THIRD PERSON'S POV
They were all in the gym for their P.E. subject. Jharied and Heartfilia were classmates; the whole section was now seated on the floor, looking at Mr. Vallar - their P.E. teacher - who was holding a bond paper listing the groups for the day's activity.
"Ok class, I'm going to divide you all into two groups. There's no cheating here, because I drew lots," Mr. Vallar announced seriously.
He called out, "First group: Montana, Maestre, Soria, Maximo, Dellova Alex, Herrer, Vargas!" as one by one everybody followed the list.
"Babe, you're grouped with Samantha. Good luck," Nicole teased Joseph.
"Why her? Can I switch? I really don't want to fail!" Joseph whined, stamping his foot on the floor.
"Next group!" Mr. Vallar exclaimed, straightening up the group of friends.
"This is the first time Mr. Cojuangco and Ms. Mereles are in the same group." He even looked at the two of them, smiling. Jharied and Filia exchanged glances.
"Sir, the activity will have no thrill. You put those two together," Lara commented, smirking.
Rey added, "Precisely, sir-how are we to take pleasure in this?
"I can't do anything about it. I didn't choose for them to be together," replied Mr. Vallar, laughing.
"Okay, Mr. Cojuangco's groupmates are: Mereles, Quintero, Dellova Rey, Jimenez, Fajardo, Mariano. Now go to your respective groups. By the way, Mr. Lucero, get the other ball from my office," he instructed Roy.
"Aye, aye, sir!" Roy replied quickly as he ran out of the gym.
Everyone went to their respective groups.
"This is your chance, Sam. Always hit Filia," whispered Nancye, grinning.
"I'll start giving her a hard time now," Samantha replied before snatching up the ball and bouncing it on the floor several times.
On the other side, Filia's group was sitting while Heartfilia fixed her shoelaces to avoid them coming undone later.
"Well, would you look at that; we're not on opposite sides today," Jharied said, smiling at her.
Filia just raised an eyebrow at him.
"You sound like you don't want me on your team?" Jharied asked, leaning slightly closer.
"I don't. I won't enjoy it with you as my teammate. You should be with Samantha," was her prompt, straightforward response as she didn't even look in his direction.
"Then I'll switch with Joseph," Jharied replied, instantly rising and walking toward Samantha's spot.
"Hey, gay guy, let's switch—you go over there, I'll be here," he said briefly to Joseph.
Joseph's eyes lit up and he looked relieved. "Alright! Thanks, Papa Jharied!" he exclaimed, running to Filia's group.
"This looks like it is going to be a good game. I'll prepare myself," said a very excited Alex.
"Ms. Mereles, I forgot you can't actually join…" their teacher suddenly said; all eyes turned to Filia who was already up and ready.
"It's okay, sir. I need the workout, anyway," she said with a smile.
"Are you sure? If you can't handle it, just let me know."
Filia nodded confidently.
"Good luck to us, ladies! We can do this!" exclaimed Joseph, acting as the team hype-man.
The rest of them took their positions on their side. Samantha smiled at Filia, but Filia returned a serious stare with no reaction.
Roy blew the whistle, and the game was on.
The ball was on Samantha's side; she threw it to Iris. Iris smirked and then spiked it.
"Mine!" Nicole shouted as she struck the ball.
"Mine!" Filia immediately called. She jumped and spiked the ball across the court.
Jharied met it instantly and hit it back.
"Mine, mine!" Joseph exclaimed jokingly and spiked the ball with full force.
Nancye ran to get it but didn't reach it; she even fell flat on the floor.
"Yes!" the three shouted in glee and high-fived. "1–0!" Roy yelled.
More students were coming to watch them play. The game was getting intense, too. Nicole and Joseph noticed how Filia had been the target of the three girls all the time. Both were getting angry now. Filia was panting hard since she was exhausted.
Samantha spiked the ball towards Filia. Immediately, Filia adjusted, ran, and hit the ball at mid-air. Jasmine missed it, so she gave Filia a dirty look.
Now the ball was on Samantha's side and Jasmine was up to serve. The three girls smirked, and Nicole clearly saw their mischievous smiles.
Jasmine spiked the ball hard.
"Mine," Nicole said coolly. She immediately positioned herself, met the ball, and hit it back with full force toward Jasmine.
"Mine," Nancye called out, hitting it, but it fell short. Jharied immediately jumped to save it.
"Mine," Kara said seriously and then spiked the ball.
The three friends jumped to hit the ball. Samantha was the one who managed to spike it. She smirked as she saw Filia bent over, heavily breathing. The ball was heading straight for her.
Nicole and Joseph looked at Filia.
"Filia!" they called out.
Filia looked back at them. Her eyes widened when she saw the ball rapidly approaching them.
Suddenly, someone cut in front of her and she was surprised- Lara, grinning.
"Mine!" Lara shouted before hitting it.
When Joseph saw that Lara's hit was too weak, he immediately jumped and spiked the ball. Samantha's group missed it completely.
Filia's team was leading now.
Nicole stared sharply at Samantha; Samantha simply smirked back.
"Seems like things are getting heated up between them."
"I know, I noticed Samantha always targets Filia."
"It seems Sam has a grudge against Filia."
"It's a great game."
"They said Jharied and Filia were together?"
"I think they switched. They didn't want to be on the same team."
Their teacher suddenly blew the whistle, signaling that time was up.
"The winner is Team B! Congratulations, Ms. Mereles!" exclaimed Mr. Vallar gaily.
"Okay class, see you next week. Dismissed!" he shouted.
The students walked back to their things, but before Filia could get far, Samantha suddenly threw the ball right at Filia.
Jharied saw it. He immediately ran toward Filia to pull her away.
Filia was shocked, the whole gym was shocked, and even the teachers and observers exclaimed in unison, "OH!" with what transpired.
They tripped, with Jharied falling on the floor and Filia landing atop him.
Even worse… their lips met.
Filia's world seemed to come to a stop. Her heart was fiercely racing, with her hands trembling. She didn't know what to do as her body seemed frozen.
She only snapped out of it when Joseph suddenly shrieked.
She immediately stepped back and stood up, soberly fixing her hair and clothes. She was silent. She walked straight away from Jharied.
Meanwhile, Jharied watched her back, grinning while she walked toward Nicole.
"Nice move, man," Roy said teasingly, patting his shoulder.
Meanwhile, the students around them still could not believe it; some were in clusters, some recording the reaction, while others had already begun gossiping.
But Samantha… she was furious.
"Well, there you go; you made them kiss right in front of you. Does it hurt?" asked Nancye, trying to hold back her laughter.
Samantha shot her a dirty look before turning her back on everyone and storming out of the gym. Her two irritated friends followed her.
She walked, still feeling frustrated because she never thought her scheme of humiliating Filia would result in a kiss.
But when she saw Heartfilia heading toward the locker room…
Her eyebrow lifted, and she smirked.
She had a new idea.
She hastened after Filia. Jasmine and Nancye exchanged glances, but they had no choice but to follow her.
"If you were lucky earlier, you won't be now!" said Samantha coldly when she walked into the girls' locker room. The few who were changing their P.E. uniforms immediately stopped dressing.
"What is your problem, Samantha?" Heartfilia asked her.
The girl just rolled her eyes at her.