Dos Oruguitas (Camilo Madrigal)

Chapter 9

[Camiloʼs POV]

The day has come. Veronica is getting married today. Thank God my mom convinced Abuela not to come talk to me, but I couldnʼt avoid anyone during breakfast.

“Camilo, you never got to tell us why you are not coming to the wedding,” Abuela asked.

“I just donʼt want to come...” I simply said as I was looking at the plate in front of me. I couldn't eat anything, which was weird for me.

“But I donʼt understand. Veronica has been your best friend for years. Don't you want to be with her during her happiest moment?” she asked again.

“‘Happiest momentʼ, right,” I mumbled under my breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. I donʼt want to come, Iʼm sure sheʼll understand...” I said, and the conversation was over.

The rest of breakfast was quiet, except for the females discussing what they were going to wear.

The whole day felt like torture for me, counting every second until everyone left to attend the stupid wedding.

“Camilo, are you sure youʼre not coming?” Abuela asked me one last time as everyone was leaving. I was standing at the door, watching them leave. It was the least I could do since I wasnʼt going.

“Yes, Abuela, Iʼm staying here,” I replied, my head down.

“Very well, then,” she said.

With that everyone walked out. I noticed tío Bruno wasnʼt moving, and it seemed as if he was waiting for everyone else to leave for some reason. When they did, he turned to me with a worried look on his face.

“You read the letter, didnʼt you?” he asked me.

I was caught by surprise, how did he know? Then again, he was Bruno. “Yes,” I simply replied.

“Oh, man, I knew that day would come, I knew you would read the letter!” he spoke, looking lost and upset at the same time.

“Huh?” I raised my eyebrow a bit.

“Look, Camilo, I am about to tell you something, and Iʼm not telling this to you so that you do something stupid. I am telling you for the exact opposite reason, in fact, because you should NOT do anything stupid. Okay?” he said, his look more worried than I had ever seen it before.

“Okay...” I replied.

“Itʼs just… nothing is over until they both say ‘I doʼ,” he said.

“What are you implying?” I asked him. Now, that was weird.

“Nothing, just… forget about it. I need to go,” he said and immediately started running behind Abuela and the rest of the family, who had already left.

What did tío Bruno mean by what he said? Nothing is over until they both say ‘I doʼ...

Wait a minute, I have an idea! No, this could never work, I canʼt do it. But just what if... Well, tío Bruno told me not to do anything stupid, but he never clarified what he meant by ‘stupidʼ. To hell with this, I am doing it. I donʼt care if it works or not. Iʼm doing it anyway.

[Veronicaʼs POV]

The wedding has almost started and everyone is here. Well, almost everyone. I canʼt see Camilo anywhere, and that’s weird. Did he decide not to come? But why?

Well, maybe itʼs for the best, who knows? Maybe it's better if he is not here right now. At least I won't be distracted.

I'm still not one hundred percent sure I want to do this, but there is no turning back now. It's over.