Who You Are: Camilo's Story (After Encanto)

An Internal Struggle

"Ooh! I got some ideas!" Félix said, raising his hand enthusiastically.

"Me too! Me too!" piped Antonio.

"So do I," said Isabela. "And I get to talk to her first since I'm her sister!"

"You're not the ONLY sister!" Luisa said in her deep voice. "I said I'm FIRST!" Isabela said through gritted teeth, glaring at her buff sibling. Luisa's eye twitched as she glared back.

"Okay, okay, okay, okay!" Mirabel called out with her hands up. "I'm going to talk to the grown-ups first and then I'll get to all of you," she said, addressing her sisters and cousins. "But until then, take the time to process your ideas. I promise to listen to all of them. Alright, everyone. Let's close out." The family stood up, said 'La Familia Madrigal!' and started to clean up. Dolores was picking up the plates when she said. "It sure seems like our cousin is doing well at taking charge. Eh, bro?" She looked over at Camilo who wasn't paying attention. He was shuffling his feet and looking down at the ground. His plate still had food on it. 'Alright, that's it!' Dolores thought to herself. She just couldn't stand it any longer. She had to confirm her suspicions, right now. So, she waited until everyone was out of earshot and said to Camilo quietly, "Hey. I bet the Engel family will stay long enough to enjoy the festival."

Camilo froze for a moment at the mention of the name but said nothing.

Dolores pushed further.

"Maybe we could invite them to stay the night at OUR home," she said. "Then you can share YOUR room...with Hanna."

The trick worked. Camilo gave a nervous choke at the last two words, transformed into Hanna for a second, and changed back again. Dolores squeaked, and whispered, "I knew it!" She was pointing at her brother with her lips. "Don't you say a word!" Camilo said, warningly. His cheeks glowed bright red. Dolores gave him a smug look.

"What's going on here?" asked Félix. He, Pepa, and Antonio approached the two of them. "Are you guys fighting?"

Pepa looked down at the plate her son was carrying. "Camilo, you've barely touched your food! What's wrong, mijo!? Are you sick?" She rushed to put a hand on Camilo's forehead to check for a fever. A rain cloud began to appear over them. "Peppy, mi Amor," Félix said, putting a hand on his wife's shoulder. "If he was sick, he'd already be cured with Julieta's cooking by now." Camilo handed his plate to Antonio who took it and started feeding the food to his animal friends. "No, Mami. I'm fine. Really," Camilo said to his mom in a gentle voice. But Dolores wasn't having it. "Oh, he's sick alright," she finally said. Camilo glared daggers at her. But it was too late. "He's lovesick."

There was silence from all five of them.

The only noise was that of Antonio's animals chowing down on the breakfast food. Camilo hung his head in defeat. Dolores really couldn't keep a secret to save her life. "What? What!? WHAAAAAAAT!?" Pepa shouted.

CRASH!

There was a clap of thunder from Pepa's cloud which was now getting bigger and bigger. Antonio's animals scattered in fear. But the cloud didn't stop there. Drops of rain were now falling on everyone's heads. Camilo looked at Dolores in exasperation and said, "Now look what you've done." He then took their mom's hand in both of his and told her, "Mami, it's okay. It's not a big deal."

"What's not a big deal?" asked Mirabel, who was making her way towards the scene. Everyone else was right behind her. Julieta ran over to Pepa, getting herself wet in the process. Bruno joined her. "Pepa, are you alright?" he asked, putting his hands on Pepa's shoulders. But Pepa wouldn't answer. She was in shock.

Julieta then looked at Camilo. "What happened?" she asked him.

"Um..." Camilo said.

Dolores was just about to speak again when Félix put his hand over her mouth. He shook his head, telling her just this once to stay quiet.