deep end ◈ swimmer!luke

.04

"Are you fûcking crazy?"

"I don't think talking to some kid in my AP bio class qualifies me as deranged Tiff, but thanks for your concern.", sarcasm dripping from her voice loquaciously, yet fading in conviction with her stomach's growling as she nibbled on an unpleasantly sogged sandwich,Terra rolled her eyes as her 'friend' sitting across from her let out an overdramatic sigh.

Quirked brow and slightly amused at this point, straight face was barely kept by the brunette as the raven haired girl took an agressive stab a piece of melon with her fork in response, popping it in her mouth wordlessly as if she didn't look borderline homicidal.

After ten years of whatever kind of friendship they shared, certainly not a healthy one but she took what she could get, Terra found this type of situation to be an all too familar occurance. From every aspect it seemed the pair were polar opposites, dancing, clashing, like two magnets repeatedly being brought together no matter strength of propellance. What higher power was behind the force? Terra's guess was satan or worse her father, but regardless of her being a complete pain in the ass, Tiffany was an asset. She provided homecoming dates, a tad bit of relevancy, and in exchange, all the quieter girl had to be was the trophy friend, the example of 'see not all my friends survive on diets of dicks and skinny starbucks lattes' when Daddy asked. The beautifully fûcked up system of using each other they had fallen into was ludacris, but she did what she needed to survive, even if that meant being the bimbo's bitch, and today was no exception, so she kept her mouth shut.

Gnawing through the bit of fruit rather quickly, baby pink glossed lips seemed to stick to every word that flew out of her mouth, almost like how the same product coating her pout left tacky stains on the necks of half the boys' lacross team, tone almost just as tar-like when she spoke. "He isn't just 'some kid'. He's Luke Hemmings. Luke. Hemmings. Do I need to spell it out for you? He's a deliquent, the ex-swim captain, and oh wait, what's that word? Begins with an 'a'? Oh right, he's an arsonist."

The word sent shivers down her spine, as if a bucket of ice water was dumped overhead. Mind racing back to last year, the news reports, the scandal, Terra didn't buy it. The story was someone or something started a fire after a home meet. Doesn't sound like a big deal, right? Maybe a cigarette was flicked or some faulty wiring caused a spark, an accident. But it didn't seem like an accident when the 'little fire' so carefully engulfed Calum Hood's locker, taking down half of the school's pool facilities with it, while Luke was found burnt, passed out in the parking lot with no recollection of what happened other then 'he didn't do it'. Even though he was cleared for lack of evidence, not guilty in the eyes of the courts, Luke might as well had been guilty to the public. He lost his spot on the team, his scholarship from UCLA, his competition endorsments, and not to mention the town that once hailed him a hero's respect. "Come on, sure he was a suspect at first, but they cleared him and dropped the case-"

Eyes widening and face scrunching in either disgust or confusion, probably both at this point, with a scoff, barbie-like legs swung over the bench of the lunch table, throwing away scraps of what was left of their meal before whipping back around to face her unusually 'vocal' friend. "That doesn't mean he isn't guilty, dumbass. God, and you're supposed to be the smart one."

Sinking into seat and pulling a granola bar out of her bag, the shorter girl ignored her friend's glare as she took a bite. "Don't flatter yourself," Plastering on a fake grin and letting out a snort, a manicured flip off was thrown up, but she didn't pay much attention to it, as per usual. "and maybe he is, maybe he isn't, but I think someone is innocent until proven guilty and he wasn't, so there's that. Not to mention, I don't feel like he could've done it. I'll admit he does seem like he's hiding something, but that's none of my business, and-."