"Please, Rennan, I am begging you! It's just a date. Totally harmless. It's not as if she's asking for you to impregnate her, so please."
I'm almost on my knees right now in front of my twin brother, who does nothing anyway but laugh at me. More than anyone else, I know he's enjoying this because he's used to seeing me get the things I want easily in our family.
"You do not know what you're asking, twin sister. I perfectly know this already. If I go out with her once, for sure she will demand another one. And if that happens, she will cling to me like a leech," Rennan said seriously.
"Then reject her! Anyway, all she's just asking is just for a single date. So please.. I will be grateful forever if you will be doing this too for the sake of my team."
At that, he laughed louder, while I, on the other hand, just sighed heavily. Damn, he's really enjoying seeing me like this.
"Okay, fine. Just don't blame me if anything goes wrong! Tell her then that I will date her on Friday. I'll pick her up from their classroom," he said.
I blinked twice at that. Did I hear him right? He agreed to it!
"Whoa!"
"Yehey, thank you so much, Rennan! From now on, I won't even bully you anymore!" I am so happy that I even hugged him, which kind of feels awkward since I am not really affectionate towards my brother unless there is something I really need from him.
Finally, our team is still complete. It may be tough at this point, though it has always been since the beginning, but we're going to be okay.
This is not yet the end for St. Agatha School of Mount Carmela's Women's VBT!
***
"Okay, while we are waiting for the second set, let's do a quick background check here. St. Agatha School of Mount Carmela joined us two years ago, led by their team captain, Arya Astrid Fonacier. And to all our fans who've been following the women's volleyball, you perfectly know that ever since this team joined, they haven't won any games yet. Not even a single set."
"You're right, partner. Hence the reason as well why there are just a few fans watching them here, contrary to when it's their men's team playing, where almost the entire school is watching to support.
"Yes, so maybe after all, we can't really blame the Lady Vikings that they can't win. Maybe aside from the fact that there is no support from their school, I also heard that there are no funds for them too."
"That's horrible. But then, maybe the management of St. Agatha is really having second thoughts because, if you can see partner, let's be honest here, ever since they joined the interschool league, they haven't improved at all as a team. The only ones we could see who kind of stepped up are their setter, Katarina Abigail Salazar, and the libero, Gail Yara Capistrano, and of course, their ace player, Arya Astrid Fonacier."
"And did you know that Arya is the girlfriend of the SAS men's volleyball team captain, Maven Fajardo? What an ideal couple!"
"But then, it still can't cover the fact here that the SAS Lady Vikings cannot stop the bleeding."
Well, commentators are not called commentators for nothing, and I know for a fact that my teammates are already bothered and distracted, adding to the fact that the fans of our opponents are yelling and cheering loudly.
"Come on girls, relax. Don't let them in," I said in an attempt to comfort them, though I knew it was no use. It's been years, but playing in a crowd such as this is still as unnerving as ever.
"Anyway, win or lose, Arya Astrid is still my crush!" one of the commentators declared shamelessly. I just rolled my eyes and tightened the ponytail of my shoulder-length hair.
"If you can see, Kisha, you are being targeted by the spikers because they can see that you cannot receive the ball properly, so Gail, if you can please just help her out," Trina said, and the others agreed to that as well.
This is just a best-of-three set, so we have to win this because if not, it means that we lose the match.
To be honest, I can see some improvements in my teammates, but our opponents are just really good. And unfortunately for us, the team we're up against right now is last year's champions.
"If we can't win this, then at least let's give our best," said Kristel, one of our sophomores, and I appreciated it a lot.
The sound of the buzzer got our attention, and it means that the second set will begin already. Kristel is the first one who will be serving, and thankfully, it's good.
"Mine!" I yelled when the ball was back at our side. I made sure to receive it properly so Trina would be able to set it. It's a success, so I stepped back to get ready for the offense. When the time was just right, I leaped off and spiked the ball hard. The other team's players are way taller, but it seems like Lady Luck is with me because when they blocked it, it went straight outside.
At every point, we are celebrating. It's our way to cheer up one another.
I focused on the game, thinking that we had to win it. Or if we really can't, at least just give them a good one to prove that our team has improved despite the fact that we do not have a coach.
Trina and I improvised everything we could. Actually, even she is trying to turn her tricks into points by dropping the ball on the other court, but of course, everybody knows, even amateur fans, that it's something we can't always do because just then, the other team will be cautious about it already.
When the second set ended, of course we did not make it, but at least it felt satisfying that we did not look like a bunch of laughing stock since the gap in the scores wasn't really that big.
"Congratulations!" I told the captain ball of the other team, but to my surprise, she actually crossed the net to go to our side and then hugged me.
"I have so much respect for you and your team. Despite the fact that you do not have a coach or support from your school, you still play. God, I wish we were on the same team," she declared, full of emotions.
I am so flustered by that that I can practically feel the heat on my cheeks. I just bid my thanks to her and went with my team to the dugout so we could gather our things.
"Ate Arya, can I go already? I'm sorry, but my brother is waiting for me," Kristel asked, clutching her duffel bag with her.
"Oh, sure, no problem," I replied with all smiles. She just smiled back at me before turning on her back to leave.