Tumawa muli ang mga echo. Kahit ako ay hindi makapag pigil ng tawa dahil sa kanya. Hinahampas na ni Claud si Ivo. Si Ely at Deborah naman ay pumapalakpak na. Iris is wiping her tears. Si Ayer naman ay nakaluhod na habang hawak ang tiyan niya.
Ayer raised his other hand. “Sandali, hahahhaha. Tama na ang sakit na ng tyan ko.” Hindi namin siya pinansin at tumawa pa lalo si Blanca dahil sa kanya.
“Hahaha Brice, ang ano kasi hahahaha sports ha? Hahaha hindi plano tol.” Hinawakan siya ni Ivo sa balikat habang tumatawa.
“Yes, Brice. We need help in making plays but you need to play.” Fabian is wiping his tears while laughing.
I don’t know if my eyes are playing tricks but I can see Brice’s face is turning red.
“I-I don’t know. Hindi ako nag lalaro.” Nahihiyang tugon niya.
Because of the words he said, they all cleared their throats and tried to keep their laughter.
“Ehem ehem, sige Brice. Turuan ka na lang namin.” Sabi sa kanya ni Ayer.
“Nakakagulat naman bigla nag tagalog yan si Brice.” Blanca mumbled to herself. Natawa ako dahil nasa tabi niya si Fabian na tumatango tango sa kanya.
We spent all of our remaining hours talking about what to do tonight when Stelliferous Entertainment released their statement. Tomorrow is friday and the last day for studies. Starting from Monday to Wednesday we’ll play games and the boys will teach Brice.
Evening arrived, nasa video call kami ng group chat namin. We are all waiting for the release of the statement. Want to hear a news? Kasama namin si Brice sa call.
“Malapit na daw.” I heard Ivo’s voice. Naglalaro kasi sila kanina ng online game. Nalaman ko rin na Asra and Fabian are always playing.
Hindi ko sila pinansin and I continued chatting with Blanca sa pm namin. She said that she’s chatting with the so-called president ng haters. Wala naman itong nababanggit kundi bash para kay Juliana. Nag sesend rin daw ng mga link about sa mga rumors scandal ni Juliana.
Blanca said she doesn't have a choice to bash Juliana rin to get the trust of that person. She found out that this person ang nagsisimula ng mga rumors scandal ni Juliana dahil pati mga deleted links ay nakasave sa kanya.
I told her to continue talking to that hater and wait for the announcement. Nasa call pa rin kaming lahat pero may kanya kanya silang ginagawa. Ang iba ay naglalaro tapos iba nag dadaldalan naman.
“Hoy, Fabian nabaril ako.” Sigaw ni Ayer. It looks like namatay siya sa game.
“Ako den, tangines. Ivo ‘wag dyan tol.” Yamot na sabi ni Earl. Narinig ko rin ang sigaw mula kay Ivo.
“Ikaw na lang last man standing Fabian. Pakipatay yung apat.” Pagsali ni Asra kanina.
Fabian looked at the camera kaya. “Sandali, nakaka pressure kayo.” Tumutok muli siya sa nilalaro niya.
“Isa…dalawa…tatlo.” Bumubulong bulong si Fabian. Maybe he’s counting the enemies he killed dahil nakikita ko ang paglaki ng ngiti nila Asra.
“Apat.” Huminga siya ng malalim at naghiyawan naman sila Ayer. Inayos niya ang earphones at pinatunog ang daliri niya.
“Ayan na!!’ Sigaw ni Ivo saming lahat kaya nagulat kami.
“Ang alin?” I asked him.
“Ano may kalaban ka dyan?” Singit ni Ayer. Oh, games pa pala ang pinag uusapan nila.
“Hindi kasi! Yung announcement andyan na.” Pagkasabi ni Ivo non ay nabigla ako kaya pumunta ako sa official account ng entertainment sa facebook.
Binasa ko yung bagong appload nila and I heard them mumbling, baka binabasa nila. It says that it is confirmed that the man behind the photos is not the husband of the actress. Apology video of the actress will also be uploaded right after this. The issue of Juliana will be cleared next day.
Nirefresh ko yung account ko and I saw the video. There is no doubt that this woman deserves to be the nation’s treasure. Every word she spits is like a weapon she’s harpening. I don’t know why I sense a real regret in her tone.
