The sun got more intense as we traveled, and the road just stretched on and on. Some gas stations we stopped at didn't smell the best, and the water I accidentally spilled on my seat wasn't top tier comfort either. By 3 pm, our cheeks had gotten sore from smiling and the excitement had worn off. 

Mia had fallen asleep, curled up in a Mia-sized blanket against the back corner of the van. Arden too. A small sketchbook was tucked between her arm and her side, pencil pushed into the coil of her sketchbook. My mouth was dry. Someone's stomach growled. Was it Arden's? RenRen's? Maybe it was mine. Who knew? 

I felt nice and warm. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, the sun was starting to set and the sound of plastic crinkling against a surface tickled my ears. 

Elize was holding a pack of crackers and poking me with them. "Ito muna daw kainin natin. Nasa Bulacan na tayo, naghahanap lang sila kung sa'n tayo pwede kumain." ("Have this first. We're already in Bulacan, Millard and Beatrice are just looking for a place where we can eat.")

My watch told me it was almost 4 in the afternoon. I had taken a short nap. Millard hummed a song in the front seat. Elize had her phone open on her lap. 

I nodded and took the crackers. As I chewed, I saw small houses and buildings approaching. Just a town. Trees were also popping up in clusters. The rice fields then disappeared and we were driving along the streets of a small municipality. 

The sun was practically waving goodbye to us. Trucks half loaded with gas tanks, chickens, or planks of wood passed by our van. Kids were playing on the streets. Arden sat up straight beside me, rubbing her eyes. "Where are we?"

"Bulacan," I replied, holding out my crackers. She shook her head, so I went and stared straight ahead again. I ended up zoning out. 

I came back to my senses when we hit a particularly deep dent in the road. Someone behind me was jerked awake; I could hear. RenRen sat up blinking, hair sticking out in all directions in a messy mop of dark brown. Haha. That was cute. I mean, what?

"Diana," he said. Then he cleared his throat and said my name again. 

"Good morning to you too, good sir!" I said sarcastically. He nodded and leaned against the window. No good morning back? Aww. 

"We're here, children," Millard called out. We pulled into a gravelly parking lot with trees lining it. A little past the yellow divider was a restaurant, with no wall on the side facing us. You could see its kitchen like it was a bar, and the vents that sucked up smoke from the stoves were also visible. Past the bar were tables and chairs, and on the far right side there was a small stage and a videoke machine. The building was made of bricks, the bar and tables were made of steel and the chairs were all stools. 

RenRen slid the door open and we all got out. Mia had to be woken up by Elize. My feet were relieved to feel texture through the soles of my shoes and my body thanked me for the stretch I did after getting out. 

Elize yawned and hugged me from behind. "Ang dilim na." ("It's so dark.")

She was right. I'm not sure if it was my eyesight getting worse or the lighting, but it was getting hard to see. Individual leaves? Who's that? 

The sky was a dark teal color, shadows of trees and nearby structures blurring against it. I almost tripped over a rock was squinting all the way until we reached the restaurant. 

"I can eat later," Millard said from my right, making me jump. I couldn't see any trace of him, which meant he must have stripped and left his clothes in the car. 

"Are you sure? We still have a long way to go," Beatrice whispered. 

"Yes, I'm sure."

A waitress handed Beatrice a menu as we took the table with most seats. I saw that the cushion of my chair was worn and cracked. The table was cold. I hooked my feet around my chair's legs and propped up my face on my hands.

"Are we near?" I heard Mia ask. 

Philip replied after a quick yawn. "No. We still have no certain destination, remember?"

"Then why did we already leaaaave?"

"'Cause we're running out of time," I said. "The Creatures are just gonna keep multiplying, and that's exactly what the scientist guy wants. As far as I know."

"That's what we're assuming. That's what most bad guys want, right? World domin—to rule the world?"

"Yes," Aerron murmured from the end of the table. "Does anyone have like, Biogesic? My head hurts."

Philip patted his back. "You're just hungry."

"You sound like my mom."

Beatrice sat down on Aerron's end of the table, beside Elize. She passed the menu to him and said, "Alright, everyone. Pick your dinner."

We ended up asking for 4 fried chicken meals and 4 sisig plates. Aerron got lomi.

I chopped up my rice and mixed it with my sisig, sighing and biting the inside of my cheek. It wasn't noisy except for the clattering of utensils and the sounds of cooking in progress. After all, we had nothing much to talk about. Nothing exciting had happened yet, unless you count Aerron's phone being possessed by a drop of water Mia spilled on its screen earlier on in the trip.

