Morning after the win! Thanks for the support! And also to @FunkyEyewear for my new sunnies and @TrinketJunkie for my charm bracelet #MorningSelfie #NoFilter #UnbeatableSilverPhoenix
“I’m so hating you right now.” Kat snuck an envious glance at Val, who had just put down her phone after posting the photo on the internet.
Val jingled her silver chain bracelet dotted with dangling volleyball charms that glinted in the sunlight, creating dancing flecks on the dashboard. “So cute, right? I just had to post about it.”
“How come I don’t get free stuff?” Kat pouted. “Someone sponsor me, please!”
Val laughed and adjusted her bug-eye sunglasses, which resembled what Audrey Hepburn wore in her favorite movie, soaking up the sunshine and the good vibes. Last night’s tournament was an easy victory; it marked the team’s fifteenth straight win this season, which already guaranteed them a spot in the finals. Now all they had to do see was continue training while the other teams battled it out to see who would play opposite Phoenix in the championship game.
As usual, Coach Eric’s face was unreadable after they won. But the girls knew better. It was a big deal, not just for the team, but also for the whole school. Even the alumni joined in the hype, religiously following the matches and posting their support in networking sites.
Val sighed in contentment and settled back in her seat. Adding to the good vibes was this free ride courtesy of Kat, who had driven to school because Franz was “too busy” this morning to pick her up. It was perfect timing too, since Val was wearing her precious white jeans—and taking public transportation would certainly compromise its immaculate condition.
“So I asked what he was too busy with and you know what he said?” Kat paused dramatically. “Stuff. Can you believe it? Just stuff? I swear I’m breaking up with him.”
Val was tempted to remind her that breaking up worked only for official couples, but wisely bit her tongue. She wasn’t going to sabotage her free ride.
When they got to the parking lot, it took them almost half an hour to find a free slot. Val hurried to class, sacrificing as little poise as possible before settling into the first empty chair in the room. As if on cue, a tall, middle-aged man entered the room.
“Good morning.” He faced the class, beaming.
After a smattering of weak greetings of Good Morning from the students, he rapped his pen against the desk. “Why so glum? We have a lot to be excited about.” He looked around before continuing. “First, we’re watching a French film….” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and paused for drama. “With nudity.” The class suddenly came to life with a bout of hooting and wild cheers.
“Second…we have a shot at the volleyball championship!” He clapped his hands slowly, looking straight at Val. He had a reputation for being an avid fan of the sport. “Way to go, Volleybelles!”
Val smiled demurely as the class joined him in the applause.
“And last but not the least, we’re down to our last few papers this school year. So please pass your critique before we proceed to viewing.”
Val suddenly felt as if somebody released an ice cube inside the back of her shirt, the cold panic of having forgotten her homework trailing down her spine.
Fudge. She buried her face in her hands. Failure to turn over a paper meant that she wouldn’t get an A in Film Appreciation. Students usually took the class because it was an easy course to ace; they only needed to spend the whole period reading subtitles off a foreign film and afterwards, write a one-page critique to be submitted the following week. Val didn’t want to waste the easy A, especially since it would give her final average grade a much-needed boost.
She was suddenly on the court again, thinking of a last-minute play to save her team, which at that moment, was reduced to a member of one: herself. She turned possible strategies over in her mind as the film played on the widescreen in front of her, only to be jolted back into reality when the nude scenes were on and the class erupted in gasps and ohmigods.
Finally, the credits ran and they were dismissed. Val gave herself a shake before standing up and approaching the teacher’s desk.
“Sir, is it possible to ask for an extension for the paper?” Her tone was subdued, her smile rueful. “I know this is going to sound stupid but I left it at home.”
She was met with her teacher’s penetrating gaze. Val forced her eyes not to stray. He finally spoke up, his joviality at the start of class, gone. “You know I never give extensions, Ms. Fabian.”
“Yes, sir.” she said meekly. “Thanks for your time. It’s just that, with all the pressure of winning the championship, and with the excitement of last night’s win…” She let her voice trail off and her face sag, a calculated look of fatigue skittered across her face. Then she shook her head slightly and said in an obviously forced bright voice. “Well, thanks, anyway, sir.” She turned away, slumping her shoulders. The exit was only a few steps away but to Val, it felt like a great distance as her ballet flats made soft thumps on the floor. It was similar to the feeling she got whenever she walked away from a vendor who refused to give in to her haggling. Sometimes the vendor would call her back at the last minute, reluctantly giving in to the bargain. She nearly made it to the door when she heard him say her name.
“Miss Fabian.”
Relief washed over her. Val swiveled her head to see her teacher shuffling papers. He looked up briefly. “It has to be on my desk before lunch.”
