Rematch

CHAPTER 6

Despite my promise to Zach, I still ran away. It was just that being in the same space breathing the same air with Jarlin for a prolonged period was utterly...overwhelming.

"I met him," I breathed over the phone the moment Zoey picked up. Which was after five tries.

"Who?" she asked.

"Trance."

Silence. If she wasn't so busy with her Media Club tasks, I would have gone to her to personally recount the details and witness her reaction.

"Then?" she asked again.

I ignored her delayed reaction thinking she was as surprised as I was so I just went on blabbing about meeting my rival-slash-someone I admire-slash-ex fiancée-now-nothing after two years of barely hearing anything about him. "We played one-on-one basketball."

"Really? Are you sure it was him though?" she pressed, sounding a little confounded.

"How could I not be sure? I already hit someone else just because I thought I was delusional!" my voice raised a pitch higher. "God, I hope Athena's okay."

"Your roommate? You hit your roommate?" she chuckled in disbelief.

I cringed at the memory again. "It was an accident. I was aiming the ball at his face but Athena caught it instead."

"So, Athena caught it? I thought you said you hit her?"

"Yeah, she caught it. With her face," I groaned feeling guilty for what I did. "I'm such a terrible roommate. She was always cheering me up and all. And I repaid her by almost causing her a concussion." Zoey laughed and I frowned. "It's not funny," I pouted although she couldn't see me as I was in the World Park, sulking on one of the hanging benches under a Fire Tree.

"Okay. Back to Jarlin. I just couldn't believe you'd play with him," she murmured, the wonder in her voice evident. "I have always imagined you running for the hills the very second you see him. I mean, after what you did the last time, right?"

I clicked my tongue because I imagined the same thing. "You know he's not the only reason why I had to fly out of the country," I defended belatedly.

"Yeah, but he didn't," she pointed out and I knew she was right. "All you left him was your version of the ten things I hate about you-"

"Shut up, Dude," I cut her off recalling the ridiculous letter that I had asked to be given to Jarlin before I left for the Philippines. "I was sixteen then. We are bound to do stupid things while we're young."

"Uhuh, and you kind of already maxed out your allowable I-can-be-stupid-at-times chances. That means there's no more room for choosing to be stupid this time," she lectured me. "You don't know until when he'd stay. So better tell him everything."

My shoulders sagged in defeat. "It doesn't matter whether I tell him everything or not, Zoey. It's not like it would make any difference."

"It might."

"Dude, don't give me false hopes. I've been there. Look where it got me?"

Zoey sighed heavily, a sign that she's dropping the subject altogether. "Fine. I'll talk to you later. Still have a lot on my plate. Stupid Geo."

We ended the call leaving me to continue moping on the bench that slightly swayed whenever the wind picked up. Once in a while, I'd look behind me just to be sure no one followed. That Jarlin didn't follow me.

My eyebrows crashed as the thought occurred to me. He couldn't have followed me to the Philippines, right? Because that would be ridiculous. Also, he was being scouted for the US National Team so why would he? If anything, maybe he was just unwinding before he went back to some famous university for training where he was currently enrolled in.