Heyo! This chapter is in your P.O.V. and something a little heated happens, along with reckless drunk adults. Enjoy!
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“Pepa, you’re drunk.” Mami tells tía, trying to pull her off of the railing to the stairs.
“Your mom’s drunk.” Tía giggles, making mami sigh. “Hi, kids!” She shouts to us, despite being ten feet away.
“Good evening, Tía Pepa.” Mira forces a smile.
“You two look nice! Happy birthday!” She whoops loudly.
“Thank you, tía.” I force myself not to run away. I know she’s not going to hurt me. But she’s acting just like my tío did around his friends when he got drunk.
“Mirabel,” she yanks me by the wrist over to her and I try my best not to pull away. “Mirabel, I saw you hit Camilito with a snowball earlier. Funniest shit!” She cackles. How do I look like Mirabel? I don’t even wear glasses.
“Go get yourselves something to eat, it’s your birthday!” Mami tells us politely, prying Tía Pepa away from me and off of the stair railing. We quickly exit and find Cami standing in the dining room chatting with pá and Tío Felix.
“If they get pregnant, that’s on you, you understand?” Tío asks him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“Papi!” Cami pulls away from him. “We just started dating.”
“He’s just making sure you know, sobrino.” Pá tells him.
“Oh, he knows.” I chuckle, grabbing a lollipop from the table and unwrapping it. “He’s barely allowed to touch me anyway.” I pop it into my mouth.
“How long have you been standing there?” Cami asks as deep red begins to dust his cheeks, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Long enough to know that tío’s gonna kill you if I get pregnant.” I snicker and his face heats more.
“It’s not what you think--” He starts before I hold a hand up at him.
“Querida, I really don’t care why you were talking about me.” I shake my head.
“(Y/)-- er uh… Mirabel. C’mere.” Pá says, beckoning her over to him.
“Papi, let’s go check on mami.” Cami turns to tio.
“Last time I saw her, she was trying to slide down the railing to the stairs.” I tell him and he shakes his head.
“Dios mio, Pepi.” He mutters and the three of us work our way over there. “Pepi, amor.” He catches her as she almost falls down the stairs. “How much water have you had?”
“Does champagne count as water?” She hiccups.
“No.” He sighs, standing her up straight. Well, as straight as she’ll get.
“Then none.” She smiles brightly before another hiccup comes from her.
“Let’s get some water in you and sober you up, hm?” He asks and she tries to pull away from him.
“No! I’m having fun with Julieta.” She throws herself around mami, who almost gets knocked over by her.
“You know, as much trauma that I have, it’s pretty funny to see her white girl wasted.” I giggle to Cami, pointing my sucker at her. He takes it from me and puts it in his mouth. “Unsanitary.”
“But making out isn’t?” He asks and I huff, knowing he has a point.
“You could have gotten your own.”
“That’s so far away, though.” He leans on me and I just now notice his outfit. It’s exactly what he wore on our date but his suspenders are traded for a vest and a blazer. He must notice me looking because he pulls away, doing a sassy spin. “You like what you see?”
“I thought we said no blazer?”
“It’s my birthday. I can do what I want.”
“No, your birthday is in June.”
“Not to the knowledge of anyone else.” He points his sucker at me.
“Are you sad about that?” I ask him and his face drops. “I mean, I’m pretty upset about it. We’re different people, y’know? It’s not like we’re real triplets like mami and her siblings.”
“But don’t you know? We act the same.” He asks sarcastically, chuckling. It dies down quickly and a solemn look returns to his face. “I dunno. I mean, I love you. You know that. I’d like to celebrate my birthday separately, though.”
“I don’t want water!” Tía protests very loudly.
“Then let me make you a cocktail.” Mami tells her, grabbing her arm. Tío gives her a concerned look and she shoots one back that says, ‘trust me.’ We move to the dining room and to pass time, Mira throws popcorn into the air for Cami to catch in his mouth.
“You suck at this.” I laugh at him and he rolls his eyes as a kernel bounces off his nose, landing in his hand.
“You try, then.” He throws it in my direction and I catch it perfectly. “Lucky shot. Again.” Mira throws it this time and because she’s farther away, it’s low when it reaches me. I slide to the floor and triumphantly catch it in my mouth. I stand, chewing it and watching as Cami’s expression switches between impressed and upset.
“See? You just suck at it.”
“My turn.” Mira shoves the bowl into my hands. “I wanna beat his ass now.” I giggle and toss one into the air toward her. She misses, wrinkling her face as it hits her glasses and bounces to the floor.
“HA.” Cami laughs loudly.
“That was a fluke, one more time.” She braces herself and I throw another. This time, it somehow catches in the space between her face and her glasses, making Cami laugh harder. “Shut up. I’ve done it twice, you failed, like, twenty times in a row.”
“I’m just that impressive.” I shrug, shoving more popcorn into my mouth.
“You really are.” Cami swoons, leaning against the table.
“Simp.” Mira chuckles, walking over to me to grab a fistful of popcorn.
“Countdown time, c’mon!” Tía shouts through the house, rounding us all up. She seems more sober. Sounds like mami just poured her a bunch of ice and cranberry juice.
