Love and Chaos

LaC 018

Chloe's POV:

“Let’s go, hon.” Naghiyawan naman ang mga kaibigan niyang nasa loob ng kwarto at kung ano-anong panunukso ang ginawa.

“Balibag kita diyan makita mo.” Asar na sagot ko bago tinanggal ang pagkakaakbay niya saakin at naunang lumabas. Napa-ohh naman ang ang mga kaibigan niya dahil doon.

Hinintay ko siyang makalabas. Mabilis ko siyang hinila at nagmamadaling lumabas gamit ang emergency exit.

“Hila ka ng hila. Alam mo ba kung nasaan?” Tanong niya. Napatigil ako sa paglalakad at kamot-ulong humarap sakaniya. “Ayan kasi.” Pang-aasar niya pa at naunang maglakad.

“1:00 daw ang tapos ng competition. Susubukan naming bilisan. We have to be here before 1:30.” I said.

“Come here.” He said and pulled me. Dahan-dahan niyang isinuot ang helmet saakin nang hindi nagugulo ang buhok ko.

“Thanks.” I said. Inalalayan din niya akong maka-angkas bago din siya sumakay at buhayin ang kaniyang motor.

“Dito ka kumapit.” Sabi niya nang makitang dun ako sa likod kakapit. Kinuha niya ang kamay ko at inilagay iyon sa bewang niya. “Bibilisan ko yung takbo kaya kumapit ka nang mabuti.” Paliwanag niya. Tumango lang ako bilang sagot. Okay…

Seryoso nga. Pagkalabas na pagkalabas ng parking lot ay pinaharurot niya ang motor papunta sa venue ng competition.

Makaraan ang ilang minute ay ligtas naman naming narating yung lugar. Ang kaso…

Mukhang naiwan ata yung kaluluwa ko dun sa labas ng hotel.

“Putlang-putla ka?” Tanong niya matapos niyang maingat na tanggalin ang helmet.

“Give me a sec.” I said, staring at nowhere. I could almost hear my heart thumping.

“Pfft. O…kay.” He said, suppressing his laugh. I glared at him, making him stop.

“Not funny.” I said seriously and hit his arm.

“Get in. I’ll wait for you.” He said, effortlessly avoiding my palm. Tumango ako at patakbong pumasok sa loob.

“There you are! Umakyat ka na doon! Mags-start na.” Salubong saakin ni Mrs. Cordova. Tumango ako at iniwan sakaniya ang bag na dala ko. Inayos ko din ang suot ko at umakyat sa stage. I stood at the middle, handshaking with the other team’s leader before walking towards the reserved spot for me.

“Akala namin hindi ka makakarating.” Bulong ni Avelia. I smiled and whispered.

“I can miss everything, but not MathGen.” I said. She also smiled and nodded.

“A very pleasant morning for all the people present here in our annual MathGen competition. Where two clubs from different school tests how sharp their memories are. Only one will be reigned the most math genius. Are you all ready? And without further ado, let’s all begin!” The emcee greeted.

The emcee introduced both clubs, told us about the rules and regulations, how will they give us points and everything we need to know before starting.

“For our first question, a person jogged 10 times along the perimeter of a rectangular field at the rate of 12 kilometers per hour for 30 minutes. If field has a length that is twice its width, find the area of the field in square meters."

Nagkatinginan kaming lahat. Even the other group. We didn't know may kasama palang word problems? We all thought it's all about equations and stuff.

Bago pa man kami magkalimutang lahat ay agad kong pinindot ang buzzer.

“Your answer, Squadratics?”

“20,000 square meters.” I answered. Followed by a ‘ting’ sound. Indicating the first 2 points are ours.

“Correct. Next question. Sally had a stock of 1200 books in his bookshop. He sold 75 on Monday, 50 on Tuesday, 64 on Wednesday, 78 on Thursday and 135 on Friday. The question is, what is the percentage of the books that weren’t sold?”

Before the other team could press the buzzer, Avelia immediately hit it.

“66.5% weren’t sold.” She answered. Nag-apir kaming lahat nang makarinig ulit ng ‘ting’ na tunog.

