Chapter 4

Bea, Mia, and Angel parted ways after. Angel wasn’t sure where to find the volleyball court because there are a lot of them, so she asked someone if they could somewhat help her.

“Um..Excuse me?”

“Yes?”

“Do you know where the volleyball training is?

“Ah! We’re just headed that way, you could follow us if you want.”

“AH Thank you, it really means a lot to me.”

“You’re a volleyball athlete, right? What grade are you in? you look so young.”

“Grade 7”

“Ohh! we’re both from tenth grade. …..So that makes us your seniors then.” she smiled.  

“Mhmm”

“We’re here.”

“Thanks for the help.”

“No worries you should get inside, we don't want to be late.”

“ANGEL CRUZ??? ANGEL CRUZ! There you are.” 

A man approached them hurriedly.

“You’re Angel Cruz right?”

“Ah….no I’m not, I think you got the wrong person.”

“Ah...Excuse me….I’m Angel Cruz. Why?”

“Great, you're finally here. You’re late! Coach J and the team are waiting for you.”

“What do you mean? I got here on time.”

“Yeah, and the coach isn’t here yet……..” the girl said.

“What??” The man was confused about what they’re thinking.

“Noo, Angel, this court is for the athletes to train. The students that are being trained. UGH! Why is it so hard to explain.”

“......?”

They were all staring at her. Angel was naturally confused by what’s happening.

“ahh….wait…..Look, Angel, the national team has a different court, so in other words, you’re in the wrong place. Now hurry and follow me, they’re all waiting for you.” the man hurriedly explains to her.

“National team?” the girl asked. 

“Yes, Angel is a part of the national team.”

The two girls who helped Angel were shocked.

The man told Angel to follow her and left in a hurry.

“Ah! Thanks for showing me the way again.” 

“.....S-Sure.”

“She’s a pro player?? She’s soo young…”

“Kids really scare the hell out of me…….”

Meanwhile with Angel. 

Wow…...What a huge indoor court. Yes! No sun. hahaha...nice.

I mean, the court earlier was an indoor court as well but it’s not that huge.

“Finally! You’re here.” he grabbed her and put her in front of everyone.

“...?????”

“Meet Angel Cruz, 12 years old, and our team’s second libero.”

Libero is a  player on each team who serves as a back-row defensive specialist.

“Hello!”

“Wow you look so young”

“Well that’s because she is young.” the girl said while she smacked the head of the other girl. 

……...They’re….tall.

“Oooh, Coach might have seen some hidden talent in you.”

“Angel, My name is Jonathan but you can call me Coach J.

This is Althea your team captain.” he said as he dragged Althea towards Angel. 

“Ouch, Coach J, that’s a bit too much” she looked at him with a surprised and hurt expression. 

“You can just call me Thea, if you need help, you can tell me, ok?

“Mhmm”

“Ah, guys. She doesn’t talk much so make sure not to make her uncomfortable ok?” said Coach J to the rest of the team. 

“Yes Coach!” the team replied. 

After introducing each other, they proceeded with the training.

“Wow, now I know why Coach brought her here.”

“Hahaha yeah, she’s literally as good as Ashley.”

“Ashley if you’re not careful, she might take your place as the main libero.”

“Hahaha I know, but at least she’s not the arrogant type. She’s a pretty impressive libero herself but she still asked me for some advice. …...To be honest, she’s scary, even though she’s quiet, her eyes are gazing and observing every single one of us. That’s why she managed to adjust in a short amount of time at our tune-up earlier.”

“.....Yeah, it’s like she knows what we’re thinking. When Nicole and I planned on switching places-”

“Switching places?”

“Dude….she’s an Outside hitter so I hit the ball and I’m a setter so she set the ball. Anyways, we actually messed up on that part because no one knew that we’re gonna switch, so I predicted that the ball was gonna go to me, but….the ball went to Nicole, not to mention it was a perfect receive, it’s a blessing for every setter to set a perfect receive. I was shocked obviously, so I looked at the person who received that ball and it was Angel. At first, I thought that she made a mistake but if I think about it, there’s no way that could be a mistake.”

The outside hitter is also known as the left-side hitter and is the lead attacker in the offensive strategy. 

Setter is the main contributor to the offense of the volleyball team.

“Yeah, it was directed at Nicole and she knows that you’re not there, so that means that she really read(past tense) and anticipated your move…”

“God Ashley, she’s way better than you when you were still new..”

A month has passed since then. She always has the same routine every day. During the weekdays she would attend school and training. While she rests and goes to the gym on Saturday and does whatever she feels like on Sunday. 

“Angel, are you okay?”

“Bea….Mia…..”

“It’s the second time now…..you almost failed the test, again.”

“You always get perfect scores on tests, what happened?”

“I….don’t know.” 

“Ok, just rest and try to…...Mia, you say it”

“Why me?”

“Just say it, I can’t think of any words right now.”

“Ahhh….Just rest first and try to clear your mind….?”

“Well said, Mia. Well said. You should do what Mia said since it’s Saturday tomorrow.” she smiled proudly.

“Mhmm….wait I left my shoes in the court.”

She was talking about her school shoes.

PS: Since they can wear any black shoes as long as it’s appropriate, Angel wore black high-cut shoes.

The next day, Saturday.

“Ha….haha...hahahaha sob sob...What the heck is happening to me hahahaha sob dude...hahaha why the heck am I crying?

My period cramps are killing me and hahaha my test, I almost failed my test the second time yesterday ha...hahaha God…..”

Good thing Mia and Bea went home. Speaking of home….Mom and Dad said that they’ll pick me up at 1:00 pm today. It’s my first time going home after being here, and they said that we’ll go to BGC to meet up with my mom’s friend very quickly and blah blah blah.

That aside, I should really start studying...I’m a very lazy person so I don’t study the day before the exam, I only study 30 minutes before the exam but I always managed to get a perfect score, but I almost failed 2 tests recently.

Later that day, they arrived at BGC. Angel’s mom dragged her along with her to have a quick chat with her friends because they wanted to meet her. 

“Oh wow! She’s your daughter? What a pretty girl.” 

“Hahaha, Of course, I’m her mother after all.”

…….Sigh, Dad, your so lucky, you don’t need to tag along but I have to because they said they want to meet me.

A few minutes later they decided to settle in a cafe to chat.

Angel noticed someone approaching her mom’s friend from behind so she stared at her directly to her eye as she approached. 

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