Camilo x Reader -Broken Reflection

Chapter 11 (Chameleon)

Camilo's POV (first person POV)

Dinner was bearable. Julieta, Abuela, Mirabel, and Pepa cooked for at least three hours, setting corn, fish, avocado slices and rice, salad, and hot sausages on the table. My mouth watered at the smell of it all.

Mariano was invited and sat next to Dolores who was sweating buckets from nervousness. Abuela managed to not crush my soul and people laughed at the few jokes I cracked. I figured that it was because it was my birthday and everyone gets treated a little better on their birthday.

I'd occasionally steal glances as Orchid-head as she ate. She was the type of girl to pile plenty of food on her plate, eat it all, go back for seconds, and be hungry enough to do it all over again- just like me. She wasn't one to worry too much about what others thought of her, it seemed, and I wondered where she got her confidence from.

She glanced at me and lifted her eyebrows up and down in a playful way, flashing me a toothy smile. There was a little bit of corn stuck to her lip that fell off as she did, and I couldn't help but smile back at her as she took in another mouthful of food.

After the table was cleared, a few of the girls disappeared to change into more festive dresses while the table was cleared (most of which was done by the Casita). A few townspeople filed into the house that I barely knew, wishing me a happy birthday and setting gifts at the table in the front hall. They all walked upstairs to my room, but it was small enough that it couldn't hold all of the bodies. The house ended up filling top to bottom with guests.

As the party started after the sky was completely dark and all that shone in the night were stars, I couldn't help but feel like my dream was becoming a reality.

My bedroom was suffocatingly full with people, so much that I didn't even want to be there. There were mirrors all over the walls- even more than usual, and on the floor just like they were in my dreams. Light yellow and orange streamers hung from my high ceiling, and the thick red curtains attached to my stage were drawn to reveal even more mirrors and people.

The lively music that played was loud but was almost drowned out by the sound of excited guests. I heard the sound of Pepa shouting, calling my name through the house and I ran to her. She tugged my hand and pulled me to the center of the party inside my room.

"I love you so much, my son," She said through tears, but a bright colorful rainbow hovered over her head. Suddenly my entire family was hugging me, and I could feel Antonio's butterflies fluttering around my head.

A series of "Awwww"s filled the room and then my family pulled away, forming a circle around me. Everyone danced to the music that played, but I could barely bring myself to move.

"Turn into me!" My father shouted over the crowd. I shifted to look like him without a thought, remembering how that exact scene occurred in my dream. Panic swelled within me and I whirled around to try and find a way out of the crowd.

"Turn into Abuela!" Antonio shouted. I spun in a circle and suddenly I looked exactly like my grandmother who sat on her chair and clapped, swaying to the music and laughing as flower petals shot out of Isabela's hands and fluttered over us. I turned around for everyone to see, listening to how they cheered for me. Somehow the sound of their cheers got quieter and quieter by the moment. For a split second, I wondered if that was all it was- a dream. But it wasn't and I knew that.

"Turn into Bruno!" Mirabel shouted. She jumped and clapped as I bared my teeth and curled my fingers as my eyes glowed green and long black hair swished in front of my eyes. I turned around for the crowd to see, catching myself in the mirror.

I felt sick. My head swam and my eyes blurred but no one noticed.

"Turn into Isabela!" Someone shouted. I shifted without even trying to and felt my stomach flip. My head swam and tears pricked my eyes. I had to get out but I couldn't move on my own. The air was sucked out of my lungs and all I could think about was how scared I was.