rosemary | i. madrigal

3.5

isabela's pov

I PAID NO ATTENTION TO ABUELA'S WORDS,

only nodding my head absentmindedly when she asks questions.

"marrying mariano would be good for encanto, don't you think?" she says, holding my chin up as i forced another smile.

"yes," i replied simply. it's not like i have i say in this.

if she says so, i thought. if it's good for encanto, then, why not? if it makes her and the whole family happy, then why shouldn't i?

contended with my answer, abuela leaves the room, wishing me a good night.

feeling the tension leave my room, i was finally able to relax. walking slowly towards the window to get some fresh air.

i stared at the moon. it wasn't a perfect circle, just a crescent shape and yet, it's still alluring, bright, beautiful.

i sometimes wish that i was the moon. i wish i can still be appreciated, be lovely, be praised even if i'm not the perfect.

i sighed, looking down towards the forest.

freedom.

i need to clear up my mind, i thought. i need to feel that feeling again. that act of rebellion. the freedom that i seek.

i grabbed the vines tightly as i slowly went down from my window. i always feel bad about doing this. i'm supposed to be the golden child, the madrigal family's perfect and graceful isabela. but, being that person is only exhausting me. i need to feel something new. i need to do something that i want to do.

as my feet finally touched the ground, i quuickly ran towards the forest, making sure that nobody sees me.

as i felt the comfort of the trees protecting me from the outside world. i was finally able to let go of the breath that i was holding.

finally.

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i paid no mind to what time it is, focusing on the serene ambience and the charming plants in front of me.

i paid close attention to the rosemaries. abuela didn't like when i tried to make these. i realized that i never asked her why.

is it too sharp? imperfect? not pretty enough?

after all these years, i still followed her words, never questioning why and never caring about myself.

my train of thoughts was disturbed, hearing someone behind me speak.

shit. i was pretty sure that nobody followed me here.

i turned around quickly, trying to see who caught me.

a familiar set of eyes greeted me.

creepy but ok.

we haven't talked before and i don't know their name, but i'm pretty sure they're my sister's friend.

they always stood out, with their disinterested look and sharp tongue.

i was too stunned to speak nor move. i feared of how my family would think of this if they found out.

"don't worry, i'm not gonna snitch."

hearing those words, i can feel my racing heart slow down, my vision getting clearer again.

i put up a fake smile.

this is awkward.

the moment they muttered their next words was where it all started.

dancing under the moonlight, genuine smiles and laughs, deep talks that led to nonsense as we watched the moon slowly went to hide.

it was the first time in years that i felt genuine with someone.

i don't know why, but with them, i felt thousands of emotions all at once.

my eyes being blinded by the responbility of being perfect, but was opened by them.

we formed an unspeakable bond that the two of us formed behind the backs of judgemental eyes.

but now, i watched their back slowly disappearing towards the sunrise as i climbed back up to my room.

"isabela?" i heard abuela's voice together with gentle knocking on the door.

i sighed, quickly trying to fix my hair and posture.

i was back to reality.

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hey !

i'm gonna spoil y'all with two more updates, either later or tomorrow to celebrate 1k reads !! 👹

if i forgor, u're free to kick me.

anyways, i wanna thank all of u again for ur support !! i love y'all <33