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It's taken a while but she's beginning to like volleyball. Some days, she even likes it a lot, and there are stretches where she thinks that she loves the sport. It's fun -- fun-fun! -- and she's picked up the basics quite quickly, and she's beginning to make a difference for their team.
Yet basketball remains Ace's first love. So tonight, even though she's tired from practice and there's still some homework she needs to do, she walks to the nearby court with her ball tucked under her elbow, determined to put up some shots.
The rhythm returns to her easily enough. Thumb at the seam, four fingers spread. Off-hand to guide the ball. Elbow bent. Flick of the wrist. The ball drops through the net with a satisfying swish, and Ace smiles to herself before she chases after the ball. She follows the pattern that her father taught her, before he got sick and everything changed. Ten shots under the basket. Ten shots on each baseline. Ten shots from the free throw line. Ten shots from the top of the arc. Ten shots from the corner.
Before she knows it, she's worked up a sweat and her arms burn with that familiar ache. She still has too much energy to burn, though, so she sets up under the basket again and begins the pattern once more.
"Galing naman."
The teasing tone knocks her out of her concentration and the undergoal stab swirls around the rim before falling off. The ball bounces awkwardly, out of her reach, and Ace winces when it rolls right into Jana's path.
She picks it up and dribbles it a bit, before putting up a shot. It hits nothing but net, and Jana turns to her with a blinding grin that steals the breath from her lungs, just a little.
"Ano ginagawa mo dito?" Ace asks.
"Dumaan ako sa inyo, andito ka daw sabi ni Tita." Jana dribbles the ball again, and puts up another shot. Again, nothing but net. "Baka ikaw dapat tanungin ko kung ba't ka andito." She picks up the ball and tucks it under her arm, and searches Ace's face. She raises an eyebrow, and asks: "May aawayin ba ako?"
Ace chuckles. "Hilig mo talaga mang-away, ano?"
"Hindi ah! Inaaway ba kita?"
"Oo kaya," Ace says. She watches as Jana tries to dribble between her legs and laughs when she can't quite do it. "Lagi mo akong inaaway dati."
"Dati 'yun," Jana tells her, giving up on dribbling and instead camping at the free throw line, and attempting a shot. It hits the rim and clangs off, and Ace grabs the rebound before the ball hits Jana.
"Dati?"
"Oo," Jana confirms. "Dati, noong …" She trails off, and Ace is surprised to see a faint blush on her cheeks.
"Noong ano?" she asks. She's not as clueless as she looks but she wants to hear the words from Jana.
Jana rolls her eyes. "Alam mo na 'yun!" She tries to grab for the basketball but Ace keeps it away from her, and smiles widely -- the kind of smile that shows off her dimples and turns her eyes into crescents. Jana would be so annoyed if she isn't so enthralled .
"Eh hindi ko nga alam," Ace says. She holds the ball over her head, knowing Jana can't grab it. "Ano ba tayo dati?"
Jana rolls her eyes. "Eh 'di teammates," she says. She watches as Ace effortlessly dribbles the ball between her legs, behind her back, then tries a picture-perfect jump shot that swishes through the rim and then the net. She makes it look easy and Jana feels a twinge of envy, which she shakes off immediately.
"Okay," Ace says. She's still smiling and Jana is tempted to do something about it -- something crazy, like kiss that grin off her face. She's reminded of a couple of days ago, of what should have been their prom night, when they danced in this very court and kissed and even managed to play a little basketball.
"Okay," Jana echoes. She puts her hands on her hips and watches as Ace hits ten free throws in a row. "So …"
"So?"
"Alam mo, minsan nakakainis ka," Jana says. She frowns at Ace and makes a move as if to leave.
She hears the ball drop to the court before she feels the hand that gently wraps around her wrist. "Ano ba kasi 'yun?" Ace asks. She rubs a thumb along Jana's wrist and Jana sighs, slightly surprised at how quickly her annoyance dissipated. She looks up and sees Ace's smile and she can't help but smile back. "Tanungin mo na," Ace says. Her grin widens. "Go."
Jana rolls her eyes, recalling when she said those exact words to Ace. The question in her mind is different from the one that Ace asked, however. "Hay nako." She pulls her hand out of Ace's grip; before she can complain, she steps closer and hangs both her arms over the taller girl's shoulder. "Kasi kung dati teammates tayo," she says, "Ano tayo ngayon?"
Ace tilts her head to one side, then to the other. She drops her hands to Jana's waist and holds on loosely. "Ano ba gusto mo?" she asks. Jana is asking a question that she has already thought about, over and over. The conclusion had been fairly obvious for Ace -- she'll follow Jana's lead in this, just as she does on the court.
Jana grins at her. "Ikaw, ikaw gusto ko," she says.
Ace blushes, and grins. She dips her head, hiding her expression from Jana, but soon enough she lifts her gaze again and meets Jana's eyes. "Okay," she says.
"Anong okay?" Jana asks. Her tone is demanding, and Ace can't help but laugh.
"Okay nga! Kasi pareho lang tayo," Ace says. When she speaks again, her voice is sure. She's hesitant about a lot of things -- her serve, her approach from the middle, her timing at the net -- but not about this. "Ikaw kasi ang gusto ko."
It's not like either of them are saying anything new. They both already know these things about themselves, and about each other. But to utter the words aloud gives them meaning, gives them power, gives them significance -- gives them life . The things they know about each other and about themselves are now real.
Jana has a satisfied smile on her face, and she leans up to steal a quick kiss. "Wala ng bawian, ha," she says.
"Wala na talaga," Ace tells her. She knows she has a silly smile on her face, all because of Jana's kiss. "Nag-mine na ako, 'di ba?"
She watches as the smile on Jana's face grows wider, and she leans down for another kiss. Before their lips can touch, however, Jana pulls away, and picks up the basketball that has rolled, unnoticed, a few steps from them.
"Ano," Jana says, tone playful but challenging, "Game?"
Lagi, para sa'yo , Ace thinks. Some words, however, aren't as easy to say as others. So she just grins and moves closer, as if to play defense against Jana. She leans close, until she can brush a kiss against Jana's cheek, and whispers her answer into her ear.
"Game."