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     "CAMILO, WHERE ARE you going?? you have babysitting duty this morning!", pepa reminded.

     "just heading to the library real quick; I'll be back for breakfast though!!", the middle madrigal hastily answered, before speeding off to where señora gloria awaited.

bursting through the doors, camilo waved at the librarian before reappearing at the same shelf he did a couple of days ago.

peeling open the journal, camilo had to deeply breathe in and out to calm his rapidly beating heart.

'dear camaleón,

I am thoroughly impressed by your accomplishment. below, I have listed some of my all time favorite stories from this library. perhaps you'd enjoy them as much as I did — and still do.

however, despite your great efforts, I will have to choose truth, for I am not nearly as brave as you are.

feel free to take the journal and decide for the next two days.

signed by mariposa'.

camilo disappointedly huffed, but nonetheless, had accepted the mystery girl's decision.

     "a truth? what's a good truth? I haven't played this game since like forever!"

the fifteen year-old madrigal had then pondered for a good moment before realizing that he was going to be late for his chore.

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     "do you both have your snacks?", felicia asked, to which her twin sisters had nodded in sync.

     "YEP! ALL READY TO GO!!", the two five year-olds confidently answered.

     "good job! now, you both ready to meet the other children of the village?", the oldest diaz questioned, extending her hands out, as each of her sisters took one.

     "what if they don't like us...?", phoebe pouted.

"then we'll make them!", penelope arrogantly proclaimed, causing felicia to chuckle.

"I'm sure they will, because you two are the cutest little girls I've ever seen", their older sister assured, bending down, as she kissed the top of their foreheads.

the supposed daycare was actually a pretty short walk from the diaz house, as it was held in the church — at the center of town.

"thank you, felicia", phoebe weakly smiled, feeling slightly anxious at the thought of meeting others.

"of course. here, let me walk you two in", the sixteen year-old volunteered, leading them into the kirk, where there were many other children ranging from ages four to six just running around and making conversation.

phoebe's grip on her older sister's hand had unconsciously tightened, meanwhile penelope was seemingly ready to bounce off the walls.

"okay, bye felicia!! we'll see you later!", penelope exclaimed, snatching phoebe's hand as she dragged her twin away.

"bye, have fun~", the oldest diaz smiled with a wave, taking her leave, as she hurried home to help her mother with her shop.

     as she had taken the left path back towards her humble abode, camilo was rushing with antonio towards the church from the right.

     "YOU NEED TO RUN FASTER ANTONIO!", camilo yelled.

     "IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU WERE THE LAST ONE TO BREAKFAST! HOW DID YOU EVEN FINISH TEN AREPAS IN TEN MINUTES?!"

     the two madrigals were left huffing and puffing once they had reached their destination, earning odd stares from the rest of the children.

     "I'm...I'm here...I'm here...", camilo choked, immediately lifting his arms up and shapeshifting into luisa to show off "his" muscles after catching his breath.

     "NOW WHO'S READY TO HAVE SOME FUN?!"

     "ME, ME, ME!!!", one — who was holding a cup of coffee — had shouted.

     "okayyy, maybe you had one too many shots of expresso", camilo chuckled, switching back to his original form and slyly snatching the cup away from juancho.

     a sudden gasp had then emitted from the crowd of kids, successfully gaining camilo and the other children's full attention.

     "are you THE camilo madrigal?!", penelope curiously questioned.

     "I am, and this is my little brother, antonio madrigal!", camilo introduced, to which the youngest madrigal had timidly stepped forward to reluctantly wave.

"now who are you and your little friend over there? I don't think I've ever seen either of you before", the fifteen year-old stated.

"I'm penelope diaz, and this is my twin phoebe. we just moved here a couple months ago, so we're new to this town", the braver diaz explained.

"well welcome to encanto! let's start today off with a game of 'may the king pass'. you and phoebe can be the bridge while the others pass under", camilo suggested.

