silent movies || encanto X female reader

04. losing face

It rained all day the week following Bruno's departure.

Pepa sure looked sad, but nobody talked about it in front of the kids, and you were too sad and scared to spy on the adults that usually talked together after everyone went to bed. The other children were all relatively sad, and kept talking about why Bruno left, and if you didn't really know either, you didn't say a word about it.

Abuela was watching your every move to make sure you wouldn't tell anyone about that night. She even allowed you to watch movies with your sisters and cousins again. No more silent movies. You were old enough to control your illusions.

Or that's what they thought. You couldn't stop thinking about Bruno, how he looked when he left, how you missed him. And what better place to daydream about it than class ?

"AH ! HE'S BACK ! BRUNO'S BACK !" Leta, your usually cheerful neighbor, suddenly screams as you were thinking about him. Indeed, his figure did appear in front of you, and scared your friend.

"That was me ! Sorry." You speak up as Bruno fades away, not completely though, as you can't really keep him out of your mind.

"Wow, that's so creepy." Jose comments, making you raise an eyebrow.

"It's just my uncle. I was thinking about him. I'm sorry I scared you with my illusion."

"No, but, even the man's creepy. He was really weird."

You clench your fists as you hear everyone around you quietly agree. "He isn't weird. He's very sweet and nice !"

Leta snorts next to you, thinking she'd go unnoticed. You turn to her, giving her a questioning gaze, and she shrugs. "Well, we know you're saying this because he's your family. He always makes bad things happen, my aunt's fish died because of him. You can be honest with us and say you're happy he's gone, (Y/n)."

"But I'm not happy he's gone ! I miss him !" You say, a few tears escaping your eyes. How could they say that about him ?

"Are you crying ?" Angela, who was sitting behind you, giggles mockingly.

"No." You wipe your tears shamefully, looking down.

"(Y/n)'s crying !" Jose exclaims in a scornful tone. All of your classmates laugh as Angela stands up to crouch down in front of you.

"I've always thought you were weird too, (Y/n) Madrigal. Your gift is scary, you're just playing with our minds. How do we know what's true when we're with you ? She can make us believe anything she wants. You're just like him, your gift is no good. It would have been best if you left with him."

You don't react, frozen in place. You always thought Angela was nice, and you wanted to become like her; she was popular, pretty and everything seemed easy for her. People naturally gathered around her, and she welcomed you in her circle as soon as you showed off your gift. So, learning that she hated it greatly shocked you. And now, everyone seemed to think about what she said, to wonder whether you showed them the truth. Of course, you never did use your gift for your own interest, but now that Angela brought up that hypothesis, it would become the truth for sure.

It was her way of fooling people. You had a gift, she had words. You could easily make all of them feel like they hated Angela, and you thought of it for a minute, until you saw Leta trying to discreetly shift her chair away from you, seemingly worried. A strong feeling of refusal brushed over you when you realized none of them actually liked you to begin with, and just saw your gift without considering the person. Now that it was problematic, they didn't want anything to do with you.

You wished they didn't exist. And, for a split second, you imagined it.

You blinked once, and they were gone. You turn around, looking for them, wondering whether this was a dream or if they were playing a sick prank on you. Even yourself suddenly had some trouble seeing reality. But the contrast between everyone laughing at you and the welcomed silence made you deaf for a moment, and you just stood there, not knowing what to do, until a quiet voice finally reached your ears.