The Ilokana

Chapter Ten

Kalasag B&B, Vigan, February 23, 20XX

Richie somehow managed to pack a dented Macbook Air into his travel backpack. How he was able to live out of a carry on sized piece of luggage for the weeks he was abroad was a mystery to her.

She'd figured it would be good for a weekend, maybe a week, if they were pushing it, but several? It wasn't a rarity either, as Adrian had a similar sized backpack for his journey.

Victoria stood up straight and surveyed the small pile of clothes sticking over the lip of her hard case spinner. The regretfully small purple polka-dot case was opened wide across the foot of her bed. One side was neatly packed with some shoes, her toiletries, and gifts for Uncle Roding's four kids.

The other side had a mountain of rolled clothing.

"I thought you said rolling was supposed to make it fit," she said in a dull voice.

"Yeah, but not when you have too many clothes to begin with," Richie said, standing next to her. "We can do laundry at Uncle's, you know. You don't need to bring seven shirts for a long weekend, Vic."

"What about when we go snorkeling?"

"They can do laundry while you're snorkeling."

"I don't want them to have to wash every day."

"Vic." Richie ran a hand down his face. "Why are you bringing these shoes anyway?" he asked, pointing to the stacked, thick soled sandals she thought would look great with a new sun dress she bought. "We're just going to the beach. These are too tall, you'll trip."
"What if we go into town?"

"Flip flops are fine."

"But these look nice with my dress."

"With your...Vic, it's just us. No one will care."

"I care. That's what matters."

Richie groaned and ran a hand down his face. They heard someone walking outside her open door and stop.

"Dude, what's up? You okay?" Adrian asked, toothbrush still in hand as he stopped outside Vic's door and peered into her room. He wore a loose pair of basketball shorts and a white tank top. A small towel was slung over his shoulder and he looked like he was ready to retire for the night. "Finished packing?"

"No, she's packing too much."

"I'm bringing gifts for our uncle's kids," Victoria said, confident Adrian would understand.

"She's also bringing these!" Richie grabbed one of her prized sandals. "Adrian, tell her these aren't necessary."

Adrian crinkled his eyes and seemed to take a small step back. "I don't want to get involved."

"Well, I don't want to have to carry around her bag all over Pangasinan," Richie said. "I'm bringing all my stuff with me already."

Victoria opened her mouth to assure him she was capable of carrying her own bag and wouldn't make him do it, but Adrian answered.

"Then I'll carry it if you're going to whine about it. Geez, Richie, just let her bring what she wants." Adrian sighed as he continued down the hall. "Mr. Perfect Packer over here...has to get in everyone's bag so it can be done the 'right' way...."

Richie let out a low growl. "I'm just efficient!" He looked back at Victoria and motioned to her suitcase. "If you can close it, you can bring it, but Manong and I aren't going to carry your bag when we're spending the night at 100 Islands."