“Oh my god, how long have we been at this for?” I ask in realization, thinking about how it was just ten.
“I mean, we did it to pass time, didn’t we?” Cami asks rhetorically, dragging me out into the main area of Casita with Mira in tow. Every year, we have a giant clock that we put up underneath the candle for our party that I have to put up and this year is no exception, I find out as Abuela approaches me, clock in hand. She doesn’t have to say a word before I float it up to its spot on the house, resting it on the roof.
“It’s crooked.” Isa complains and I roll my eyes.
“I’m so sorry, your highness.” I mutter, fixing it.
“What was that?” She asks, stepping closer to me. Before I can say anything, Abuela glares at me and goes to Isa’s side, putting a hand on each of her shoulders and making her perk up, looking away from me.
“You shouldn’t let Isa bully you like that.” Mira tells me.
“I could say the same to you.” I shrug and the countdown starts. Everyone is chanting the numbers except for Mira, Cami, and I. We’re all tired of this. We want to be treated like separate humans instead of a unit. As the clock ticks down, my heart rate quickens. This is my chance to save our miracle.
“Cinco!” Everyone shouts and I swallow thickly. “Quatro!” My hands start to shake. “Tres!” I take a deep breath, trying to steady myself. “Dos!” Wait. Who am I gonna kiss? This could make or break everything. “Uno!” Before I have time to think, Mirabel pulls me in for a kiss. It’s soft, yet it feels like she lets out her frustration with it. “Feliz año nuevo!” Soon, a hand takes my bicep and pulls me away gently.
“Thirty seconds, my turn.” He says before pulling me in for his own kiss. He’s smart for such a dumb boy. He doesn’t even know about the vision but he’s my saviour. Just like with Mira’s, his kiss is because he wants to but it feels like all of his tension melts away through it and I feel the same. We only pull away when Abuela raises her voice in a speech. I look around for a moment and notice little cracks everywhere around the house have been patched. I did it.
“Happy New Year and happy birthday to our three wonderful angels. May the best come to you in your sweet sixteen.” Abuela smiles for once and everyone around us cheers, making us realize that we should be plastering on smiles.
“I just wanna say,” Tía Pepa pipes up, stepping up onto a chair to get more attention. “You three have grown so much since you were little. I remember when you were teeny tiny and begging me for snow like Toñito.” She slurs her words. “I love you guys. Mirita,” she looks at Cami, “Camilito,” She looks at me, “and (N/N),” she looks at Mira, “happy birthday, to the best teenagers a parent could ask for.” She finally steps down without hurting herself, much to the relief of everyone else. She’s never been this wasted and I assume it’s because she’s afraid to get this drunk in front of the entire town. Gotta keep up family appearances.
“This is bullshit.” Cami huffs, making me and Mira look over at him. “I mean, I get parties are a hassle but they treat us like one person.”
“We should actually celebrate our birthdays.” Mira suggests.
“How so?” I ask and she looks around before walking us over to the front door and quickly slipping out of it with me and Cami not too far behind.
“Nothing like a night on the town.” She giggles. An alarm clock goes off and I blink my eyes open to the shrill sound of my alarm and a throbbing in my skull. “Turn it off.” Mira groans, scrunching her eyes closed. I don’t remember getting a new alarm clock after smashing my old one. Instead of floating it down into my hand, I just use my gift to throw it down onto my floor. I’m too comfy between Mira and Cami to get up. Wait. I shoot my eyes open to find Cami spooning me while Mira faces my direction, my arms wrapped around her. God, why does my head hurt so bad? I place a kiss on Mira’s forehead and tuck a piece of her green hair behind her ear before closing my eyes again in an attempt to sleep. Hold on. Green? I open my eyes again and the bleached part of her hair is a bright, radioactive green.
“Oh my God!” I shriek, immediately regretting it. Mira sits up in a confused daze, blinking rapidly.
“What?” She asks frantically. She takes one good look at me before her eyes widen in shock. “Your hair is red!”
“Yours is green!” I sit up with her, feeling a blazer wrapped around my body. When did that get there?
“Could you guys shut the fuck up? My head hurts like hell and you screaming bloody murder does not help.” Cami groans, rolling over. I quickly pull him up with us and stare at him in horror. “What?” He asks groggily. “Do I have something on my face?” A click noise comes from his mouth while he’s talking and he jolts back in surprise. “What just hit my tooth?” He gets up quickly, running over to my mirror. He stands in shock, his mouth hanging open. His hair is a sunny yellow and I can see his tongue piercing from here.
I get up, joining him to look in my mirror. This confirms what Mira told me. My hair is a bright, cherry red but there’s something more. My septum and eyebrow are pierced. Oh my God. What did we do last night? “Mira.” I call and she groans.
“Holy fuck.” I look over and she’s sitting on the edge of my bed, looking down her pants. “I think I have the worst piercing.”
“What the fuck happened last night?” I ask softly.
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Word Count: 2,033
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Stay safe, my dudes <3
Published: (2/18/22) (Month/Day/Year)
Final Word Count: 2,062