The Chameleon's Grin ll Camilo Madrigal

Chapter 23 : Some Redecorating

Camilo's pov:

Upon hearing my name yelled by Carmen, I ran to the direction her voice came from.

I found her and Agustin in the kitchen, with him watching in wonder as a salt shaker floated by his head.

The girl who called was floating again, flat against the ceiling now.

"I need..." She paused before she said the dreaded word that I loved hearing from her mouth.

"Say it, bonita."

"...you."

I blinked, expecting the word 'help'.

"Er-" I cleared my throat. "Si, of course. Give me your hands."

"But you'll levitate too."

"It doesn't matter, we'll be back down soon anyways." I reasoned.

Slowly, Carmen stretched her arms out.

I turned into Jose, the tallest man in Encanto, and grabbed a hold of her. Once I started floating, I shifted back into myself, also flattening on the ceiling. I noticed that Mami, Papa, Dolores, and Isabela were standing at the door to the kitchen, watching us.

"Alright," I began, ignoring the mi familia and softening my tone. "Close your eyes, and I'll do it too."

She nodded, and shut them, and I did the same.

"Now, imagine a nice and slow drift back to ground with me weighing us down." I squinted to sneak a look at her to see if she was concentrated.

Carmen's brows were furrowed, with a small crease between them where her worry line usually was.

Gradually, I felt my back lower from the ceiling, and shakily, she brought us and all of the spices and pans down.

I gave her a thumbs up as my parents, sister, tio, and prima cheered encouragingly for her.

"Good progress, Carmen!" Mami exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the girl. "And on your first day too! That was fast!"

The girl smiled bashfully. "Uh- thank you." She put a hand on Mami's back, not fully knowing what to do with the motherly affection.

When Mami left go of her, Papa gave her a loving pat on the shoulder, flashing that signature 'dad look' that he was so good at.

Carmen's pov:

I waved goodbye as Mirabel, Antonio, and Camilo left for school with Diana.

Once they were out of sight, Diana turned to look up at me.

"What will we do while we wait?"

I had already thought of the perfect thing to do with her today.

"Well," I said drawing out the word. "How about we go to the markets for a few hours? While we're down there, we can grab some ingredients for a cake, and I'll let you chose, how does that sound?"

She smiled, revealing her slightly crooked teeth. "Could I help you bake?"

I took a hold of her hand, squeezing it in mine. "Of course hermanita."

***

Through the afternoon I tried to stay as calm as possible in the market, not wanting any floating incidents to happen outside with nothing to grab onto. I also had Diana leave her journal at la Casita, since she would probably want to write in it.

Paying for our shopping trip with the small amount of money I had earned over the past few days of work, we bought a few new things for our rooms.

I got a sage green rug, with intricate patterns on it, along with several tapestries and even some new clothing, matching the theme of light green.