Judging a book by its cover is never good

At 6:00 pm exactly every Monday without failure, my Granny Dolores takes us to her local library. While she spills the tea with her other fellow friends, my brother Sammy and I go to the best section in the entire library: the juvenile graphic novels section!

“Come on Benji, let’s see if the new volume of the Ninja Doritos is finally here!!”

“Im right behind you,” I say smiling at the memory of the very first time my little brother stepped inside the library. We were both wearing matching red mickey mouse jackets in case one of us got lost, the staff could easily pair us together. Like puzzle pieces I like to say.

Sammy was so nervous to be surrounded by tall shelves full of big dusty books that he held on to my jacket sleeve looking around each step we took. At first, I read to Sammy all the picture books I found interesting but we ran out of good books after 3 days. Most of them were for babies so when we discovered the juvenile graphic novels section it was like finding water in a desert. By that time, Sammy learned how to read so we each got a novel we liked and read until Granny Dolores was done spilling tea with her friends.

Our favorite graphic novel was the ninja doritos who were heroes saving the city of Torticopolis from the villainous Baron van Charcoal who wanted to turn the souls of fellow citizens into carbon to produce more energy and earn more money. The story follows 5 caring brothers who each use a special weapon crafted from the rarest elements along with incredible karate skills to save Torticopolis! Our love for the ninja doritos novels created this brotherly tradition we have. Every other Monday when the library receives new volumes of the Ninja Doritos, we go to our comfy bean bags, place one end of the book on my leg and the other on my brother's leg, open the book to the first page and make voices for each of the characters as if we were voice actors. Sammy insists that when the Ninja Doritos gets its own movie, I should be the voice actor of Lily Chip, the damsel in distress and possible future wife of Doridan, my favorite character. I am the only one who would be the perfect voice for Lily Chip according to Sammy.

Turning the corner to our little piece paradise I get a feeling that something is not right. Mainly because my brother stops midway making me bump into him. “Sammy, what’s wrong, why did you—?”

“W—w—witch!!,” Sammy screams and frantically gets behind me. I look to the graphic novels section and the only weird things are a bunch of colorful balloons decorating the shelves and a petite girl in a sky blue t-shirt with jeans wearing a bright orange library volunteer apron. Everything would seem normal except the girl has such long bangs that her eyes are completely covered. It doesn’t help that her overall hair is shoulder length and is as dark as coal. I am a little shocked at seeing a girl so peculiar that I take a step back and instinctively place my arm protectively over Sammy.

“I’m not a witch!! I swear!! I didn’t mean to scare you,” she says in a squeaky mouse voice that makes Sammy run away towards the entrance screaming.

“Sammy don't scream!! This is a library, have some respect!!,” I say, chasing him back. I leave the girl there without any other explanation and speed walk towards the entrance. Sammy is curled up in a corner of the entrance. People who are entering through the automatic doors stare at my brother and whisper at each other without really caring for him. I ran to him and sat next to him on the floor.

“Sammy, that was not very manly, you know? Why did you run away like a chicken?”

“She looked very scary and her voice was creepy!! I just freaked out and ran away—”

“Bro, why do you keep forgetting I am here to protect you as your older brother?”

“What do you mean older brother? We are practically the same age!! You are just a year older”

“In a year you can do so much—”

“Anyways, I don’t wanna go back there and see the witch”

“But what about the new volume of the Ninja Doritos?”

“That can wait. I guess,” he sighs, looking quite sad.

I nod and we just sit on the floor until Granny Dolores comes to get us. “And what are you boys doing here and not in the graphic novels section?,” she says, ready to collect some tea. Sammy runs to Granny and hugs her. “Granny, you wouldn’t believe it!! There was a witch in our favorite place. It was like she escaped from her story to torment the reader!!,” he says, shivering with fear. “Witch? I definitely have to hear this story! But why don’t you guys tell me once we get home?,” Granny Dolores says, leading us to her blue mustang.

“Granny, you must really hate us, don't you? After I told you my story of the horrible witch we found yesterday you ask us to help her spread wickedness?,” says Sammy, crossing his arms and pouting. Granny Dolores pinches Sammy’s left ear. “How many times do I have to tell you? She is not a witch. She is nothing near that. The girl you offended is the sweetest girl in the whole wide world because she is the granddaughter of Smith, my best friend. As a way to punish you and Benji because he didn’t apologize, you guys are going to be helping her with the upcoming 4th of July festival. You hear? And you better do a good job or else,” she demands, giving us her classic threatening look.

