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Camila shuts her eyes as she feels herself begin to fall to the ground. She feels her books slip out of her hands and then she hears the snickers. She rushes to gather her things and she runs to the bathroom, not missing the "welcome, new kid" being yelled behind her, even in the midst of the deafening sound of laughter from her new peers.
Camila guesses that it's been 2 minutes, maybe 3, of her sitting in the stall with her head in her hands, crying her eyes out before she hears the door open and close, followed by footsteps that ultimately stop in front of the sinks. She tries to sniffle quietly but with her obvious luck, it wasn't as quiet as she wanted. She drops her head then sighs.
She hears a chuckle and slight fear washes over her. She peeks through one of the gaps in the stall and the first thing she notices is the mess of hair on top of the girl's head, and she finds herself wondering how the hell she deals with it. Camila thinks that she stared at the mess of hair for maybe 15 seconds before the girl turned around and noticed Camila, making her panic and scurry away from the gap.
"I know you're in there." And then there's another chuckle that makes Camila freeze. The only sound she can hear is the faint voices of the other students out in the hallway. "If you're going to stare at me from a bathroom stall, the least you can do is talk to me."
"Sorry," is Camila's automatic first response. And then she's cursing herself because why is she even apologizing? "I mean, why do you want to talk to me?"
There's silence for a few moments before there's a laugh and Camila notices that it doesn't seem like the mean kind she heard in the hallway earlier. "You just seem like you need someone to talk to. I mean, you are hiding in a bathroom stall staring at people you don't know through a gap, after all."
Camila grabs her books and walks out of the stall, taking notice of her puffy eyes in the mirror. She frowns, "I look a mess, I'm sorry."
The girl shrugs from where she is leaning against the sink, "Eh. It's okay. I'm just glad I got you out of the stall. You're hella stubborn, aren't you?"
Camila laughs, "No. I've just been at this school for all of two days and I'm already being tripped and humiliated in the hallways. You can't blame me for being a little cautious of people."
"Oh, yeah, I saw. Sorry about that. Lauren's a bit mean to new kids; you didn't deserve that at all." Camila smiles slightly, "She's a puppy once you get to know her, though. I'm Dinah Jane, by the way."
"I'm Camila." Camila shakes her head, "Well, I'm Karla but I go by Camila."
"Well, come on, Karla. We have to get you fixed up then head to math, we're already late." Dinah smirks at Camila.
Camila narrows her eyes at Dinah. "My name is Camila. And how do you know I have math right now?"
Dinah waves a dismissive hand, pulling foundation out of her bag, "Nope, nope. I'm pretty sure I heard you say Karla. Therefore, you are Karla to me." She sits her bag down as she fixes Camila's eyes to the best of her ability. "There."
Dinah pushes Camila out of the bathroom and Camila's ninety-nine percent sure she should be telling Dinah off for being so aggressive when they’ve known each other for less than 10 minutes.
But she doesn't. And she doesn't even find herself minding Dinah grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the classroom.
Camila doesn't really find herself minding anything Dinah does. "And I have this class with you, that's how I know. Let's go."
-
When lunch rolls around, Camila takes one look into the cafeteria and then she's walking down the hallway to the bathroom. She's only ninety-seven percent sure it'll be empty and she won't be bothered for the remainder of the lunch period.
"Karla!" Camila turns around to see Dinah running down the hallway towards her.
"Oh, hey, Dinah." Camila furrows her eyebrows.
"Where are you going?" A smirk. "Were you headed to the bathroom? Shouldn’t you be in the cafeteria so you can eat your lunch, you know, during lunch?”
Camila blushes and she wishes she hadn't. "What? Aren't all the cool kids doing it?"
Dinah shakes her head as she turns around and walks toward the cafeteria. "No. Come on."
Camila quickly catches up beside her. "Where are we going?"
"We’re going to the cafeteria, Karla." Dinah smiles a genuine smile this time. "We're friends now; you won't be spending much time in that bathroom stall anymore."
"I won't?" Camila asks around a grin.
"You won't. It's not big enough for the both of us."
-
It's a total of 10 minutes before Dinah's friends realize that there's a new girl at their table that hasn't said a word to anyone besides Dinah. Camila doesn't miss the look Lauren's giving her from the other side of the table, either.