“Another points for Squadratics! A total of 4 points, while the Number Ninjas remains 0.” The emcee announced.

“The next question. This is a triple point question. The division of a whole number N by 13 gives a quotient of 15 and a remainder of 2. Find N.”

Naunahan kami ng kabilang team. Muntik nang ma-frustrate ang ka-team ko. Nanghihinayang sila dahil triple points yung question na iyon.

“N is equals to 197.” The other team answered. Nagbunyi sila dahil tama ang sagot nila.

At first, I wasn’t bothered by it. Lamang kami ng isang puntos. Makakahabol sila, oo dahil 2 points per question. Akala ko makakahabol lang, hanggang sa…

“Correct. Another 2 points for Number Ninjas. A total of 30 points. Squadratics, 26 points.” Na-frustrate na ang mga kasama ko samantalang nanatili akong kalmado. Despite this heart sinking feeling, I did my best to remain calm. Even Avelia cannot hide the frustration written on her face.

“We might lose this.” She whispered. I looked at them, my brows furrowed.

“What the hell, Squadratics?” I said. They all stopped and looked at me. “Why do I read frustration on your faces? Is the competition done?” I asked.

“Chloe, there are 3 questions left. This is a race to 35 points. Lamang na sila saatin!” Sagot ng isa kong ka-team.

“4 points, Squadratics. Kayang-kaya nating habulin iyon.” Sabi ko. Napahilamos ang iba sa mukha nila. “This is not what I want to see right now. I want the faces of the successful Squadratics. Now, chin up. We can do this.” I said.

The buzzer rang, indicating the resume of the game.

“And… we’re back! 3 questions left. One of the questions is 3 points. With that, let’s resume!”

I looked at my teammates and nodded at them.

“A car is traveling 75 kilometers per hour. How many meters does the car travel in one minute?”

Muntik na akong maunahan ng kabilang grupo. Luckily, I was able to hit it first. I was ready to answer…but something’s happening.

My hearing’s starting to blur, and only the thumping sound my heart makes is clear to me. I could almost hear my breathing. I automatically looked at the audience. And I saw him there.

Niki Rook, wearing his teasing grin. He stood straight when our eyes met. He smirked and nodded. He mouthed

“You can do it.”

“Squadratics? Your answer?”

“1250 meters per minute. The car travels 1250 meters per minute.” I answered. Napayakap saakin si Veli nang marinig namin ang ‘ting’ sound.

“1250 meter per minute, is correct. 2 points for Squadratics. A total of 28 points, Number Ninjas is still leading the scoreboard.” Announce ng emcee.

“15 cm is the height of water in a cylindrical container of radius r. What is the height of this quantity of water if it is poured into a cylindrical container of radius 2r?”

I solved it mentally and whispered the answer to them. Natawa ako nang makitang nag-unahan pa sila kung sino ang pipindot ng buzzer.

“Your answer, Squadratics?”

“3.75 cm.” One of my teammates answered.

“3.75 cm is correct. Another 2 points for Sqaudratics. A total of 30 points. Folks, we have a tie.” The people went silent while the emcee walked towards the judges. May mga pinag-usapan sila na hindi naman namin narinig dahil malayo sila saamin.

“We only have one chance to win.” My teammates whispered.

“I shot left guys. Let’s do this.” Right after I said that, saktong bumalik na sa pwesto niya yung emcee.

“The judges have decided. The last question will be a five points question. Be ready.” Napahawak ako ng mahigpit kay Avelia, ganun din siya saakin. Maski ang mga ka grupo ko ay nag sign of the cross pa at tahimik na nagdasal.

Lord, please guide us.

“Calculate the circumference of a circular field whose radius is 5 centimeters.”

Halos magkasabay na pumindot ang kabilang team at ang team ko. Nag-fingers crossed ako at hinintay kung sinong grupo ang tatawagin ng emcee.

“Your answer, Number Ninjas?”

Halos manlumo at mapaupo ako sa platform na tinatapakan namin dahil sa panglalambot. Wala na. Talo na. Finish na.

“15 π centimeters.”