Something wasn't right with Leta.
Angela could see it. The way her classmate would look at you with newly admirative eyes that quickly turned dark when people would talk about how creepy you were.
She could see hesitation, too.
Leta wasn't very brave. She knew it, they used to be pretty close when they were kids, but eventually grew apart as Leta started becoming a decent human being -asking for proof anytime Angela would start a new rumor-.
So Angela decided to damage her reputation a little bit, to keep her calm. Nobody knew where that rumor came from, but in fourth grade, Leta suddenly became a thief. Nothing too serious, just a few missing pencils, but it was enough to make Leta grow into a very quiet and shy person.
She was extremely careful about her behavior and her reputation.
That was what worried Angela even more. Lately, she has been greeting you, discreetly, but always with a smile.
You had been shocked at first, but gladly accepted it and returned her shy 'hello' with a wide smile. Luca even high-fived you when the girl turned around.
That could only mean things were getting better for you.
And worse for Angela.
She may have gotten too far with the rumors those last weeks. Her classmates' dubious gazes had warned her, as well as Jose directly asking her if the fact you had once pushed a whole chicken coop to peck each other to death was true -it was a funny one, wasn't it?-. And Jose never doubted her before.
Worse, some had already noticed the way Leta behaved with you. Alicia had even smiled at you once, Angela still shivered at the thought. People were starting to talk about how you acted with Luca -that is to say like a normal person- and saying maybe you weren't that much of a creep.
She had to do something to make them change their minds. Somehow, she had to make you act like the scary and heartless girl she told them you were.
___
You were peacefully minding your own business, sharing Luca's sandwiches with him in the cafeteria because, one : you had forgotten your lunch at home, and two : his mother always made a nonsensical amount of food. She was probably scared he would starve to death.
You had only started to go there recently, after you met Luca. You usually ate on your own somewhere hidden, so that the twins or Mirabel wouldn't see you spending lunch time alone. But now it was okay, you had your first friend with you, and they sometimes joined you for lunch. Except today, they were eating with their respective friends.
"That's some good sandwich." You try to say, mouth full of the delicious food.
"Uh uh." Luca answers, having not deciphered anything you just mumbled his way.
"Really, the flavors..."
"Yes."
"Do I taste a bit of butter between the salad and the ham ?"
"I a hundred percent agree with you."
You eye him weirdly, trying to understand whatever he was agreeing with. You decide it was the butter bit, though a weird way to express his opinion.
"Hey... Can I sit here ?"
You almost spit out your, did you already mention, delectable sandwich, but manage to finish swallowing what was to swallow.
You and Luca slowly look up to find Leta standing in front of your table with a tight smile, almost as tight as her grip on the lunch tray she held defensively before her, as if it would shield her from a possible rejection.
"Sure." You quickly pull the water pitcher closer to you so she'd have enough space to put her tray in. You glance at Luca, who seemed as lost as you, then back at Leta, who appeared to be as tense as you.
A great combo.
The three of you awkwardly glanced at each other, the constant talking of the other students in the room not being enough to cover the crushing silence you were sitting in.
"Do you want to have a taste of this sandwich ?" You panic and ask out of the blue, shyly brandishing the part of the snack you had not eaten yet. "It's delicious."
Luca scoffs and nudges you, giving that specific look that meant 'wrong move, bestie'. You nod in understanding.
"Sorr-"
"Uh, yeah... Why not ?" Leta giggles nervously, taking the untouched piece of food and starting to tear one bit apart with her fingers.
"Don't feel forced to..." Luca starts, stopping when realizing Leta had already thrown the piece of bread into her mouth. "Well, bon appétit."
"Hmmm... It's good !" She nods, a focused frown making and apparition on her forehead. "Is that... butter ?"
Your jaw dropped.
"Yes ! That's what I was saying, like, three seconds ago !"
"A bit more than three seconds now." Luca judges pertinent to add, even though he couldn't even guess you were talking about butter back then, and takes a bite out of his own sandwich to try and find that salty flavor you were so actively talking about.
"Shut up, Luca. Irrelevant. Oh, sorry that came out harsh. You know I love you."
You mindlessly slap his back as he chokes on his sandwich, diverting your attention to Leta who was chuckling at the peculiar sight.
"You're not like I thought you'd be." She shakes her head, laughing. You raise an eyebrow.
"Oh ? What did you expect me to be like ? A sulky bitch waiting for the first occasion to ruin someone's very existence ?"
"Yes."
"Oh, she's honest. I like that." You wink at her, then check up on Luca who didn't seem to recover well from his suffocating experience. "You good, buddy ?"
He gives you a thumbs up, wiping a bit of saliva off the corner of his mouth. You turn away in disgust, shaking your head in disapproval.
