Chapter 2

Friday, a very proactive day indeed for students and teachers alike, to step out of the generic classrooms for some PE sports activities.

Every strand of grade 12 students has been gathered in a very vast field of grass with only two volleyball nets on the field. Yet they only decided to use one net for their joint activity.

STEM, ABM, GAS, TVL, AND HUMSS. Aligned themselves accordingly to their strand and team. Murmurs and muffled laughter from the students could be heard as they grouped and filed in rows.

Ma'am Lovely, their physical education teacher, wearing what every P.E teacher typically wears, a tracksuit with the school's main color, maroon. She stood in front of the students as she debriefed the students on how this game would proceed. Then got irritated when only a handful of students were intently listening.

"Students! Stop your yapping and listen to me thoroughly! Because I won't repeat what I'll say again!" Ma'am Lovely's booming voice cut through the chatty students and made them abruptly shut up.

"Okay, thank you… The rules for this game are just the same as you generally play Volleyball, so please follow them to maintain a fair and fun game. Each team must consist of 6 players, if the team is short of a player or injured and has no substitutes they will be forfeited. There are three ranks in this game and each must be won if you want to proceed to the preliminary, semifinals, and finals. Each time a game is set, the team who wins will take at least a 10 minute break before going back to play another round… The first match ups for the preliminary round is STEM VS ABM, followed by GAS VS TVL, then HUMSS VS HUMSS. I hope all of you manage to hear and understand my explanation, because I won't be repeating it again!" Ma'am Lovely looked around if anyone wanted to complain about her explanation or need any clarifications. She only found that all the students were all focused on her, she nodded in satisfaction at the students' cooperativeness.

"And also keep this in mind, either you win or lose, maintain a good sportsmanship to your opponent. I don't want to see any taunting or aggregations from any team or there will be repercussions, just go out there and have fun. A game is just a game, it's not that important, friendship and sports ethics is. Do you all understand?!" The students collectively nodded in understanding of what the game is supposed to be.

"For the first match, STEM and ABM, move on to the court and let us begin!" Ma'am Lovely instructed.

The students broke apart from their line and took up space outside the court. As the STEM students walked towards their side of the court, Meague looked quite dazed at what's in front of her, she was looking at Sarah and Maria compressively as she stride to the court.

Someone then tapped her shoulder, snapping her out of her tranced state and making her sober. Meague looked back to her classmate and also teammate, Ashly, who tapped her by the shoulder.

"Don't be nervous Megs, let's just stick to the plan and we'll win this game in no time." Ashly said positively and encouragingly to raise Meague's morale. Meague smiled and nodded, remembering their plan a few days ago…

...

'Flash Back to Monday, Afternoon'

3 girls and 3 boys. Meague, Ashly, Hanzl, Jeon, Gabriel, and Iverson sat in a semicircle with their plastic arm chairs. These six STEM students were the chosen ones to play in the volleyball sport. Ma'am Lovely has already informed them of Friday's Sport activities. The others who didn't join or couldn't join were put on the bench as a substitute, or played in the basketball team.

"Sooooooo~ Who's the team captain?" Ashly asked, breaking the silence in the room.

"Hmmmm, I nominate Meague as team captain!" Iverson said as a joke, but everyone -except Meague- agreed to it, saying that it's logical for their best player to be the team captain.

"Huh? Why me of all people, Ashly, you become the team captain!" Meague protested to being assigned to that role. But Ashly was quick witted and deny it by providing a couple of words.

"Oh no, no, no, no no, no~ You are the perfect candidate for the team captain spot Meague. I mean, you are our best player, much better than me even, and not to mention that you have been taught how to play volleyball since you were a child. So, you can take the spot." Ashly was quick to deny the position and gave some convincing enough arguments that everyone agreed to and made Meague's left eye twitch. She couldn't retort nor deny what Ashly said and in the end she hesitantly accepted the team captain position, but she was sure to pay her back…

After everyone was settled on their positions, they began to plan out what they're game tactics were. Everyone was brainstorming what their game plan is going to be, besides one person.