Dinah face palms and stands up, "Oh, of course! How silly of me. Guys, this is Camila. She's gonna be hanging around with me a lot so get used to her."
Camila blushes and waves shyly as Dinah sits back down and introduces the people at the table. "And that one down there, the hot one, that's Normani." She points to a girl that Camila thinks is way too pretty to be a real person. "And lastly, next to her, that's—oh yeah, you know Lauren."
Camila's eyes widen, "You're friends with the girl that bullies me for no reason?!" She whisper-yells.
Dinah scratches the back of her neck, "Yeah... I told you that, though! She's actually really nice, I swear."
There's a roll of Camila's eyes, "I believe you for now, Dinah Jane. Why'd you tell them I'm Camila? I thought you said you're gonna call me Karla?"
"I said you're Karla to me, meaning that no one else can call you that. Only me."
"Only you? Why's that?" Camila smiles and right then and there she knows she's keeping this girl.
"Because I'm special, duh."
-
Two months of playful teasing and middle-of-class notepassing later, Dinah finds out that she's not doing as well in math as she'd like and it's kind of strange to Camila because she'd never seen Dinah anything but happy and giggly. So, like, the way she's stressing is really throwing off Camila's game.
Not that she has any game whatsoever. Camila knows that she could offer to tutor Dinah if she wants or needs it, but, that'd require them to hang out outside of school, or something, and Camila's not even sure if Dinah likes her enough to want to carry this friendship, or whatever this is, outside of the school building.
But she offers anyway and she can see the relief on Dinah's face. And then she's being pulled into a tight hug and Dinah's whispering various forms of thanks into her ear and Camila can't help but smile and she wishes this girl didn't do that to her.
"When do you think we should start?" Dinah asks as they walk out the school.
Camila shrugs, turns to face Dinah, and tilts her head a little to the left, "Did you know you have dimples by your eyes?" She asks dumbly, cursing herself short after because of course she knows, they are on her face after all.
"Yeah. They annoy me, though. I don't like them." Camila shakes her head.
"I like them. I think they're nice."
"Thanks," Dinah blushes a little. "Can we start tutoring Friday? You could stay the night if you want?" There's a pause. "I mean, only if you want to. It's okay if you don't." She adds on quickly.
Camila smiles at the obvious nerves the other girl has about asking her. "I'll have to ask my mom but I'm sure she'd be fine with it. So yes, I'd love to start tutoring you on Friday."
"I have to warn you though, we have a full house so, like, if the zoo of kids ever becomes too much while you're there, I won't be mad if you leave and make us change the tutoring spot to your house." Dinah warns Camila with a laugh.
"I'm sure I'll be fine," Camila dismisses with a grin. "So it's a date?" She holds a hand out.
"It's a date." Dinah agrees shaking the older girl's hand.
-
Camila knew she'd be okay, ignoring Dinah's warning about the full house completely, and the moment they stepped into Dinah's home, there was a scream and then a small child running up to the two of them. Dinah knelt down to the child's level and opened her arms as she ran into them.
"Hi, Gina." She greeted the child with a smile. She stood up still holding Regina and turned to Camila.
"This is my youngest sister Regina, she's 4. Gina, this is Camila." Camila waves awkwardly at the child, not really sure how she's supposed to greet a toddler.
Dinah laughs and puts Regina down and watches as she runs to another room, "Come on, loser. You have to meet my mom; she's probably in the kitchen."
Camila nods as Dinah grabs her hand and pulls her toward the kitchen. Camila's only slightly nervous and she's well aware that she shouldn't be nervous at all, as she's just meeting her friend's mom.
The two girls reach the kitchen and Dinah lets go of Camila's hand and Camila hates that she misses the warmth immediately. "Mom, this is Camila, you know the one I told you that's going to tutor me. Camila, this is my mom."
Camila smiles and holds her hand out for a shake but is instead pulled into a hug. "Dinah's told me all about you; she was right when she said you were pretty."
Camila looks over and smirks at Dinah, chuckling when she blushes.
Dinah pulls Camila out of her mom's embrace, "Come on Karla, you're here for a reason."
"Have fun!" Her mom yells behind them, "Be down for dinner at 6."
