you infuriate me - camilo madrigal x fem!oc

chapter 2

camilo's pov
we all flood into antonio's new room, admiring the view - a jungle that somehow fits into the casita, with toucans, capybaras, jaguars, coatis, tapirs, hummingbirds and more. i can see toñito bounding around on his new jaguar friend, and i laugh to see how happy he is.

i spot talia walking around and immediately make my way over to her. even though i know there's no fucking way she'll give me my money back, i can still use this as a wonderful opportunity to piss her off. i tap her on the shoulder and she spins around. her face fills with smugness when she sees me, which i ignore.

"enjoying the ceremony, ladrona (thief)?" i ask. she rolls her eyes. " jesus, relax. you play so many tricks on me, i figured i owed you one back." she taunts. i narrow my eyes and step closer to her. our noses are now only a few inches away from each other. she gulps, and i grin to myself. "what happened, talia? we were so close when we were young, and yet now you seem to ... dislike me? how is this possible?" i clutch my chest dramatically. she rolls her eyes again. "we were never close, milo. we were just friends. when we were four."

"and yet you still call me milo." i interject. "you were the first person to ever call me that, you know." she stares for a second, then clears her throat. "yeah - out of habit. you know you haven't really been milo to me since we were five and you played that horrible trick on me."

i'm caught off guard for a second as i remember.

[flashback]
i had been so nervous about getting my gift, and what it would be, and if i would meet abuela's expectations. so when i finally did get it, and it was something as exciting and incredible as shapeshifting, i wanted to show and tell everyone - but mainly my best friend, talia. i was the only one who called her that, and she was the only one who called me milo. i liked it - it made me feel special. and i liked her. i really liked her.

i looked around for her, but i couldn't find her anywhere. i knew she had been there - i'd seen her as i walked towards the stairs, grinned shyly when she winked at me. i was preparing to give up when mirabel told me she thought she'd seen her down by abuelo pedro's lake, so i eagerly ran down there. as i approached the lake, i saw her just standing there, totally absorbed in the constellations above. i realised she was distracted and hadn't heard my arrival, and an idea formed in my mind.

i shapeshifted into abuela alma - talia had always been a bit scared of her. laughing in my head already imagining her reaction, i tiptoed towards her until i could lean down and whisper in my best abuela voice, "BOO!" she spun around and, seeing my face - or rather, abuela's - screamed in fright and fell in the water. i laughed so hard that for several seconds i didn't notice her terrified expression or flailing arms as she struggled to keep afloat until she cried, "milo, i can't swim!" it was only then that i realised the devastating consequences of what i had just done. because i couldn't swim either. so i did the only thing i felt like i could do. i ran.

i ran all the way to my mamá and tía julieta, sobbed that they needed to come help, but by the time we had sprinted back to the lake talia was unconscious and for a few, terrifying minutes i thought it was too late. mamá was able to wake her up and tía julieta was able to heal her with her food, but after that talia wouldn't speak to me. i couldn't really blame her. the last memory she had of me before she lost consciousness was me running away.

i kept trying to make it up to her, showing up at her house whenever i could to try and apologise, but even after abuela carmen stopped closing the door in my face, talia still ignored me. eventually, i gave up and left her alone, but i'd still try to catch her eye whenever i saw her, would try convincing myself that she still came over so often because she wanted to see me, not because she had found a new best friend in mirabel, not because she'd moved on without me. it wasn't until i tried once again to meet her eye and saw the complete indifference in them as she looked back at me that i realised there was no point. it was too late.

it was only ever meant to be a joke.
[end of flashback]

"hello? earth to camilo? what is up with you today? you've been staring into the distance for the past three minutes."

i clear my throat uncomfortably. "right. okie dokie, well, i'm gonna go see how antonio's doing." she looks at me like i'm a complete weirdo. "did you just unironically say 'okie dokie'?" i can feel the heat flood to my ears. "umm - no. what? ok. i'm gonna - bye." i speedwalk away, ears still burning. fuck. that encounter did not go the way i pictured. 

celebrations continue, but for the rest of the night i'm stuck in my own mind, thinking about what happened all those years ago. i thought i was over it and from her indifference i assumed she was as well, but now i'm beginning to think otherwise. maybe i should try and apologise again. no, i've lost count of the amount of times i did that after it happened, and she shut me down every time. plus, it would hurt my ego. i may be egoistic but at least i'm honest enough to be able to admit it. 

no, i'll just keep annoying her and see what happens. that is my grand final solution. hey, at least it won't be any different from the last 10 years. i'm satisfied with this, but as i lie in bed staring at the ceiling after the celebrations are over, it stays on my mind. talia just can't fucking leave me alone, even when she's fast asleep in a house on the other side of the village. jesus fucking christ.