“Granny Dolores, aren't you being a little too harsh? We could just apologize—”

“Benji, you are missing the point. This is a punishment because you offended someone, didn’t apologize to them, and took terrible conclusions to begin with. I thought you understood me because you don't like to immediately judge someone by their appearance,” Granny tenderly touches our cheeks and ruffles our identical brownish hair. “Now, go and make amends with that poor girl”

Once we are far away from Granny, Sammy tugs the sleeve of my red letterman jacket. “Thank you for trying at least. I knew it was pointless but you still tried Benji,” he whispers shyly. “Of course, I will always be there for you because I care for you and trust you”

This evening, the juvenile graphic novels section is decorated with blue,white, and red streamers. It definitely gives off vibes for 4th of July. Along with the colorful balloons of assorted bright colors make it look like fireworks are being lit up inside this small section. The small girl is on top of a wooden chair trying to put the last of the streamers on the tallest shelves but she can’t reach. I grab a nearby chair and put it right beside her. “Here let me help you,” I say, extending my hand so she can give me the streamer. She hesitates at first but then gives me the red streamer. I place it carefully over a small hook in a way that the hook is no longer visible. Once I’m done I place the chair back in its place.

“Thank you for your help,” she says, her voice no longer squeaky.

“Wait, what? How did you change your voice?”

Sammy mouths the word witch but I just roll my eyes at him.

“I was blowing up all the balloons that you see here so my voice kind of turned squeaky. Sorry about that. I know that scared you.”

“No, please. Don’t apologize to us. We should be apologizing to you. That was no way to treat you. I am Benjamin Montes but everybody calls me Benji. You can too if you’d like. This is my younger brother Sammy”

I reach for his shoulder to pull him closer but he refuses. The girl’s mouth curls downward into a frown. Even without being able to see her eyebrows, she is very expressive.

“Sammy, do you like cats?,” she says eagerly. Sammy only nods slowly without looking at her.

“Well then, let me introduce you to someone very special to me,” she whistles and then from one of the shelves, a black cat with gorgeous emerald green eyes and a luminous fur that seems to shimmer as it walks appears. Sammy is speechless. I almost prepare myself to grab a streamer and cover his mouth before he says, “I knew you were a witch!! Only witches like black cats. Now, I can prove it to Granny Dolores!!”

However, I am happy to see that my imagination is more wild than real life because Sammy’s eyes sparkle and he quickly gets to his knees to touch the cat. In turn, the cat lets itself be pet and even rubs itself onto Sammy.

“She is so pretty!! She is a Bombay cat, right?”

“Sammy, you don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl—”

The girl quickly says, “She is a girl. A Bombay cat. Her name is Athena”

Sammy smiles and sweetly says, “Her name is just perfect!! You know, if you can find a kitty this cute and make her name fit perfectly then I have no reason to think you are a witch. In fact—” he stood up and looked at the girl directly “—I want to apologize to you. I am sorry. I really am. If I’m being honest, your long bangs were the ones that scared me and still kind of do. If you ever need a hair stylist my Auntie Socorro will be quick and cheap. But more than anything let’s be friends!! Oh right, what is your name?,” Sammy exclaimed, jumping up and down with excitement at finding a new friend. Those were the perks of being an 11 year old and not knowing respect for other people’s privacy. I pity the girl that just so randomly got a glimpse of my brother’s extrovertedness. He could be a real pain when he got really invested in something because his mouth wouldn’t stop moving. To my surprise the small girl laughed so cutely that it even made Sammy blush. It is not everyday that we hear a girl laugh so it caught us by surprise.

“Celestia, my name is Celestia,” she replies, still laughing. Sammy only looks at her with a look I know perfectly well. He is curious about something.

“Celestia, why do you hide your eyes? You know that there are people in this world who wish they could see but can’t. You should take advantage of the eyes you were given”

“Sammy—”

“No, it’s okay Benji. I don’t feel offended. Nobody goes around the streets with their bangs covering their eyes completely. I hide my eyes because they are weird and most people make fun of me because of them. People either get scared or even disgusted with my eyes so I prefer to hide them instead,” she explains, touching her bangs.

“Really? Then can I see your eyes to examine them myself?,” says Sammy trying to reach Celestia’s bangs. She immediately slaps away his hand. “I’m sorry. I—”

Celestia runs away from us and we just stand there confused. Even Athena the cat has left to sleep on a green bean bag. Celestia doesn’t return to finish her work and soon Granny Dolores comes back for us.