She apologized that the rumors made her someone she should be. She also didn’t justify any of her wrong doings and promised to trust her husband more than the rumors. She mentioned Juliana and said that she is willing to help her when time comes.
After watching the video, my phone vibrated. Nakita kong floods ang messages sakin ni Blanca.
“What?”
“After 10 minutes, nagsend sakin ng message yung hater. Sabi niya para daw hindi ako madisppoint sa mga trainees, mas maganda daw kung isusupport ko si Roxanne. Mas maganda naman daw iyon at magaling. Pumayag naman ako kahit hindi ko kakilala.” She replied.
Support Roxanne? Is it a coincidence or talagang gusto niyang maging fan ni Roxanne ang mga hater ni Juliana.
“Take a screenshot and send it to Echo kingdom.” Utos ko sa kanya.
Blanca sent it to our group chat at nakita ko kaagad ang pagseen nila. Kung ano anong mga nireact nila sa screenshot.
Narinig ko naman sa call ang mga tawanan nila. Ang kapal daw ng mukha ng hater na yun. Nang hila ng iba para iangat ang iba. Natatawa ako dahil sa mga sinasabi nila. Yung iba ay puro lait pero may mga sense naman.
“Roxanne? Yan yung no.2 trainee na susunod kay Juliana eh.” Biglang sabi ni Ivo na nag pahinto samin ng tawa.
Oh oh. “Fishy.” Hindi ko mapigilan masabi iyon.
“Yes.” First word ni Brice simula nung nag call kami. “Tell it to the PR manager, Ivo.” Utos niya and Ivo nodded.
I told them to share the announcement, comment on some nice words for the actress and cheer up Juliana. The girls sent the fans of Juliana they found earlier to also do the same. Ginawa namin yun for an hour at nag trending pa sa twitter ang #nohate dahil hindi gaano kadaming negative comments ang naiwan para sa dalawa.
That’s how our night ended.
Monday arrived, we will all wear our p.e uniform and go straight to the basketball court. Kami lang ang maging tao dun dahil nakareserve samin. We have 4 basketball courts, 4 volleyball courts, 4 badminton courts, 4 tennis courts and a big soccer field. That’s how big our campus is.
Pagpasok ko sa court ay tunog ng mga sapatos ang narinig ko. I saw Ayer na hinahabol si Blanca. Naninibago ako sa mga suot namin. We’re all wearing black and white jogging pants and shirts.
“Good morning.” I greeted them. Umupo ako sa mga bench at tumabi naman si Blanca sakin na hinihingal.
“Alam mo na yung announcement?” Tanong ni sakin.
“No, ano yun?” Tanong ko habang nirorolyo ko pataas ang jogging pants ko. It’s too hot, hindi nakabukas ang aircon ng court.
“Hmm, imo move daw sportsfest next week. Monday to wednesday ang sportsfest tapos thursday ang dance competition and last issss.” Pinahaba niya ang s para maging suspense ang mag announce niya. “Student’s night sa friday.”
“So we have 1 week to prepare all of them.” Tinignan ko siya.
“Yep!” Malaking ngiti pa ang binigay niya sakin.
“One week, Blanca. One week to try the sports and practice for the dance.” Pagod ko siyang tinignan. Pinakita ko talaga sa kanya na hindi good news ang dinala niya.
Nawala sa mukha niya agad ang ngiti niya. “Hala!!!! Oo nga patay.” She screamed while her both hands were on her head.
Lahat sila napatingin samin. “Sino nagsabi?” Binalik ko ang tingin sa kanya.
She pointed behind me. “Brice.” Lumingon ako and I saw Brice holding pile of papers.
I stood up para puntahan siya. “Imo Move daw sportsfest?” Tinanong ko siya para makasigurado.
He nodded. “Yes, that’s why we need to try the sports today. Tomorrow we’ll think about the concept of the dance. We'll use Wednesday to Friday for practice.” Inabot niya sakin ang mga papel.
Tinignan ko iyon at nakitang schedule yun na ginawa niya for our class. “Ikaw gumawa?”
“Yes, can you help me distribute it?”
“Oh, okay. Thank you.” Inayos ko ang mga papel na inabot niya sakin at tumayo.
I gave one schedule per person. Nakita ko ang pag dismaya at gulat sa mukha nila. The boys even dropped the ball they're holding nang makita ang schedule.