The Chameleon's Grin ll Camilo Madrigal

Chapter 12 : Down by the Waterfall

Carmen's pov:

We stood there in a tense silence, with Camilo's knuckles growing whiter and whiter as he squeezed his own arms tightly.

"Camilo..." I put the bowl I was cleaning down and stood beside him, putting my hand on his to stop him from squeezing so hard.

He let go, but looked at the ground.

"That's a very serious thing to admit." I whispered.

His face scrunched up to prevent himself from crying. His breathing quickened, and I watched in helplessness.

"I think we should talk about this."

Camilo shook his head rapidly. "No, no I'm okay." He squeaked.

At a loss for what I should do, I desperately searched my mind for things that made me feel better- but I could only think of one place.

A secret place.

A place where I found peace and quiet.

The jungle.

The path I made right behind my house, and leading into the deep and dark depths of the unknown.

As much as I hated the idea of sharing it, it was perfect.

"But you're not." I told him.

Camilo looked up at me, tears falling down his cheeks. "I need to go, Carmen."

I grabbed his hand and pulled him behind me, mentally noting that we had to be back in the hour. "You're totally right, let's go."

"Wait- I meant to my room, by myself!"

"Not yet, I want to show you something." I looked back at Camilo's surprised face, and briefly noticed the freckles dotting the bridge of his nose and cheeks. "I promise you'll like it."

Hesitantly, he nodded in submission and let me pull him along as I dragged him to the path behind by house. We ran there to save time, making it in 15 minutes.

"So this is a place I go when I feel overwhelmed, and it helps me clear my head." I explained, releasing his hand and going up the winding trail, him close behind.

For the first time since I've met the boy, Camilo Madrigal stayed quiet and listened.

It was a little unnerving, but I kept talking. "I've never shown anyone this place before, so please, let's keep this our secret."

He nodded understandingly, and we kept walking. I stopped when we got to the familiar, tall, and luscious bushes which hid my special spot.

With a flair, I pushed the greenery away, and let Camilo take in the scenery of the grand waterfall.

He stood there for a while, unmoving. In fact, barely even blinking.

"I've never seen this place before." He said suddenly, wiping the tear streaks from his eyes and cheeks.

"Well, that'd be the point of a secret, Camilo." I retorted.

He laughed, though it didn't feel all that genuine.

"Here," I said, taking off my shoes, and walking to the water. I sat down and dipped my feet in the clear blue liquid. Camilo did the same, placing himself directly beside me.

Camilo silently looked down at his reflection. He forced a smile at himself, but it deflated into a frown.

"You know, you're a little too good at faking your emotions." I noted.

The Madrigal looked at me, tilting his head. "That's the fastest anyone's ever realized that. It even took my own mamá ages to recognize that, how did you notice it so quickly?"

"I'm not telling," I said, taking him aback. "Cause then you'll just keep that in mind when faking again, and I refuse to feed the problem."

He processed that. Then, with the most heartbreaking tone I've heard come out of a person he whispered, "Am I the problem?" He was still staring down at his reflection, but this time with a look of defeat.

"Camilo." A tone of sternness crept into my voice. "Look, I don't know why you think these things about yourself, but they need to stop. This isn't healthy."

He didn't say anything, so I sat forward and looked at his reflection with him.

"What do you see?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well there's gotta be something." I insisted.

He sighed. "...I see many people, but not me."

"Mhm, and why do you think that is?"

Camilo struggled to find an answer. He then got up and gave me his hand of assistance.

I took it, and right as I was about to ask what he was doing, he said, "I don't know the answer to that either, but I'll think on it, okay?"

I nodded, and put my shoes back on. "Okay, just keep that in mind when you're pretending to be someone you're not, and I don't mean appearance wise."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, a little humor creeping into his voice.

"I dunno, I guess it's another thing to think on."

Camilo's pov:

We got back to the house just in time for Carmen to take out the cakes.

The way back was silent, but my thoughts were so loud, Dolores could probably hear them.

Why do I see other people in the reflection instead of me?

'-you're pretending to be someone you're not, and I don't mean appearance wise'

What does that even mean?

I helped Carmen finish constructing the cake pops, and then she and Diana left early because their mamá got off of work early today.

I grabbed her wrist just before she walked out the door. "Carmen-"

She turned towards me and I dropped her hand.

"Thank you."

She smiled, a genuine, happy smile. "Of course, I just hope our conversation sticks with you." She turned, but then snapped her head right back when she remembered something. "Oh, and feel free to visit the waterfall anytime, it's much better than just sitting in your room." And with that, she nodded a goodbye and left, hand in hand with her hermanita.

I sat in the kitchen now, numb from our conversations.

"I heard what happened," Dolores walked in, making me jump a bit. "That was very kind of her."

I nodded, smiling a bit. "It was."

Mamá came into the room as well. "What was?"

"Nothing Mami, just Carmen." I told the woman.

"That doesn't sound like nothing to me." She chuckled, wrapping her arm around my shoulders lovingly.

"She made Camilo feel better, he was having another identity crisis spasm, but she didn't want him to be alone in his room to deal with it." Dolores spat out.

"Oh Carino(honey)," She said sympathetically. "She took it upon herself to not let you be alone?"

"Si, she... she let me off with some things to think about, and to hopefully help find who I am."

She pecked the top of my head, moving a few of my curls. "Cami, please tell us when something is wrong. You're lucky Carmen is so observant, otherwise you would've spent the evening alone."

"I know-"

"But you don't." She pulled me into a tight hug. "Because if you did, you'd come to us automatically when there was problem."

I embraced the squeeze fully, soaking up the love that my mother spewed.

"I'll get better Mami, I promise."