.

"May damit ka 'di ba? Magdamit ka."

Napakamot na lamang ako pero hindi ko siya sinunod. Kinuha ko ang hanger sa kaniyang caninet at saka h-in-anger ang tuwalyang ginamit ko.

Dumiretso ako sa puwesto niya. Nakita kong tapos na siya sa kaniyang ginagawa. All the chess pieces are in place now. Seems like she really wants to play.

Naupo ako sa harapan niya kaya nagtaas siya ng tingin sa akin. "Wala ka talagang balak magdamit?"

I shake my head. "No— I mean, let's play and if you win, I'll wear my shirt."

She smirked. "As if you can win over me," she confidently said.

"And if I win." Gusto ko siyang bitinin.

She hastily put her gaze on me. "What if you win?"

It's my turn to smirk and yes, I did. "I can do whatever I want."

"What the hell? No! It's unfair. Magdadamit ka lang kapag nanalo ako tapos kapag ikaw, kahit ano ay pwede mo gawin?" She crossed her hands.

I grimaced. "Okay, fine. You can do what you want, too."

The smirk in her face widened. Looks like she's thinking of something and so am I. I am sure I'll be happy if I win this game. Ofcourse, she'll be happy, too. Geez.

"Fine." Her voice rises, she's excited.

"It's a deal, then?"

She nodded. I smirked in my mind. I am already celebrating. Yes, she's a hustler in this game but I can play, too, and I will do my best to win over her even though it is really hard.

We started playing. I have the white pieces, meaning, I am the one to move first.

I moved my pawn on e2 to e4. I will do the opening of Ruy Lopez. She then moved her e7 pawn to e5.

Ang chessboard kasi ay mayroong 72 boxes or squares. Doon inilalagay ang chess pieces: kings, queens, bishops, knights, rooks, and the pawns.

Every square has its name for listing the moves.

I moved my knight piece on g1 to f3 making my move converted in writing to Nf3. She countered my move by moving her knight on b8 to c6 making her move converted in writing to Nc6.

I scared her when I moved my bishop from f1 to b5.

I smirked. I made her think too early. Too bad for her.

The game continued. Pieces were taken and others have been sacrificed. Yes, in a game of chess, pieces have to be sacrificed in order to take pieces and save the king.

I believe that to win is to sacrifice.

Minutes passed. Napangingiti na ako dahil lamang na ako. Only the pieces left on her side are two rooks, a pawn, and her king. While on my side, I still have my queen, one rook, three pawns, and my king.

I moved my queen from b5 to g5. Qg5+ if I will write on paper. I checked her king. She moved her king to Kh8.

I smiled. She still wants to fight even though she's losing. That's my girl.

I then moved my rook from b1 to b6, starting to corner her, but she moved her rook from f8 to g8, threatening my queen.

Napatango ako. That has nothing to do. I will win this game. I moved my queen from g5 to h5, checking her king again.

She just moved her king to g7. I moved my rook to b7. Check again. I won't stop checking her king from now.

She now has none to move her king now— I mean there's one so she moved her king to f8.

I looked at her irritated face. She looks terrible. Hindi ko napigilang mapatawa.

I moved my queen to f5. "Checkmate," I uttered.

"Paano ba 'yan, Meg? You lost," pang-aasar ko. Isinandal ko ang dalawa kong kamay sa likuran ko. Nakita kong tumaas ang gilid ng labi niya.

"Dinaya mo lang ako e. Isa pa kaya? Kapag nanalo ka, eh 'di ikaw na talaga."

I smirked. As if naman na magpapatalo pa ako sa kaniya. "Okay, do your best, Meg, tho I know you would like what prize I want."

Nag-make face lamang siya. Alam kong hindi niya inaasahan ang pagkapanalo ko. I barely win over her. Minsan lang talaga pero dati iyon. Nangangalawang na yata siya.

Tinawanan ko lamang siya. Muli kaming nagsimula at mabilis ding natapos.

"Argh! Nag-practice ka siguro 'no?" iritadong aniya. I chuckled, she lost against me for the second time. Naligpit niya na rin ang ginamit naming chessboard.

"Hindi 'no, sadyang araw ko lang ngayon."

"Nye-nye." Muli siyang nag-make face. She's so cute when doing it. She's always cute tho.

"Paano ba 'yan?"

He puckered. "Ngayon lang 'yan. Sa susunod ay hindi ka na ulit mananalo."

"As if naman—"

Pinutol niya ang sinasabi ko. "As if what?"

"As if namang mananalo ako sa 'yo." I grimaced. "Baka nga nagpatalo ka lang talaga e."

"What the hell? You are out of your mind, Trish."

"What the hell, too, Meg?" I mimicked her voice. Nahampas niya tuloy ang braso ko. Napahawak ako roon.

But that won't stop me. "As if you really want me to wear my shirts, Meg. Siguro ay nagpatalo ka talaga dahil naglalaway ka na sa katawan ko e." I chuckled.

Natatawa siyang tiningnan ako. "As if namang maganda ang katawan mo," she snorted. Nag-iwas siya ng tingin.

"Hindi ba?" Tumaas ang gilid ng labi ko.

Natigilan siya. Shoot! "H-Hindi naman. . . pero hindi rin ganoon kaganda, okay?" biglang bawi niya.

Nailing na lamang ako. "What about my prize now?"

"Okay. . . What do you want now?"

I acted like I was thinking. I even put my pointy finger on my side temple. "Hmm. What I want now? I think. . . it's you."

Bubuka pa lamang ang bibig niya para magsalita pero hindi ko na siya hinayan pa. Hinalikan ko na siya kaagad.

Note: I have prepared the visuals for better visualizations but there's a problem on saving it. Aasa na lamang akong ma-visualize ninyo pa rin ang mga moves na ginawa nila sa chess.