Survival Of The Fittest

Camilla couldn't help but snort trying to hold in her laughter. The joke Leslie made about drowning herself just clinched it. This was exactly how she felt when her mother tried to talk to her friends. Maybe, just maybe, Leslie felt the same way? Ah, don't be silly Camilla, that's probably just projection. Then again, a lot of teenagers had a little something against their parents, even if it's just a speck of salt about getting yelled at that one time last week. Surely it's not too unreasonable.

But then Violet said that embarrassing parents were fun.

At that point, she couldn't hold in her laughter anymore, but this time it was different. It came out a lot more bitter and less hearty than she'd have liked.

She shut herself up all of a sudden, only to start talking again.

"I'm sorry, I think we have different ideas of what an embarrassing parent is like," she said.

That didn't make much sense, she should explain.

"I mean, maybe you're just more forgiving than I am or we have different levels of embarrassment running in the family."

That didn't explain any better. At this rate, it would be useless to explain how she felt without pouring her life story from grade 4 onward to two girls she just met. So, she just stayed quiet for a bit after that.

"Fun?" Leslie asked, baffled. "I'm gonna have to disagree with you there.Embarrassing parents are, well, embarrassing. I'd rather not have parents that assume I'm constantly flirting with other girls, and share embarrassing stories about me such as the time in second grade when, after a shower, I ran outside naked where my parents were talking with the neighbors and yelled 'Mommy I need underwear!""

She then blushed as she realized what she'd just said.

Violet listened to what Camilla was saying to her about embarrassing parents. She understood that parents could be embarrassing in many different ways, she was not going to deny that. She guessed her parents were more family-friendly on that level. At least that was what Camilla was trying to say to her. It was a bit hard to figure out. Maybe she should ask, maybe not. What if it was more of a personal thing? She instead just give Camilla a nod of the head and a sympathetic smile.

Violet's eyes widened a little at what Leslie just said. Oh, yes. Violet's parents weren't on that level of extreme embarrassing. Violet just imagined the scene of what Leslie was talking about and she raised a hand to her mouth to hold back a burst of laughter. It just seemed to be a bit goofy.

"I have it more easy then." She said to Leslie, clearing her throat softly.

Camilla almost cringed at Leslie's own embarrassing parent horror story. Really, that event alone was gag-inducing enough, for every party involved in all likelihood. Having your own parents never let you live that down? What, did these people have no shame?

"Oh god, that sounds..." she trailed off. Anything she would use to fill the gap would be absurdly melodramatic given the situation. Instead, she huffed.

However, she did find something to say, once she started looking for a response to Violet.

"Tell me about it, Violet. We both have it easy compared to that."

"No, I think I have it the easiest here, unless you guys also live in the gated community?" Leslie said, pointing out her privilege. "Anyway, let's change topics. You guys read any good books, seen any good movies or shows, or like played any good games or something like that lately?"

She did not want to talk about embarrassing parents any longer, and figured it'd be nice to see what common interests she and these girls had.

Violet couldn't really blame Leslie for wanting to change the subject to something else. She would have done the same at some point as well. Now Violet just had to come up with something to talk about. Unless Camilla came up with something that was more interesting to chat about.

"Um...."

That was all that came out of the girl's mouth so far and she had to think about something. Anything.

"Well, I watched a new horror movie called In The Walls. It was pretty creepy as a couple moved into a house and strange things start to occur." She stopped for a moment as she didn't know if she should spoil it or not. Violet was always cautious with that. "Do.... Do you two like horror movies? If so, I don't want to spoil anything if you guys want to check it out yourselves."

Wow, Violet. That was the most words that you have ever said to anyone before.

Books she'd read lately? Oh, that was easy.

"Well, I recently read the original Hunchback of Notre Dame book. The one by Victor Hugo." she explained. Was it bad that she had read the book, but never seen the Disney movie herself? It was mostly the other way around, after all. Well, she would not mention that little fact about herself. Not only was it pointless, it would come across as her being haughty in a way. It would seem like she was calling attention to petty differences to put herself above others.

As for horror titles, well, did 1984 count? Eh, probably not. So, she shook her head at Violet's question.

"Can't say I've read a lot of horror myself."

