"Camilo ! Have you seen my jacket ?" You call out to your cousin, who was struggling staying still on one foot to put his shoe on.
"Yeah, you left it over on the couch- dang it." He answers before losing his balance. Luckily, Mirabel happens to pass by and catches him before he hits the floor.
"Careful, primo. Not the time to break anything."
"Are you guys ready ?" Dolores enters the living room, coat and shoes already on. "Isabela says we'll miss it if we don't hurry."
"I'm all good." You answer, putting your jacket on. "Camilo's definitely not, but he's trying his best."
You all look as Camilo sits on the floor in defeat and slowly and delicately slips his foot into his shoe.
"He did it !" Mirabel silently cheers.
"Good job." Dolores murmurs with a proud smile.
"Slay, king." You add, earning some questioning glares that you skillfully ignore. You leave the room to find the rest of your sisters in the courtyard, before the door. The moonlight gave a somewhat eerie atmosphere to the scene.
"We're never gonna be there on time." Isabela shakes her head, rolling her eyes when she sees you walking up to them. You still hadn't really talked to each other in the last three months. It was starting to hurt both of you, but you were too stubborn to reach out to her first. Plus, the fact you started talking back to Angela at school -Dolores told her- only made her feel bad that she couldn't bring herself to do anything for Mariano to stop looking at her with lovesick eyes.
"Don't ya worry." Luisa gave her a little nudge, which would have sent her crashing into the wall if Isabela wasn't used to it and anticipated the impact. "We're still early, we'll be on time."
"Yeah." You say to Luisa, only giving Isabela a quick glance. "There's still a good half hour before it starts."
Alberto, one of the village's elders, had predicted a meteor shower at 2AM on that very night. He was passionate about astronomy, and by some miracle was always right about those things, even though most people still didn't believe him and called his predictions lucky strikes.
Camilo and Mirabel had begged your parents to allow you to go watch it from the donkeys' patio, where you could see the sky clearly, and they only agreed if Isabela, Dolores or Luisa came along. Of course they all said yes, it was an exciting excursion.
Antonio wasn't allowed to stay up that late, though, and so Carlos volunteered to let his little brother sleep with him in his room to comfort him, thus going to bed at the same time as Antonio. An outstanding act of solidarity. Truth was, Carlos just didn't feel like going and took this opportunity to get a full night of sleep.
The rest of you occupied yourselves by playing card games. It was hard getting Camilo and Mirabel to stay quiet as they battled over Kemp's rules, but worth it. You had a good time. Except when you were teamed up with Isabela, in which case none of you would look at each other and never won any game.
Now was time to go, and not only was Isabela worried about the timing, but you started to notice clouds forming above your heads. They weren't too thick, but it definitely hid the stars.
You wondered if it was natural or whether Pepa was having a nightmare. Her gift sometimes acted up in her sleep as well. One time, Félix woke her up to the beginning of a hurricane.
"We're here." Mirabel and the others finally join your group, and you start heading towards the donkey's patio.
As you walk among the town's streets, you can't help but think about the 'dreams' you kept having. The ones about your life being a complete illusion.
You dreamt about it every nights, and that was now your main worry. You had thought about it over and over again, and you could only see one thing that could possibly be an illusion in your life. One person. And you were scared, because it made sense.
You and Luca had been friends for three months, so you would have obviously noticed if he wasn't real. Right ?
Right ?
You let yourself get distanced by the others, slowing down your pace until Luisa reaches you. She had been walking behind with a small relaxed smile, staring up at the part of the sky that wasn't covered by the clouds.
"Luisa ?"
She flinches a bit hearing your voice, before looking down at you.
"Wow, you scared me there." She ruffles your hair as you keep walking at a safe distance from the others. "What's it ?"
"You remember that game we played when I was, like, seven, when I would ask you if something was real and you would answer by yes or no ?"
She frowns a bit, confused. "Yeah. That was back when you couldn't really control your gift, I think. You kept seeing... Well..."
"Tío Bruno." You murmur. Luisa nods quickly, anxious to hear the forbidden name come out of your mouth.
"Yeah, yeah. I remember. Why, do you have some problems with that again ? Are you... Seeing him again ?"
"No ! No. Not anymore..." You say, almost sadly. You did miss creating illusions of your uncle sometimes, but it wasn't right. He was gone and would probably never come back. "It's not... About him."
Luisa glances at you with a worried frown before shrugging and giving you a little nudge. Your shoulder is almost dislocated, but you try to play it off.
" 'lright. You can ask me the question. I'll tell you what's real or not, hermana."
You take a deep breath, considering giving everything up at this very moment. You weren't ready to hear Luca was just a fragment of your imagination. That's why you couldn't bring yourself to find out by yourself.
