Chapter Text
“Ay chica, look at you go!” Bruno yelled from the sidelines, Antonio also cheering on the 16-year-old who was skating on the ice beautifully.
She was 6 when she started.
She was the outcast and least favorite of the family. Apparently to her abuela, she “looks like she will never do anything good for the family." Whatever the fuck that means.
Her Tio Bruno, her favorite person in the whole world, was the one who helped her out the most. As the least favorite child, he took his sobrina under his wing, tutoring her (even though she was a genius) and helping her manage day-to-day pressures that often lead to breakdowns.
It wasn’t until he had mentioned doing ice skating that the girl agreed, wanting to see what it can do for her.
She was clumsy at first, the slippery ice making her fall multiple times, but once she got the hang of it, she practiced every single day. She had been doing it for 10 years and it still felt freeing as the cold wind hit her face.
When she was 10 and her parents didn’t have enough time to be with her, often focusing on Isabela who was leaving for college just in the city, her tio Bruno had signed her up for competitions in the city or surrounding areas of his home.
He kept her over at his house for weekends during competitions and bought most of the things she needed with the money he gets as the high school drama and theater teacher.
She won every competition each winter with high scores, and her Tio Bruno was always there to celebrate her wins with a small bouquet of flowers and a proud expression on his face.
And when Pepa left Antonio with her tio Bruno on the weekends of her competitions, he would come with them and be practically amazed at her talent.
Her high school often did winter sports competitions which included ice skating. She participated in every event from freshman year and now everyone knows her for bringing home trophies every year to the school.
“So how did I do?”
“Amazing! That was so cool, Mira!” Antonio said as he clung onto the railing with Bruno supporting him. Mirabel giggled before walking off the ice, tugging the little boy into her arms for a hug that he readily accepted.
“That was amazing, Mirabel! I am so proud of you,” her coach, Emilia James had said, giving the girl a shoulder bump.
“She surprises us every day.”
“Her routine is perfect. I just know we'll be bringing that trophy again this year," Emilia said, the girl blushing so hard as she untied her shakes.
They bid her goodbye before leaving the skating rink as the sun set, her things in her duffle bag that she tossed in the trunk. Bruno buckled in Antonio before setting off to La Casa Madrigal.
"Mira! Mira! Do you think I'll be able to go to the competition?"
"I think you'll have to ask your mama, Toñito. It is at night and it'll be past your bedtime."
"Aww," Antonio said sadly. If it was past his bedtime then his Mami definitely won't go.
"Don't worry little buddy. I'll record everything for you."
When they reached the driveway, Mirabel got out to help Antonio before getting her bag from the trunk. She stopped at the window with a smile.
"So I'll see you tomorrow night?"
"You can count on me."
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The next day Mirabel woke up at 5 in the morning, getting ready for the gym that was just down the street from the school. She pulled back her curls and pulled her sweatpants over her shorts.
She packed her backpack and a duffle bag with the things she needed before she went downstairs to fill her shaker with water, and the protein powder in another container. She packed it in her duffle bag before heading out of the door, seeing her boyfriend already there in his car.
Biel was a transfer student from Spain that came to Stuyvesant in his sophomore year. He played football and made it on the team as an offensive lineman, making him as popular as her cousin who was the star quarterback.
She remembered the day they first met. She had bumped into him after winning the Ice skating competition in her freshman year. She had almost fallen if he had not caught her. From there on, she saw him come to her practice every day and watched as he tried to make conversation with her before backing away.
She found it cute the day he asked her to go on a date the following semester. They’ve been dating for two years now and he shows up to all of her competitions, no matter where or what time they were at. He was her number 1 fan, right after her Tio Bruno.
“Hola, mi reina,” he greeted softly, pulling her close to peck her lips with a smile.
“Mmm. Buenos Dias, mi rey.”
It was routine for them to be going to the gym together as two of the most athletic people in the school along with being most popular. Not even Isabela or Dolores was this popular in high school.
The whole student body and college students from passed grades followed them on social media and even tried to find out what they do since they were the school’s “it” couple. The Ice Skating Queen and the Linebacker
Some people already go to the gym she goes to at the same time she does because of what she said once in a school interview for the newspaper. So it wasn’t shocking when she saw classmates waving at her or holding their phones up as if she were a celebrity.
Even though they were popular, it didn’t mean they have to act like assholes to people. Biel tutored upperclassmen and often helped her babysit some children. He also volunteered at local middle schools to teach kids about nutrition and sports.
Mirabel tutored lower-classmen and helped the drama club out. Her whole neighborhood goes to her competitions, the little girls gushing about how they want to be like her when they grow up: smart, beautiful, and athletic.
Everyone loved her except for her family and she was fine with that. She didn’t need them. When they pulled into the gym parking lot, she grabbed her water bottle and shaker, getting her gym car out as Biel wrapped his arm around her lithe waist.
