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Félix fidgeted as his mother adjusted his tie. “Maman! I have to be there in less than ten minutes,” He whined, and she gave him a scolding look.
“You should’ve left sooner, then, hm? Be quiet,” She chided, and smoothed down his hair. “Pepa is a sweet girl. It’d be better for you to show up late and looking like a proper bachelor rather than on time and like a hot mess.”
Félix grumbled but acquiesced, “Yes, Mama.” She gave him one more pat on the head, a kiss on the cheek, and held his face in her hands, offering a soft smile.
“Ay, now go. Vamo! Can’t keep pretty ladies waiting!” His mother rushed, patting his back out of the door.
“I’m going!” He assured, rolling his eyes when he was out of view. She meant well.
The Madrigal residence was not too far, luckily, but still a bit of a walk. On his way, Félix passed quite a few nosey sellers. He was well aware of their gossipy ways. “Hey! Félix! Where are you off to in such a hurry?” Félix huffed a laugh and waved, but before he could answer, another voice cut in.
“He’s got a date with that Madrigal girl!” They filled.
The seller looked startled. “Julieta? Doesn’t she like that accident prone kid? Though at this point I bet he’s doing it on purpose..”
“No! The weather girl. The redhead!”
“Oh!” A smile spread across the seller’s face. “Well, good luck, Félix! She’s a real sweetheart!”
“Thanks! I know!” Félix grinned, and scurried away. He spun around quite a few times to check the clock standing tall in the town square. “Five more minutes.” He bumped up his pace, but relaxed when he saw the intricate architecture that was La Casa Madrigal. Almost there.
He cringed when he felt the sweat of his underarms. Félix couldn’t be late, but he had to make a good impression. He was nearly there, too. His eyes wandered to the orchids beside the house.
A despicable idea popped into his mind. No one would know, right? With that thought, Félix rushed over to the plants, picked a few leaves, and patted his armpits. No one had to know. He checked his breath one more time, made sure the basket was still warm, and stood again, shuffling his way to the front door.
Félix stopped for a moment to take a deep breath, pray that he would be blessed with mad luck, and knocked on the door. It lagged for a bit, and he was left twiddling his fingers on the porch, but then opened of its own accord, and he was stunned when the tiles shuffled to push him inside. “Thank you?” Félix tried. He knew Casita was magical, of course, everyone did. Pepa had told him plenty, anyway. He had just never experienced it firsthand. It was shocking, to say the least.
“Pepa!” He heard a shout resound from inside the house. “Your boyfriend’s here!” Félix looked up to see Pepa’s brother, Bruno, pounding on a glowing door. Boyfriend? What had she been telling them? He bit back a grin at the prospect. Félix had never quite gotten a good look at Bruno before, considering how much time he spent on his own and not in town, but he knew who he was well enough.
When Bruno turned back, they made eye contact, and Félix waved hesitantly. Good first impressions mattered, right? Bruno stood stock still for a few moments, eyes wide, before turning around once again and sprinting down the hallway, completely out of sight.
This family got weirder and weirder every day. It. Was. Awesome.
Well, Bruno turning tail the moment he saw Félix was not exactly awesome, but he did appreciate their oddities.
Just then, Pepa emerged, and Félix was the one left staring. Her beauty never failed to astound him. “Screw off, Bruno, I’m coming!” She yelled, and froze when she saw Félix standing at the door.
He smiled awkwardly and waved again. “Casita let me in,” He explained, and to punctuate it, the tiles shuddered.
Pepa huffed, as if she wasn’t even surprised, and patted her way down the stairs. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” She rubbed her arm, shoulders hunched. Félix could pretend he never heard Bruno, couldn’t he?
“It’s okay,” He grinned, hoping to ease her nerves. Was it nerves? Nerves sounded better than the alternatives. “I just arrived.”
