Camilo Madrigal

Chapter 2

Vases

The clear blue sky finally became orange-ish and I start getting ready.
I put on my blue dress and I'm honestly not disappointed.
It's tight around my chest and my waist, but it becomes wider around my hips, and caresses the floor. It is open in the back and I love it.
I leave my hair loose, I hang my little silver hoops on my ears and I put another on my septum.
I go downstairs and I see Nina looking outside again.
"Hey ça se passera bien. Je te le jure." ("Hey, it's going to go well. I swear.")
She looks at me and smiles in recognition.
"Do you mind braiding my hair?"
I go next to her and start fixing it.
When I'm done, she looks radiant.
We both look nice, and our dresses make a nice contrast.
We hear fireworks and screamings and laughter and music outside.
"I think we should leave now" Nina whispers.
I nod and I take her by the hand.
We walk down the street, surrounded by kids running, and people laughing.
We see a huge and colorful house at the end of the road, and everyone goes inside.
When it's our turn, I feel someone taking me by the hand.
I jump a little, and I take my hand back as a reflex.
It's me.
I see myself smiling softly and saying :
"Wow, lo siento, no quería asustarte..." ("Wow, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you...")
"Um... I don't... Entendos?"
She blinks twice.
"No entiendes? You don't... Understand?"
I shake my head and she giggles. She suddenly becomes a guy.
He is taller than me, has tan skin and curly hair.
I start studying his face and notice that he has freckles on his cheeks and his nose.
I look inside his green-ish hazel eyes and see that he is studying me too.
"Good evening and welcome to the Madrigal Family's house" he says. "We like to call it our Casita, and it's waiting for you!"
He winks at me and leaves us to welcome the people behind us.
As we go inside, I feel Nina looking at me, and she starts laughing.
"What?" I ask, already knowing what she's going to say.
"You are so in love Julie."
I sigh and roll back my eyes.
"N'importe quoi..." I smirk.
The house is huge and beautiful. There are millions of flowers everywhere, everything is extremely colorful and I feel overwhelmed with all these voices and smells, colors, and sounds... Nina grabs me by the arm and smiles.
"It's beautiful, non?"
I nod.
"I'm going to try to socialize a little. Are you going to be fine?"
I nod again.
She kisses me on the cheek and I see her going to talk to a divine girl with beautiful black hair and dressed in purple.
Meanwhile, I try to find a buffet or something.
Where is the food? I can smell it, but I can't see any.
I walk around the room, trying to find something to eat and I suddenly feel someone violently grabbing me by the waist.
"¡Cuidado!" a masculine voice yells. ("Careful!")
"Hey!" I scream back, slapping him. "Tu te prends pour qui?" ("Who do you think you are?")
"¡Solo trataba de ayudarte pendeja!" ("I was only trying to help you stupid!")
"Arrête de me serrer comme ça! Lâche-moi!" ("Stop squeezing me like this! Let go of me!")
Suddenly, he lets me go. It's the entrance boy. He can understand?
"I have no idea what you just said, but I was only trying to help you." He says.
"Yeah sure."
I look around and see a broken vase on the floor.
"Oh... Did that fall?" I ask.
"That's literally what I was trying to show you."
I feel my cheeks warming up and I apologize. I hate being wrong.
He slowly smirks and asks:
"Française?" ("French?")
"Oui."
"Pues... Muy bonita." ("Well... Very pretty.")
I give him a confused look and he laughs.
"Forget it. Do you want me to show you around?"
"Sure, thank you."
He takes my hand and drags me in the middle of the crowd.
I see his brown hair bouncing with every step he makes, and when I look down to our hands, I feel my heart rate going up.
I hate it when Nina is right.