First of all, you couldn't trust yourself. You knew you couldn't touch your illusions, but who knew if you couldn't subconsciously convince yourself you were touching something ? Give yourself the illusion of feeling his fingers grazing your palm after you helped him up that boulder, or his arm weighing on your shoulder last week when you had to help him walk after he exhausted himself running after you in the school's corridors ? Second of all, you weren't sure you could stop imagining him if he wasn't real. You were too far in, your family, your classmates also believed in his existence. And you would probably miss him too much.
Which is why you prayed whoever could hear you Luca was real. Because that would be fucking sad it it wasn't the case. But also impressive in the way that you would have imagined a whole human being's life. Kinda powerful, not gonna lie- anyway.
"Real or not real ?" You start, pronouncing the infamous sentence from your childhood that Luisa used to hear over and over again. "Luca Suarez."
Your sister stops in her tracks to look at you carefully, scanning your face and hoping to find any kind of playfulness in your eyes. But she didn't find any.
"You're serious ? Luca's your friend. I've seen him with my own eyes, how could he not be real ?"
You feel a small feeling of relief wrap over you, but it wasn't enough. "You're sure about it ? Have you ever been able to touch him ?"
She thinks for a second, then nods. "Yeah, that day at the pond. I helped him out of the water while you climbed back up the boulder to get your things. Is that because you can't touch your illusions ? That's-"
"Okay. Did it feel real ? That touch, did it feel normal ?"
"Of course ! He had a firm grip on my hand, I'm telling ya. Camilo and Carlos even bragged about how they almost drowned him, so they touched him as well, and I'm sure you did too. (Y/n), is everything okay with him ? Why would you think he's not real ? Did he do something ?"
You shrug. You couldn't tell her it was because he was your first friend ever, and that it seemed too good to be true. But surely she was right. Those nightmares just got the best of your rational mind.
"No, I don't know... I'm just completely paranoid, you know. Lately I've been feeling like something bad's about to happen."
She seems surprised for a second. "To be honest, sis, me too. But it's just the pressure, I'm sure. I'm anxious about Antonio's ceremony gift next month going bad, and you're anxious about your friend. It's okay, it's a feeling. But don't doubt yourself. Be certain about what you believe in, because that's part of you."
"I would have to disagree-"
"Nope. Not the time for one of your debates, (Y/n)." She giggles. "The meteor shower is about to start." You both start walking again. "Plus..."
"Plus ?"
"I'm pretty sure I've seen the Suarez son a few times before the both of you became friends. When I helped out his mother with another donkey problem, for example. You think you'd have imagined him even before you met the guy ?"
You feel the knot in your stomach unravel immediately. You look at Luisa with wide eyes, eager to know the truth.
"Really ? You've seen him before ?"
She nods. "Yeah. I know everyone in town, you can trust me. This guy didn't just appear out of nowhere."
"Thank god." You sigh in relief.
"Ya know, you could have easily asked around for those kinds of infos. There was really no need to-"
"I know, it's just... I was scared I would somehow make people say what I want thanks to my gift. And I know it's stupid, I think everything Angela says sometimes gets to my he-" You stop mid sentence, realizing your mistake.
"Why ? What does Angela say ?" Luisa chuckles, obviously not understanding what it was all about. You smile. You could fix this.
"Oh, just assumptions about my gift. She always says maybe I can do more, and that I should... Try to see everything I'm able to do."
Luisa smiles. "She seems nice. I'm sure you can rely on her when things get hard, okay ? I'm here too, of course, but what I'm saying is, you can talk to your friends. Even Luca, I'm sure if you tell him everything, he'll understand. He's a good guy, I can tell."
"... Yeah. He's nice."
"So, what do you say ? Luca Suarez, real or not real ?"
You snort, smiling to yourself. You were glad you talked to Luisa. She was also a good listener.
"Real."
"Girls ! Come on, it's starting !" Mirabel calls out from the donkeys' patio they had just reached. A few of the townspeople were here as well, including Alberto, the one who predicted the meteor shower. They were all dispersed in small groups in the big area, giving each other enough distance for privacy.
You and Luisa exchange a panicked gaze before running towards the patio, your sister picking you up as she decided you weren't fast enough. You laugh until she stops, and stay sitting on her shoulder while everyone looks up at the sky, where a few shootings stars are already starting to fall. Every trace of the previous clouds was now gone, and the spectacle was breathtaking.
At some point you lower your head so that you can whisper to Luisa. "Thanks for the talk, hermana."
"Anytime. You can say anything to Big Sis Luisa." She says proudly, puffing out her chest and making you lose your balance slightly. You laugh. Her hand grabs one of your ankles to make sure you don't fall and stays here. It's warm. It's soothing. You feel perfectly safe with Luisa. With your sisters and cousins gathered here, minus Carlos and Antonio -you wished they were here-.
It was your family. And you loved them more than anything in the world.
___
words : 2002
note : I'm tryna speed up things a little to finally start with the movie's plot, we're already about twenty chapters in and it's not started yet!
but yeah, there's still so much yet to come. if you have any questions, feel free to ask (I won't reveal anything big, maybe give some hints if I feel like it? idk lol)
hope you enjoyed this chapter!