She mirrored his expression, and through a fleeting thought of either courage or pure stupidity, he held out his hand for her. He was about to retract it and apologize when she reached out her own hand, wrapping her fingers around it. Félix felt his entire body tingle at the contact. Her palm was warm.
He led her out of the house, trying his best to think of something witty and clever to say, to keep the conversation going, at the very least. She beat him to the punch, “So, do you make a habit of tucking flowers into your hair, or is it a special occasion?” Félix blanched, desperately ruffling his hair to shake out any remaining evidence. “Hey!” Pepa panicked, “It looks good! Sorry! I didn’t mean that in a bad way!”
Félix halted in his movements, but embarrassment didn’t wear off so easily. “I didn’t notice.” He cringed, “My mom must have put them in there when I wasn’t looking,” He explained, hoping to save at least a sliver of pride.
Pepa poorly stifled a laugh behind her hand. “I should thank her. It’s cute.”
He huffed out a nervous breath, scratching behind his head. “I’m glad you think so. Oh!” He paused, glancing around them and very grateful for the change in topic. “We’re here.” He sat in the clearing of the forest, setting down the blanket he had packed in his basket.
Pepa grinned at the spread he brought out, and reached into her own bag. “I swiped a few of Julieta’s buns when she was gone. Have you tried them?”
Félix shook his head. She brought him food! “I haven’t. I’ve heard they’re really good, though.”
“The best!” She exclaimed, and took a bite out of one. Pepa groaned at the taste, but as if she realized something, she stopped, wide eyed. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to start without you!”
Félix waved his hands in front of him, frantic. “No! It’s fine! I’m glad you enjoy them.” He gestured to the foods he made with his mother. “I hope you like them. They’re not like Julieta’s, I’m sure, but my mother has wonderful recipes.”
“I bet!” Pepa reached for the pouch of empanadas, but shrieked as her hand made contact. Almost instantly, Félix was zapped by a lightning bolt. A lightning bolt.
“Is something wrong with them?” He panicked, shuddering from the electricity. Félix felt his hair stand on end from head to toe. Instead of responding, Pepa continued to scream, pulling her hand out like it was burned and shaking it furiously.
Félix was properly distressed, flailing about trying to secure Pepa as she squealed and screeched. “I felt something crawl!” She finally managed, and Félix blanched.
He absolutely despised creepy crawlies. Anything with more than four legs was positively ghastly.
Félix tried his best to calm her down, patting her shoulder and assuring that it was definitely gone by now, but there was only so much he could placate when he was still wary of any small movements in his peripheral vision.
She tried to calm down, controlling her breathing, but then she caught sight of Félix’s shocked face, his hair sticking up like a fan. Rain began pouring down, cold and heavy, and it only seemed to upset Pepa more.
“I burned your flower, too!”
At this point, Pepa was in tears, Félix on the lookout for any more bugs. He checked inside the empanada bag, and sure enough, there was no sign of any life. Just soggy bread. What else had he been expecting?
Wind started up, harsh and wild. All of his food was soaked, by now, with Félix fully focused on Pepa’s rapidly decreasing mood. He winced at the clap of thunder that echoed next to his head. “Pepa, it’s alright! I’m sure it’s gone by now,”
“Yeah, because I got water all over them!” She sobbed.
Pepa barely managed to calm down, but when she did, there was no hope of saving the date. The food was way past damp, their clothes were sopping, and both Pepa and Félix were both paranoid of another creeper coming around to haunt them.
“Well.” Félix started after a few too many beats of silence. “That didn’t go quite as planned.”
Pepa stared at her feet as they walked home. “I’m sorry,” She said, and her voice was as small as a pea.
Félix frowned. “Why?”
“Because I messed everything up! You cooked all that for me, and I ruined it. It was probably just a hair or something, too. I just- ugh. This always happens.” Pepa wailed.
“I don’t think you messed anything up.” Félix assured. “The food might be inedible now, but hey! We can make more food. This food can go to the goats. The rice is salvageable, at the very least!” He put on a megawatt smile and swung his basket around to his other shoulder.