"okay, sounds easy enough", penelope shrugged, as phoebe begrudgingly stuck up her arms and connected her hands with her sister's.

"except, we all have to sing a tune while the rest passes under the bridge", camilo brought up.

"what tune?!", the children excitedly asked.

"ah, it goes something like..."

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     "felicia, you know, you should go join the church in the mornings. I can handle myself", daniela stated.

     "mamá, the people at church are children, and I mean kids who are from ages four to maybe like seven! how am I supposed to make friends there?", felicia reasoned, as she made sure to wipe the tables squeaky clean.

     even though their coffee shop — daniela's café — was petite, many adults came for their morning coffee before a long day's work.

"buenos días daniela y felicia!! one cortado por favor!", osvaldo shouted.

"buenos días! we'll have that right out for you", daniela replied, drying her hands with her brown apron, as she hurried towards the package of already ground beans.

     "DANIELA, TWO AMERICANOS PLEASE!!", another customer yelled, to which felicia had made sure to charge the people as they received their morning javas.

     the rest of the forenoon was occupied with shouts, thanks, and the smell of freshly brewed coffee.

felicia and her mother were finally gifted a break at noon, which just so happened to be the time to pick up the twins.

"sometimes I forget how busy it gets", daniela airily laughed, "perhaps it's good that I have such a helpful daughter".

felicia only smiled, as she neatly folded her apron and placed it on the back counter.

"I'll go get them. watch over the shop, would you? once I get back, you can head to the library, or wherever you'd like to go", daniela bargained.

"are you sure? I can just go get them and—"

"yes, I'm positive, mi amor. take a break", her mother assured, as she brushed away a piece of felicia's curly hair, and kissed her forehead with appreciation.

     "alright, I'll wait then", the oldest diaz agreed.

     "be back soon, mija!"

     as her mother left, someone else had swiftly entered.

     "welcome to—ah, mirabel??"

     "hey felicia!! hope I'm not bothering", mirabel waved.

     "oh, not at all!! please, what can I get for you? I assume you're not a coffee gal", the sixteen year-old chuckled.

     "nope, I prefer sweets. do you have any desserts?? if not that's okay too, I came for a separate reason anyways", the madrigal shrugged, taking a seat at one of the smaller tables.

"we have slices of a handmade tres leches cake, would that be acceptable?"

     "that'd be lovely! now, you must hear what I have to say next", mirabel excitedly grinned.

     curious, felicia hurriedly served a slice of tres leches cake on a plate for mirabel, before joining her at the table.

     "is something the matter? you're more giddier than usual", the older girl noticed.

"well, my cousin dolores and mariano are officially engaged, so abuela suggested that we host a celebration for it! which means that everyone's invited; aren't you excited?!", mirabel asked with a bright smile.

     "that sounds exciting indeed", felicia nodded, "but I'm not very good with...um...strangers..."

     "and a party's the best place for you to meet others — go from strangers to acquaintances to friends to best friends!", the younger girl reasoned.

"I suppose...when is it? I'll notify my family".

"in five days! I just wanted to tell you ahead of time so that you could prepare and stuff. oh, and the cake's delicious by the way", mirabel complimented.

"thank you, mirabel. by the way, the journal thing worked! someone's actually responding", felicia informed.

mirabel nodded, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, as she feigned disbelief.

"is that so? how lovely for you!"

"indeed. sometimes I wonder who it is..."

"no clue. no idea. nada", mirabel lied, "but whoever it is, I'm sure that he's a good person at heart".

     "yeah—wait! how'd you know that they're a he?", felicia interrogated.

     "h-how? well, you just said him earlier, didn't you? I swear you did", the madrigal awkwardly chuckled, clearly gaslighting her friend.

     "did I? oh sorry, it's been a tiring morning. I probably did; you're right", felicia laughed it off.

     mirabel hummed in agreement, as she sneakily sighed a breath of relief.

     'so close...'

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