CATRACHA ━ marcel ruiz

xxxii. made for happiness.

*✲ﾟ*｡⋆ 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐀 *✲ﾟ*｡⋆
[ xxxii. chapter thirty two; made for happiness. ]

☸︎

When they saw each other, time seemed to slow. This couldn't be happening, could it? Elle pinched herself, just in case she was dreamed. She bit her lip nervously, face twisting with different emotions. Ana, Isabella and Amir all spectated, wearing knowing grins and excitement as they left the two alone in Ana's room. Elle was grateful, but still wanted someone to be there with her. She guessed that someone would just have to be Marcel.

She sat down on Ana's bed, staring at her lap as she felt him sit next to her. She cleared her throat, gulping. "So, um, what are we?"

"I...have no idea," he replied, "but I'd like to figure it out with you."

She turned her head to look at him, a small smile working itself onto her face. "I would, too."

"Let's start over, then," Marcel suggested, sticking his hand out for her. "Hi, I'm Marcel."

"I'm Elle," the girl said, shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," the boy laughed, "so, Elle, tell me about yourself."

Elle took a deep breath, nodding. "I'm a dancer, I live in San Diego and I really like this guy, so I'm hoping that goes out well for me."

        "Really? Well," Marcel said, "I really like this one girl, and I wanna know if she likes me, too."

        The Velázquez girl gulped. Not because she was unsure; in fact, she'd never been so sure of anything in her life. She was afraid, she was scared she'd be herself and screw it up again. Things would've been so much easier if she hadn't broken up with him in the first place, but how could she have done that when it's what she'd wanted? Elle, despite being terrified, smiled gently. It was like her mother always said, what good is love if you aren't willing to take risks for it? And hell, Elle felt like she was taking the biggest risk.

        "She does," Elle admitted, unable to wipe the grin off her face. "She really, really does."

        "You do?" His eyes were wide, clear confusion in them. "I know you already told me, but honestly it didn't even feel real."

"I know," Elle remarked, biting her lip nervously. "But if we're gonna do this again, we're gonna do it right, okay?"

          The boy sitting next to her nodded. "Yeah, of course."

"That means no secrets," Elle continued, her hands beginning to get clammy from nerves. "So, I think I'm ready to tell mine."

Marcel's eyes widened, a hand quickly flying to her shoulder. Her skin grew tingly under his touch, mouth parting slightly to say something when he asked, "Are you sure? You know I don't mind if you don't want to."

Elle nodded, "It's okay, I want to." With a deep breath, she began. "My name is Adrielle. When my dad left us, I started going by Elle because that's what he called me. In fifth grade, I broke a girl's nose because she called me dad repellent, and, in seventh, I broke it again because she thought it'd be funny to say it was my fault he left."

"Oh, my god, Elle, I–" he cut himself off, unsure of what to say. "I'm sorry. I had no idea."

"I didn't want you to," Elle said with a sad smile. "Um, when I was eight, my mom dated this guy, and he, uh, did some stuff. Not anything...like that, but he'd tell me he would put me up for adoption once he married my mom and that he'd have a real family with her. I don't wanna repeat everything, but it was along those lines."

Marcel hugged her as she finished speaking. He couldn't imagine how someone like her could go through things like these. "I'm sorry."

She didn't move away, instead opting to lean in closer. "You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault, you know."

"Yeah, but I feel bad about it," he said, sighing. "You don't deserve that."

His words made her stomach erupt with butterflies, her heart beating faster. Elle finally pulled away, grabbing his hand. She stood up, a smile on her face. "I'm working on getting over it, and I think it would do me some good to spend time with our friends."

"I can already hear Amir," Marcel groaned, making his voice high pitched to imitate him. "'You sure took your time, where are the kids?' 'Ew, you guys are gross, keep your hands to yourself.'"

Elle laughed, pulling him up. She opened her door, leading him down to her living room where Ana, Isabella and Amir were engaged in a hushed conversation. She caught Ana's gaze, watching her friend's smile grow from casual to almost wider than her whole face.

Isabella's face scrunched in confusion, a grin replacing her perplexed features once she caught sight of the couple. Amir, too, shifted from confused to content upon seeing them. The Jackson boy waved at them, a cheeky smile all too evident. He gave Elle a pointed look upon seeing their intertwined fingers, the girl rolling her eyes at him with a smile.

"Hey, you two," Ana beamed, "anything you wanna tell us?"

Elle and Marcel looked at each other, then back at their friends. "Melle part two is a go, ladies and gentleman."

Isabella and Ana grinned widely, while Amir teased, "You two sure took your time, where are the kids?"

Marcel laughed, Elle's mouth open. "Oh, my god, my boyfriend's a psychic."

"Aw," Isabella cooed, "she said the b–word."

They all erupted in snickers as the couple sat down, still holding hands and their hearts full. The rest of the night was spent just like any other. There was food and movies and crying and laughing. There was genuine joy inside of Elle, an emotion that had been deeply buried beneath all her self loathing and anger. It was evident, too.

Her smile finally reached her eyes, her laughs were louder, her eyes shone brighter. She felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders now that she'd finally told someone about her pain.

Maybe Elle Velázquez was made for happiness.

☸︎

hi everyone, i'd like to start off by apologizing for the long wait! so i said i would update but my motivation for just anything in general went down by SO much and it was really hard to get it back up again. i know this isn't an excuse since i promised but i feel so bad about not writing and school started so i've been too stressed for my own good. again, i'm so so so sorry for the wait and the chapter might not be the greatest but i really hope you like it!!