"change" - [c.madrigal]

seven

I followed Mirabel into the dining room, where most of her family was already sitting down. Mirabel say across from a pretty girl with a red and yellow dress and a red bandanna tied over her curly dark hair. I sat beside Mirabel, across from Camilo.

When Camilo saw me looking at him, he didn't smirk like I expected him too. He just gave me a kind of soft smile, which I returned shyly.

Suddenly, Alma came in, and everybody seemed to hold their breath a little. Mirabel sat up more stiffly, her shoulders back.

Alma glanced over the group with a cold expression. She scared me a little. I didn't like the way she looked down on all of us, like she was better than the rest of her family.

Alma finally took her seat, and said, "You May begin. Welcome, Y/N, to the family Madrigal."

Immediately, everyone started eating and chatting, and the stiff, scared atmosphere almost disappeared. Almost.

At one point, Camilo's eyes met mine, and I felt my cheeks burning. Why was this happening to me? The guy was a total jerk, honestly. I needed to stop these rising feelings and squash them down flat. Otherwise, I'd probably just get my heart broken.

After a few minutes, Alma looked over at Camilo, and asked him: "Camilo, can you fetch us another water jug, please?"

Camilo bounced out of his chair, smiling wide, though I couldn't see any smile in his eyes. It was like he was putting on a fake smile in front of his abuela. That was pretty strange, but I shrugged it off. I could be wrong, for all I knew.

Camilo bounded out the door into the kitchen, and came back quickly with a full jug of water. Just as he was placing it on the table, he tripped, and spilt the jug everywhere, including al over Alma's food.

There was silence for a count of five.

Then, Alma rose from her chair, ignoring the water dripping off her lap. Her face was livid, and her eyes seemed to bore directly into Camilo's.

Camilo gulped. "I'm sorry, Abuela, I didn't mean—"

"Follow me, now," she said, her voice flat and cold. It sent shivers down my spine. I noticed how the rest of the family seemed to be ignoring this little scene, keeping their eyes on their plates of food.

Why?

The silence didn't lessen, and I felt extremely uncomfortable. "Hey, Mirabel?" I whispered.

"Yeah?" she whispered back.

"Can we leave-?"

Mirabel nodded, her eyes portraying that she, too, wasn't comfortable sitting here with her family. We slipped out of our chairs and quietly left the room, heading up to Mirabel's bedroom.

We sat together on Mirabel's bed, and I admired the handmade quilt Mirabel had lain over it. I ran my fingers softly over the embroidery.

"What's gonna happen to Camilo?" I asked quietly. I wasn't sure why I cared so much, but Alma had seemed pretty livid. And over duh a small thing as a spilt jug of water?

Mirabel took a while to answer. Her eyes remained fixed on the floor. "I really shouldn't—" she started, but she didn't have to finish.

I heard the answer from down the hall.

I heard the distinct sound of someone being slapped, over and over.

My hands flew to my mouth and I had to choke back a sob. "She's hitting him?" I cried.

"We have to stop her!"

I jumped to my feet, ready to go into Camilo's room and bash up his abuela. No one should ever treat someone like that, especially not their own grandson.

But Mirabel grabbed my arm, imploring me not to go. "Don't!" she begged. "It'll only make it worse!"

"But—" I saw the pleading look in Mirabel's eyes, and I guessed she was right. I couldn't go in there and stop what was happening. I didn't have that kind of power.

I let out a long, sad sigh, dropping to the floor in a crumpled heap of skirts. A tear dripped down my nose and landed in my lap, but I pod it no heed.

"Poor Camilo..." I whispered. "Is it just him, or you all?"

Again, I got my answer without Mirabel having to say anything. Her eyes just flickered away from mine, her expression turning both hurt and guarded at the same time, and I knew that her abuela probably hit her too. She probably hit them all.

A burning hot lump of anger filled my throat. I wanted to scream. I wanted to hit something. I wanted to tear this stupid house down to the ground. I wanted to make Alma pay for hitting her family. How could she?!

They were all so amazing. How could she possibly hurt them in any way? Even Mirabel, who didn't have a gift, was probably the nicest person I'd ever met. Camilo, though he was a bit of a pain, didn't deserve to be abused like this.

I angrily wiped my cheeks. I'm going to help him, I vowed silently. I'm going to help them all. Even if I can't stop their abuela from hitting them, I'm always gonna be there for them, always be someone they can lean on. I promise.

<3