"change" - [c.madrigal]

two

After Leo bought me a stick of candy, (and two for himself, but whatever), we decided to wander the streets of Encanto before heading back to our new home.

Everything was so beautiful and full of colour and so much better than our old home, that I barely missed home at all. Encanto was amazing; much more fun than our old place, where nothing happened ever and nothing at all was magical.

At one point, when I was walking through the streets of Encanto, trying to find my brother (who'd disappeared again, surprise surprise), I accidentally bumped into the girl I'd noticed earlier.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said, tucking her short curls behind her ear. "Are you okay?"

I smiled, brushing dust off my skirt. "Yeah, yeah, I'm totally fine. Are you okay? Sorry, I wasn't really looking where I was going, and —"

"No, no," the girl interrupted me. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Are you new here? I don't think I've met you before."

I nodded. "Yeah! I just moved her with my brother and my mum. Like... today actually. I'm Y/N." I held out my hand for her to shake.

She took it, a smile on her face. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Mirabel Madrigal."

I gasped. "Oh, you're a Madrigal too! That's so awesome. Hey, I met your brother before. Camilo."

Mirabel frowned. "Oh, he's not my brother. Cousin, actually. I know there's a lot of us, and it gets really confusing for anyone who's not in our family."

She laughed. "Actually, I just had to explain that to a bunch of the town kids. All the gifts and everyone's names and whatnot."

She waved her hands around aimlessly. "But yeah. Are you coming to the party tonight? I could introduce you to my parents."

I smiled. "Yeah, your cousin asked me and my brother to come, so I guess we'll be there. Wouldn't want to miss something as awesome as a Madrigal getting their gift!"

As I said that, I noticed Mirabel's smile faltering ever so slightly. I wasn't sure if i was right or not, though, because she was back in a moment, happy as ever. But I could shake the feeling that something was wrong with her.

"Well, I have to go find my brother and head home now," I said, "but I'll see you later!"

Mirabel nodded, and gave me a quick hug. "It was lovely meeting you, and I'll see you later!" She flew off (not literally, of course), and I continued searching for my ragamuffin of a brother.

I finally found him buying more candy sticks, which I hit him for, and we decided it was time to go help our mother.

By the time we got back home, the house was mostly unpacked already, excepting the ones which contained me and Leo's personal things and clothes, and some of the kitchenware.

"Alright, you two," our mother called from the living room. "Get to unpacking those kitchen things."

We both smiled. "Yes mamá!"

While we were lugging plates and glasses around, Leo and I both agreed to ask our mother now, so she'd have enough time to make a decision about tonight.

"Hey mamá?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, mi amor?"

"The youngest Madrigal is getting his gift today," I ventured, "and we were invited to attend the celebration by one of the Madrigals. Can we please go?"

Mother looked at us. "Of course! That would be lovely. Do we need to bring anything?"

We shook our heads. "Just ourselves I guess," Leo said. I nodded.

"Great," Mother said, "but we aren't going unless every single box is unpacked, so I'd hurry up if I were you two."

We both laughed and resumed putting the kitchenware away. Soon enough, we were finished, and we all collapsed on the new sofas Mother had bought. They were a navy blue, and super soft when I ran my finger on the fabric.

"Good job, guys," Mother told us, bringing us both into a tight hug. We were sitting on either side of her. "I love you two, so much."

"Love you Mum," Leo said, and I added: "I love you as well."

Our mamá smiled sadly. I knew she was thinking about our father, because her eyes glazed over, and she was just staring out into space. She did that a lot, but Leo and I knew that the best thing to do was just leave her for a while. We both got off the couch and headed to our new rooms.

I unpacked my clothes, hanging up my tops and folding my skirts. I put away my sewing things and books into a chest of drawers beside my bed, along with my hairbrush and satchel.

Then, I made my bed and thought about what to wear tonight. I guessed it was the sort of things you dressed up for, but I didn't have many nice clothes, and I didn't see why I couldn't just wear what I was wearing now. I smoothed my skirt and looked at myself in my full length mirror. My hair bounced around my face, and my clothes looked fine.

I smiled at my reflection. Suddenly, my thoughts changed direction. Seeing myself like that reminded me of that boy Leo and I had met earlier. Camilo Madrigal. Ugh, why was he seeping into my thought stream? He was super annoying. And weird. And cute. And kinda random, especially with that shape shifting thing he had going on.

I shook his face and his stupid smirk from my mind, and curled up on my bed for a bit of sewing practice before tonight.

<3