Heyo! This chapter is in your P.O.V. and nothing heated happens. Enjoy!
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"Let's go, c'mon, we're late!" Mi mamí shouts, trying to round all my siblings and cousins up.
"Where's papá?" My cousin Santos asks, tugging on mi mamí's skirt.
"Your papá is... out. He didn't want to come with us. Useless ass drunk.." She mumbles the last part and I pretend not to hear. I pretend not to hear a lot of things that happen in our house. "(Y/N), go get your brothers." I nod and walk down the hall to their rooms.
"Arturo, Diego!" I knock on their door. No response. I open the door quietly, peeking in to see what's going on. I girl is in the corner of the room with them looming over her.
"Just let me go." She pleads softly, trying to get past them.
"No, we gave you the shit, now you gotta pay." Diego says roughly.
"I don't have money on me right now, I told you that." She whines, still trying to shove them off of her.
"Then you'll just have to pay with your body." Arturo smirks. I close the door quickly and run back to mamí.
"Mamí, they're doing bad things to a girl in there." I tell her softly.
"What kind of bad things?" She asks through gritted teeth. I shrug and she shakes her head, taking one of her sandals off. "Watch your cousins." I hear her burst through their door and she starts shouting. "¿Qué demonios te pasa? ¡Déjenla ir, pendejos! ¡Vámonos antes de que te gane!" (What the hell is wrong with you? Let her go, assholes! Let's go before I beat you!) There are loud smacks and more shouting. The girl runs through the house, quickly slipping out the front door without another word. It's like this often. I'm only five, yet somehow I'm more responsible than most people in my house.
"¡Ay! ¡Si, si!" Diego shouts, stumbling out of his room. I start to line up all my cousins by oldest to youngest.
"Julia! Luz!" Both girls line up quickly. They know what happens when they don't listen to me when mami leaves me in charge. "Diego! Arturo! Ruben! Santos!" The boys take longer to line up but eventually, they're all in a neat line waiting for mamí. I stand at the very end with a pleased smile on my face as mamí appears.
"Alright, let's go to the gift ceremony!" Mamí slips her sandal back on, clapping with a smile. "Please, Ruben, do not put gum in Isabela's hair again. We were almost banned from that house when you did that."
"It was so tempting! All she did was toss her hair in my face all night, it's not my fault!" Ruben whines and mami gives him a look. "Si, Tía, I won't put gum in Isabela's hair again." He looks down.
"¡Vamos!" Mamí says and we all make our way to Casita. When we get there, Camilo is out front using his new-found gift to greet people.
"Hi!" I giggle as he shifts into me, copying my actions. He shifts back into himself for a moment with a nervous look on his face.
"Hola. Um... I made this for you." He smiles meekly, looking away as he quickly shoves a beaded bracelet at me. I take it and admire it gently. It's yellow and orange and there's letter beads in the center that spell 'amigo'. I slip it on and hug him tightly. It takes him a moment but he does end up hugging back.
"Gracias." I whisper to him.
"(Y/N), c'mon." Luz nudges me and I pull away from Camilo, smiling and waving 'bye'. Once inside, I immediately lose my family. I love them but they always end up fighting over something and I hate being near when that happens. Eventually, I stumble across Mirabel, who looks uncharacteristically nervous.
"How are you feeling?" I ask and she takes a deep breath.
"I'm fine. Just nervous." She smiles crookedly. I give her a big hug and she giggles.
"It's gonna be okay, I know it will. You're gonna get a super awesome gift just like Camilo." I pull away from her with a smile.
"Oh, I have something for you!" She pulls a beaded bracelet off her wrist. It's green and blue with lettered beads in the center that spell 'amiga'. I giggle and she looks at me quizzically. "What?"
"Camilo gave me one just like this." I hold my wrist up to show her and the big smile on her face drops. I slip hers on and grab her small hand with both of mine, squeezing it gently. "But yours is better." She giggles and hugs me tightly.
"Miraboo, we gotta go." Her papí approaches us and she pulls away from me, looking up to him.
"Okay, papí!" She takes her father's hand and looks to me before leaving. "I'll see you later."
"Good luck, Mira." I smile and wander off. Soon, the ceremony starts, I still haven't found my family and it's hard to see much of anything with how short I am. From there, it's a blur. One moment, I'm on the ground in Casita and the next, I'm on the roof watching the ceremony from the sky. I'm holding onto the center of the roof for dear life but my dress makes it difficult. It's still hard to see from this angle but I know that Mirabel is holding the candle. I'm trying to shimmy across the roof but my foot catches in my dress and I feel myself begin to fall. I scream in terror and everyone looks up to me in panic. I wait for impact with the floor, squeezing my eyes shut. I feel a pair of hands around me and we tumble down to the floor. I open my eyes and Mirabel has caught me. Her hands are still around me as we lay on the ground breathing heavily. "You... saved my life." I breathe.
"Yeah..." She whispers softly. Everyone is sitting in stunned silence for a while until we stand, brushing ourselves off.
"Are you guys okay?" Señora Julieta asks worriedly, putting a hand on each of our shoulders. I nod, still too rushed with adrenaline to speak. Adults surround us, trying to make sure we're okay. I don't pay attention to them, though. I'm too focused on what is to be Mirabel's door. The tiles near it lift, beckoning me over to it. I wander over to the door and stand in front of it, gazing into its glowing yellow hue. Tiles lunge me forward and I put my hands out to brace myself. My hand ends up on the handle and it explodes with light. Everyone's attention snaps toward me and I step back in confusion as an image of me sitting down with objects floating around me is carved into it.
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Word Count: 1,155
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed! I will try my absolute best to post daily. If you're here from my other book, thank you so much for your continued support of me! Stay safe, my dudes <3
Published: (1/25/22) (Month/Day/Year)
Final Word Count: 1,210