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

24

"T-Trishtan," coach Renz mumbled.

Halata ang kaba sa kaniyang mukha. Kahit sa kaniya ay naiinis ako. I feel like he doesn't trust us— his team. Him asking another team to cook and lose the game for us to win will never be right.

Masakit sa pakiramdam na wala siyang tiwala sa mga manlalaro na kaniyang inensayo. Masakit sa parte naming malaman na wala siyang lakas ng loob.

I get his part that this will be his last coaching year but I still can't get the fact that he could do something like this.

They are both unprofessional. One is buying a game, the other one is belittling others while lifting his team.

Now I know. Kaya mukha siyang pamilyar sa akin ay sila ang nakita kong nag-uusap noon ni coach. Siguro ay matagal na siyang pinipilit magpatalo ni coach.

"What are you doing, coach?" Nang-aamok at hindi makapaniwala ang boses ko. I am serious. I don't want them to think that I am not taking this seriously. This a serious matter for damn sake.

"I was just. . ." Hindi niya alam ang sasabihin.

"You trust us, coach, don't you?"

"Of course, I trust you guys."

"You don't trust us fully, coach, because if you trust us. . . you will not play dirty— you will not talk to him begging to lose the game just for you to get the championship for your last coaching year."

"T-Trishtan," he stuttered. "Don't tell other—"

"I will," I answered.

"Thank you—"

Muli ko siyang pinutol. "I will tell them once they ask me."

Nag-iwas siya ng tingin. "Okay. . . just please don't tell them if they did not ask for it.

Hindi ko siya pinansin. I looked at coach Dan. "We will prove to you that we are not weak. We will win over you in the finals."

He smirked. My blood boiled as my temple knotted. I gritted my teeth; my hands turned into a fist.

"Win your ticket later first. Baka hindi pa kayo manalo mamaya sa laban n'yo."

Nag-init ang ulo ko. Gusto kong manapak ora mismo. Masiyado naman yatang mataas ang tingin niya sa kaniyang sarili.

Mataas ang respeto ko sa mga coach pero nawawalan ako ng respeto sa kaniya.

"We will play against you on finals, coach, and we will prove you that we are not weak. We will win over your team in three straight sets."

After saying that, I turned my back. Nanggagalaiti ang buong kalamnan ko. My hands are still in its fist. Gusto ko siyang balikan para paduguin ang mukha niyang mukhang alimango pero pinigilan ko ang sarili ko.

I shouldn't initiate a fight with someone like him. Never ever in my life. I am an educated person. I won't let him take a grasp on me.

"Oh, bakit parang pinagsaluban ka ng langit at lupa?" bungad sa akin ni Meg nang makaupo ako sa tabi niya.

As far as I want to tell her what happened, I can't. I am holding onto my words.

"Nothing, Meg."

Tanging pagkibit lamang ng balikat ang kaniyang naisagot. At least, hindi ko na kailangang mag-isip ng isasagot kapag nagtanong pa siya.

Patuloy na lamang siyang nag-cellphone. Isinandal ko ang aking likod monoblock at saka ko siya inakbayan.

She leaned her head on my chest so I got to know that she's browsing on her Instagram account.

We don't know each other's accounts' passwords. She knew I don't want others to invade my privacy. Ganoon din naman ako sa kaniya.

I wanna say that our relationship is healthy but I remembered that I am hiding things.

Time flies fast and the game finally started. Coach Renz was instructing us but I couldn't look at him. Baka mawala pa ako sa paglalaro kapag naisip ko ang ginawa niya.

In the middle of the court, I prayed in my mind for this game to be our game; our game to play.

Josh started to serve. Meaning, he's in the back row. I am on the frontline together with the middle blocker, and our opposite spiker.

I focused on the ball when the opponent received it. Maayos ang receive ng libero nila, diretso sa setter nilang nasa gitna ng court katapat ng middle blocker namin. Nakita ko ang pagpitik ng kamay niya. Sa open niya ibinigay ang bola kaya mabilis akong bumaba para dumipensa.

Our blockers weren't able to stop the hit but I was able to dig the ball properly. The ball flies to the middle of the court.

I noticed earlier, our opponents don't have the height as we have so when Josh set the ball to me, I was above the blockers. The ball hit the zone 6. Butas na butas doon ang kanilang depensa.

After that point, we gathered in the middle hyping each other.

Josh continued serving. Nakapitong service siya bago tuluyang nakapuntos ang kalaban. Ang punto na iyon ay galing pa sa error ni Josh sa service line. Masiyado kasing napalakas ang service niya kaya nag-out ang bola.

That was okay. We are still up by six points.

The game gets going. Every spike I did, I am giving my all. I have seen him— coach Dan watching from afar. I want to laugh hard. He said we are weak yet he is here watching how we are playing, making sure that his player will read our plays.

Too bad for him. Iisang anggulo ang pinupuntahan ng bola ko ngayon pero kahit gano'n ay nakaka-score pa rin ako at hindi nab-block ng kalaban ang bola ko.

I knew I should variate my spike but I will not do it now.

Mabilis na natapos ang laro. We won in three straight sets. 25-12, 25-10, 25-14 was the scores.

Coach Renz called for a meeting. I was constrained to attend. He said that we should rest tomorrow because the finals will happen the next day after tomorrow.

Meg and I decided to go home after the meeting.

"How was my play?" I asked.

Holding hands, we are taking our exit to the gym. Kaunti na lamang ang tao dahil nagsi-alisan na rin kanina pagkatapos ng laro.

"Okay lang. Kaso napansin kong sa zone 6 lang palagi ang patak ng bola mo. Why is that? Are you planning something?"

Nailing na lamang ako. She's really a very good observer. "Dahil doon lang naman palagi ang butas nila." I chuckled. I don't know why their coach haven't noticed that their zone 6 is my target.

They did not do something nor adjust.

"Sabagay, kahit ako ang naglalaro ay doon ko dadalahin ang bola ko."

I smiled. Yeah right. Gano'n na nga ang gagawin niya. She's smarter than me when it comes to volleyball, I guess. But one thing I am sure is I have more power than her in terms of spiking. Of course, she's a girl and I am a boy.

Nakarating kami sa parking lot ng school ng Malinao university. Ipagbubukas ko na sana siya ng pinto nang may tumawag sa girlfriend ko.

"Meg!"