The Real You (Camilo x Reader)

(5) Contribute

Camilo leads me up the stairs to his bedroom. He opens the door and gestures for me to go inside. "After you." He says. I walk into his room, and I'm a bit surprised. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but Camilo's room seemed pretty plain in comparison to Antonio's rainforest of a bedroom. The walls were covered in yellow wallpaper with tiny green chameleons painted on them. A wooden bed was pushed up against the wall, and a small table with an oil lamp was beside it. A large wardrobe with intricate details carved into its wood was standing against another wall. Camilo closes the door and steps over to the wardrobe. "Give me just a second, okay?" he says, swinging the doors open.

I walk around the small bedroom and notice an enormous trunk pushed into the corner. My curiosity gets the better of me, and I open the lid. That's weird. I think to myself. The trunk before me was filled to the brink with photographs. Not just any photographs...the photographs were of people. The townspeople. Girls, boys, the elderly, the young, everyone. I felt so confused. Why would Camilo have all these pictures?

"Alright, I think I found something that should work..." Camilo trails off.

I slowly stand up turn around. uh oh... Camilo saw me rummaging through his stuff. I bite my lip with worry. "Camilo...I-I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to snoop through your things."

Camilo's face darkens. He quickly walks over to the trunk and slams it shut. "I-it's fine. You didn't know." His voice wavers. It almost seemed like he was trying to hold back tears.

"Camilo...why do you have those photos?" I softly ask.

The boy slumps down against the wall and picks up a stray photo that had fallen out of the trunk. He sighs. "When I was first given my gift, I didn't know how to control it. I guess Abuela was getting frustrated that I wasn't getting the whole powers thing...so one day I came into my room, and those photos were hanging on the wall. Abuela told me to practice my gift by learning how to become different townspeople so I could contribute to the community. Eventually, I did figure out how to control my gift...but I think the more time that I spent trying to learn how to be other people, the more time that I lost in trying to figure out who I was. Don't get me wrong, I love my gift and all, it's just...." He crumples up the photo and chucks it across the room. "After playing so many parts it's hard to draw the line at who's actually me and who's someone else." Camilo looks up at me. "But then I met you. You said you were glad to meet me. The real me. After that, it occurred to me...even I don't know who the real me is anymore. Who is Camilo Madrigal?"

We sit in silence for a few moments as I ponder over what Camilo said. "Well..." I begin. "I see how you act around your family; you like to play jokes on them and make people laugh. You like to dance and sing." I think back to earlier today when we danced together and smile. "You were able to tell I was struggling at dinner. That proves that you're observant. Then you were able to come up with an elaborate scheme to get me out for there. Not just anyone can do that. Only someone resourceful, thoughtful, and compassionate could pull that off. Someone like you." I look at Camilo with loving eyes. "You may not realize it, but all of the small things you do for those around you make up who you are. They make up Camilo Madrigal."

Camilo smiles. He's silent for a moment, but then he speaks up. "Thanks, (yn). It means a lot."

"You helped me...it's the least I can do." I softly say, feeling a bit of pink forming on my cheeks.

We sit in silence for a few more moments, just enjoying each other's company.

Camilo stands up and extends his hand out to me. "Well, are you ready to get back to that dinner?"

I giggle as he pulls me up. "Aren't you forgetting something?" I ask.

"What?"

I point to my blouse.

Camilo scratches the back of his head. "Oh. Right." he tosses me the shirt he picked out for me. "Hold on." Camilo closes his eyes, and his eyebrows furrow together in concentration. I gasp as a wooden room partition appears in the corner of the room.

"How'd you do that?" I ask.

"Since my gift is shapeshifting, my room can shapeshift too." Camilo explains. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Very cool." I agree, running my hand along the divider. I step on the other side of it to change shirts. "No peeking!"

Camilo leans against the back wall with his arms crossed. "I'm offended you would feel the need to tell me that!" He teases. "I'm a gentleman, remember?"

I laugh as I put on the shirt Camilo gave me and fling my wet blouse onto the divider. The shirt was a bit large, and the sleeves were very long, but it would do. I step out from behind the divider and spin around. "What do you think?" I ask.

Camilo blushes. "It looks-"

Suddenly a huge crash of thunder can be heard from the first floor. Camilo jumps in surprise and shapeshifts into several different people. When he becomes himself again, a giant mustache sprouts from under his nose.

I would've started laughing if I wasn't so worried. "Is that your mom?!" I yell over the thunder.

"I think so," Camilo shakes his head and the mustache goes away. "I got to go calm her down! C'mon!" Camilo runs to the stairs and after shapeshifting into a little kid, hops onto the railing and slides down it. I run down the steps after him and into the dining room, where a mega-rainstorm was taking place.

"What's going on in here?" I gasp in horror and put my hands over my mouth as I look around the room. Isabela's boyfriend was unconscious on the floor, Luisa was sobbing uncontrollably, and everyone was staring at Mirabel with a mix of worried, concerned, and angry looks.

This isn't good...