Mini Chapter: The Halo-Halo Heard 'Round the Tournament

Location: A quiet roadside halo-halo stand, Daet

Time: 3:17 PM, post-practice free hour

Dane and Alona were just two teenagers sharing a large bowl of halo-halo under the lazy shade of a mango tree.

Alona had picked out all the beans and passed them to Dane without asking. Dane, in return, gave her all the nata de coco. It was quiet. The kind of warm quiet that doesn't need filling, the kind where every spoonful was shared like a secret.

It was not a date.

Probably.

Maybe.

They didn't say anything about that part.

Across the Street: Tennis Intel Incoming

Jomar and Mira, doubles partners and the unofficial gossip antennas of Gubat Coastal High's tennis team, had just stepped out of the nearby 7-Eleven with slushies when they froze in place.

There they were.

Dane. Alona.

One table.

One halo-halo.

Two straws.

Mira whispered, "Are we witnessing history?"

Jomar squinted. "They're using two straws, not one straw. We might still be in ambiguous territory."

"They're laughing," Mira added, eyes narrowing like a wildlife documentarian. "She just wiped ube off his nose."

"IT'S A DATE," they said in unison.

Initiating Gossip Protocol

They bolted.

Ten minutes later, the volleyball team had heard.

Fifteen minutes later, the chess club was debating the romantic implications of shared crushed ice.

At the thirty-minute mark, the badminton team knew.

Nina dropped her iced tea. "I KNEW IT."

Yumi screamed into her towel like a banshee in love.

Coach Command Central

Later that evening, at the coaches' dinner table:

Coach Leia (Volleyball): "Did you hear about Dane and Alona?"

Coach Tonton (Tennis): "You mean the halo-halo incident?"

Coach Cely (Badminton), sipping her coffee: "They've entered the dessert stage. Classic soft-launch."

Coach Dan (Basketball) blinked. "Wait, what's happening with Dane?"

"Apparently, he's in a situationship," Leia said, grinning.

Coach Cely smirked. "We've been rooting for this since Intrams."

Dan looked down at his sinigang and sighed. "I leave the boy alone for one snack and he develops a love arc."

Oblivious Pair Still Sharing Ube

Meanwhile, back at the halo-halo stand, Dane and Alona were completely unaware.

She was laughing about a teammate's foot getting stuck in a net.

He was listening, just smiling, his spoon lazily poking at the ice.

"I like hanging out like this," Alona said softly.

Dane looked up. "Me too."

In another dimension, Jomar and Mira were probably already creating a couple name.

"Dalona," Mira would say.

"No. Alane," Jomar would counter.

"Wait," Mira would whisper. "That's kinda good."