Mirabel went straight to her room and laid on her bed. She was exhausted from all the crying, so she tried to get some sleep. She tossed and turned all night. She'd sleep a little bit, dream that things with Javi were great, and then wake up and realize she was living her worst nightmare.
Before she knew it, it was morning time. She woke up from a restless sleep and turned again in bed. She was so tired from not getting enough sleep, but didn't think she'd be able to sleep anymore. Casita had been quiet all night, as everyone was sleeping, but she was starting to hear people start to wake up and chatter about the day. She could hear all the little kids running around and laughing. She knew it was close to breakfast time. Everyone knew that Abuela did not like when anyone missed breakfast and dinner. Lunch usually happened on everyone's own time, but not breakfast and dinner. Due to everyone's daily activities, those were the only times that the whole family could be together.
Everyone was starting to sit at the table. Dolores and Mariano were trying to get their girls settled while Isabela and her husband, Luis, were trying to get their 18-month-old son, Mateo, settled as well. It was lots of fun having little kids in the house again.
Everyone was at the table, except Mirabel. Everyone noticed it and they were looking at each other, not knowing what they should do. Abuela spoke up first. "Dolores, do you mind listening to see if Mirabel is awake?"
Dolores nodded and closed her eyes. She listened closely for a few moments. Once she opened her eyes, she said, "She's definitely awake. Her heart is beating too fast to be sleeping. I don't hear her moving, so she must be lying in bed or something."
"Okay, well…" started off Abuela. In the past, Abuela would have forced Mirabel down here, no matter what. She had since become more sensitive to her family's feelings. She watched her granddaughter at the party and knew how hurt she was. She did not have that spunk that she normally did. She didn't want to make her more upset.
Abuela stood there in silence, trying to think of what to say, when Antonio spoke up. "Is Mirabel sad because Javi didn't come to her party last night?"
"Yes, mijo," said Pepa.
"Why didn't he show up?"
"Well…we don't know," said Pepa with a shrug.
"Are they still boyfriend and girlfriend?"
"So many questions," muttered Pepa under her breath. "We don't know. I don't think Mirabel even knows. They haven't talked."
Antonio nodded and looked down. He thought for a moment and then said, "Can I go talk to her?"
Pepa was immediately going to tell him no, but then thought for a moment. Even though Mirabel and Antonio hadn't shared a room in almost 6 years, they were still very close and had sleepovers in each other's rooms fairly often. Pepa thought that maybe having Antonio talk to Mirabel could help.
Pepa looked at Julieta, who gave her a nod, and then she said, "Yeah, you can go talk to her. Don't make her come down to breakfast, unless she wants to."
"Okay," Antonio popped up quickly and ran all the way to Mirabel's room.
Mirabel was still lying in bed and feeling very sleepy. Her eyelids were getting heavy and she was about to close them when she heard a knock at her door. She didn't really want to talk to anyone, but she didn't want to be rude, either. She knew everyone in her family loved and cared about her. "Come in," she finally said and sat up. She grabbed her glasses and put them on.
Mirabel thought it would be her mom or maybe one of her sisters, but she was very surprised to see Antonio open the door and walk in. She smiled at him. "Hi, buddy,"
"Hi," He closed the door and walked to the bed and sat down across from her. "I just wanted to come make sure you were okay."
Mirabel still didn't really want to talk about it, but she appreciated her youngest cousin coming to check on her. "That's very sweet, Tonito. Thank you. Do I need to come down to breakfast?" The idea of facing her entire family was not appealing. She wasn't ready for the stares and looks of pity. She had enough of that last night in front of everyone at the party.
"No. We're not going to make you do that."
Mirabel breathed a sigh of relief. "Good,"
"I'm sorry Javi ruined your party last night. He should have shown up."
Mirabel was a little shocked at his bluntness. No one else in her family would have come right out and say exactly what everyone is thinking. She appreciated it. She took a shaky breath as tears started to fill her eyes again. "I know," She gave him a hug.
When they pulled apart, he said, "Did he tell you he was coming?" Mirabel nodded. "That's so mean of him. When I have a girlfriend someday, I would never do something like this to her. When you tell someone you're going to do something, you should do it."
