I had finished the in-class assignment that my history teacher had given out and handed it in. There were a few minutes more until the bell rang and we could all go home. All of us were excited for school to end since most of us had plans after school. Some people were going on dates, some were just hanging out with friends for Valentine’s day and some people just wanted to go home and rest before the dance.
Today was interesting to say the least. Countless couples in the hallway giving each other public displays of affection, many of them seeming like they forgot that they were at school.
Camilo had gotten many love letters throughout the day as well as many confessions. Ruben said that he had gotten better at rejecting people. Camilo told him that it was because I had told him to be more direct about it.
I laid my head down on my desk and crossed my arms over my eyes to block out the light, just a quick rest before I had to walk back to Casita. After a minute or two of rest, the bell rang. The room erupted into sounds of my classmates packing up and rushing out of class, people chatting loudly with their friends, and some people giggling about their crushes and such.
I stood up from my desk, grabbed my book, pencil case and some loose papers that I needed before leaving the classroom. I waved at a few of the people that I knew as I passed them in the hallway. Eventually, I made it to my locker. I opened it, put some of my books in there and then grabbed my bag which I had left inside and put my homework inside it. Then I slung the bag over my shoulder and closed the door.
I let out a yelp when I saw Camilo leaning on the locker next to me.
“Ah! Camilo, what-” I exclaimed.
“Hello, valentine!” Camilo said, sort of loudly.
Camilo had the kind of voice that could cut through noise like a knife and he had said that loudly, probably unaware of his volume. So the numerous other kids that were around us had clearly heard him call me “Valentine.” Everyone had stopped what they were doing and were now staring at us. Then I heard whispers and gasps.
I knew that Camilo was popular, it made sense. He was charming, knew how to make anyone laugh, handsome and he was kind and helped anyone that needed his help. All that plus he’s one of the infamous Madrigals and had a gift and helped around town all the time. So yes, I knew that he was popular but I didn’t expect everyone to stop and stare when he simply called me “Valentine.”
“Camilo, people are staring” I whispered, trying not to make eye contact with the people that were looking at us.
“Huh?” Camilo said.
He stopped leaning on the locker next to mine and looked around. He gave an awkward wave and a nervous smile to the people looking at us. Then he grabbed my hand and the two of us ran to the nearest door that led outside.
“Cami?!” I exclaimed “Why are we running?!”
“I refuse to deal with that right now!” Camilo yelled back as we made a run for it towards Casita.
“You’re still gonna have to!” I said, looking behind us.
There was a crowd of people following us, some were obviously admirers of Camilo and the others were just people that were nosy and wanted answers.
“Oh, shoot!” Camilo exclaimed.
He dragged me expertly through town, taking shortcuts and turning harsh corners as we tried to lose the crowd that was following us.
“Camilo! We’re shapeshifters!” I yelled, trying to remind him that we could simply shapeshift and hide in plain sight.
“Oh, right!” Camilo exclaimed as he stopped.
He gave me an apologetic smile for dragging me through town for nothing. He did a little spin and transformed into a woman that he saw. I chose my target, closed my eyes and when I opened them, I had turned into a child that I didn’t know.
The crowd passed by us quickly. Once they were far enough away, Camilo started laughing. I noticed that another difference between Camilo and I’s gifts was that his voice didn’t change when he turned into someone. His laugh still sounded as sweet as it always did which made me smile.
I closed my eyes and let my body turn back to normal. Camilo gave me a smirk and even with the woman’s features, Camilo’s cheeky nature was still obvious on his face. He did his little spin again and turned back into himself. Then he reached his hand out towards me and I gladly put my hand in his.
Then the two of us made our way to Casita. The walk was peaceful, other than a few of the townspeople snickering at how the two of us were holding hands, nobody really paid much attention to us, which I was thankful for. Camilo was enjoying it too, I knew he never got much time for himself, it was his duty as a Madrigal to always be available to help people.
“Once we get home, let’s change and then I wanna take you somewhere” Camilo said once we got close to Casita.
“Take me somewhere?” I repeated “Where?”
“Well, you know that place by the river where we had a picnic at that one time?” Camilo replied “There.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Well, I really like that place” Camilo answered “I think about it a lot. Maybe it’s because it’s the only place I’ve ever seen that was outside of Encanto.”
“And…It was beautiful,” Camilo added softly.
“Do you even know how to get there, Cami?” I asked, teasingly.
“No but you do,” Camilo said. “It could be like…A date?”
Camilo’s eyes widened and he let out a nervous laugh.
“Uh! As friends!” Camilo said “I don’t know why I said a date, I mean like a friend date thing!”
I laughed at his distress.
“Sure, Cami,” I said, “I would love to.”