The Issue (I)

07:19 A.M.

Sunflower Villa's Basketball Court and Playground.

June 6th, the year 2018. Wednesday.

Matthew sat down on one of the toughened benches. Inside the Sunflower Villa's Basketball Court. He was waiting for Marcus to arrive. The entire area was quiet. Not a single person was lurking around the court. Matthew was the only one inside. 

The wind hustled across the surface, making the dry leaves scattered everywhere. It also made Matthew shiver from his seat. He was wearing his favorite jersey shirt from his college varsity days at Del Rio University.

Matthew's rest day spent practicing in the field. His coach already spoke that they should take some sleep for today. He called Marcus earlier to have a play. 

While Matthew was observing the trees swaying with the gust of the wind, something came to mind. He remembered what happened between his two best friends in the Kingston Restaurant. 

He got puzzled by Katrina's actions. When she said that she will be an official actress at ASN Studios, her pride rose more than before. She changed a lot. 'She changed, but that is not better for her.' Matthew said in his thoughts. 

Mina's teasing was always the truth. Matthew wanted to defend himself from that. He doesn't want to voice out that he loves Katrina. 

He felt shy around girls, and it felt like he would die a thousand times if he confessed his feelings. He was 23 years of age but he's still labeled as 'No Girlfriend Since Birth.'

'I wanted to court Katrina, but I would rather die out of confession or rejection.' Matthew said in his thoughts, scared of it. Matthew was still curious about how Marcus stood up with confession towards Zoey.

If he did it earlier, he and Katrina will be in a relationship that will last longer than he thought. 

"Hey!" Matthew got surprised by that call and saw Marcus sitting beside him on the bench.

"You are nodding like crazy," Marcus said while smirking. Matthew furrowed his eyebrows while Marcus was smirking towards him. Marcus was wearing another white shirt and simple basketball shorts. He was not into basketball, but Matthew knew he can play well. 

"You look crazy, bro!" Marcus yapped. 

"Who is crazy?" Matthew's annoyed with Marcus's banter. 

"Of course it's you. You're the only one here," Marcus voiced, then laughed again. Matthew said nothing while glaring at Marcus. His laugh died down suddenly.

"Hey, chill! You are shooting daggers at your look," Marcus pointed out. 

"You got scared by that?" Matthew asked while standing up from his seat and grabbing the ball from the ground.

"You have a bad temper, that's why," Marcus said. 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," Matthew dribbled the ball. Marcus's cell phone suddenly rang when Matthew was about to pass the ball to him. 

He saw Marcus smile while tapping something on his cellphone. Matthew walked towards the shooting ring of the court while dribbling the ball. When Marcus put down his cellphone, he glanced beside him and saw that Matthew's gone. He looked around and saw Matthew dribbling his ball while standing on the shooting ring of the court. Matthew smirked at him. 

"Who is crazy now between us?" Matthew teased him. Marcus stood up from his seat as fast as lightning and stole the ball from him.

"Hey, I'm crazy about love. You, you are crazy!" Marcus hollered, then ran like a ninja while dribbling the ball.

"Hey, come back here!" Matthew shouted while running. The game started between the two while still laughing their ass off. They scored one after another, not counting it because the play was for fun. 'I miss playing with my best bud.' Matthew cheered in his thoughts. 

After 30 minutes of playing, the two of them took a break. They sat on the bench and drank water from their tumblers.

"I miss playing for fun," Marcus observed the trees. It was relaxing to see. 

"I finally have this day to play again. It is so busy in Manila National Police Station," he added. 

"I miss playing with you, bro," Matthew punched Marcus's arms. He touched Matthew's arms and drew, "Me too. I miss playing with you."

Matthew immediately removed his arm from Marcus's and barked, "You're disgusting, bro."

"What? I am the one disgusting now?" 

"You're gay!" Matthew then laughed as Marcus squinted his eyes towards him.

"I'm gay right now, huh?" 

"Yes," Matthew muttered while howling his laughter out loud.

"Wow! Who doesn't have a girlfriend between us?" Marcus teased. Matthew's laughter died down in an instant as Marcus said that. He glared at Marcus. 

"Bro, court Katrina now." 

"Tsk, here we go again." 

"Why not?"

"Bro, please, stop it." 

"Why? Tell me, you can't keep secrets. We have been best friends for a long time," Marcus began in a serious tone. Matthew locked his eyes with Marcus while saying that. 'Because I don't want to accept rejection. You can't read this, you are not Carmela.' Matthew whispered in his thoughts.

"It's because... you don't want to rejection?" Marcus smirked. Matthew got shocked that Marcus read his mind. He shifted his eyes again and thought about Katrina's rejection of him.

"Hey, penny for your thoughts?" Marcus asked. Matthew looked at him and said nothing.

"Because I've read your mind?"

"You are a lot like Carmela," Matthew finally said.

"I learned about her simple techniques," he beamed. 

"You're right, Marcus," Matthew said while sighing.

"Which one? The one you don't want to court her or you don't want to any rejection from the one and only Katrina Fajardo?" Marcus asked, while counting on his fingers.

"I don't want to court her because I don't want rejection." Matthew muttered while slowly looking at Marcus.

"The truth finally revealed. That you don't want to court her because you don't want rejection. Why not try it first? Maybe she likes you, too. She was waiting for you to make a move," Marcus explained. Matthew shut his mouth tight.

"Bro, think of this. Be optimistic about courting Katrina. She doesn't have a boyfriend now, right? Maybe she's waiting for you," Marcus said while pointing to Matthew.

"Don't make me fall for those assumptions, Marcus."

"I don't make assumptions here, Matthew. But if I were you, I would confess my heart out to her. There is nothing for you to lose. And it's our best friend. You should confirm if she likes you or not," Marcus elaborated.

"Look at me with Zoey, I finally got her yes," Marcus added while blushing.

"Tsk, we know Zoey likes you back in high school, right?" Matthew reminded him. Marcus shrugged his shoulders. 

"And let me remind you like Carmela and you confess it only to me," Matthew grinned. Matthew smiled a little and sighed.

"I blew my feelings to Carmela away with the wind when I noticed Xian is courting her," Marcus mewled. He chuckled a little and looked down.

"That scumbag. He cheated on Carmela," Marcus added while looking at his hands. Matthew felt the rage when Carmela cried over her eyes out when she saw Xian cheating on her. He saw Carmela's shaking shoulders that time, badly hurt, wounded. 

"You are too much affected, eh?" Matthew recovered and teased Marcus.

"It's 2 years before we knew Xian was cheating on her," Marcus explained. 

"You still look at Carmela as your best friend?" 

"Wait up! Wait up! Why did you change the topic? We are talking about Katrina earlier, right?" Marcus said, irritated, while sitting up straight. Matthew laughed again. While he was laughing his head off, he saw a figure across from them, outside the basketball court. Matthew's laugh died down and squinted his eyes.

The person was standing still. His hands were in his black hoodie's pockets and it placed the hood of his jacket on his head, covering his face. Matthew felt the person was observing them for a long time.