Val fought the urge to pump her fists in the air. “Of course! Thanks, sir. Thank you very much.” He waved her away, but as an afterthought, Val turned back to say: “If I win MVP on the next game, sir, I’ll greet you on air.”
She could tell that it took him by surprise. “No need, Ms. Fabian,” he replied bluntly. “Before lunch.” His mouth was set on a stern line but Val could tell that he was pleased.
* * * *
Babe, sorry wasn’t able to pick you up last night. Movie this week?
Val frowned. It was Rico’s third time to ask her out since Franz’s party. It wasn’t like him to be this needy. This was clearly against another one of their unspoken rules: to quit bugging the other person when he or she had already turned you down. After all, one ought to have a bit of pride.
For the third time, Val texted back in the negative. She almost immediately got his reply.
Next time then. Miss you, babe.
Val stared at the message, thinking how weird Rico was acting.
“When your eyebrows are knitted together like that, you kinda look like Frida Kahlo.”
Val turned to see Dessa grinning up at her. Val scowled at her.
“What took you so long? I’ve been waiting forever.”
Dessa did a little curtsy. “Sorry to keep your majesty waiting, but I had to meet up with my thesis partner.” She blew on a lock of curly hair that had settled on her forehead. “God, the pressure! It’s like every professor is hell-bent on squeezing out an extra requirement from me before graduation. And to top it off, there’s the championship to think about!”
As she let her friend rant, Val couldn’t help feeling a bit envious. Dessa was majoring in Business Management, a course that demanded respect like Psychology, which Kat was taking up. Meanwhile, Val had chosen Multidisciplinary Studies, which was a hodgepodge of courses, perfect for students who had no clue what to do after graduation. While her friends were stressing over thesis defenses, she was barely making it with her weekly film critiques.
She was so caught up with her musings that she was startled by the deep, gentle voice that broke into her reverie.
“I’ll e-mail some ideas tonight. We can do this!”
The sudden vision that was Jake Clementia was giving Dessa a high-five. Val hung back, momentarily paralyzed, not being able to accept right away what had just happened before her very eyes. She had no idea Jake and her best friend were on high-fiving terms. But she wasted no time to mull over this, because she was sidetracked by how good Jake looked.
His body had grown tanned and toned since rumor has it—he had been running the breakup grief away with marathons. His face had more angles now, but it made him look more mature and sure of himself. His eyes were warm and yes, they still danced.
“Hey, Jake.”
His eyes danced over to her, and he grinned. “Val! I was just telling Dessa how you guys did an awesome job yesterday. It’s so much more exciting to watch the game live.”
“You were there at the arena?” After years of practiced flirting, Val had learned to keep her voice steady even if her heart was threatening to pummel its way out of her chest.
“Yup, and I’m going to be there for all the championship games.”
“Great! Will be looking out for you then.” Val smiled, biting her right inner cheek so her dimple would show.
She was still staring at his back after he had left. “He’s your thesis partner?”
“Uh-huh.” Dessa shoved a sheaf of papers in her bag. “Let’s go. I have tons to do.”
Val struggled to regain her composure. She couldn’t believe her luck. Jake, her future fiancé, was her best friend’s thesis-mate. Surely, this was a sign that things were meant to happen between her and the rightful heir to the classiest department store in this side of the archipelago.
But she quelled the swoony thoughts for now. If there was one secret she had kept from Dessa all these years, it was her freshman infatuation for Jake. She didn’t know why exactly. Maybe because Dessa was the one who had nipped it in the bud after telling her how much Jake and Abby loved each other. She couldn’t bring herself to admit to her best friend that she actually thought she had a chance with him just because he helped her with the vending machine. The memory reeked of gullibility, which was something she didn’t want to be associated with.
“So I was thinking we could split a cab?” Val motioned to her outfit. “It’s white jeans day.”
Dessa was doing her power walk; and even with her longer limbs, Val struggled to keep up. “Don’t worry. We have a ride today.”
Val was about to ask her what she meant when Dessa suddenly stopped short. “There it is.” She waved to a pickup truck parked near the building.
Its engine sputtered to life grumpily, as if it were complaining that it was too old to be driven around. The truck looked just about ready to fall apart with wheezes and rattles that violently racked its rust-stained body. When it stopped in front of them, Dessa opened the passenger-side door. “She’s hitching, okay?”
“Sure. Jump in, Val.”
Val peered inside and recognition flashed across her face.
“Hey…uh, Dessa’s cousin.”
He chuckled good-naturedly. “EJ.” He handed Dessa a can of root beer. “For you. Hold on a sec.”
As Val climbed into the backseat, EJ got out of the pickup and went to the vending machine in front of the building. When he got back, he presented Val with an orange soda. “I remember you ordered this last time.”
She blinked in surprise, not just at the drink, but also at EJ’s hair. Sans hair product, his curls were twice as wild, twice as poufy. It was almost of pompadour proportions. “Thanks.”