The next morning for some strange reason I woke up with a high fever. “I’m sorry Benji. I wish we could stay with you but I really need to help decorate the library for the 4th of July festival and Sammy’s punishment still hasn’t been lifted—”

“Plus I still need to apologize”

“Exactly!! Wait, Sammy. I asked you to do that yesterday!!”

“Sorry, It’s because I did something Celestia didn’t like so—”

“Seriously, what am I going to do with you”

“Come on Granny, don’t be mad. I have something special planned for her”

“You better or else I am going to—”

I turn my head away from them and cough. I am tired of listening to them. My head hurts terribly and my whole body feels hot. “You guys should go now before it gets late. I’ll go by in the evening to help if anything else is missing,” I say. Granny Dolores kisses my sweaty forehead and Sammy squeezes my weak hand. “Okay darling. I already called a nurse to stay with you,” says Granny Dolores. Once they leave I close my eyes and think of how mom and dad are still away in Brazil. They are amazon rainforest explorers who are reporting every single new species of plants and animals they find. Their job is so cool but at the same time requires them to be away from us. I wish they would be here for us.

I guess that is why I dream of us being together once again as a family.

When I wake up my fever is less severe. I look at the alarm clock on my counter. It reads 6:00 pm sharp. I stand but fall to my knees. I guess I am still weak from my fever. Once I dress myself up, I glance at the living room. The nurse is asleep on the couch. She looks tired and as old as Granny Dolores. grab I wanted to inform her I was leaving but instead decided to let her sleep. Grabbing my bike I head to the library and ignore the headache I'm starting to feel.

When I get to the library, the whole place looks transformed. Each section of the library has its own theme to contribute to the 4th of July celebration occurring tomorrow. The romance section has blue, white, and red stars hanging from the shelves. The history section has big posters of the founding fathers. Everything just looks amazing!! I head to the graphic novels section and I immediately recognize the voice of Sammy.

“I'm actually being serious. I have a surprise for you. Something that is really special to me and I hope that it is to you”

“Oh really? Then let me see it”

I turn the corner and the first thing I see is the new volume of the Ninja Doritos. Volume number 143 sparkling in Sammy hand's. Showing it to Celestia. Please.

Please, don't tell me he is planning on—

“Let's read it together Celestia!!”

My heart drops. Immediately I hid behind the nearest book shelf and watched their actions. She hesitates at first but sits down on our favorite bean bags.

Used to be our favorite green bean bags. Now it’s their bean bags.

He sits on the other bean bag and opens one end on his leg and the other on her leg. In the same pose as we did.

How could Sammy betray me like this? We made a pact with our saliva ever since we read the very first volume together. We have read in the exact same spot, in the exact same pose 143 volumes of the Ninja Doritos. Could he not wait to read it first with me?

Tears start falling from my cheeks. Big fat tears that only came when I cried myself to sleep because my parents were going to spend another month in Brazil and miss my birthday again. Now my little brother, who I would give my life for, was causing these tears to fall as well. I couldn't take it anymore. I started walking away but suddenly lost all energy to walk.

I fall

and

all

turns

black.

A blinding white light hurts my eyes to the point where I rather keep my eyes closed. When I open my eyes I realize I am in a hospital bed. Granny Dolores and Sammy are sitting in a sofa next to the wall. Granny is asleep but Sammy frantically walks up to me and says, “Benji, oh my gosh!! What happened? Why were you at the library? Why couldn't you stay at home instead?”

“Shut it you traitor. Why did you read volume 143 of the Ninja Doritos with Celestia and not me? It has been our tradition since we first started reading those volumes and you know it!!” I say furious.

“Benji you saw us? Is that why you fainted? I thought the doctor said it was supposed to be dehydration”

“I wanted to help but instead to my surprise you were reading the all new volume with Celestia”

“I guess you fainted too early”

“Why do you say that?”

“We never got to read it in the first place. She closed the book because she knew it was something special between us”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah, in fact—”

Sammy whistles and Celestia comes inside the room. I am shocked to see her eyes. I am left speechless at seeing how pretty they are. She has a condition called complete heterochromia where one eye is each a different color. Her left eye is green and her right eye is blue.

“Celestia, your bangs—”

“I cut them off after Sammy was right about everything”

“You see I wanted to do something special for Celestia since we ended on not so good terms last time, but now that we are all together why don't we read the Ninja Doritos?”

“Benji?”

“I think that is a great idea!!”

We all get cozy in my bed and read the ninja doritos.