Unfortunately, he failed to see the beehive next to his head, and hit it square. They both flinched at the sound, “Oh shit.” And they started running.
He dropped his basket on the way, hopping over rotting trunks and ducking wayward branches. At some point, Pepa’s dress snagged on a poking rock, and Félix nearly fell himself with his frantic efforts to separate the two.
They ran, until they were completely winded and their legs were burning something fierce. Pepa was ahead of Félix, and he trusted her to be their guide. Until, of course, she fell, disappearing from sight entirely, fit with a shrilling scream.
He gasped, pushing his pace, and skidded where she fell. “Pepa?” He heard water splash.
Pepa gargled for a moment, and he looked down to see a river flowing beneath, her flailing. “I’m fine!” She squealed. “Get down here before they sting you!”
Félix hesitated, eyes shifting between the rapidly approaching swarm and the intimidating height. Pepa encouraged, “It’s not that bad of a jump!” And he was off, flying down the cliff with a shriek.
They tread water for quite a while, until their consciouses were appeased and their fears soothed. For the most part. They couldn’t even speak with the overwhelming need to breathe.
The pair climbed out of the water and continued back the way they came, catching their breath.
“That, actually, was the best date I’ve ever been on,” Félix broke the silence. After he lost the need to pant, of course. He didn’t feel the need to mention it was the only date he’d been on.
Pepa was bewildered. “Were you not present for everything we just went through?”
Félix giggled. “It was entertaining, at the very least. It could’ve been worse.”
“But your clothes!” Pepa pointed out. “And the sky’s still so cloudy. Everything is wet. Wait.” She paused, and he followed, confused. Pepa leaned in close, squinting. “Did you get stung?”
Félix avoided eye contact. “It’s not that bad. I’ll heal.”
“Are you kidding?! Those are so painful. I might, actually, have something,” She fumbled around the pockets of her dress and pulled out a wet, white mass. “It’s one of Julieta’s arepas. Soggy, sure, but it’ll still make you feel better!”
He stared at it for a prolonged moment, and she hesitated, about to pull her hand back when he grabbed it and took a bite. She was right. It was very soggy. Still, the sting on his face was gone, and he smiled. “Thank you!”
Pepa grinned. “Sorry for the state of them. They, well, you saw.”
“I don’t mind,” Félix grasped her hand. “Are you okay, though? You were pretty spooked.”
Pepa sighed. “I’m fine. Sorry I never got to try your empanadas.”
Félix rubbed his thumb over her palm. “Do you want to make more? I have the recipe memorized.” On a whim, he added a wink. She might find it cheesy, but hey, from today? The only way left to go was up.
Pepa just laughed, soft and genuine as it could get. “I’d like that, yeah.”
They strolled to the Madrigal residence, making small talk along the way. As they did, Félix spotted the biggest, hairiest spider he had ever seen. It was terrifying. He screeched, hopping behind Pepa. He was wrong. It could still go down. It could go way down. Very, very far down. That spider would use it’s creepy fast legs and scuttle over and bite him and tickle his nerves and he would die.
Casita smushed the spider under a tile almost immediately, and the pair stood there, unmoving, for a longer moment than Félix would have liked, until Pepa burst out with laughter.
“You were like,” She wheezed, “AHHHHHHH! And it was all the way over there! And you were so scared, and jumped behind me, of all people, like what am I going to do? Cover it in snow? It’s-”
“You can stop now.” Félix groaned, covering his face with his hand.
Pepa could hardly get a breath out. “Are you kidding me?! This is hilarious! You just squawked! Literally squawked! I didn’t know you had such a good macaw impression! You’ve been holding out on me!” She punched his shoulder, holding her sides.
Félix let her continue, despite his dignity being shredded to pieces, and tried not to show his smile when he saw the sun shine again.