“You okay, there? You can lean back and relax.”
Val had been sitting on the edge of her seat, one palm resting on the back of the driver’s seat for support. Dessa took one look at her and burst out laughing.
“It’s her white jeans.” She pointed out. “And this isn’t exactly the cleanest car in the world.”
Val glared at her. Normally, she didn’t think twice about blatantly expressing her discomfort. But there was a fine line between asserting herself and being a bitch. She had already ditched EJ early at their last date and now, she had forgotten his name. She didn’t want him to think she was totally unfeeling, especially since he remembered her favorite drink.
“It’s fine.”
But EJ had already whipped out his extra shirt from the dashboard and was spreading it on the backseat.
“Sorry about that. I haven’t had time to clean it.”
Val didn’t say anything and settled on the worn leather while opening her can of soda.
“Can you believe that EJ got this to work yesterday? It’s been parked in our garage for months and no one could fix it!”
Val smiled back feebly at Dessa, who was beaming fondly at her cousin.
During the ride, Val kept quiet and listened in on EJ and Dessa’s banter. From the backseat, she had a perfect view of the two’s similar heads of tight curls. It was obvious that the two were close. Dessa told him all about her day, with emphasis on her hell of a thesis, while EJ regaled her with stories about the culinary classes he had been taking.
Before she knew it, they had reached Dessa’s house. Val opened her door and got out.
“I can drop you off,” EJ was looking at her through the open door.
“It’s okay. I can just take the jeep,” Val said then inwardly winced, remembering her white jeans.
Dessa read her mind. “Val lives just a couple of minutes away.” She ushered Val into the passenger side, prompting EJ to transfer the shirt from the backseat to the seat beside him.
Dessa grinned before shutting the door. “See you, tomorrow, Val.”
Val didn’t know whether to hug or strangle her.
As EJ drove, a stretch of awkward silence ensued, broken only by Val’s occasional directions on how to get to her house. After a few moments, she sighed and steeled herself to strike a conversation in exchange for the ride.
“So you’re dead-set about going into the food business?”
EJ looked at her briefly. “Yup, I plan to open a small-scale catering business as soon as I have the capital. Right now, I’m taking freelance work doing computer programming so I can fund the business.”
“Well that’s a big jump. From computers to cooking.”
He grinned. “My dad convinced me to take it up in college. He said I’ll have a good job landing a job after and he was right. But I’ve always loved cooking. Maybe I can do both at the same time. Who knows?”
“Great. That’s great.” She motioned with her right arm. “Make a turn there and you can just drop me off at the corner.”
“You’re not getting off at your house?”
Val hesitated. It had always been SOP for her to ask to be dropped off at the corner, right in front of the neighborhood bakery. No matter how late it was, or how bad the weather, she had always gotten off there so no one would know where she lived—in that the old, dingy apartment just a few meters away.
But this was EJ. Aside from the fact that he was Dessa’s almost-brother, he was just EJ, driving a beat-up truck. She wasn’t interested in either impressing him or hiding anything from him.
“Okay, just go straight.”
They stopped in front of a brown gate with its paint peeling off. Val said her thanks and went down just as the gate sprang open and out popped a petite woman wearing a mocha-colored button-down top and pencil skirt, her dark hair cut in pixie-style.
“Mom!” Valerie planted a kiss on her cheek.
“Who’s that?” Her mom whispered.
“Good afternoon, Ma’am.” Val jumped at EJ’s voice that boomed directly behind her. She didn’t even notice him getting off the truck. As her eyes swept over him, she realized that he wasn’t as short as she remembered. In her flats, he was about an inch taller than her.
“I’m EJ.” He held out his hand.
“Dessa’s cousin,” Val supplied as her mom returned the handshake. She didn’t want to give her any ideas. “Dessa practically ordered him to drop me off.”
EJ grinned. “It wasn’t any trouble.”
“That’s nice of you. Would you like to come in for a snack?”
Val widened her eyes at her, slightly shaking her head.
“Maybe next time, ma’am. I have to rush back to school.” He nodded to Val, the smile never leaving his face. “They’re teaching us the art of making proper pasta. It was nice meeting you, ma’am. See you around, Val.”
When the pickup roared away, Val’s mom commented, “What a nice young man. Good-looking, too—like a young Richard Gomez.”
Val gaped at her, sputtering. “In what part of the universe does he look like a celebrity?”
Her mom looked thoughtful. “It’s the eyes, I think. Did you notice those lashes? And that golden, even tan! He looks like an Arab prince.” She turned to Val. “You just have to get past all that hair. Next time, invite him in.”
“There will be no next time,” Val muttered through gritted teeth. Her mom could be so clueless about her type of guy.