He knew of her struggles and carried that burden with her, not letting her fight alone. And often when Camilo came around to bully her, he would often keep around her.
They were inseparable.
After finishing their routines, Mirabel and Biel went to school, freshly changed after their workout. He still admires how strong she is, finding himself staring at her as she lifts weights.
They go their separate ways after a small kiss, walking down the corridors for a lecture.
“Mira! Come come!”
She was instantly pulled into a seat by her friend, Catalina, who was Biel's twin sister and was fussing about her, questioning her about how she was feeling.
“Are you ready?”
“Yea. So ready.”
Catalina was squealing quietly before they took out their notebooks to start their work since the teacher had called out sick, her coach substituting for the class as she gave them their assignments. She didn’t count on her cousin to come and sit right by her, annoying her.
“Leave her alone idiot.”
“Aww, my cousin doesn’t want to see me? I’m so hurt.”
Usually, there was a crowd laughing with him, but his friends looked around nervously, not really wanting to bully the girl anymore. They knew who she was and didn't want to mess with her, especially after what had happened with Biel. Camilo didn’t. He snatched her paper from her desk, holding it high above her as she reached.
She was trying not to hurt him or herself but he was making it difficult. He pressed a hand to her shoulder and shoved her against the desk before tearing the paper into pieces.
“Now the paper’s just like your life. Unwanted and shredded.”
“Camilo Madrigal! Principal’s office now!”
The boy scowled before pushing her again into the table, grabbing his things as he left. Mirabel tried to take a breath before she got up and excused herself from the room, Catalina following her with permission. She texted her brother telling him that Mirabel needed him asap.
“Hey hey. Calm down. Biel is on his way, ok?”
Mirabel was trying her best before she heard the footsteps coming down the corridor. Biel was running towards her, taking her into his arms as he held onto her tightly.
“Can I kill him now?”
“Just stay please.”
It took her a few minutes to calm down, but now she was fine. She kissed her boyfriend, her nerves calming down as he and Catalina helped her.
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When the school day passed and the sun began to set, Catalina helped Mirabel get ready for the competition, doing her makeup and getting her into the dress.
There was still an hour, so she decided to throw on her white tracksuit as Catalina did her hair. She twisted and twisted, creating a perfect bun. She was scrolling through her phone when a kiss was pressed to the crown of her head.
She looked up and smiled at her Tio who was now moving to sit next to her.
“I’m sorry about Camilo. What he did wasn’t mature.”
“He’s been doing that for a while. I’m surprised he hasn’t been caught.”
“Karma will get him back. For now, just focus on yourself. Biel is sitting in the stands with me.”
She nodded her head as he pecked her forehead before leaving the room. She let out a sigh as Catalina sat back down with her.
“I can say something? I was a witness to everything.”
“Thanks, Lina, but I don’t think it’ll work. My family would end up getting upset at me.”
Catalina pouted, her cheeks puffed out as she shook her head in anger. It was upsetting how dismissive Mirabel’s family was towards her. They never showed up for her or even cared! What was worse was that they don’t even know that she was graduating early and got into Columbia on a figure skating scholarship. They just didn't care.
“They don’t deserve you. Fuck them.”
Mirabel giggled so hard that her face turned red. The announcements started to play and she left, Catalina, gave her a kiss on the cheek for good luck before leaving for the stands. She shook her hands from the nervousness and watched her team crowd her in.
“We got this ladies. Mirabel, you’ll go last in the competition. Be ready for the introductions.”
They all walked towards the ice where the other school was being introduced to the audience. It was a full house and the cheers were loud. Suddenly, the lights went out and everyone got into position, “Unstoppable” by Sia playing loudly as they put their pictures and videos up on the jumbotron.
“Let’s go ladies!”
Bruno was clapping loudly when Mirabel’s teammates skated onto the ice, waving at the crowd before doing small tricks. It was 2 people left as everyone watched their past performances up above.
Biel was clapping along with Catalina before the whole right side of the rink screamed in excitement when Mirabel’s video came onto the screen, the girl coming out from the side as she waved to the crowd before doing a salchow jump and sticking the landing. The crowd went wild!
They all quickly got to their side of the rink where they were separated from the stands up above. Each of them began to help their first competitor, Soyeon, who was an exchange student from Korea, get ready for her performance after the other school had gone.
Mirabel grabbed her shaking hands before giving them a small shake.
“You got this. Remember to take your time, Unnie.”
“Thanks, Bel.”
They each gave her a high five as she made it to the ice. Mirabel looked at the score and then at her coach who was writing.
“Are you seriously taking note of every mistake?”
“Yes.”