While looking at you like that, years of guilt fall on Leta's shoulders, making her sink into her chair. How could she ever believe what Angela told her about you ? You looked so... Awkward right now, trying to come up with anything to say. Completely unable to do any harm.
"I'm so sorry." She blurts out without thinking, and then mentally curses for not waiting for a better moment. She was just too eager to let you know how guilty she felt.
You look at her blankly, processing the information. Leta was apologizing. To you. For what ? Probably years of treating you like a freak. Well, she didn't especially make you feel like it. She was mostly quiet, except that one time she talked shit about Bruno, but you were both seven.
Plus, her aunt probably never shut up about her fish that mysteriously died after your uncle's prediction.
No, Leta wasn't the problem. She had been part of it, a minuscule part of it, but clearly she felt bad enough about it.
"It's fine." You shrug, being in too much of a good mood to talk about it anyway. "Everybody makes mistakes."
Both her and Luca stare at you in bewilderment.
"Not that kind of mistake, (Y/n)." Luca starts, and Leta looks down in shame, knowing she had no right to argue.
"Yeah, well, whatever. I can see Angela doesn't really like her anyway, so she can be my friend."
Luca gives her an inquisitive look that only makes her sink lower into her chair.
"Talking about Angela... You don't believe anything she says about (Y/n), right ? Because if you do..."
You let Luca investigate Leta's intentions, instead focusing on the girl that had been glaring at you for a long moment now.
Angela didn't divert her gaze when your eyes met hers. She harshly chewed on her bottom lips in anger when you simply covked your head to the side and smirked.
That smirk was a threat. She needed to do something.
"What do you think they're talking about ?" Jose motions towards your table, clearly disgusted by the sight.
"Probably how to murder us in our sleep." Daniel snorts spitefully. "Freaks."
"I knew Leta was like them." Sara sighs, leaning towards Angela for approval. "Right, Angela ? Ever since you told us to warn everyone she was a thief."
Angela doesn't answer. What were you really talking about ? The best ways to discredit her once and for all ? To unveil the truth she had buried under tons and tons of lies and rumors ?
She had to stop this now. So that your little conversation couldn't get any further. (Y/n) Madrigal was a monster, and she was about to prove it to everyone here.
"...and that's how I discovered I have a severe allergy to bees. I should probably have known, though. My dad has it too."
"You ran head first into a tree ?" Leta laughs confusedly.
"And the impact was enough to make that beehive fall. Must have been really fragile. Bad work from the bee girlies, if I may say so-" Luca adds, deep in thought about the hive's structure.
"Yeah, well, it hurts. I had red patches everywhere on my skin and it was so itchy. Luckily, I don't inflate like my dad ! And my mom immediately gave me some arepas. Moral of the story : when you try to convince your little sister you were a bull in your previous life, don't get too much into it."
"I'll write that down." Luca nods.
"Write what down ?" An insufferable voice suddenly makes him flinch, Leta tense up, and you... raise an eyebrow in acknowledgement. "That (Y/n) Madrigal's a total freak ?"
"Good punchline, Angela." You sigh. "You can go away now that you've delivered it."
You did not want any drama right now, especially in the cafeteria where half of the school, including Mirabel, Camilo and Carlos, could become a potential witness of your misery. Most of the students' eyes we're already on you. Everyone was always watching Angela.
"Go away ?" She smiles innocently. "Why would I want to go away when my lovely friends are all eating together ?" She places a hand on Leta's shoulder, squeezing it.
"Sorry girl, I think you're mistaken. We're not friends." You simply answer, unbothered. "You can go, now. Shoo !"
But she doesn't leave, instead, her smile turns into some sort of smirk. You frown, confused.
"Come on, girls !" She laughs. You grab Luca's wrist when he raises it, keeping him from signaling his presence as a very manly person. "Don't keep secrets from me. What were you talking about ? The last few victims of your powers ? Or maybe you were already picking the next ones. Tell us, (Y/n)."
You stare at her blankly. What was she doing ? She usually kept most of the rumors within the class, but suddenly she was doing it in front of the whole school. That wasn't like her at all.
"Are you okay, Angela ? Was there something in your food ?" You were genuinely worried.
"Are you threatening to poison me ?"
Okay, now that was going a bit far. If your classmates did gasp, most of the cafeteria stayed silent, confused about the scene that was playing before their own eyes. It wasn't really an option to ignore it, Angela was basically yelling, trying and succeeding in getting everyone's attention.
"No, she's just worried about your well bei-" Luca speaks up, trying his best to hide his shaky voice, only to get interrupted.
"Trying out new things, I can see. Is it because you can't use your little gift on me ? Do you hate me that much because you can't control me ?"
"Freak !" Someone yells, probably one of your classmates. A few whispers start to reach your ears, making your blood turn cold.
