"He is here to avenge his on-and-off girlfriend."
Viviana told me in the break time before accepting his challenge. He was going to defeat me to take the humiliation off of Sasha's face.
"You do not have to."
Even the coach said, but I did not know why I went ahead and accepted it as if wanting to make myself stand out for him.
"I accept!"
I said, making him smirk at me and I did not look away from him this time.
When the whistle blew off, we both took our positions on either side of the net. He had the ball and I waited for him to do the first throw.
Instead, he came forward, just a few inches away from the net. It made me narrow my eyes. Neither I nor anybody could understand his move.
"Here..."
He extended the ball over the net.
"Do the honour."
He completed. At first, even though I was not sure before, but then moving towards him, I accepted it.
Taking the ball from his hold, I stepped backwards and so did he, with our eyes remaining stuck to each other.
Not wasting another second, I hit the ball to the other side and he returned it to me in no time.
The crowd went wild the moment he did that, making me shake my head, not understanding what was so special about it.
The next few minutes, we both did not intend to lose any time soon as we hit the ball back and forth from one side to the other.
The first round passed with a draw. I was dripping with sweat and so was he. After drinking water, we both came down to the ground for the second round.
This time he had the ball and he hit it to my side. I ran forward to strike it back at him but midway, I looked up. He had taken his vest off distracting my mind for a flash of second.
He caught me in the act, smirking as usual, making me realize later that I had missed the ball as it fell on the ground.
His friends ran towards him yelling and screaming for scoring his first. It was not just them but the entire crowd except for Viviana who stared at me dejected.
Once he came back to play, his face grinned at me as if letting me know my eventual defeat in the coming round.
It somehow lifted my spirits. It seemed like he had never lost to anyone. And I wanted to be that one to make him taste his first loss so that he would remember this match between us forever.
I slammed the ball back with all my might and he pushed it off from his side with the same stamina.
On and on, everyone watching from one side to the other. Neither of us wanted to lose. It was very apparent by then.
One draw, one where he scored, and this round, if I did not make him give it to me, he would be slapping defeat onto my face.
Desperate times called for desperate moves. My urge to make him miss made me pull my t-shirt off of myself, too.
And that instantly did it. Even though I doubted it at first to work. It did make me jump up with a smile bright on my face.
He knew what he was doing back then so now it made us both equal. His eyes stared at me as if he knew why I had done what I did.
As expected, no one cheered for me. If not for Viviana crying out my name, I would have felt the most unwelcome player here.
The whistle blew off indicating for the final round. I was about to put my shirt off but then his girlfriend spoke out.
"That was a trap."
It made all of us look at her. She continued.
"She took off her shirt purposefully."
Before anyone could oppose Sasha, he did it. Shaking his head, he signalled to her not to prolong this.
"I mean he took his shirt off too. But when a woman does, it is a problem Sasha?"
Viviana raised her voice, pulling out the feminism card, making me stifle my laughter. In no time, some of the girls stood by her claim.
"Alright, we start the final round."
Coach Pamella blew out the whistle making both of us take our stands. I threw off my shirt not putting it back. He saw it and I did not turn away.
As I picked up the ball, keeping my eyes still on him. He did not let go of my stares either.
I stood up with the ball in my hand, getting ready to hit it off. Taking a deep breath and parting my eyes off of him, I finally punched the ball into his side.
Nobody must have expected it. Because I bet neither he. But mistakes happen when you least anticipate them.
Coach Pamella let go of the whistle, and by that time, we all knew what the result was.
The ball touched his arm as he hit it off, calling his first ever toppling. Before I could even react, Viviana had come down and hugged me yelling my name out.
I could not contain my joy either. It felt like the most extreem matches I had ever played since the interschool semi finals.
Coach Pamella congratulated me and so did others one by one. By the time, I could check out the expression on his face, he had been already out of there. So were his friends.
Did I hit him really hard by handing him his first loss?
I wonder about it sometimes...even to this date. The answers to such questions, I could never find.
The file lying on top of others on my table made me think about it again...what if I wanted to pull his leg down again?
The last time he made sure to make me run away. What would he do this time?
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