✨·˚ ༘ ┊͙ NEEDY !
➵ | an encanto book
♯̑̑ 𝖎𝖎 — 𝖔𝖎𝖛. CHAPTER NINE !
𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕
𝕬 few months had passed, and every day Julieta came over to the Espinosa household to feed Rosalba in hopes of curing her illness. Sometimes with Dolores and sometimes not.
Rosalba was still bedridden though. While Julieta's cooking did help ease the disease eating away at her, it didn't and couldn't fully heal her. It got to the point where it left Rosalba unable to use her limbs.
Her body was still doing everything and anything to fight the disease, but it was also shutting down way too fast.
Rosalba was suffering, but she put on a brave face for her family. She didn't want to appear so fragile. Seeing how she was able to put a smile on the Espinosa family's faces was what kept her going.
Cara Maria hadn't taken anything ever since the pan y sal incident. Mainly because she didn't want to draw suspicions from her family and the Madrigal family.
Did she want to?
Absolutely.
But could she?
No.
Cara Maria took advantage of the time she got to spend with Dolores and would always ask questions about the Madrigal family.
While she hated Alma, she loved everyone else in that home and did miss them all. Especially her two best friends.
Dolores was in Caramaria's room while her aunt and Caramaria's mother were in her room. Caramaria would laugh every so often from hearing about all the different shenanigans the Madrigal's would get into.
Caramaria hadn't shown Dolores her gift yet. The only people who haven't seen her power on display in person were the Madrigals.
Dolores looked towards her friend who was staring at her arms with golden markings. She would trace out the finer details of the markings to distract herself from things going on around her.
"Y'know... Camilo has the same thing on his arms." Dolores brought up earning Caramaria's attention.
"Seriously?" Caramaria asked in awe as she tried to recall the events of Camilo's gift ceremony.
"Yeah. He also still wears the bracelet you gave him." Dolores smiled as she watched Caramaria smile sheepishly.
"I'm glad... I miss him... and Mirabel." Caramaria sighed while she played with the marble white beads on her wrist.
"I couldn't take it off. I might not be the happiest with your Abuela, but he's still my best friend. Nothing's changed." Caramaria muttered as she now looked at the friendship bracelet Mirabel made for her and Camilo.
"Yeah... Nothings changed." Dolores chuckled as she looked up at the ceiling.
But things did change.
( 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒐 )
𝕬fter the Espinosa's had left Camilo's gift ceremony, the party had continued like normal.
Except for the fact that Camilo had run and hid in the casita.
He was heartbroken. He had to watch his best friend get booted and dragged out of his house against her will and now he could never see her again ( at least according to his abuela ).
Camilo did not come out of his hiding spot until he was found by Pepa, Felix, and Dolores. Pepa did everything she could think of to cheer the boy up, but nothing seemed to work.
He was upset. Lost. He just lost his best friend and just wanted to be left alone.
Eventually, the gift ceremony had concluded and everyone had left the casita. Camilo had walked into his new room and sat on his bed in the fetal position.
He wished he could go back. Fix everything that had happened and make sure he could have his best friend back, but all he could do was shapeshift.
Camilo's room was huge and filled with many mirrors to symbolize his gift. He walked in front of one of the many mirrors and looked at his reflection before shapeshifting into his best friend.
He stared at his reflection and tried to smile as wide as Caramaria could, dimples and all. But he couldn't. All he could do was cry.
Camilo was alone and he hated that feeling.
Over the next couple of months, Camilo had tried to get used to the idea of not having Caramaria by his side. It was so difficult and he still couldn't move on.
It was now November. Mirabel had already had her failed gift ceremony and today was special. Camilo and Mirabel had been waiting for this day to come for the longest time.
Caramaria's birthday.
She was finally five years old and Camilo had made a plan with Mirabel to try and sneak out so they could go see her. Dolores was partially in on the plan mainly because she heard the two five-year-olds conspiring with each other.
Camilo had sat in his bedroom, shuffling through a bunch of drawers in search of the perfect outfit before a knock sounded on his door.
Camilo ran with a smile to open the door which instantly dropped as soon as he saw who it was.
"H-Hola Abuela. What are you doing here?" Camilo asked while fidgeting with his black marble bracelet.
It was a habit he had picked up on. Whenever he was nervous, he'd play around with the bracelet Caramaria got him. It always managed to calm him down somehow.
"I just wanted to talk Mijo." Alma closed the door behind her and walked over to his bed, patting for Camilo to join her on the side.
Camilo sat down next to his grandmother and looked at her confused as she gave him a sad look.
"Camilo. You know I'd do anything and everything for this familia. You all mean the world to me." Alma started as she pats her grandson's leg.
"You all may not agree with what I do, but in the future, you'll realize that what I did and continue to do will be of benefit to not only you but to everyone in this casita and all of the Encanto." Camilo nodded along, not fully understanding what was being said.
"Now with that being said. I think it's finally time that I tell you why I did what I did at your gift ceremony." Alma continued making Camilo visibly uncomfortable at the mention of that day.
"It is necessary that we do not interact with the Espinosa's anymore... They aren't good people." Camilo stared at his grandmother in confusion.
"What?"
"That family used us."
Camilo could only stare at Alma in shock. He couldn't believe it at all.
"They used their daughter to steal things from our home." Camilo paled as he shook his head in denial.
"No. Caramaria would never..."
"But she did."
Camilo said nothing as his young mind processed all this information. He looked at the look on Alma's face. One of deep hatred and anger.
"When she could, that girl would snatch everything she could and take it home with her. They used our things to make money." Alma spat.
"But... Cara..." Camilo stuttered while his eyes filled with tears.
"She was only pretending to be your friend, Camilo. So she could get closer to us and take what's ours." Alma finally let out, making Camilo's heartbreak even more.
Camilo pulled up his legs to his body and curled himself into a ball before he started to cry. Was Caramaria just using him? Did she not care for him as he did?
It was all too much.
Alma sighed at the sight before wrapping her arms around her grandson.
"Ai mijo. It'll all be alright. I'm here for you." Alma stated while rubbing circles on his back.
Camilo launched himself onto Alma, holding her in a tight embrace as he cried his heart out.
He felt a multitude of emotions right now. Hurt, betrayal, vulnerable, you name it. He believed his grandmother's words and just needed some time to process everything.
But what the emotion felt most was hatred.
Camilo Madrigal hated Caramaria Espinosa.
𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒂 — 2022