[quote][align=center]@ princesa30: e2, basahin m. mlalaman nu na. mejo mhba nga lng. ai, welcome nga pla s fu ah (ftalk univ.) @ megumi 028: u'l know more about nathan here in this chap @ dess29: haha, e2 ndi mxdo bitin. mejo lng. mejo lng nman. @ berii: cnu ms gwapo? kau n humusga. haha @ miya_0018: e2 n upd8. xncia na kng gbi na ah @ hazel013: yup. xa ung me glasses. mrming lalaki? mbbwasan na ngaun haha @ rocel: e2 ung dciding chap eh. snce ms mkikilala d2 c nathan, tngin q d2 k mkkpgdcide kng mgiging solid tristan k o shift k ke nathan haha @ nicz love: hehe, oo nga eh. i love that anime. i finished watching it on dvd 3 wiks ago. kbitin nga lng @ ashley pain 15: sna aq rn mhba ang hair, nyahaha --xcuse d typos... ndi q n nadouble check eh. bsta alm q mhba 2, pero enjoi nman. bwing bwi kau d2 s chap n 2. haha--[/align][/quote] [u][i][b]CHAPTER 11[/b][/i][/u] “I didn’t expect that you’d be here and I enjoyed your company,” I started. “Same here. Nung nalaman ko na umuwi na si Nathan dito sa Pilipinas, I insisted that he stay in our school, pero ayaw niya. May special daw kasi sa kanyang nag-aaral dito sa school na ‘to. It didn’t occur to me that the person he considers special was the same girl whom I’ve been thinking about.” I looked at Lawrence and I swear I blushed. Ramdam ko kaya na uminit ‘yung pisngi ko. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” “Hindi. Okay lang ‘yun. Uhmm, thank you nga pala. About the last time. And for talking to your captain for me.” “It’s no big deal. It wasn’t really hard to do that.” “Maski na. Thank you pa rin.” “You’re welcome,” he said with a smile. Hala, may dimples siya. Ang cute! Para na akong matutunaw. Malapit na kami sa may exit gate and I don’t really know what to say. Buti na lang si Lawrence na ‘yung unang nagsalita. “Will I see you again?” “You probably will, or you probably will not.” Whoah, did I just said that? I am soooo flirting already. Ang landi mo ‘day! He laughed and asked me a question na hindi ko expected. “You really know how to make a guy chase you. Marami ka bang manliligaw?” It’s my turn to laugh now. Kung alam mo lang ‘dong. Walang nanliligaw sa’kin noh. Hindi ko nga alam pa’no gagawin ‘pag may naligaw sa’kin eh. “Why not try asking that to Nathan. Baka magulat ka kapag nalaman mo.” We continued walking hanggang sa makarating kami sa exit gate. We said our goodbyes and I headed back inside the gymnasium. Anong nangyari sa’kin? Napagirly-girl ako dahil sa matangkad na moreno na nakasalamin na lalaking hottie na ‘yon. Ano ba naman ‘yan. “Stephanie!!!” lakas ng sigaw ni Nathan. “Ang ingay mo, bakit?” “My try-out form na ako sa Basketball. Binigay ni Tristan. Whooo! ‘Pag ako nakapasok, bantay-sarado ka lalo. Hahaha…” “’Wag ka ngang epal. Gusto mo hindi ka na makatapak sa bahay namin?” Tumawa lang kami ni Nathan. Para kaming bata mag-asaran eh. ‘Kala mo elementary. -- One week had passed and Lawrence and I continued texting each other. May dalawang beses din na hinatid niya ako pauwi. Ayun, ngayon ang primary TOTT (talk of the town) ay ‘yung try-out sa basketball team. Well, let me change that. ‘yung pagsali ni Nathan sa try-out ng basketball team, to be more precise. The try out was challenging. It comprises of three parts: survival run, hoops challenge and the two on one. Survival run is a non-stop ten-minute run for boys. Kapag sa girls, seven minutes. Normally dalawang beses ginagawa ang survival run. Una sa gym, sunod sa football field. Why pati sa football field? Kasi mas mainit d’un. It’s to test the stamina and the endurance. There were 12 students at first pero pagkatapos ng survival run, 8 ‘yung natira. Not bad. Sa girls’ team madalas 40% na lang natitira after the survival run. Eh ngayon, around 70% pa ‘yung natira. Next is the hoops challenge. Different members of the team will ask you to shoot from a certain position of the court. Tapos, they will specify what type of shot you will use (for example, sa three-point line, jump shot gagamitin). Dapat out of 10, you’ll be able to shoot 7. From 8 students, 3 na lang natira. Unexpectedly, andun pa rin si Nathan. I saw his hoops challenge performance and he made 9 baskets out of 10. In fairness, magaling na rin pala siya sa basketball. Lastly, it’s the two on one. From the name itself, two on one na laro. The second-in-command (a.k.a assistant captain) and one member of the team ang nakikipag-two on one sa student. Given three minutes, you should be able to make one lay-up shot, one three point shot and 2 two-point shots. Madugo ‘di ba? Okay lang ‘yan. Kaya ‘yan noh. Nagawa ko nga ‘yan noon eh. Haha… Nathan was the last to do the two-on-one. Before he started, lumapit muna siya sa’kin. I handed him water and a towel. “Kapag nakapasok ako sa team, dapat magbake ka ng brownies na may ice cream sa topping.” “Haha… O sige na nga, galingan mo ah,” I smiled. I noticed that instead of one member, si Dervin ‘yung nasa court. Tristan at Dervin? Sila ‘yung ka-two on one ni Nathan. Because of that, lumapit ako kay Dervin. “Teka lang Dervin. Unfair naman. ‘Yung mga nauna na nag-two on one, regular member lang tsaka si Tristan, bakit kay Nathan ikaw?” “Regular member lang? Did I hear it right? lang?” “No, I don’t mean it like that. Hindi sa minamaliit ko sila pero siyempre iba ‘yung level mo sa kanila eh. Mas magaling ka and that means mas mahihirapan si Nathan compared to the first players.” “Kung magaling si Nathan, makakapasok siya. That’s just it” Tristan gave me the look that says Dervin can’t be stopped so I sighed and watched quietly. Halatang hirap si Nathan. Nakakainis. Bakit ang unfair niyang captain na ‘yan? By the end of three minutes, nagkulang si Nathan ng lay-up shot. Sayang naman, isa na lang. I started packing up Nathan’s things. Wala na. Hindi siya nakapasok. Nakakainis kasi si Dervin eh. Hmph. Di bale, magbebake pa rin ako ng brownies. Suddenly, as Nathan and I were about to go out of the gym, Dervin called out, “Fortis!” “Bakit?” sagot naman ni Nathan. “Why didn’t you finish answering the form Tristan gave you?” “Para sa’n pa ‘yon? Hindi naman ako tanggap.” “Sinong nagsabing hindi? Anong middle name mo? Sa’n ka nakatira?” “There’s no point of telling you.” “Kapag hindi mo sinagot hindi ka matatanggap.” “The address, kung sa’n man nakatira si Steph.” “Are you playing a joke with me, Fortis?” “Kung ayaw mo maniwala, di ‘wag. The middle name is Servajena.” I gave Dervin a mean look then Nathan and I took the bus and went home. “Hay naku Steph. Alam na nila ‘yung relationship natin. Pa’no ba ‘yan?” “Pabayaan mo na. The only reason why you didn’t want them to know was because ayaw mo ng special treatment dahil lang pinsan mo ang team captain ng girls’ team. You didn’t want to live behind my shadow. Nevertheless, I think you made your own name now.” [i]“Sabagay, nakakainis nga lang kasi pinaginitan ako nung team captain ng boys’ team. Kasi naman eh, nagselos ata sa’tin ‘yun. Hindi naman kasi niya alam na pinsan kita.”[/i]