"She's that one creepy Madrigal..."
"People say she's just like her uncle. The one that left."
"Wait, so she really can control people's mind ? I thought that was just a rumor."
You don't dare to look in the crowd, scared of finding familiar pairs of eyes. Mirabel's, Camilo's, Carlos'... Maybe it was still time to fix this.
"I do hate you, Angela. But stop messing around now, you perfectly know I wouldn't hurt you."
But Angela doesn't listen. She needed you to get angry so that everyone would believe her : you were insane. How could she make you mad ?
"That's right, (Y/n)." Her eyes narrow as they fall upon a fairly confused person with green glasses who had stood up to follow some of the students that had gathered around the both of you. "Your power doesn't work on me, you're nothing special. You're nothing, just like that one person in your family that doesn't even have a gift for herself. What was her name again ? I can't remember, she just isn't anything spec-"
Angela raises her hands in surrender when you swiftly jump over the table that separated you from her and grab her collar, softly bringing her closer to face your cold eyes.
"I dare you to say that again." You speak calmly, slowly tightening your grip on her shirt. "Go on."
She gulps down her saliva, keeping a straight face, but her smile shakily escapes her face as she stares deep into your eyes.
Luca quickly makes his way around the table, noticing how everyone looked at you on your behalf. This wasn't good, he had to stop you somehow.
"(Y/n)-"
"Say what again ? That your sister's just a forgettable, useless member of your family ? Mirabel, wasn't it ?"
Luca's hand on your forearm makes you aware of your surroundings. A flash of blue catches your eyes ; people made way for Mirabel to step forward, but she stood there, frozen in place, just like on that dreadful evening ten years ago. Your eyes met hers for a second, but she looked down in shame. That made your heart shrink.
"Keep my sister's name out of your mouth." You whisper, only for Angela to hear, and she smirks.
"Or what ? You'll make me go crazy like you did with Sara's grandmother ? You can't use your gift on me, remember ?"
You wondered how she could be so confident in her lie. But she was right. You couldn't use your gift. Because if you did, Abuela would hear about it, and probably punish even more than for what you were about to do.
You release Angela's collar, mostly thanks to Luca's hand around your wrist, otherwise it would have been too hard to let go.
Angela snickers, as well as some others. "What a family ! A useless freak and am even more useless nobod-"
Leta's lunch tray hits her right in the face, her nose making a terrible cracking sound. Luca barely has time to throw his arms around you, and Leta to wonder where her food went, before you try to do it again, worsening your case.
"(Y/N) ! THAT'S ENOUGH !" He shouts over everyone's screaming, tightening his grip on you and trying his best to keep you from completely ruining your chances of not finishing your life in prison. "YOU GOT HER GOOD ALREADY !"
Indeed, you had gotten her good. Angela had fallen to the floor, holding her nose in pain. When she looked at her hands again, they were covered in blood.
"OH MY GOD ! OH MY GOD ! MY NOSE !" Her screams were so high-pitched some had to cover their ears, and the rest tried to rush over to support her, getting in the way of your sister and cousins, who were struggling in the crowd trying to get to you. Meanwhile, you had cooled down seeing the state of your opponent's nose.
"Nice swing, (Y/n)." Leta lets out, completely lost about what to do or say in this kind of situation.
You realize you're still holding onto her tray for dear life, and turn it around to see some blood dripping from it. You immediately drop it, making a disgusted face at the sight of anything that reminded you of Angela.
"You're in deep shit." Luca finally lets go of you, but keeps a firm grip on your shoulder to try and reassure you. His words ruin any of that effort.
"I'm in deep, deep shit." You smile, panting as the rush of adrenaline you had felt in that moment you decided to smash Angela's head with a tray began to end. It felt good. Now, you had to face the consequences.
"(Y/n) !" Camilo, who had changed into a random tall man to force people to make way for him, Carlos and Mirabel, stops before you, suddenly not knowing what to say as he found himself in front of you.
Carlos also stood silently next to him with an unreadable expression.
Mirabel walks towards you, already pointing an accusing finger in your direction -she strangely didn't look too happy with you hitting someone-, but is soon interrupted as Angela starts screaming again.
"YOU'RE INSANE, (Y/N) MADRIGAL ! MAD ! A COMPLETE FREAK, JUST LIKE YOUR UNCLE, JUST LIKE YOUR ENTIRE FAM-"
A tall figure stood in between the two of you, broad shoulders blocking your view of the erratic bleeding girl. Luisa. In one of the hands attached to the arms she had crossed over her chest, the lunchbox you had forgotten on the kitchen table this morning.
"What were you saying about my sister ?"
___
words : 2881
note :
me writing this :
hope you enjoyed smashing Angela's face with a tray🥰
love ya! 💕