Meague sat by the window and looked out at the HUMSS students playing volleyball outside, the most noticeable players to her were Sarah and Maria, but she found herself looking at Sarah more.

"She's good at handling the ball…." Meague commented when she saw how good Sarah is at controlling the ball and applying her strength to each spike she delivers.

"Huh? What did you say Meague?" Iverson asked while raising an eyebrow at Meague. Iverson's sudden question brought her attention back to the planning, however she was a stuttering mess trying to answer Iverson's earlier question.

"H-huh? A-um, ahh~ Nothing! I just said that Sarah is a good volleyball player and uh- we should be careful of her if we want to win! Yeah, that's right…" Meague said trying to convince no one but herself because she got caught glancing at Sarah.

Her jumpy reaction to the question and the way she talked only brought suspicion to the group, but they dropped it and only nodded, then brought out the possibility that they'll encounter Sarah and her group at one of the matches, so they began to think of ways to match her team.

"Mmmmmhm~, That's true…" Meague sighed in relief when Iverson started to talk. Unbeknownst to her, Iverson noticed it but continued on talking anyway. "Not just Sarah but also Maria, she handles her flexible position as libero and spiker very well. But luckily, some piece of good news I heard that Sarah and Maria won't be on the same team, so we have a high chance of winning one of them!"

Everyone was surprised when Sarah and Maria, the Captain and Vice captain of the volleyball team! Won't be playing together but against one another?!

Iverson just casually dropped valuable information just like that and they each have a questioning look with a hint of surprise at him.

"What? You didn't Know- OHHHH Yeah. I Forgot to tell you all, ehehe, sorry." Iverson raised a peace sign at his irritated classmates, however they only stayed silent and urged Iverson to continue explaining.

"As you already heard, Sarah and Maria won't be playing together, because they said that it is in order for a much more fair game for all…" Iverson finished his explanation in a meek way at the end.

"What?.." Ashly asked, not believing what she just heard.

"In order… For a fair game?... You know, give chance to others, kind of things…" Iverson then shut up when he noticed the dark looks everyone was casting. They were mad, all of them were. They felt conflicted at what they just heard. Iverson gulped down nervously at their reaction, but internally he was smirking.

He managed to raise his teammates' agitation with a little change of wording. What actually happened to why they were separated is because their coach was the one that told them so.

Sarah and Maria didn't want to be separated but their coach insisted they would, in order to step out from their usual partner and branch out while also trying to gauge each other's strength and weaknesses, and also to not dominate the other players, because when the two of them teamed up and played, they have a reputation for dominating their matches.

Meague slammed her hand and stood up with a stoic face yet her eyes screamed to fight and overpower their enemies.

"Who do they think they are hah… What do you mean give chances to others?.. Do they really think they are that good at playing volleyball?! Fine, let's show them that they are not the only players who could dominate their opponent! Let's show the price for underestimating us! Come my teammates, let us practice till our hands are swollen, our knees buckled, and our arms bruised!" Meague gave out a speech that lit a competitive fire in their hearts, their motivation grew as the fire in their eyes burned.

Iverson was smiling throughout. 'heh, i knew that they'll be motivated enough. Just enough till Friday comes, their anger should mellow out by then though… Eh, let's just think of it until then.'

Meague and the group went out to the unoccupied space, just enough for them to practice and polish their skills.

...

Returning to the current match, Ashly spiked the ball and it went to the other side's floor, ma'am Lovely blew the whistle and the game was won by team STEM against team ABM, their score was 21 - 18. "GAS and TVL! Go and occupy your sides. Team HUMSS' be ready, your game will be after this."

