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'DEAR CAMALEÓN,

congratulations on getting a second date with your crush! I hope everything went well this time. if you're comfortable enough, I'd love to know how it went.

and in my opinion, you shouldn't change who you are in order to please her. perhaps she was out with a friend? her brother? or maybe a friend's brother who's personality is slightly too flirty and she's just too shy to say anything?'

"now that last one sounded a little too personal", camilo lightly chuckled.

     'either way, being your true self is the best way to go. you sound like a fun person, so don't try to throw away your whole personality just to fit the one quality that you assume she likes'.

     "well...too late!"

     before camilo could continue reading, dolores had pried open his door, just standing there and staring at him.

     "umm, can I help you??", camilo asked, slyly hiding the messages with his body, as he only turned his head around.

     "nothing...just...thought you were talking to someone", dolores squeaked.

     "maybe I'm talking to myself! so what? I can't talk to myself??", camilo defensively responded.

     lifting her hands up, dolores stealthily left camilo's room, earning an irritated groan from him, as she had failed to close his bedroom door just like always.

     getting up to close his door, camilo resumed his reading with much content.

'I hope you don't find me annoying by giving you unwanted advice. but I simply wish the best for you, since technically we're friends...right?'

"yes we are", camilo answered, even though notebook girl couldn't hear him.

'and so for your dare this time round, you are to experience something new. do something that you may not be used to doing. for example, cooking!

     arepas with guacamole is one of my top favorite dishes. if you can successfully make it and write down your experience, then I shall reward you by answering a truth and completing a dare.

     don't even think about just bluntly writing things down and hoping that it's accurate enough to bypass me'.

     "damn it", the fifteen year-old muttered.

     'I trust your integrity, so don't disappoint me.

     signed by mariposa'.

     slamming the book shut, camilo had determinedly marched downstairs and into the kitchen, where his tía was preparing an excessive amount of dinner.

"¡hola tía! is someone important coming over? why're you making so much food?", camilo questioned.

"ah, buenas tardes camilo. didn't mirabel or antonio tell you about their sleepover tonight??", julieta asked.

     "toñito's having a sleepover?? with wh—"

     "CAMILOOOO!! HELLO!!", penelope shouted, making her existence very well known.

     "hi camilo...and...and..."

     "señora julieta", felicia whispered to her youngest sister.

     "hi señora julieta...", phoebe muttered, hiding behind felicia's leg, as penelope immediately went to go hug julieta.

"oh my! and who are these little cuties??", julieta chuckled.

"they're my twin sisters: penelope and phoebe", felicia introduced, as mirabel, valentina, and ana all gathered around the kitchen — greeting julieta.

"ah, you guys are here!! welcome!", antonio exclaimed from the top of the stairs, with félix and pepa standing beside the boy.

"ANTONIO, WE'RE COMING UPSTAIRS!", penelope announced, dragging her reluctant twin, as pepa and félix awed at the mini diazs.

     "sorry about how loud she is", felicia softly apologized to julieta, who just shook her head.

     "as a mother of three, you get used to it", she chuckled, to which mirabel had lightly gasped in offense.

     "anyways, would you girls mind help setting up the table after you put all your things away?"

"not at all, señora julieta! we'll be right back", valentina answered.

meanwhile mirabel had led the girls upstairs and into her bedroom, felicia had casted a brief glance towards camilo.

     a small smile sprouted onto her face, causing camilo's heart to flutter a little.

     "camilo, you're staring", julieta reminded.

     "h-huh?? no I wasn't!", the boy denied.

     "anyways, what can I help you with?"

     "huh?"

     "you know, before the girls — specifically your crush — had showed up", julieta teased with a chuckle.

     "I—I umm...wanted to make some arepas with guacamole..."

"oh? what's with the sudden interest?", the fifty year-old madrigal suspiciously questioned, "is it because of felicia?"

     "NO! it's...it's for my other friend", camilo stated.

     "ah, well I can certainly teach you after dinner if you'd like", julieta offered.

"thank you tía!"

"you're welcome. now, go get ready for dinner".

"of course, señorita julieta~", camilo dramatically bowed, earning a mixture of a sigh and a laugh from his aunt.

"quit the flattering, camilo. go, go", julieta swatted with a bright smile.

camilo had then grinned, as he skipped off to go bring the plates and glasses.

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dinner was a hassle for felicia, as penelope wouldn't stop whining about wanting to sit with bruno and his rats.

since there were three young children present, abuela had gotten the idea to give them their own little table, as mirabel's friends joined the rest of the adults.

"I WANT TO SIT NEXT TO TÍO BRUNOOO", penelope whined, to which felicia had to attempt to pry the girl off of bruno.

the fifty year-old nearly choked, as the five year-old was clenching onto his ruana so hard, that it would've ripped if it weren't for the fact that felicia had tickled her little sister.

"penelope, if you keep misbehaving, I'm going to have to take you home to mama", felicia quietly threatened, to which the little girl had immediately showed her sister her glossy eyes.

"b-b-but tío brunoooo", she weeped.

"penelope, he's not our tío first of all. and you need to let him eat and stop bothering him", felicia reprimanded, only resulting in more tears brimming her eyes.

     guilt had seeped into her heart. however, she didn't wish to be a rude guest towards the madrigals, who have shown them an endless amount of hospitality.

     bruno, who was reminded of camilo and mirabel when they were five, had offered to take penelope instead.

