A Camilo Madrigal Story: Josephine's Dream

Chapter 2: Josephine

Josephine had no idea what time it was, but she knew she was awake. She looked around and saw that no one else was awake, so without thinking, she slid from her bunk and slipped out of Camilo Madrigal's room.

Now outside, Josephine could see that the sun was peeking slightly above the horizon. She didn't know what kept her from sleeping, especially since they were up so late for the sleepover. Something about the way the clouds were slowly dancing across the sky and the way the rays of the sun were peeking through the split in the mountain only made Josephine want to stand there and take in the beauty of Colombia forever—

"Josephine Irene."

Josephine whipped around to find Camilo standing on the balcony behind her. He yawned and Josephine couldn't hold her laughter in at the sight of the boy's tousled curls.

"What?" Camilo frowned, and Josephine pointed to his head, in which Camilo shook his curls out, only succeeding in making it look messier.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked him. Camilo shrugged, still trying to smooth out his hair,

"I should ask you the same question. Couldn't sleep?"

"I guess not." Josephine replied. There was awkward silence that followed, and neither of them knew what to say.

Camilo rubbed the back of his neck,

"Josie?" He asked quietly. Josephine turned to face him,

"Camilo?" And it was clear what he was about to say wasn't going to be easy,

"What happened? To us, I mean. We used to be really close and now... It's like I barely know you at all." He said, and Josephine looked him in the eyes and found regret.

It was true, they had been as close as Mirabel and Josephine were now. Camilo always hung around the Irene house and him and Josephine would get into lots of trouble together. But things change, people change. She changed.

Camilo and her got into a huge fight when they were thirteen years old. Josephine had been spending more time with Mirabel and Camilo had grown jealous. It wasn't fair of him to do that, especially since it was okay for her to have more friends than just him. But she had hurt him very badly, she remembered.

"What about me?" He had cried, tears falling down his freckled cheeks. At that age, Josephine had noticed how good looking he had gotten. She had never looked at him that way before.

"Mira's my friend, too." Josephine had countered, but it only made Camilo more upset.

"But I'm your best friend! You can't replace me. Right?" He was really crying then, and Josephine felt tears welling in her own eyes,

"It's easier to be friends with Mirabel. She gets me. We're both girls, and with us... it's just different." Josephine felt words pouring out of her mouth, and Camilo frowned,

"It's never been different, and you know that." He whispered. Josephine knew she should have stopped, knew she shouldn't have continued, but she was on a roll. Her one mission was to hurt Camilo and win their argument.

"Well, then maybe you should make more friends." She said, and Camilo was stunned into silence, sniffling occasionally.

"I wish I'd never met you!" He'd screamed before he left. Josephine remembered how she watched him ran away, and right after that she had become best friends with Mirabel, like she and Camilo had never been friends at all. After their fight, they didn't go back to being friends. They only spoke to each other when their families got together. It got easier as they got older, but they both knew it would never be the same as it had been.