Andreaaaaa: Tara Picture Tayo!

It turns out that we decided to stay inside 7eleven for a while longer.

"So san mo ba talaga balak mag-aral? Hanggan ngayon di mo pa sinasabi." Danica asked. Of course, I still couldn't tell them, but what am I supposed to say? The truth. "Bawal pang sabihin eh." I slided the question aside. "Magkano pera niyo?" Asked Cess, "Para magkapaghati hati tayo ng bayad sa taxi." "Bakit taxi?" John countered, eating the chips he bought earlier. "Para mas mabilis. Pero dalawa siguro kailangan nating taxi. May one thousand ako." She explained. She submerged her hand into John's bag of chips.

"Three thousand dala ko." Keam whispered, like she didn't want them to hear. "Ikaw na mayaman." Jarmaine said as she nudged Keam's shoulder. "Nag-Spes ka diba?" Keam nodded to answer. "Kaya pala. Hm.. one thousand lang rin dala ko eh." The others opened their wallets and checked their money. Most of us have one thousand or one-five, but Keam brought the most money. Ana and Alizza started checking their stuff again, making sure everything's there. "Tara picture tayo!" Sarah shouted. "Oo tara! Tagal na natin di nagpicture kasama si Andrea!" Then came a hurricane of noises. Rumbling through their stuff looking for their cameras, cellphones, anything that can take a picture.

I looked at each of them again and just smiled. I honestly don't need a camera to capture this moment. We positioned ourselves under the mirror on top of the store. I bet we looked stupid, but I don't care, as long as we look stupid together. (That's not much of a compliment, but I just really love them.)

After that photography session, we looked at the clock and read 8:30AM. We rushed outside and got two taxis very quickly. Danica, Sarah, Lilibeth, Princess, Joebert, and I went into the first taxi and John, Ana, Alizza, Keam, Jarmaine, and Monica went into the other. We told the driver that we'd be going to Enchanted Kingdom and he drove off. The first part of the ride was quiet. The first hour or so was mostly alternate sleeping. Small talk, sure. They told me how they won the Noli experience, how they cried everyday until it was done. They told me about the ballroom competition, how they never expected winning that one. The more they told me about what they've been up to without me, the more I feel like I was with them the whole time.

"Oo grabe ang galing ni Lorwin magPedro! Kung may best Pedro siya un!" exclaimed one, "Tas si Keam tsaka si Jestie sa ballroom ang sweet talaga." gossiped the other. "Nagtext si Monica. Nasan na daw tayo. Wala sakanila may alam." Lilibeth said, tinkering with her phone. "Sabihin mo Santa Rosa na. Lapit na." Joebert shouted. Well, he wasn't really shouting, his voice? Naturally loud. I could tell that the cab driver was getting tired. Mental note, give driver a few extra bills.

After another few minutes or so, I looked at my watch, 10:30AM. "Nandito na po tayo." The driver announced. We got out of the cab and divided the payment. Lilibeth and I waited for the others as Joebert, Cess, Danica, and Sarah looked for a mirror to fix themselves.

This early in the morning and there are a lot of people here already. Lilibeth and I stood in awkward silence for a few minutes and didn't look each other eye to eye. Me, being myself, tried to break the silence, but she was faster than me. "Kamusta naman buhay?" I looked over my shoulder and she wasn't even looking at me. She was pretending to look for the taxi. "Okay naman. Boring talaga kapag wala kayo."

She still wasn't looking at me, I don't mind. We'll get a better chance to talk later. I looked at the street again and finally the cab was coming. The rest went out of the comfort room too.

We were one group again.