Chapter Text
4th January, 2001
“Mierda. I slept in.”
Those were the very first thoughts that came to Pepa’s mind the moment she woke up. Alright, in her defense she wasn’t a very morning person to start with, but the moment she glanced at her clock beside her she knew she done fucked up. Her legs still dangling past the bedframe, she straight up threw over the covers and got up. How could she wake up late? She still had the assignment to get to, checking the godamn weather forecast, the meteor shower-
Oh shit.
Yeah, she done messed up.
Pepa started to get dressed as fast as she could. She did try to do so as quiet as possible, but it was practically impossible when you were running late on schedule. She glanced over at Bruno, her hermano by only a few minutes, still snoring loudly with his hair all over the place. Julieta was probably up already, that crazy girl. Pepa ran her fingers through her tangled hair, muttering her mantra of ‘clear skies’ to try and calm herself down.
Grabbing her things, she stuffed them into her bag, only to realize her cellphone was nowhere to be found. Why was everything not going well today for her?
“Pepaaaaaa- “, She could hear Bruno whining into his pillow as Pepa drew open the curtains. “What are you doing up this early? It’s like, five in the morning?”, Bruno drawled on as he covered his face with his pillow. Pepa rolled her eyes as she finally found her cellphone underneath the pile of laundry on the floor. How was her hermano not up yet? Doesn’t he know how late they are?
“Bruno get up, we’re late”
“Five more minutes Pepa- “
“¡Idiota! We have assembly today! Classes start earlier today, and you have that reading case you need to complete by today right”
Realisation seemed to sink into Bruno immediately as he practically jumped out of bed and immediately began getting ready. Pepa was there trying to braid her hair, Bruno was trying to find his socks and Julieta was nowhere to be seen. Of course, she was not late, Señorita Perfecta Julieta. Pepa grumbled as she struggled to put her sandals on, why couldn’t her sister wake her up?
“I’ll be heading out first Bruno”, Pepa turned to her brother before making her way out the door. Her Mamá wasn’t up yet, thank the heavens. Who knew what misfortune would befall them if she knew they woke up late?
“Pepa! Wait for me please?”, Bruno yelled over his shoulder as he tried to find his bag.
“Sorry Bruno! I’m rushing for time! Adiós!”
“PEPA!”
All Bruno was met with was the sound of the front door slamming shut as he groaned.
Pepa really did not want to run in the early morning, she was hungry and sleep – deprived but no, that did not help her situation at all. The cool morning breeze went by her face as she ran to the institution. Thank God it was not far, it was still walking distance from her house if you considered 20 minutes walking distance. Sure, the town wasn’t as big, but it was still a considerable size. Pepa had her cell phone in her hand, searching through the contacts before finding her best friend’s number.
It rang one.
It rang twice.
“Come on Lola, pick up the damn phone.”
It rang thrice.
“Pepa where the fuck are you?”
Pepa groaned. Lola couldn’t give her a break if it meant the world was ending. “I’m sorry alright? I’m reaching already, did assembly already start?”. Pepa could hear Lola sigh at from the other end of the phone. “It will be if you don’t get here in five minutes, I already saved you a seat.”
“Gracias Lola.”
“Just stop talking and get here alright? Vamos vamos.”
Pepa could only smile as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. She knew she could count on her best friend.
Pepa has slowed down when she was reaching the school gate. She absolutely did not want the security guard to catch her. She hated having late slips, and does anyone even know how annoying the hall passes are? Someone would think they’re going to a damn protest with the sign on your neck. Pepa looked into the shed, where the security guard was seen sleeping. Nice. She quickly slipped past and hurriedly made her way into the hall.
“Alright, you’re telling me, that you overslept for the first day of year 2? Seriously Pepa?,” Lola gave her a side look as Pepa collapsed into the seat next to her, putting down a bag underneath her seat. She tried calming down, the adrenaline rush was still in her body as she took a few deep breaths. Breathing techniques always helped. “It’s not that big of a deal Lola, besides, I was working on that project Professor Rivera kept pestering us to do.” Lola raised her eyebrow, clearly questioning her answer. Pepa rolled her eyes. Lola’s face softened at her friend’s antics.
“Just, don’t overwork yourself alright?”
Pepa was about to respond back with another snappy comment when the feedback from the microphone blasted through the speakers. Pepa winced from the sound and covered her ears. She could immediately hear the groans and disapproval from the students seated around her. The principal, Mr. Santiago hurried onto the stage and cleared his throat. Tapping the head of the microphone a few times to check the quality, he paused for a few seconds which were probably for some dramatic effect before beginning his speech. Pepa couldn’t help but chuckle when she heard Lola grumbling to herself. “Just get it done and over with for fuck’s sake.”
Apart from the same reminders anyone would hear at the beginning of the tear, nothing interesting was going on, well, that was until Mr. Santiago mentioned about the new transfer system that was just implemented into their school. Pepa was surprised to say the least, their town barely got any newcomers, as it was mostly secluded from the rest of world with the mountains surrounding it. Pepa glanced at Lola beside her, who was busy filing her nails while looking at Mr. Santiago. Literally almost everyone is trying not to fall asleep. Lola mentioned that she did recall seeing a few unfamiliar faces but couldn’t really confirm who it was.
“I would want all of you to extend a warm welcome to the 15 new students coming into our school and portray a good image of how our town is. Other than that, you’re free to go.”
Chattering burst out immediately as the both of them got up. Pepa stretched. “Well,”, she thought. “At least the worst of it is over.” Lola grabbed her arm and started pulling her through the crowd, Pepa complaining behind her that she was not some sort of dog being pulled around. Lola laughed at this. Pepa pulled her arm out of her grasp and adjusted her yellow headband that was around her fiery red hair. A couple of students greeted and waved hello to her, and all Pepa could do was weakly smile back and wave as Lola gave her one of her funny looks.
“Soooo… how’s life for Señorita popular?"
Pepa smacked her friend’s arm. “I’m not popular Lola.”
“Oh, what lies, you’re a Madrigal for god’s sake. Everyone knows you! Even your own mother is the mayor for this town.”
“That does not make me any different Lola. Even so, look at Julieta, she’s even more popular than the weird weather major here.”, she muttered back. Pepa knew there some truth is what Lola said. She was fairly well known around campus. More for the wrong reason than good, but she was still not as popular as Julieta. Mamá, well she was a whole other story.
Her Mamá came from a long line of ancestors who founded the place. Pepa practically had the whole story of their legacy engraved in her own head at the number of times Mamá told the story. Over the years, the details have been forgotten, but mostly intact. Her great-great-great grandfather, (or was it the one before that, Pepa couldn’t remember), had sacrificed himself to protect his family from the raiders. The trauma gotten from the mother had apparently given a candle near her a miracle, when her triplets came of age, they were given miracles too in the forms of powers to help strengthen the village. Even their children had gotten gifts too. Yeah, Pepa knows, it all sounded ridiculous. Even when she told Lola, she couldn’t believe it either. But a part of Pepa was fascinated by the gifts her ancestors had, especially by the middle child who apparently had the power to affect the weather by her emotions.
That would really help Pepa in her meteorology and climatology degree. But it was all in the past after all, and with that Pepa madrigal started her junior year at college.