Mirabel laughed before hanging onto the sidelines rail, cheering the older girl on as she finished up her performance. Soon enough, the other 3 were moving on next. Their scores were high up there with minor mistakes from one of them. The scores were not bad. They were still in the lead as the last performer from the other team performed.
Mirabel winced when she lost her balance after trying to land on her axel spin. She couldn’t stop the ‘oo’ or the wince on her face when the girl slipped.
“Shit that was a hard fall.”
“I hope she’s ok.”
Aliana and Chasity then pulled Mirabel from the railing and helped her take off the tracksuit, revealing her lavender-colored outfit. One that her coach bought her for her 15th birthday. She double-tied her shoes before letting her coach check her once again.
She gently grabbed her face and smiled.
“Show them what you’re made of, butterfly.”
When one a determined nod, she got onto the ice, skating around to get a feel of the ice around her.
“Our last performance of the night! Please everyone welcome our contestant #10 from Stuyvesant High School, Mirabel Madrigal.”
She stood at the center, her head down as the beginning of “Wide Awake” by Katy Perry began to play. She let her feelings and body carry her throughout the song. When she passed by the crowds, everyone was clapping along with the song as the bridge came.
Using her timing, she kicked back and did a salchow spin, and stuck the landing, skating at a quick speed through the edges as everyone cheered for her. She grabbed the blunt edge of the blade as she spun, lifting her leg behind her. She could hear the noises of awe and disbelief as she continued her routine.
On the second chorus, she performed a jump combination, not once tripping on her feet as she soared through the air. She got into a sit spin, bringing her leg straight up into the air as she stood up slowly before doing one more spin, putting her hands over her eyes before pulling them down as the song ended with “I’m wide awake.”
Everyone in the stands screamed as she bowed on the ice, tears in her eyes as she went back to her side of the rink, the girls accosting her with big hugs and shakes to her shoulders.
“That’s what I’m talking about!”
“YOU WERE AMAZING!”
She giggled as the competition ended and everyone stood behind the entrance, waiting for the awards.
“Remember ladies, even if you don’t win, NO Mirabel shut up, we just have to learn from this. You all did amazing.”
The judges handed the MC the paper of winners before quieting the crowd.
“Now the moment you have been waiting for. The judges have calculated the scores and now the results are here. For our bronze award, we have Trinity High school’s Rebecca Chasemen with a score of 37.5.”
Everyone cheered for the girl who smiled and accepted her medal before standing at the podium.
“Next, in second place, silver, we have Stuyvesant High school’s Soyeon Lee with a score of 42.75!”
“I knew you could do it!” Mirabel yelled, shaking the girl as she pushed her to get her award, the tears on her face evident. Mirabel was cheering loudly with the others as everyone in the crowd cheered her name.
“Finally, our Gold winner—” the MC stopped, a wide-eyed expression on his face as she smiled into the camera in disbelief.
“Ladies and Gentlemen! This has to be the most exciting day for Stuyvesant High school! Our Gold Winner for this year’s competition is Mirabel Madrigal with a PERFECT score of 50!”
The crowd went wild as the girls all pounced on Mirabel who was caught in the middle. Biel along with Catalina and Bruno were screaming and chanting the girl’s name as she skated onto the ice.
“That’s my girlfriend!” He yelled, watching Mirabel bow her head to get her metal.
Mirabel bowed before standing on the podium, looking at the crowd as she smiled.
“That means Stuyvesant High school takes home another trophy for the high score in Women’s figure skating!”
Coach Emilia was now screaming with the rest of the girls as they handed the trophy to Mirabel who held it up in the air, everyone in the air as everyone chanted for them. Soyeon and Mirabel hugged tightly as they left back to their team, her Tio Bruno there along with her boyfriend and best friend.
“Ahhhhhhh! Congratulations! I knew you could do it!” Catalina yelled as she jumped with the girl. Biel wrapped her in a hug before pecking her lips softly, telling her how much he was proud of her. She was hugging her tio Bruno when someone tapped her shoulder.
“Ms. Mirabel Madrigal?”
“Yes?”
“Hi, I’m Adam Rippon, a coach for the Winter Olympics. I came to watch your performance and I am amazed!”
Mirabel felt her jaw drop before she thanked the guy.
“I saw how much potential and passion you have for figure skating and would love for you to join us for Winter Olympics that will take place in South Korea 2 years from now. What do you say?”
Everyone who was within range gasped and smiled at each other in excitement. Mirabel couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She looked at her tio who was nodding for her to say yes.
She turned back to the man and nodded.
“Yes. I would love that.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bruno had gotten his sobrina something to eat as he drove her back home, her face still carrying makeup since she was too tired to take it off.
“I am so proud of you kid. This is a big thing for you.”
“Thanks, tio. I can’t wait to tell Antonio.”
