the truth about survival part II • an Alicia Clark fanfiction (girlxgirl)

xix. a little bit of fun

"I was talking to Mía recently," Alicia said, using Kamille's silence as opportunity. "She said that you don't like it when people call you by a nickname."

Kamille mentally facepalmed, knowing where this was going. God, Mía has a big mouth. "She did, did she?"

Alicia was slightly amused as she nodded. "Yeah. She said that you said that you only liked it when your family called you Kami. And I was like, 'well that can't be true because she never told me otherwise'."

Kamille let out a dramatic sigh as she leaned back against the wall. "Since Mía can't keep things to herself, I guess I have to elaborate."

"My interest is piqued," Alicia teased, leaning back against the wall, too.

"I don't like it when people call me nicknames," Kamille admitted. "I try to stop them before it becomes a thing, y'know? Adam called me Kami all the time and my parents did, too, but that was it. It just made me feel silly. I already have a name, why am I shortening it?"

Alicia raised an eyebrow, clearly entertained.

"It's stupid, I know," Kamille agreed, reading her mind and making her smile with amusement. "But that was it."

Alicia chuckled. "Well, I'm pretty sure I called you Kam more than I did Kamille. If I had known, I wouldn't have done it. Plus, didn't Ofelia call you Kamz at one point?"

Kamille smiled as they spoke about their past, it – for once – not hurting when she did. "She called it me once and never again, so I let her off. Also, I distinctly remember you getting jealous when she did."

Alicia seemed surprised that Kamille remembered such a thing, but decided to hide it as she looked away with a flustered expression. Kamille laughed, the memory engraved in her mind like it was yesterday.

"Also," Kamille continued, enjoying taunting Alicia, "honestly speaking? I probably would have let you call me anything back then, Alicia. I had a crush on you."

"Gee, thanks."

"It's the truth," Kamille said with a shrug, before glancing at Alicia.

The two of them shared a look before laughing at the situation. Kamille was glad it wasn't weird between them and that they could still talk about their memories without it being a whole thing.

"For what it's worth, I missed calling you it, too," Alicia admitted with a sigh. "Felt weird not to."

"You're lucky you got away with it," Kamille joked with an eye roll, eliciting a quiet laugh from Alicia. "What else has Mía been blabbering to you?"

Alicia glanced at Kamille with a playful smirk. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Oh, boy..."

"Speak of the devil," Alicia said, and Kamille looked up to see Mía walking into their bedroom.

"I heard that," Mía remarked with a playful eye roll before looking to Kamille. "So I found these scissors and– oh! You've taken your bandages off!"

Kamille glanced at her hand before nodding. "Yeah, I did."

"Can I see?"