"Do you want ketchup?" Arden asked me. 

I shook my head. "No thanks. I don't like ketchup."

"I do." RenRen snatched the bottle from in front of my cousin and squeezed a ridiculous amount on his plate. 

I made a face. "Of course you do. You're eating chicken. Whatever you intend to do with that much, however..."

"Mind your own food, Diana. That's a scary number of onions, by the way." 

"Scary to you! For me, it's perfect," I said proudly.

Aerron slurped a noodle up and accidentally dropped his fork. "Putik." 

"I suggest finishing everything on your plate, even if you don't have the appetite for it. We've still got a long ride ahead of us," Millard said.

Philip clapped his hands together. "Great. I love car naps."

"Diana, can I have your chicken skin?"

I stared at Elize. "...No, I ate sisig."

"Oh. Okay," Elize said. Philip gave his to her instead and patted her on the back.

"You can have mine, darling," Beatrice said, folding her chicken skin and putting it on Elize's plate. "I'll be at the loo." She ruffled my hair and got up from our table.

"Excuse me," RenRen said. He arranged his spoon, fork, dirty tissues, and cup in a very specific way, and began to stretch. He raised his arms up and leaned back, then reached for his toes.

I choked on my water. "What are you doing?"

"Um, stretching?"

"Don't embarrass yourself," Aerron said. At that time of the evening it was most people's dinnertime, so we weren't the only customers anymore. A group of big burly guys who I assumed were construction workers plus this woman in a pencil skirt and blazer who was shorter than everyone appeared and took a few glances at us.

The woman was holding a clipboard and looked like she could be my ESP teacher. Scary! I sank into my seat and tried to hide my face. 

RenRen was now stretching from side to side. Two guys in basketball jerseys and a girl in a school uniform passed by giggling, and RenRen stopped mid-stretch and sat back down, red-faced.

Ugh. I could feel the second-hand embarrassment, and it was a very icky feeling.

"Told you," Aerron muttered. "Is everyone done with their food?"

I straightened up and looked over everyone's heads. Empty plates. Half-empty glasses. Good enough.

"Yeah," I replied, speaking for everyone. "Let's go get Beatrice?"

I felt Millard's hand on my shoulder. "Wait here."

I searched for where his arm was. "I'll go too."

Elize started stacking up our plates and Mia and RenRen did the same but with our cups and utensils. 

I stood up and went in the direction of the bathroom shed, which was to our left. I went partially so Beatrice wouldn't look like they were talking to thin air when Millard found them. I held Millard's hand so I wouldn't lose him. 

Oh, that made me blush a bit. Look, he was a nerd, okay? Just like me. And while reading, I imagined him to be pretty cute too. I know it's impossible for us to happen for multiple reasons, but God fucking damn, let a 12-year-old girl have a crush, alright?

"Huh." Millard and I stopped a few meters away from the shed. Both doors for male and female were open.

I tilted my head to the side. "She's not back at our table naman." I turned back to the restaurant to be sure. Nope. Not a Beatrice in sight. 

I tugged on Millard's arm and we made our way back to the rest of the group. Then, just when we were about to step onto the tiles of the building, someone stepped out from the shadows around the corner, rustling the leaves of the low-hanging branches of a nearby mango tree. Beatrice.

She jumped, equally as surprised. "Sorry, I got, er...kind of lost." 

"We were looking for you," Millard said. "They're all done eating. My meal's in someone's bag, I think. We're ready—"

"Yeah, speaking of that, there's been a change of plans." Beatrice's eyes darted from me, to our table where the rest of us kids were, then to where Millard's head would be. "We've been going in the wrong direction; we should be heading for Quezon province. Tonight."

I blinked. What? But we've gotten so far already...wait, was that even a big problem? I realized I didn't even know where Quezon province was. 

"Get the kids, Mill. Tell them to pack up and go to the bathrooms already, change into fresh clothes if they can. I can drive for another hour or so." 

Millard's grip on my hand tightened. What was that supposed to be? Worry? Excitement? Doubt? Either way, he muttered an affirmation to Beatrice and went with me to call the others.

As I looked back at her, I started feeling worried too. Or maybe that was Millard's hand's sweat transferring onto mine. Ew. 

But as I took one final glimpse of Beatrice, I realized they looked a bit shaken. The restless eyes was not like them. And now that I had recalled, her tone was much more serious that usual. Was changing routes really that big of a problem?