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It was now or never, he decided as he came back to the party. This was a song they could dance to without it being awkward. To which they could enjoy themselves.
If only he could find Ámbar…
Who he did find were Delfi and Jazmín, recording footage for their next videos respectively.
“Guys, have you seen Ámbar?”
“No, do you want me to look for her?” Jazmín asked.
“That would be—”
The tallest girl skated away from them before he could answer.
Delfi let out a laugh. “Jazmín and sugar are an explosive duo. She hasn’t stopped eating Mónica’s cookies ever since she set eyes on the platter.”
“I don’t blame her, they are delicious.”
“So tell us, Simón— are you enjoying the party?”
“Yeah. Ámbar’s effort did really pay out.”
“Don’t be so modest. You did your part just as well.”
“I’m not sure I know what you mean, I helped her as much as you guys did.”
“Huh. That’s weird— she told me you were the one with the idea.”
“What?”
“Yeah! I interviewed her earlier. Here, let me show you—”
Delfi stopped recording momentaneously and went into her gallery to show him a video of Ámbar in the Jam & Roller.
“So tell us— how did you come up with doing a Día de los Muertos-themed Roller Jam?”
Ámbar’s face brightened up instantly. “Well, I gotta be honest and say that this was all Simón’s idea. The credit is all his. He helped me with the organization a great deal and I would like to publicly thank him for making all of this possible.”
“What can we expect from this big event?”
Ámbar’s voice seemed to diffuse a little with behind-camera whispering. It seemed to be raw footage. “It’s going to be the best Roller Jam in history, with only the best music, costumes, decorations— oh! And Matteo is going to delight us with an exclusive show that, if you ask me… — well, you’ll see it for yourselves.”
“Why would she say that? I mean— the other day we were talking about a Mexican song she had heard me sing with Luna. And then we were talking about life in México and how much I missed it. She asked me what I missed about it particularly, and then Día de los Muertos came up in the conversation…”
And then he got it.
How did he not notice? He looked at the mexican marigolds, at the pan de muerto, at the decorative skulls everywhere…
She really had been paying attention when they spoke at the deposit that night.
“Are you okay?”
“I need to find Ámbar. Now.”
They both looked around for her. Delfi’s eyes settled on a twirling figure in a black dress— just like the one she had seen the blonde wearing earlier.
“I’ve got eyes on her.” She announced, but there was hesitation on her voice.
“What’s wrong, Delfi?”
“Simón…”
“Yeah?”
“Did you buy this costume?”
“No, I handmade it. Why?”
Ámbar was dancing with a near duplicate of the boy in front of Delfi, but there was something about his posture -or maybe his height- that was off. He couldn’t pretend to be Simón even if he tried.
“What? Then who is Ámbar with?”
Delfi rushed to the couple, tablet in hand, as Simón made his hardest try to find her in the dim-lit rink, in the crowd of people.
But when he did, it was too late.