Exemplum (UNDER REVISION)

the sun sets in LU

"Are you sure kaya mo sumama?"

I gave Maddie a small smile. They were all concerned about me. Even Anton wanted to relocate the reunion para lang kumportable ako. The young ones like Tyler and Gian offered to give me a ride. I politely declined. Ayoko maging thirdwheel, 'no.

"I'm fine, guys. Don't worry about me! What could go wrong, 'di ba? Besides, it's been a long time! I left it all in the past," I assured them.

Maddie, Dani, Jules and I went to where the reunion was. I was the one driving since we left very early in the morning. I bought neck pillows for them yesterday so they can sleep comfortably during our ride. Convoy kaming lahat. I was behind Tyler's Fortuner. Behind me was Mamu's CX-5.

Mike and Aimee were with Gian and Denise, his girlfriend. Raffy was too lazy to drive so Tyler picked him and Frannie up. Nagising ako sa busina nila nang alas dos nang madaling araw. Dani and Jules slept with me so we went together. Lahat sila ay nasa bahay ko na by three o'clock para convoy na kami paalis.

We went to a drive-thru to grab some breakfast. I bought Jules and Maddie some pancakes since they were the ones sleeping and I didn't know what they wanted.

Habang hinihintay ang order namin ay ginising ko saglit si Maddie para lumipat sa tabi ni Jules. Only Dani was awake among the three of them so I asked her to sit beside me. It's hard to drive without a co-pilot.

"Thank you," I thanked Dani because she was feeding me while I was driving. I ordered their rice bowl since my last meal intake was around eight o'clock last night.

After eating, malayo-layo pa ang byahe kaya pinatulog ko muna si Dani. I thought it was traffic kaya pinalipat ko si Dani sa harap. I told her to take a nap habang nasa byahe kami.

Malapit na kami sa La Union when Maddie woke up. Nangalay siguro siya. She stretched a little bit. Iniiwasan niya ring masagi si Jules dahil mukhang pagod na pagod siya.

"Are you really sure about this, Bei? We can turn around.." Maddie asked for the nth time.

"I told you I'm okay!" I answered. "I miss the beach na rin, 'no! I need some vitamin sea," I joked. I sounded excited. Mabuti na rin 'yon para hindi na siya magalala pa.

She was finishing her pancake meal. 'Di nagtagal ay gumising na rin si Jules at Dani. We ate snacks while Dani was feeding me again. We rolled our windows down and blasted a loud music. It was fun. Sana lang ay wala kaming naabala dahil ang aga-aga ay tila pumaparty kami sa loob ng sasakyan.

When we arrived at the resort, we looked around for a while before we brought our luggages down. The boys helped us put our things inside our respective villas.

Anton was prioritizing me. So was Mikki. She kept on asking if I'm okay, or am I feeling hot, hungry or thirsty. I was like a cancer patient. But I understood where they were coming from.

I also understand where their fear came from.