I won $100 by playing scrabble in the public mall

Last Friday, it was a day when I accompany my friend to SM Bacoor. He was very hesitant to approach me about the matter because he knew how busy I am right now. All of my best friends and closed friends knew that I am a crypto-blogger and also, the upcoming job I applied for to our professor. So, Patrick messaged me on Thursday if I can accompany him to SM Bacoor to buy his new phone and gift for his sister. His sister is celebrating her 15th birthday this June 10.

I accepted his offer and told him that I can accompany him for his agenda in SM Bacoor. Besides, I haven't visited that particular mall for months now. SM Bacoor is a very closed mall in my heart because it is where I found multiple friends on different school when I was in senior high school. I met students from Bacoor, Kawit, Imus and Dasmariñas City. It is a place where many people go to during weekend and place for students like us to go during weekdays. You know, eat in fast food restaurant like Jollibee and McDonald and play in Tom's World. 

I rode the bus first and wait him in their street. I called him that the bus is near and be ready. He was 10 minutes earlier so I had no problem telling to bus driver to stop a little longer because my friend is hoping in. When he was already in the bus, I noticed how blooming and developed his body is. He is working out for the last 6 months and the result is now very evident. He just smiled and pinch my left arm. That is the habit of him whenever he see me or any of us. 

As expected, the traffic hits us in Tejero. Like it has always been the problem since then. The usual 40 minutes ride becomes 1 and a half hour. We just had conversations about how our life is, our current lifestyle and if we are seeing girls. Well, as usual we ended frustrated because we both don't have relationship right now and it's totally okay. We reached SM Bacoor and I felt like my butt is flatten and moist. You know the feeling when you seat so long, that's the feeling. 

When we are about to enter, I can already smell the coldness and the unique smell of SM Bacoor. How much I miss this scent for so long. The guard checked our bags and touched our hips as always. I don't understand why others don't inspect carefully the bag. Just point the stick inside the bag and as if inspecting it really. But, in reality it is their job so they have no choice.

Anyways, when are walking in the ground floor to visit some stores. We noticed a guy sitting on the floor. There are people surrounding him and I think they are playing something. So we are very curious about it and we were shocked that they are playing scrabble. We noticed the paper signage at the middle side of the board. It says, “Play and win over me. You'll get ₱5000”. It is actually very interesting and you will hook in the price.

We watched several matches and I was about to leave when Patrick pushes me in front. He said that my friend would like to join. I told sorry to them because of Patrick's action and I don't intend to play right now. My mind is flying away thinking about what to write in read cash. But the guy told me to join. But at the end, I joined them for a first match. The guy is actually smart. He had high points per move so I expected not to win at all.

The match started and I sat on the floor. We all are. My heart is beating fast as if I am playing for a national competition. I tried to smile when the guy told us to chill and enjoy. The letters I got was actually good. I was the third one to move so I wait for the other two to finish. I saw an opportunity to put my letters horizontally and my words are “stocks”, “so”, and “too”. I got 16 points for my first move.

The game continued and the board is almost full. My letters left are a and u. I actually don't know the total scores yet because someone is tallying the score aside from us. I know how tight the game is because the points we get are almost in the same range. Honestly, I am holding my pee. I want to go out and exit the game but I cannot. I don't want to be rude to them especially to the guy who imitated the game.

I passed for the first time because I cannot insert the letter a and u. We decided to end the game and subtract the remaining letters in our rack to our total score. The player 1 which is the guy who initiated the game got 289 points, the player 2 got 281 points. And as for me, guess what? I got 312 points. So I have a 50/50 chance of winning the game right? When he was about to tell us the score of player 4, he gets the money and hold it tight. He is just smiling to us and the people watching are looking intense.

The player 4 got 305 points which means I am 7 points higher than him. Haha. I cannot actually believe that I won because in the last three moves, I score low points. The guy congratulated us especially me who won over them. I claimed the ₱5000 ( $100) from him and we took a photo from his phone. I told them that I would leave now because my friend is waiting for me. I just jumped from the comfort room and laugh together with Patrick. So unexpected, and I got the money just playing the game I love the most.

Author's note: This is a fiction story. But, I really play scrabble and win over other school competitions.

Thank you sponsors for your sponsorship until now. I really appreciated your blessings to this humble writer of yours.

My previous articles you might like to read:

• The new minimum wage rate in National Capital Region or (NCR)

• Why can't I resist liking you?

• Borrowing my friend's laptop for my online tutorial classes

Thank you for reading. I'll see you next time!