When they reached her house, her tio gave her a kiss on the head before she got out, taking just her backpack and leaving her duffle bag in the back seat.
She opened the door to her house, where her family was waiting. She raised an eyebrow before her abuela cleared her throat.
“Now that we are all here, I would just like to say that Mirabel is to leave this house.”
“What why?” Antonio demanded, looking at his cousin with worried eyes.
“From what Camilo has shown me, she is doing poorly at school. She doesn’t contribute to anything at all and dilly-dallies at school. We can not support this any longer,” Alma said, taking out a report card that Mirabel knew wasn’t real since report cards haven’t even come out yet.
Mirabel scoffed a laugh before she shrugged. She knew this would happen. She doesn’t know what she did to make everyone hate her, but she was done.
“Ok.”
Everyone turned to her with a surprised expression, expecting her to fight back, as she laughed, rolling her eyes as she moved through the room and up the stairs.
“Do not roll your eyes at me, young lady!”
“I can do whatever I want now that I’m not under this house anymore. So fuck your rules.”
Everyone gasped before she took out her pieces of luggage, tossing her minimal clothes into them along with what she needed. Most of her competition stuff was at her tio Bruno’s house.
A hand touched her shoulder before she smacked them away. She turned to meet her side of the family who was staring at her.
“Mira—”
“Don’t even say it. I don’t care what you have to say to me,” she said, sending a message to her boyfriend to come and pick her up since she was being kicked out.
“Mija, you know we love—-”
“Just stop! Stop! Stop saying you love me when you don’t!” Mirabel said, tossing down her music box, effectively breaking it. Julieta stumbled back, looking as if she had been burned.
“How dare you—” Isabela started before Mirabel gave her a challenged look.
“You stay out of this, Isabela. I’m not talking to you,” she snapped, Isabela’s lips snapping shut in shock. Mirabel never raised her voice at them. Even though they fought, she never snapped at her.
“Mija, think—-”
“I’m not going to think. I’m done thinking. If you all loved me so much, you would actually ask me things before assuming everything. You would actually fight for me instead of just standing there like a bunch of idiots.”
“Mirabel!” Julieta cried out, trying to grab her youngest but to no avail. She continued to swat her hands away.
“NO. I’m done. I stood on the sidelines while those two over there got all of the attention and love for being so perfect and stable while I was struggling to breathe on my own. I had my heart on my sleeve just for all of you to break it over and over again. No more,” Mirabel said, the doorbell ringing as she sniffed, zipping up her things.
Her parents and sisters stood in her way.
“Move.”
“No, let’s talk—”
“I’m done talking to you now MOVE!”
“Mirabel, we’re your family,” Agustin tried to counter.
“My family would have fought for me. They would have done everything to prove others wrong,” Mirabel said, wiping her eyes as she glared, “To me, you’re just strangers. I don’t know who you are anymore.”
She pushed passed everyone, ignoring the calls.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the door, Biela glared at Camilo who continued to smile.
“Biel! Hey sorry about blowing y’all off. How about we talk about that party and game this weekend?”
“I—”
“Oh, Biel! Please come in,” Pepa said, pulling the young man in as he protested. Alma looked at the kid close to Camilo and smiled.
“Biel mijo. I hope everything is well.”
“We’re going to talk about the game this week—”
“I’m not here for you, dumbass,” he scowled, Camilo looking at him in shock.
“Then what are you doing here?”
Suddenly Mirabel came down the stairs, her hair a mess with a small cut on her jaw (Isabela slapped her out of anger and she punched her back) as she put her pieces of luggage on the ground. Biel uncrossed his arms and walked towards the girl, checking if she was ok as they silently whispered.
“Who are you?! What are you doing with my sister?!” Isabela yelled, Julieta and Agustin also looking at the young man who was touching their daughter. He placed a peck on her lips before grabbing one of the pieces of luggage, and the two were ready to walk out.
“Mirabel! No please don’t go!” Antonio said, latching himself to her waist as he pleaded with her. Her eyes were already filled with tears before she pulled the kid into a tight hug.
“Don’t let anyone tell you what to do. You are your own person, Tonito.”
“Please don’t go.”
“I have to. I have to. I’m not welcome here anymore. I’ll be with tio Bruno. I’ll be ok.”
She gave him one last hug and a kiss on the head before detaching him from her waist and taking her luggage.
“Mirabel—”
“I want nothing to do with any of you, but Tonito. So don’t call me or try to talk to me. I won’t answer.”
With a last look of the room, she let go of Antonio’s hand before leaving out of the door, Biel shutting the door behind them as he helped her put her things into the trunk of his car. When she sat down in the front seat, she began to cry, sobbing into her hands.
What was supposed to be the happiest day of her life just turned into the worst. Why couldn’t she just have a family that loved her?