-
An hour and a half later, they're laid out on Dinah's carpeted floor in silence, math textbooks and notebooks long forgotten.
"Dinah?" Camila sits up, moving to sit with her back against the foot of Dinah's bed. She pats the spot next to her. "Come here."
"Hm?" Dinah sits next to Camila and leans her head against her bed closing her eyes.
Camila looks over at her and smiles, "You look pretty when you're all relaxed and stuff."
"Stop flirting with me." Dinah teases with her eyes still closed and Camila can see the corners of her lips twitching.
"You like it." Camila declares to the taller girl. "Anyway, I was thinking and I realized we've known each other for almost 3 months but we know little to nothing about each other."
Dinah thinks for a second, "That's true." She opens her eyes and looks over at Camila. "What should we do? Ask each other questions?"
Camila shrugs, "We could if you want." And Camila's really just trying to play it cool and hide the fact that she wants to know everything about the girl sitting next to her.
"Okay, um," Dinah pauses for a moment and Camila begins to think of every possible question Dinah could ask her. "What's your favorite color?"
Camila's baffled for a second but then she composes herself and answers with, "Blue. I love all shades of blue. Who's your favorite music artist?"
Dinah scoffs, "Queen Bey, of course! Who doesn't love Beyoncé? My favorite color is blue, also, by the way. What's your biggest dream?"
Camila shifts and rests her head on Dinah's shoulder, "I really want to make it as a singer one day. Hopefully, it'll happen after high school but if not, then well, I'll just go to college and major in something in music, or something."
Camila can feel Dinah looking at her. "What's your biggest fear?"
Dinah sighs, "It's kind of crazy how we have the same dream but I want to make it as a singer, too. I want to help my family move into a bigger house and I want my dad to stop having to work so hard to provide for us," She pauses. "I want to be able to see him and I want my mom to stop worrying all the time."
Camila grabs Dinah's hand and gently strokes her thumb over her knuckles as she listens, "I guess my biggest fear is that I won't be able to help my family. That once I start trying to make it, I'll fail and let everyone down."
"I'm sorry I asked." Camila says softly as she intertwines their fingers, and she means it.
"No, no, it's okay. It's good to finally have someone to talk to." Dinah stands and helps Camila up. "There's a few minutes till dinner, let's go help my mom set the table or something."
"We'll continue the game later, right?" Camila asks as they walk down the stairs, still joined at the hands.
"If it'll make you happy, then sure loser."
-
Camila's never sat at a dinner table with so many people before and she's kind of nervous because she doesn't even know the people she's sitting with and yeah, okay, kids are easy to please but the kids aren't even at this table so she's dealing with all adults and teenagers.
But Dinah's family is nice and they all seem to really like Camila. They make a lot of conversation and Camila's sure by the end of dinner; she's never felt so at home and happy, away from home.
Dinah goes to put her younger siblings to bed after dinner and she promises Camila that she'll meet the rest tomorrow, even though none of them are as cool as Regina.
"So Camila, what do you like to do?" Dinah's mom asks Camila as they take the now empty dinner dishes to the kitchen.
Dinah's mom, Milika, told her that she didn't have to help but Camila insisted and wouldn't take no for an answer. Said it was a way of thanking her for letting her sleep over.
"Um, I like to sing." Camila sits the plates she's holding on the counter. "I like to play guitar, too."
Milika smiles, "Dinah's been wanting to learn the guitar, she says the piano is only so much fun. We haven't been able to put any money into lessons yet, but we're planning to surprise her for Christmas with some." She washes a plate and hands it to Camila.
Camila sets the plate in the dish drain then leans against the counter. "I could give her lessons in between tutoring if it'd save you a little money. I'm no expert but I know the basics." She offers, remembering the conversation she and Dinah had earlier.
"You don't have to do that, Camila." Milika hands Camila the last plate then dries her hands. "It's really nice of you, though."
Camila shakes her head, she actually doesn't mind teaching Dinah guitar and, like, this family is really great and she knows that the money that would be going into lessons could be used for something much better.
"I really don't mind, Mrs. Hansen." Milika smiles and Camila can see that she has the same dimples by her eyes that Dinah has. "It's really no problem."