Team STEM and ABM exchange a couple words of "nice game", "good game" or

High-fives before walking out of the court, ma'am Lovely saw these interactions and smiled heartily at their good sportsmanships. Winning a competition can be thrilling and make you feel a sense of accomplishment, but good sportsmanship between adversaries is where the heart and joy of sports stems from.

As GAS and TVL prepared themselves to play, a lot of students that were in recess or cutting classes, gathered around the court as an audience. They waited expectantly for an exciting match between this team, and they were excitedly waiting for the HUMSS to play. Word about Sarah and Maria facing each other has spread throughout the campus like wildfire. Talks and gossips loomed around the corners as GAS was handed the first ball.

...…

Both GAS and TVL have shown exceptional skills in playing volleyball. You could tell that they were trying their hardest to keep up with one another, their guards were never lacking and they were returning each other's spikes and serves.

However, team TVL, though very skilled, fell short on experienced volleyball players, in contrast to GAS' team made up of volleyball players. The strand GAS is the one that made up 30% of the volleyball team's sports club. Making the scores 21 - 15.

This match has shown that one's skills are not the only thing that matters, experiences can make the difference in any situation, even how hard it may be.

Even though team TVL lost, they still had fun and extended an arm of a good game, Team GAS took their handshake, but they still celebrated with a slight hint of arrogance. The GAS getting high from the applause of the crowd and their overwhelming victory, made the team captain of TVL click her tongue and walked off with a sour mood which Team GAS, pointed out mockingly with distant booing sounds from the back.

"Tsk, what a bunch of children, I hope lady karma slaps you when you all least expect it…" Claire gnashed her teeth and cursed them under her breath.

"Just let them be Clair, just let them be…" Julie said solemnly as her boyfriend comforted her. Claire didn't talk and just stormed off.

Seeing this poor behavior of sportsmanship enraged ma'am Lovely and ruined her initial good mood.

"GAS! Is this how you show your sportsmanship? By mocking your opponents and celebrating like hooligans?! Do you even have any ounce of shame and humility for the sport?! For your lack of sportsmanship, your points for today's activity will be halved and you won't be given the chance to have the first serve. I hope this will make you rethink your previous behavior." Ma'am Lovely stared them down and some of the GAS students flinched, the others complained that it was unfair and defended by saying that they were only joking around. Ma'am Lovely didn't budge and continued on announcing the next team to play. The GAS team grumbled and unwillingly left the court.

"HUMSS Teams! Go to your separate corners. In order to avoid any misunderstandings, I'll be labeling each team with the captain's name, if that's okay with all of you?" Ma'am Lovely asked both teams expecting it to be denied, yet surprisingly, both teams -besides the captains- agreed and supported the idea by shouting some references.

"NOTHING WILL GET PASS WALL MARIA!!!" Team Maria shouted while posing with their right fist put on their chest like a salute.

"ALL WILL SOAR WITH THE WINGS OF SARAH!!!" Team Sarah shouted as they formed wings with their hands and held it up above their heads.

The audience laughed and cheered along with the HUMSS' and posed with them. Both Maria and Sarah felt embarrassed by their teams' childish bravado, yet they can't help the growing smile on their faces. Maria finally laughed and joined her team's posing and Sarah hesitantly raised her hands along with her team.

"Hm. The first team to serve is Team Sarah! Everyone, be ready we are starting the game!" Ma'am Lovely backed off from the court and held her whistle near her pink lips.

Everyone looked at Sarah with bated breaths and excited looks as she prepared to serve the ball, this is the match up they were all waiting for. Meague looked at Sarah with piqued interest, gauging her movement and comparing herself to Sarah. Meague doesn't want to openly admit it but she too was excited to see how the captain of the volleyball team played.

The sound of the whistle rang throughout the court, prompting Sarah to toss the ball upwards and waited as the ball went down, before she jumped, reaching an impressive height that made the audience shout in spectacle, as she delivered a strong hit to the ball making it soar over the net. This signified a long awaited game has started.