"I only like horror movies if they aren't super gory. I'm squeamish as fuck, and too much blood squicks me out," Leslie said. "Hunchback of Notre Dame, huh? I've seen the movie, but haven't read the book. I myself mainly like stuff with lesbians in it. I just finished watching the anime adaptation of Citrus. I hope there's a season 2, as the manga gets ESPECIALLY good after the point where the anime left off."

Violet was fascinated by the girls' responds and she didn't mind their opinions on horror movies. Horror wasn't for everyone. Like books, she didn't really read any unless she had to do for school or when she was studying at home. Books didn't bore her, she was just more into art or photography. If she found a book that she would like to read, then she would do so. Ah, anime. She had seen a few. She wasn't a big anime fan but she did find them fun to watch.

"I don't really read books. But I have seen the book in the library. Would you recommend it as something for me to read?" Violet asked out of curiosity and she hoped that she had not offended Camilla in any way. "I've seen a few animes. Like Another, Orange and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood."

Camilla nodded blankly as Leslie raved about a manga, or something. Gee, you think she might be lesbian? In any case, Violet had asked her for a book recommendation- a first! Hm, would the original book be a good fit for someone like Violet? Well, she seemed to be into dark stuff. Maybe a stretch, there's a lot of types of dark stuff. Then again, she felt that Violet was more asking if the book was good in general, but it would be best for her to take into account things she would like, except she didn't know what Violet would want in a book! Overall quality it is, then.

"It's pretty good, though also with some major, major differences from most adaptations." She hoped she wasn't being haughty by adding that in, it was just a fair warning. In fact, she should elaborate- no, she shouldn't elaborate. She didn't want to spoil the fun for Violet, after all. Though some things obvious from the get-go were worth noting. "It's definitely a Victor Hugo work- lots of moral grayness and basically every character being put through the wringer." It occurred to her the last bit was basically the movie adaptations as well. She couldn't really find a way to distinguish what she meant by that, though. Instead, she flashed a warm smile.

"Isn't the original book kinda racist? At least that's what I've heard," Leslie pointed out. "Though I suppose you can't really expect classic literature to reflect the values of today. I enjoyed the book Carmilla despite its message basically being 'lesbians are evil vampires out to corrupt your daughters', though I like the web series adaptation much better than the original book."

Violet gave a small nod as Camilla was talking about the book and she was definitely considering reading it. She needed to get into more of a better habit of reading books anyway. She was starting to grow more and more fond of any genre. Even romance. She found a few that she liked to keep a secret and she didn't feel confident enough to tell the other girls yet.

"I'll definitely give Victor Hugo's book a go." She simply said and noticed that Leslie was piping up about another book. 'Carmilla'. Ah, a lesbian vampire story? Interesting. Camilla's name was close to Carmilla. She was not going to point that out. "Ah, Carmilla. I think I read that once as a kid and I stayed up all night in fear of a vampire coming to get me."

Camilla was fairly aware of the vampire Carmilla. It was kind of unavoidable with her name that she would eventually find out about it. She shrugged at the mention of the book.

"I've never read it, myself."

She was going to add that she had no intention of reading it, seemed a bit, uh, sensational for her taste. Still, she didn't really want to say that out loud in front of someone who was a fan. Though, if the web series was better, it might just be good for her? Maybe? Probably not, but she wouldn't say that out loud.

"What's the web series like?" she asked, looking to Leslie.

Leslie liked where the conversation had headed, as this show was something she was quite enthusiastic about.

"The web series is amazing! It's like a queer woman's dream!" Leslie began to gush. "It takes the characters from the original book but sets it in a modern setting with modern day values, has an original plot, and does an excellent job of mixing comedy and drama. Most of the characters are queer women, and at least half the cast and crew are queer themselves, including the actresses that play Carmilla and Laura, Natasha Negovanlis and Elise Bauman. They have amazing chemistry and some of the most realistic lesbian kisses I've ever seen! I think you guys'd like it, especially Violet."

Violet was listening as Leslie seemed to be talking about web series proudly and it was only making Violet more curious to watch it herself. Leslie just said that she would like it. Violet wondered if she was right about that. Violet always made sure not to get too excited about anything, just in case it turned out to be really bad and disappointing to her. She had seen her fair share of terrible movies and TV series.

"I will definitely check it out." She said with a firm nod of her head and she splashed her feet gently in the pool. "Thanks, Leslie."