"Call me Milika." And then Camila's being pulled into a hug. "Thank you so much, Camila. I'm so glad Dinah met you."
"Me too, Milika."
-
Fifteen minutes later, Dinah's back is against her bed and Camila's head is in her lap and they're playing their question game from earlier and if Camila were to be asked if she was comfortable, she'd probably try to avoid the question. (But she totally was.)
"Okay Karla, last question. Question 20, this has to be good." Camila closes her eyes as she waits for Dinah's final question. "Are you happy?"
"At this very moment right now, yeah, I am." Camila shifts a little so she can look up at Dinah.
Dinah looks down at the brunette. "What about in general?"
"That's another question, Dinah." Camila smiles. "I actually am happy. A lot happier than I was 3 months ago, that's for sure."
Dinah flashes an all too pretty smile, and Camila hates how much she likes the dimples by her eyes. "Why's that?"
Camila sits up and rests her head on Dinah's shoulder. "I just am."
"You're my best friend, Camila." Dinah whispers and Camila's kind of really shocked. She'd always thought the way too pretty girl Normani from their cafeteria table was Dinah's best friend. "I'm glad you're happy."
Camila wraps her arms around Dinah's waist from the side. "You're the reason I'm happy, Dinah. You're my best friend, too."
And then she's leaning up to kiss Dinah's cheek, and yeah, she's definitely happy.
Dinah gets an A on her last math test of the semester and Camila smiles at the taller girl who's waving the paper in front of her face.
And then she's being pulled into a tight hug and Dinah's whispering various forms of thanks in her ear and Camila doesn't find herself minding being squeezed to near death. Camila doesn't really find herself minding anything Dinah does.
And then Dinah's pressing a kiss to her cheek, which ends up being scarily close to her mouth, and Camila doesn't find herself minding that either.
-
The first time Camila meets Dinah's other friends is the first day of winter break. Dinah’s family is out for the day but Dinah stays home because, like, no kids for a whole day, and peace and quiet, or something.
And yeah, she's seen Normani around school and she and Lauren had that hallway altercation and they sit at the same table in the cafeteria but she's never properly met them.
So, when Dinah texts Camila that they want to meet her, Camila's kind of, maybe scared when she gets to Dinah's house for the first and only time ever (but maybe it's the way that Dinah squeezes her hand as they walk into the living room that makes it less scary).
But Normani has a pretty personality to go along with her pretty face and she's really nice to Camila, and Camila really, really likes her.
Camila’s pretty damn sure Lauren hates her so she spends a majority of the time avoiding talking to her, but when Normani and Dinah leave the room for God knows what reason, Camila's alone with Lauren for the first time ever and she’s nervous. Like, mind-numbing nervous.
"Hey, Camila," Lauren catches Camila's attention from the couch where she's currently lounging. "Can we talk?"
Camila turns around from where she’s sitting on the floor in front of the couch, "Hm?"
"I just want to say I'm sorry for tripping you in the hallway a couple months ago," Lauren sighs and Camila can feel her uneasiness slowly slipping away. "It was really mean and you didn't deserve it."
"Thanks, Lauren," Camila smiles at the green eyed girl. "It's really fine, I'm completely over it."
Lauren smiles down at Camila, "Good. Can I tell you a secret?" Camila nods her head. "Dinah's really protective over the people she loves and she told me that if I wanted to hang out with her and Normani ever again that I'd have to apologize to you and I really am sorry but you should thank your girlfriend."
Camila's jaw drops at the smirk on Lauren's face as Dinah and Normani walk back into the room with a stack of movies.
"Okay, so Mani wanted to watch one of Beyoncé's concert movies but I knew that you two would probably get bored so we have choices!"
-
They end up watching a bunch of horror movies that Camila is too scared to even retain the names of. They even drew the curtains closed so the room is pretty dark despite it only being 4 pm. It's not helping Camila's case, like, at all.
They're currently on the second movie and the other 3 girls are on the couch and Camila's on the floor in front of Lauren and she's trying to act like she's not that scared but she totally is. She really, really hates the 'majority rules' rule.
Dinah slides down next to Camila and nudges her, "Are you scared?" She whispers and Camila can hear the amusement in her voice.
"No, I'm not." Camila whispers back and rolls her eyes despite being completely terrified. "Why would I be?"
