๐ The Setup
It started as a joke.
Karl said, "What if we all just crashed at my place before Regionals? For team chemistry or whatever?"
Coach Dan raised an eyebrow.
Coach Cely shrugged. "Sleepovers build trust. Science."
And so, two nights before departure, every qualifying athlete-basketball, badminton, volleyball, and even two tennis players-ended up squeezed into Karl's family's beachside resthouse. They brought pillows, junk food, and enough chaotic energy to light up all of Gubat.
Even Randy, the lone chess rep, showed up. He brought a blanket, a folding chess board, and zero plans to sleep.
Coach Dan gave up supervising after the second prank (someone glued googly eyes on the rice cooker).
Coach Cely just whispered, "Let them explode now... so they focus later."
๐ Pizza, Karaoke, and Warcries
By 7:30 PM, the living room was howling with karaoke like a pack of off-key wolves. Mira belted Torete while Karl cried into a hotdog. Nina and Yumi choreographed a TWICE routine using sock puppets. Clarisse and Jomar were locked in a deathmatch of UNO that ended in three flipped tables and one emotional support pillow.
Alona was doubled over laughing.
Dane, slumped beside her with soda in hand, grinned. "This is way more stressful than training."
"Survive this," Alona said, "and Regionals will be a breeze."
โ๏ธ The Rematch: Dane vs. Randy
Chess prodigy Randy approached like a final boss, folding board under one arm, eyes glowing with vengeance.
"I'm ready," he said gravely. "This time, I studied your playstyle."
Dane blinked. "I don't even know what I did last time."
A crowd formed-Yumi, Karl, Mira, Clarisse, the volleyball twins-whispering, betting, analyzing.
Five minutes in, Randy was sweating.
Ten minutes in:
"Check," Dane said, casually.
"No way," Randy whispered.
"Mate," Dane added.
Randy stared at the board, betrayed by the pieces he loved.
Someone gasped.
"Again?!"
"He moved like... four pieces!"
"Did he train for this?!"
Mira muttered, "What is he?"
Karl replied flatly, "A basketball-playing, chess-destroying kaiju."
Coach Dan, passing by: "Someone stop that boy before he solos the mathletes."
๐ Nightfall: Whispers in the Dark
By 11 PM, the house settled.
The boys snored in a spaghetti pile of blankets.
The girls whispered under makeshift pillow forts.
Flashlights flicked like secret fireflies.
Nina and Yumi lay beside the badminton net strung across the floor like a tent.
"He touched her shoulder," Nina whispered.
Yumi scribbled in her notebook:
Dane + Alona = Physical Contact Level 4
"Do you think he'll confess?"
"Not yet," Yumi whispered. "Victory in Regionals will give him the emotional power-up."
Across the room, Dane and Alona lay side by side on a mattress near the balcony door. The moonlight made the ceiling glow silver.
"I can't believe we're almost there," Alona whispered. "Regionals."
"Yeah."
She turned her head slightly. "You scared?"
Dane shook his head. "Not with you here."
Alona smiled. "Corny."
"You love it."
Silence.
Then-pinkies brushed.
In the dark, Nina let out a tiny gasp.
"Pinkie touch. Phase Five complete."
Yumi nodded solemnly.
"Coach Dan owes me โฑ100."
๐ค Final Scene
Coach Cely peeked into the living room from the kitchen, clutching a mug of instant coffee.
"They're all out," she said. "Except your boy Dane."
Coach Dan leaned against the fridge, arms crossed. "He beat Randy again, didn't he?"
"And Alona smiled at him for longer than three seconds."
Dan sighed. "We're doomed."
Cely smirked. "โฑ500 says they kiss if they win the semis."
Dan raised an eyebrow. "โฑ500 says they already did."
Then a voice from the hallway:
"Can I bet โฑ100 they get together before the finals?" It was Randy, still awake, eyes hollow.
Coach Dan didn't miss a beat. "Too late. I already put โฑ500 down."