Moonville Series 1: Secret Lovers

It's CPRU Intramural! The entire university is on Olympics mode. From the university staff, to the students and parents and other guests, there is the spirit of competition and sportsmanship. Everyone is ready for the intramural of the biggest and most prestigious university in the city of Tarlac.

The CPRU intramural is an annual event for the students of the said university, from the preparatory to the tertiary level. It is usually held two weeks before the final exams on the first semester of the college and graduate students, or the second quarter exams for the preparatory to high school students. This is so the students have a whole week to prepare for the exams. The intrams week also serves as the extension for the submission of the projects that the students need to submit before the finals week.

Each grade level has their own set of competitions. There are twenty-one events in total, some of which have male and female categories. There are sporting events that are not included in the elementary level, like the Billiards, Cycling, Aesthetic Gymnastics, and the Cheer Dance which was replaced by Calisthenics Dance.

Each team have a designated color and name. For the elementary department, there are four teams, since there are four sections per grade level. The sections were shuffled so that each team has members from Kindergarten to Grade 6. That is also what they did for the high school students. There are four teams that includes random sections per year level. The teams do not change, but the composition or what section it will include are picked randomly each year.

As for the tertiary and graduate school level, each school has their own teams. For the Business School, the team is Green Tigers. For the School of Arts and Humanities, the Purple Penguins. For the School of Physical Sciences, the Blue Dolphins. For the School of Social Sciences, the Orange Eagles. And for the School of Medical Sciences, it's the Red Tamaraws. The two graduate schools, College of Law and Criminal Justice and Education and College of Medicine are lumped in the team Yellow Huskies.

The event will begin with a parade of athletes from the assembly point in the CPRU campus, to the venue of the opening program, which is the Macabulos Park. It is a public park in Tarlac City near the university premises. This is where the big events of the university is usually held because it can accommodate all the students from kindergarten to graduate school, including the university officers and staff, professors and teachers, and parents and other guests. After the short opening program, the Calisthenics Dance and Cheer Dance Competition will follow. It usually lasts for about half a day, so the venue is covered to keep the students and spectators protected from the heat of the sun. Concessionaires of the university cafeteria also have kiosks for the attendees to buy food and drinks from. As for the safety of everyone, the local police department assists the management of CPRU in maintaining peace and order of the said

event.

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Before the start of the opening program, Angel and Alex went to the office of The Echo. Bryan met them there, and he's wearing the T-shirt of their basketball team in Business School. "Hey! You don't belong here," he said to Alex.

The younger Martinez scowled. "You're so mean, you know."

"It's a joke." Bryan sat down beside Angel who's currently doing something on her laptop.

"Pardon me for staying here," Alex said. "I guess I should have worn green instead."

The students are wearing the color of their teams. Because the Business School is Green Tigers, Angel is wearing a green T-shirt. Bryan's uniform is also green with grey accents. And since Alex is from School of Arts and Humanities, she is wearing purple for Purple Penguins.

"It's okay," Bryan said. "You're with your sister. For sure no one will reproach you. Everyone's scared of her."

"Funny!" Angel said sarcastically as she removed the SD card from her Macbook, and transferred it to the DSLR camera on the table.

"It's just a joke. You know I don't mean that," Bryan said as he put his arm around her shoulders.

"Hey! Dad said you can only hold her hand," Alex told Bryan.

"You're dad's not here!" Bryan said. "Can you just leave?!"

The two sisters laughed at Bryan's pretend annoyance.

"But seriously, why are you here? Don't you have someone to be with in your school?" Bryan asked Alex. "The BS students might mob you." "My friends are all from BS," Alex said. "Isay, Sam and Steffi. They all belong here."

"How about it your school?" Bryan asked. "Don't you have friends there?"

"You know, this is the first time she doesn't have a friend from her class," Angel said. "Knowing how friendly she is. Almost all her classmates are her friends."

"It just happened that I have different classmates every class. Sometimes, we only meet once a week. Unlike in high school, we're together for four years."

"Welcome to college life, CPRU style," Angel said as she stood up. She took her bag and the camera.

Alex and Bryan also stood up, and the three of them went out of The Echo office.

"So, you'll be alone in the opening," Bryan said to Alex.

"It's okay. I can manage," Alex said. She was touched at his concern towards her.

"Can't you take her with you?" Bryan asked Angel.

"She can't join in the area of the school org staff. She can only stay at the audience area," Angel answered.

"I'll just get close to Ate," Alex said. "Don't worry about me that much. I can manage, Bry. Thanks anyway." "Well, you say so." Bryan smiled at her.

Alex also smiled. Somehow, she felt glad that her sister's boyfriend also cares about her. Bryan is really kind. She's happy that he's her sister's boyfriend. Even if it's not yet official, and right now their relationship is just pretend, he's acting as if he really is Angel's real boyfriend. Actually, she feels like he is her brother-in-law already.

Since Bryan is a member of the basketball team, he's included in the parade of athletes. And each team has their own school publication, so Angel is also included in the parade. And so, Alex is left with the crowd.

She went straight to Macabulos Park. She went to the side were her co-SAHU students are staying. Even if she doesn't know them, at least she's with her team. Eventually, she saw some of her classmates from her different subjects. Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm. She looked who it is, and found Richard's smiling face.

"Hi!" he said to her.

Alex felt her whole body freeze. She just realized that she's not yet ready to see him now.

"Are you alone?" he asked.

Alex just nodded.

"Great!" He moved to her side.

"Uhm... Aren't you with someone?" she finally managed to ask.

"No. So I thought, I'll watch with you. Is that okay?"

He looked at her and she can tell his eyes are begging her. Those eyes that she avoided and have not seen for quite some time now. She realized she missed those eyes. She realized she missed him a lot. In the end, she surrendered. "Okay."

Richard smiled. "Thanks."

She looked in front to wait for the parade. More people are now coming in. It seems like the parade is about to start.

"How were the letters?"

"Huh?" She looked at him again.

"The letters that I've sent you..." Richard suddenly looked shy.

"Bryan didn't tell you?"

"Well, he said you said thank you. But he didn't tell me what you think about them."

Bryan did not ask her as well. Maybe, he's shy about it. It's a bit awkward to ask her about how she feels about his cousin's letters. Bryan is not that inquisitive, knowing how a gentleman he is.

"They're nice. I liked them." She smiled. He has given four letters so far, and all of them contain love poems from famous authors.

"I'm glad you like them. You see, I'm really not into that writing stuff. Not my thing."

"Then, why did you do it?"

"Well, I just thought it's the best thing to do. I just want to tell you how I feel for you, and I want you to feel that I really am sincere. I know this past few days, we've been very busy. I want you to know that despite that, you are still the one that I'm thinking of. You're still the one that I want to be with."

It was the most imperfect time, the most imperfect place. But at that moment, Alex felt that they are back to how they used to be. That time when they first met, when they first fell for each other.

And she wasn't able to stop herself. "I missed you."

Richard smiled. "I think I missed you more."

He held her hand and together, they waited for the opening parade of the CPRU intramurals.