Dinah shrugs, "Well, if you're not scared then I guess I can sit back where I was." She points a thumb behind her towards the couch, eyes challenging Camila to speak up.
Camila stops her as she starts to move back up onto the couch, "No! No, I am scared, you jerk. Why'd you make me watch this anyway?!"
Dinah shakes her head, "You're just a baby."
Camila tries to act mad at Dinah but when Dinah grabs a pillow off the couch and lies down pulling Camila with her, she can't help but smile and maybe it's the arm that Dinah slings over her waist that makes the movie just a little bit more tolerable.
She doesn't miss the chuckle and fake cough from Lauren, though.
-
They decide to spend December 23rd together, to let that be their own Christmas since they'd, of course, be with family on the actual day and the day before.
Normani and Lauren meet Camila's parents for the first time and her little sister absolutely adores them. Camila introduces them as her best friends, and she likes the sound of it. She likes that she has best friends.
The four girls exchange gifts but Dinah insists on saving Camila's gift for when they're alone and Camila doesn't know why but she doesn't question it.
They spend the day blasting and dancing along to Christmas music and watching Christmas movies and Camila thinks that she definitely has the best friends in the world and she's just really, really happy.
Lauren and Normani leave around 7; they promise Sofia that they'll be back after Christmas to play with all her new toys with her. They're serious, too. There’s a pinky promise and everything.
"You staying over, Cheenz?" Camila looks at Dinah as they walk back into her room. She knows Dinah is welcome in the Cabello house at any time, so it wouldn't be a problem.
Dinah shakes her head and holds out a small, neatly wrapped box and a card to Camila. "Nah, Gina, Kamila and I have a hot chocolate and movie date. Open it."
Camila unwraps and opens the box. "You got me a necklace?"
Dinah nods her head. "Yeah, it's engraved too. Look at the back of it."
Camila turns the silver heart locket over. "Karla, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, I love you so much." She reads, heart clenching in her chest.
"I wanted to say more but my original message was apparently ‘too much’, whatever that means, so that's what the card is for." Camila tears up, wondering how she was blessed with such a great best friend.
"I love it, Dinah and I love you." Camila sets her gift down and pulls Dinah into a hug, burying her face into her neck. "Thank you."
Dinah wraps her arms around Camila's waist, "I love you too, Camila. You're welcome."
Camila pulls away from the hug and looks at Dinah furrowing her eyebrows, "You're not supposed to call me Camila. You're the only one that I like when they call me Karla."
"Only me? Why's that?" Dinah smiles and Camila hates that it's the prettiest smile she's ever seen.
"Because you're special, duh."
-
Camila is woken up the day after Christmas by Lauren calling her and she tries to be mad, she really does, but it's 1 pm so she's kind of glad she called.
"Hello?" Camila answers the phone sitting up in her bed.
"Hi, you never told me what Dinah got you for Christmas." Camila laughs at the eagerness in her voice.
"Straight to it, huh? She got me a necklace and a card."
"What kind of necklace? What did the card say?"
Camila finds Lauren's curiosity really funny. "Why are you asking me? Why didn't you ask Dinah? They were her gifts after all, Lo."
"She told me to ask you."
Camila rolls her eyes even though she knows Lauren can't see her, "It was a heart locket and the card was just talking about how I'm her best friend and how she loves me and stuff. No big deal."
"That's so cute! I wish I had a girlfriend that great, Camz." Camila rolls her eyes again, she can hear the smirk in her voice.
"She's not my girlfriend."
"You like her, though. I can tell.”
"No I don't." Camila thinks for a second. "I've never thought about her like that, Lo."
Lauren laughs. "Yeah, okay. How's my Sofi Lofi?'"
"She's good. She actually just came upstairs, I think. Sofia!"
-
Dinah spends the last weekend before school starts back up at Camila's house and she gets there early on Friday so she can play with Sofi because she hasn't seen her since before Christmas and if you were to ask her who her favorite Cabello is, she won’t say Camila.
Camila's parents are happy to see Dinah. They adore her and Sinu even allows Dinah to choose what they have for dinner and jokes that she likes her way more than Camila.
(Camila knows it's not true but she pouts anyway and Dinah smiles an all too pretty smile and kisses her cheek.)