     "a-are you sure, señor bruno?? I'd hate to disrupt your dinner time..."

     "I insist, felicia", bruno persisted.

     felicia flashed him a grateful smile, as she handed penelope over to the scrawny male.

     "hey now, don't cry anymore....it's your tío bruno", the older madrigal awkwardly said.

penelope momentarily stopped sniffling, as she looked up to confirm that it was indeed bruno.

as bruno had taken a seat at the table with the rest of his family, penelope sat on his lap, gently holding alvaro the rat and feeding him pieces of cheese.

meanwhile antonio and phoebe sat at the children's table with pico, chipsi, and parce, felicia joined her friends and the rest of the madrigals.

"sorry you all had to witness that", she mumbled.

"it's okay, felicia. you definitely handled it better than how I would've. I would've—"

ana jabbed valentina in the side, as she knew her friend would've said something unappreciated.

"that's because you're the youngest valentina. you wouldn't understand", mirabel chimed in.

"I know you're not talking, mirabel!"

"but alas, I am the luckiest, for I am the only child", ana proudly announced.

     "ugh, we get it, ana! you get all your parents' love, yada-yada-yada!!", valentina sassily grumbled.

     "however, I wouldn't mind having an older sister like princesa", ana grinned, to which valentina had immediately caught on to what she was doing.

     "yeahhh, I'd much rather have princesa as an older sibling than nicolas", valentina added on.

"you guys stop it right now...", felicia harshly whispered, "...please!"

"why's everyone calling felicia princesa??", luisa questioned, wondering if this was a new term for best friends.

camilo slowly chewed, as he adverted his gaze from the giggling girls.

"i-it's nothing, luisa!! anyways, how're you liking the guacamole? my mom handmade it", felicia questioned.

"it's great!! me gustan las arepas con guacamole!", the middle magridal (from julieta's side) had answered.

"I'm glad, and me too! it's one of my favorite dishes", felicia smiled.

camilo perked up at that, meanwhile the rest had moved onto the topic of what they'll be doing for their sleepover.

'could it be...no no no! a lot of people like guacamole with arepas...yeah, it's just a coincidence', camilo persuaded himself, as he glanced at felicia — causing her to look his way.

without saying anything, the two had turned their heads away at the same time, occupying their minds with something irrelevant.

'wait, why am I embarrassed? we've been on two dates already!', camilo mentally scolded himself.

'oh please let this dinner end quicker...I still can't believe I hugged him at the end of our last date...', felicia internally cried.

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"tío bruno's gonna show us his rat telenovelas!! isn't that right?!", penelope asked, staring at bruno with glistening eyes of expectation that bruno wasn't sure he'd be able to satisfy.

     "y-yeah! but don't you want to play with antonio and phoebe? it's a sleepov—"

     "we can watch it all together!", antonio chimed in, as phoebe just nodded, holding onto the boy's arm, as she was still slightly unnerved by bruno.

     "o-okay! onwards we go then!", bruno announced, as the three children following him closely, with felicia waving goodbye to her sisters.

     before returning to mirabel's room, where the rest of her friends were, felicia had decided to head to the kitchen to retrieve a cup of warm water.

"am I doing this right?", camilo asked, causing felicia to unintentionally press her back against the wall, cautiously peeking.

she didn't know why this was her immediate reaction, but nevertheless, continued being sneaky.

"yes, and are you sure that you're not trying this in order to impress felicia? didn't she say that she loved arepas with guac—"

     "yes, I'm sure, tía julieta!! it's for my friend, I swear!!", camilo intercepted, as he made sure to softly knead the dough and add more water to it so that it wasn't sticking to his fingers.

     "uh huh...and who's this friend you're talking about?", julieta inquired.

     "I met her—well, I haven't exactly met her yet...", camilo muttered, causing the fifty year-old madrigal to raise a brow in suspicion.

     "camilo, what does that even mean?? how can you possibly be friend's with someone without even meeting the—"

     "it's nothing, tía!! anyways, am I doing this right? why does this dough feel so..."

felicia zoned out for the rest of their conversation, as her head started spinning.

'could he...I mean, it's not impossible. the coincidental dates...the painting of casita...the novels by patricia woodward....'

"I need physical evidence", felicia mumbled to herself, as she had completely forgotten about the water and headed up the stairs.

taking quiet strides towards the shapeshifter's room, felicia questioned if it was morally right of her to attempt to break into the boy's room without his permission.

'but what if the notebook's in there...? I just need one look! one peek!'

just as she was about to place her hand on the doorknob, mirabel had called out to her.

"felicia, what took you so long?? and what are you doing outside camilo's door??"

"a-ah, I was just...I umm...I borrowed some clothes from him earlier this week, and I just wanted to return them", felicia smoothly lied.

"oh, then where are the clothes?", the madrigal asked.

"right, let me go get them from my bag first. silly me", the diaz awkwardly chuckled, as she was glad that she now had a proper excuse to enter the boy's room.

"okay, but don't take too long. valentina and ana are waiting to do face masks together!"

"okay!!", felicia weakly smiled.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

     AUTHOR'S NOTE:

     thank you @yunopinguuu (from insta) for allowing me to use this fanart. I just thought that it was the cutest!! <33