Roomies
Camila opens the door to Luz’s room. She is holding several blankets she had found in her closet, as well as a couple pillows.
When she walks in, she sees Luz, Amity, Willow, and Vee sitting on the floor together talking in hushed voices. They don’t seem to notice her yet. She hears the words ‘Boiling Isles’, ‘Belos’, ‘fight’, and ‘portal’ whispered a few times.
“Hola girls,” she says warmly.
They all lift their heads up to look at her as they stop talking. Amity seems a little more startled than the others, her eyes panicked. Willow, on the other hand, gives her a smile that looks to be a tiny bit half-hearted.
“Hi, Mamì,” Luz replies, at the same time Vee says, “Hi, Camila.”
“I have some stuff for you,” Camila tells them. “It will make your inflatable beds more comfortable.”
She places a soft purple blanket on Amity’s mattress, as well as a pale green and yellow one on Willow’s, along with pillows.
“I you like them.”
“They’re great,” Amity assured her graciously. “Thank you very much, Miss Camila.”
She inclines her head towards her in a small, polite nod.
“Yes, thanks for your hospitality,” Willow replied.
Camila pauses, then asks. “How are you all doing? Being thrown to this world so suddenly must have been hard, even for you, Luz. I want to make sure you are all okay, not just physically, but emotionally too.”
Camila already knew that getting the two boys to talk about their feelings would be very difficult, but she hoped it would be easy with the others. She wanted to help them.
She couldn’t fail them like she failed Luz.
Willow responded immediately, almost subconsciously. “I’m fine.” She sounded like she had rehearsed it many times before, and it sounded to Camila that she was lying.
“You were just transported to an entirely new realm,” Camila told her softly. “Even though you’ve heard a lot about it before, it still must be very shocking to you.”
Willow didn’t respond.
Amity tilted her head, sounding confused. “You’re.. asking us how we’re feeling?”
“Of course. I want to know how you feel so I can help you.”
Amity looked a little stunned, but tried to cover it awkwardly. “Oh.. o-of course.”
“Well, if you all need anything, don’t hesitate to come to me,” Camila told them as she turned towards the door. “I’ll check back up later. I’ll leave you all to get situated and comfortable.”
She closed the door behind her as she left.
“Well,” Luz broke the silence. “Willow, Amity, you two can get your mattresses ready now if you want. We have two beds that Camila will probably give you later, but they’re buried deep in the basement, and we’ll have to set them up. We’ll do that later, but for now you guys get the air mattresses.”
“They’re not that bad, actually,” Vee said. “They’re a little bouncey.”
“Ooh,” Willow adjusted her pillow and blanket. “Nice.”
“You’re mom is.. nice,” Amity said suddenly. “Not like any mom I’ve heard of before.”
“Yah, she’s cool,” Luz replied. “And I’ve met your mom before, so I can see how you don’t really have a good vision of mothers until now.” She put her arm around Amity’s shoulder. “Sorry.”
“Ugh, ya, you know my mom,” Amity grumbled darkly. “Good old Odalia. Good thing I, like, basically rejected her from the family or something back there.”
“I’m proud of you,” Luz smiled.
“I’ve only ever had two dads,” Willow shrugged. “But I’m glad you stood up to your mom like that, Amity. She was controlling you.”
“Well, now you’re here now!” Luz told her. “No Odalia anymore! And when we get back to the Demon Realm, I’ll make sure you will never have to talk to her stupid face again.”
“Thanks,” Amity smiled gratefully.
“Do you want to check in on the basement and see how Hunter and Gus are doing?” Willow asked.
Vee tensed up at the mention of Hunter.
“Nah,” Luz said. “We should let them get settled in for a little while. Give them their privacy and stuff. I know Hunter is like.. Hunter, but Gus is with him, so I think they’ll be fine for tonight.”
“Okay.”
“I can’t believe we’re all roomies now!” Luz exclaimed. “It’s gonna be awesome!”