Intramurals

The campus was buzzing with excitement. Students moved around in scattered groups, whispering, laughing, and speculating as they crowded the bulletin board near the main building. It was that time of the year again—Intramurals. A week of games, art, academic competitions, and of course, the ever-famous cheer dancing showdown.

This year, the faculty decided to split each section into multiple teams. Each team would be guided by the section advisers. As expected, the moment the team lists were posted, the chaos began.

"Reign! Let's find our teams on the bulletin board!" Abby called out, her voice already filled with excitement.

Abby had been my friend since we were freshmen. She was one of the top students in class and always had this contagious energy that I could never resist.

"Okay! Wow, I'm getting excited now too," I replied, my pace picking up as we jogged toward the bulletin board.

We pushed through the crowd, occasionally peeking through the gaps of taller students.

"Let me see—wait—found it!" Abby gasped.

I leaned closer. My eyes scanned the printed names quickly, fingers following every line until I finally saw it—Reign Alvarez: Blue Team.

"Woah! We’re on the same team!" Abby squealed.

We both jumped up in excitement, drawing a few curious stares from the students around us, and we hugged like we’d won the lottery. It was always better to go through school events with someone you trusted, and being on the same team felt like a good sign.

“Hey everyone! Give way for your seniors!” Devy called out jokingly, raising her voice dramatically. Everyone laughed.

Devy was in her final year and was known across campus for her loud, carefree personality. Even if she liked pretending to be strict, we all knew she was a softie underneath.

“Gotta check my new team... I really hope I’m with my crush this year,” she said, dramatically scanning the bulletin board like it was a life-or-death moment.

"You're always talking about your crush," my sister chimed in from somewhere behind me, and both of them giggled.

Devy rolled her eyes. "Of course! Intramurals would be so boring without inspiration. I mean, come on—don’t you feel more alive when your crush is around? We may be tired, but when we see them—poof! Instant energy! Like a beautiful ray of sunshine is just lighting up your soul!”

“Hmm, daydreaming,” I muttered, nudging her playfully.

“Bitter!” she shot back, sticking out her tongue, then quickly returned to scanning the papers.

A few moments later, she let out a scream. “YES!! I’m with him! I’M ACTUALLY WITH HIM!”

She jumped in the air, making a scene, but no one seemed to mind. That was just Devy. Full of energy, always vibrant. You couldn’t be sad around her for long.

“Reign! LOOK!” she suddenly turned to me with wide eyes. “Jay is in my group too!”

My stomach flipped.

I blinked rapidly and bit my lower lip in a silent plea for her to shut up.

“So what?!” I snapped, a bit too quickly.

“I win… I win… I win… TWO cuties in my group!” she chanted like it was a theme song, spinning around and earning more stares—and some laughter—from other students.

“Whatever,” I muttered, grabbing Abby’s arm and pulling her away from the growing crowd.

“Let’s go back before we get swallowed up by even more students,” I said.

We headed to the designated classroom for the Blue Team. Each team had a base where we would meet for planning, practice, and bonding. It felt official—and exciting.

Abby and I had already decided to join the same events: Cheer Dancing, Quiz Bee, and Poster Making. We wanted to push ourselves this year. We practiced late into the evenings for the cheer dance, reviewed notes together during our free periods, and started brainstorming poster ideas ahead of time.

The Quiz Bee was tricky. You could only make a maximum of three mistakes before you got eliminated. The questions ranged from easy to brutally hard, sometimes even touching on subjects taught in the higher years.

“I’m skipping the fourth-year topics,” I told Abby during one of our study sessions. “There’s no point—my brain is already full.”

She laughed. “You say that every year, and then you still rank higher than most of us.”

Intramurals officially began a week later. The campus transformed overnight. Banners in every team color flapped from classroom windows. The gym and open grounds were filled with students wearing customized shirts and face paint, while music blared through the speakers.

We roamed the campus in packs, cheering for the volleyball and basketball teams. We screamed ourselves hoarse over every dunk and rally, sometimes forgetting who we were supposed to cheer for and just shouting for the good-looking players.

By the end of Day 2, my voice was already cracking.

In the Poster Making competition, I placed second. Abby took first. I was proud of her—her talent was unmatched. My own poster, to be honest, was a bit rushed, but I gave myself a silent pat on the back for making the podium. The top artists had joined other events, so maybe luck played a part.

Our cheer dance team placed third. Not bad, considering half our routine came together two nights before the competition. We laughed, cried, and almost dropped each other during stunts. But when the music ended, and we took our final pose, the applause was worth every aching muscle.

One of the highlights was the Dating Booth and Marriage Booth. Purely for fun, they were designed to create hilarious, sometimes romantic, but mostly embarrassing moments. Students would pair up classmates and pay to have them locked in a small room for five minutes—blindfolded. They'd only know who they were with after the time was up. If either of them didn’t want to go through with it, they could decline—but they had to pay a small fine.

Devy tried dragging me there once. “You need a little thrill in your life!” she teased.

“No way. I’d probably get stuck with someone weird,” I replied quickly.

“You mean... not Jay?” she smirked.

I glared. “Don’t start again.”

She laughed, skipping off before I could throw a pen at her.

The Marriage Booth was even funnier. They had fake rings, robes, and even someone acting like a priest. Some students took it seriously. Others just did it for laughs and Instagram stories. The fines collected from rejections were actually used to fund future student events. Not a bad deal.

Toward the end of the week, as the celebrations started winding down, I got caught in a setup.

Someone paid for me to be paired in the Dating Booth.

And the guy they picked? Jay.

My stomach dropped when I heard his name. But before anything could happen, he... declined. Instantly.

He paid the fine and walked away.

I pretended not to care. Smiled like it was just a game. But something inside me shrank. I told myself it was stupid to be affected—it was just a silly booth—but it stung.

“Skipping the sad part,” I whispered to myself that night as I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.

The week ended with closing ceremonies. The champions were awarded medals and certificates. There was a short program, some performances, and a lot of cheering. Each team celebrated in their own way—some went hiking, others went on day trips with their advisers’ permission.

And just like that, the normal classes resumed. The halls quieted down. But the memories stayed with us—burned into the corners of our school life.

“Hey, wait!” Abby nudged me as we packed up our notebooks after class.

“Huh?”

“Who was that Jay your friend was teasing you about?”

I blinked. “Don’t mind it. It’s just a so-so.”

“Nahhh... I’m curious. Spill!”

“No.”

“Oh, come on! You’re so hiding something.”

I rolled my eyes and smiled faintly. Maybe one day I’d tell her. Just not today.

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