She really did not want to cry in front of Antonio, but she was very close to doing so. She took a few deep breaths and looked at the ground. She had to close her eyes to stop herself.
"Are you okay?" he suddenly asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said shakily. "I'm just so amazed at how smart you are. You will make a wonderful boyfriend someday. But that better be at least 20 years from now!" Mirabel joked as she wrapped her arms around him.
Antonio just laughed as he put his arms around her.
When they pulled apart, Mirabel rubbed her face and then took a deep breath. Not even 2 minutes ago, the last thing she wanted to do was go downstairs and face her family. But after her little cousin's mini pep talk, she thought it might not be such a bad idea. "You know what…maybe I will join everyone for breakfast."
"Oh, yay!" Antonio jumped off the bed. "Come on, let's go. I'll walk with you."
"You go ahead. I need to change clothes." She still had on last night's party dress and her hair was an absolute mess. She really just wanted to take a bath, but that could wait until after breakfast.
"Okay!" said Antonio and he left her room.
Mirabel got out of bed, took off her party dress, and changed into one of her more casual dresses. She took her very messy braid out, combed her hair out a little bit, and put it in a messy bun on top of her head. She took a deep breath and headed out the door and downstairs to breakfast.
All conversation came to a halt when she walked in the dining room and sat down. This was her family and the people she was most comfortable with in the world, but with all of them staring at her, it made her very uncomfortable. "I love you all very much, but please don't stare at me. And please don't try to talk to me about it. Let's just move on."
Everyone nodded and the conversation turned to small talk and everyone's plans for the day. Mirabel only nibbled at her food. She wasn't hungry in the slightest, but she knew if she didn't eat, her mama would not be happy.
After breakfast, everyone helped clean up the kitchen. Julieta did all of the cooking, but she was never forced to clean everything up afterwards. The whole family pitched in to help. Once everything was cleaned up, Mirabel decided she needed to spend some time with her little nephew. Mirabel was still great with kids and the kids all loved her. She absolutely adored her nephew as well as Dolores' girls. She played with them all constantly and helped watch them when their parents had things to do. She didn't mind one little bit.
As she was playing with Mateo and in the middle of a conversation with Isabela, there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" shouted Isabela.
Pepa opened the door. "Hi. Um…I'm so sorry to interrupt, but…Mirabel…there is someone here to see you."
Mirabel breath caught in her throat and her heart started beating fast. "Um…is it…?"
Pepa nodded. "Don't feel like you have to talk to him. If you don't want to, I'll tell him to get lost."
Mirabel took a deep breath. She knew she couldn't avoid this forever. Besides, they were still technically dating. A small part of Mirabel hoped their relationship could last after last night, but a bigger part of her just knew it wouldn't. Still, she knew she should talk to him. She handed Mateo back to his mom and stood up. "I need to do this."
"We're here for you if you need us." said Isabela as she stood up, moving Mateo to the opposite hip.
"Thanks," Mirabel walked out, down the stairs, and outside to where Javi was standing.
Mirabel didn't know if she should speak first. She stood there and just stared at him with arms crossed. She looked down at her feet and only looked up a moment later when Javi spoke up. "I'm sorry I didn't make it."
"I'm sorry, too," Mirabel didn't want to let on how heartbroken she was over it, so she tried to play it cool.
"Look, I know I'm probably the last person you want to see. Heck, I know I'm the last person your family wants to see. I almost got struck by lightning when your tia opened the door." Mirabel couldn't help smile a little bit at that. "So I'll make this quick. The best thing for us is to break up."
Ouch. Mirabel didn't know he'd be so blunt about it.
"I'm going to be honest with you, Mirabel. We were never meant to last as a couple. We had fun, but nothing serious could ever come out of it." He shrugged. "I just never saw you as someone I would want to spend my life with. Maybe if we had been closer in age it would have been fine."
Mirabel had to bite her lip to keep from bursting into tears. That comment made her want to die. She could feel the pain multiplying in her chest by the second.
"Also, I can't stand being around your family. Being around all that magic is just so weird. Like, what's the point in it? I get the miracle or whatever, but the magical powers are too strange for me."
He said he was being honest, but it sounded more like he was just trying to find an excuse to be cruel. Mirabel had to fight every urge to not cry. To hear him say he never saw them lasting as a couple when she saw him as someone she wanted to marry someday was almost too much to take. And to have him say it would have been fine if they were closer in age was icing on the cake.
