CAMILO
"Sofia! Sofia!" Alejandro's voice belts out as I climb the hill up to Casita.
He and Mirabel are both standing out front, on different sides of the lawn, under a blanket full of stars. The two came back here after we bumped into Mira in town and explained the whole situation. Meanwhile, I've been scouring the packed streets.
"Anything?" I ask upon walking up to Mira.
She frowns and shakes her head.
My stomach drops.
Where could she be? It's been hours.
I glance over at Alejandro. He's drenched in sweat from all his running around, his face makeup smeared into an unrecognizable mosaic. Any anger he might've possessed earlier has been replaced with desperate worry, regret even. And he should be worried. He should regret what he did. He had no right to treat Sofia or me the way he did.
But it's my fault for fighting with him, too.
I should've stepped back. Walked away. Not engaged him.
Butting in just made things worse. A lot worse. And now . . .
What if she doesn't come back because of this?
What if—
I sigh and rake one hand through my curls.
I've got to keep looking . . .
Where else could she have gone? Think.
I press my fingers flat on my temples and turn toward the forest.
There's only one other place we haven't checked.
Walking away from the others, I push my way through the forest's ferns, Isabela's massive, overgrown flower patches, and around giant palma de cera trees in the direction of my secret hideout. It's a lot harder to maneuver after dusk, especially when only guided by moonlight. But not impossible.
A few close calls and stumbles over rocks and roots later, the sound of trickling water picks up—almost muted out by the town's distant cumbia music. I follow it until I reach the waterfall's bubbling stream. As the sound of its louder splashing grows near, I look up at it again from my path.
Sofia sits curled up beside the falls, her face buried in her knees.
I immediately intake breath.
The weight on my shoulders lightens and at the same time tenses.
For a moment, I just stand there, wide-eyed, staring at her from the side. Relieved to have found her, but uncertain and hesitant to approach.
Fear and worry fill my head again.
What if she runs away, if I try to get closer?
What if she doesn't want to see me?
What if I say or do something that makes this worse?
Mirabel's so much better with things like this. I . . .
I gulp and clench my fists.
No. Stop panicking.
Nothing is certain until you try, and we made a promise. A promise I need to uphold.
Determined to do so, I walk up and sit beside Sofia. She peeks up at me, her eyes tinged red from tears. But at least she's not running. At least she's not doing that.
"You know, you'd probably win the world championship at hide and seek," I try to break the ice, immediately hating myself afterwards for the stupid quip and not being able to think of anything else.
Sofia smiles and lets out a weak laugh, bowing her head ever so slightly. Her reaction: comforting me that the joke wasn't a total fail.
A silence falls over us. Its stillness only interrupted by the flowing water.
I fidget and stare down at my hands in my lap, not certain what to do next, or if I should do anything next at all. "Do you want to talk about it?" is all I manage under the mounting pressure.
Sofia sighs. Putting her chin on top of her knees, she gazes off into the distance, straight ahead. "He's just so infuriating sometimes," she whispers. "I can't believe he . . . that I . . ."
She closes her eyes.
Her lips purse as she tilts her head again towards me.
"I'm sorry he did that to you," she says, lowering her gaze. "I don't know what came over him. I've never seen him like that before."
I nod, partially understanding how surprising that might've been. Although, he probably wasn't triggered without reason, if he saw what I think he did.
"It's not your fault," I counter anyways. "His actions are on him. You don't have to apologize."
"Still," Sofia mutters. "Are you alright? You're not hurt?"
"Me?" I raise an eyebrow at her. "I'm as strong as steel!" I flex one arm dramatically up in the air for her to see, shapeshifting it to something overtly muscular after a second. "You don't have to worry about that."
Sofia giggles, and I shapeshift my arm back and lower it again. She shifts her focus back onto the stream. " . . . I wish I could say the same."
She grows quiet. Her expression falling, eyes growing distant. Mind lost in uninviting, impenetrable thought.
"Right now I just feel so weak and pathetic," she confesses, at last letting me into the loop. "I can't even speak to or confide in my own brother! And even if I do try, it's like it goes in one ear and out the other!" She throws an exasperated hand out in front of her, then huffs, her true thoughts and emotions pouring out of her faster by the minute. "I just feel so . . . so . . ."
"Invisible?" I couldn't resist using the perfect situation describer for this moment.
Her lips curl up briefly, and she nods.
I recall Alejandro's panicked face and voice when racing around town and in front of Casita. The sweat dripping down his skin. His horrendously smeared makeup.
"Well, I don't want to speak on behalf of your brother, but . . . he seemed awfully worried about you back at the house, like he regret what he did." I lean back and look up at the stars.
Sofia jolts and pivots my way.
"I think now if you were to try to talk to him, he might actually listen for once."
She squints at me. "You would try to help him, after everything he did to you?"
"Eh. Considering everything, I think he deserves a second chance." I shrug. Especially if he saw what I think he saw now, between me and his sister. "Plus, if you guys make up, I've got plenty of blackmail material."
I smirk connivingly in her direction.
Sofia laughs hard. Her lighthearted demeanor brings a genuine smile back to my lips, washing any remaining fear or nerves away.
"What would you blackmail him for?" she asks near tears. "Wait. Let me guess." She holds a finger up. "More arepas?"
I struggle to keep a straight face. "Hmmmm . . . Maybe some buñuelos, too."
We both grin at each other and burst into a fit of chuckles.
As our laughter dies down, Sofia straightens her legs out in front of her, releasing the tight hold she's had on herself.
"Thank you, Camilo. For finding and talking to me," she says.
She turns and beams at me fully.
"You always manage to cheer me up."
My cheeks flush.
So do you, is what I immediately want to say. But to avoid being an embarrassing, stuttering, potentially shapeshifting mess further, I just smile in return, softly.
Heart racing, I stand up and extend a helping hand out to her. "Come on. Whether you talk to him or not is up to you, but at least allow me to walk you home."
She stares at my palm a moment then takes it. The gentle touch of her fingers on mine makes my pulse sprint faster than it's been doing. The tinglings from earlier at the park returning with a vengeance. Along with the memory of our kiss. My first kiss.
As I mentally prepare to have to let go, to shove that memory aside, for now, along with any thoughts of that inevitable discussion, Sofia hugs me, pressing her hands firm behind my back and resting her head upon my shoulder.
"Thank you, Camilo. Really," she mutters, while I just stand there, arms half up, eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.
A sweeping warmth fills me from head to toe.
The appreciation clear in her voice, as well as in her actions.
I wrap my arms around her, happy to embrace her and this perfect moment between us to the fullest.