-
After dinner, the two teenagers and Camila’s little sister set up a pile of blankets and pillows in the living room in preparation for an impromptu movie night. Sofia begs to be by Dinah because she’s apparently her favorite person in the whole wide world and she never, ever sees her. (And “who knows when she’ll be back?!”)
Dinah smiles at the child, lying back on their messy pile and patting the spot next to her. “Of course you can, Ladybug. Who can pass up Sofi cuddles?”
Camila grabs the stack of movies that Sofia picked out from by the tv and settles on the other side of her sister, heart swelling at the interaction between the two girls. She looks through the movies, eventually picking High School Musical to start their marathon.
They belt out the lyrics to ‘Start of Something New’ at the top of their lungs, bursting into a fit of giggles as the song finishes.
-
Sofia passes out some time in between ‘The Boys are Back’ and ‘Walk Away’, cuddled up to Dinah completely, head resting on her chest and her arm across her middle.
Camila notices that Dinah is dozing a bit, too, so she lets the movie finish. She takes a picture of the two girls and sets it as her phone lock screen, heart swelling once again at how well the two most important people in her life get along, and shakes them awake.
“Wake up, sleepyheads,” She says with a slight smile. “Go on upstairs, I’m gonna clean this up.”
Dinah stands up with Sofi in her arms, and walks up the staircase with her. Camila watches as Dinah says something to the young girl and kisses her on the forehead, who in turn just rests her head on Dinah’s shoulder as she’s carried to her room.
Camila folds up the blankets and pillows and puts them back in the linen closet. She makes her way upstairs just as Dinah walks out of Sofi’s room and closes her door quietly.
Dinah smiles at her. “I was just coming to help you. Ladybug went back to sleep almost immediately.”
“You’re so good with her,” Camila says, stepping into her room with Dinah right behind her. “It warms my heart.” She plops down on her bed, bouncing slightly.
The Polynesian pushes Camila’s door closed, turns off the light and crosses the room to the other side of the bed, the only light now coming from the streetlights outside Camila’s window and the tv playing an infomerical. She sits with her back against the headboard, legs one over the other. “She’s a good kid; I told her I would come steal her after school sometimes and we’d hang out for an hour or two. She really wants to meet Regina, too.”
Camila groans, swinging her legs up onto the bed, mirroring Dinah’s position. “Why are you so perfect?”
Dinah giggles. “It just comes naturally, Karla,” She attempts to flip her hair but fails and just ends up swiping hair into her mouth.
Camila bursts into giggles, which only just makes Dinah laugh harder. Camila knows that if anyone else were awake right now, they’d sound completely crazy.
When they finally calm down, Camila eyes the girl sitting next to her, and sighs. “Dinah, can I tell you a secret?”
“Of course you can,” Dinah responds with no hesitation. She points at the tv, “Unless you’re about to tell me about your secret want for me to buy you the Turbo Twister because I’m not buying you that. That blender is way too fancy, girl. What would you even make with that? Smoothied heaven?”
“I’m being serious, Cheenz!” Camila whines. “Hear me out for a second.”
“Fine, fine,” Dinah mutes the tv. “Don’t get bossy on me, though, child. Just because it’s--,” she picks up Camila’s phone and presses the power button, lighting up the screen. “2 A.M. doesn’t mean I won’t rough you up a little bit. Nice lock screen, by the way.”
Camila shakes her head and rolls her eyes. She takes a deep breath, “I think I’m in love with you, Dinah. Like, completely in love. Like, my heart aches when I look at you in love.”
“With me?” Dinah asks incredulously. “Are you sure?”
Camila all but gapes at Dinah. She swallows, “Yes, you and yes, I’m sure. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my entire life.”
Dinah smiles, “You so fantasize about making out with me.” She teases, crooking a finger under Camila’s chin and turning her face towards her own. She brushes her lips against Camila’s, “And other things, probably.”
Dinah closes the gap between the two of them. It’s 2 A.M., and it’s honestly the latest Camila has ever stayed up with another human being; and she has a new fondness for late nights.
It’s 2 A.M., and Camila’s best friend is kissing her like she means it and as Dinah elicits another shaky breath from her mouth, Camila wonders if there’s a name for this warmth.