Javi turned around and grabbed a box that was on the ground. Mirabel wasn't sure how she hadn't noticed it before. He turned back to her. "Here,"
Mirabel looked at it, confused. "What's this?" She didn't mean to, but her voice came out very shaky.
"All of the stuff you left at my house. I figured you wanted it back."
"How kind of you," she said sarcastically.
"Alright, well…I guess that's it. All's well that ends well." He walked up to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Bye, Mirabel. I'm sure I'll see you around." He turned around and walked away, just like that.
Mirabel stood there frozen. She looked at the box of stuff and at Javi as he continued to walk away. He didn't turn around as he continued to walk out of sight. Finally, she came to her senses and turned and walked back in the house. The tears were already pouring and sobs were starting to escape. She stopped midway on the stairs as the pain became almost unbearable. She took some breaths, laid the box down, and sat down on the stairs. She wrapped her arms around her legs and started to sob uncontrollably. Her body literally ached and her chest was hurting so much. The man she loved just told her they were never meant to last as a couple and that he basically saw their relationship as nothing serious. She was a crumbled-up piece of paper lying there.
She could feel the eyes of her family watching her, but she didn't care. She was just thankful that her entire family wasn't there. Only about half of her family was there while the rest were out doing chores.
Mirabel was crying so hard she started to hyperventilate. She was breathing fast, causing her to feel lightheaded and it was almost impossible to get a good breath. She was gasping for air and shaking uncontrollably. Her head was also hurting and pounding in her ears. She clasped her hands over her ears. She just wanted it to stop. She wanted to disappear.
Pepa knew a panic attack when she saw one.
Mirabel heard footsteps in front of her and then a voice. "Mirabel,"
"Tia…Pepa," She looked up and grabbed onto Pepa's arms. "I can't…breathe. Help,"
"Mirabel, this is a panic attack." said Pepa. She sat on the step next to her. "Mirabel, look at me." Mirabel continued to try to catch her breath, but managed to look up at Pepa. "Okay, you're going to need to close your eyes and take deep breaths. Do them with me, come on."
Mirabel closed her eyes and listened to Pepa as she took deep breaths. She started to copy her breaths. It took a little while, but thanks to the deep breaths, she finally managed to calm down. She opened her eyes and looked at Pepa. "Thank you,"
"Of course," Pepa grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'm not immune to panic attacks."
"Really?"
"Mhmm. You know I had to keep my emotions bottled up inside of me growing up and, unfortunately, that caused a lot of panic attacks. They have lessened a lot over the years."
Mirabel gave her a small smile. "I'm glad," She looked back at the ground and thought back to why she had the panic attack in the first place. She was so embarrassed. She suddenly covered her face with her hands. "I'm sorry,"
"Why are you apologizing?"
"For acting like I'm acting. It's so embarrassing. I literally had a panic attack, because a boy broke up with me after only 4 months. I'm so pathetic." New tears started to form in her eyes.
"Let's go to your room,"
Mirabel nodded. "Okay,"
They both stood up and headed to Mirabel's room. They walked in and Mirabel sat on her bed. Pepa closed the door behind her. "Listen to me now," She sat down next to her. "You don't ever need to apologize for how you're feeling. I've never been through something like this before, but trust me when I say I would have had the exact same reaction if Felix had broken up with me when we were younger. Oh, man, I was so madly in love with him from the very start."
Mirabel smiled. "Yeah, my mama told me it was love at first sight."
"It was most definitely love at first sight." said Pepa with a laugh. "And…if he had decided to end things 4 months into our relationship, I would have been an absolute mess. I would have caused more hurricanes than you can even imagine. Just a little fight would cause a thunderstorm." Pepa put her hand on Mirabel's shoulder. "It is not your fault that you fell in love. You can't help how you feel."
Mirabel couldn't take it anymore and she broke down again. She wrapped her arms around herself as she sobbed. "I am so sorry," said Pepa as she wrapped her arms around her. Mirabel leaned her head on her shoulder and wrapped her arms around her. Pepa knew there was nothing she could say that would make her feel better. She just wanted Mirabel to know she was there for her and that it was okay to not be okay.
