what your best friend knows

Calum listened quietly as his girlfriend, Julie, continued to complain about Kendra, a small frown forming on his features as he listened to her. He didn’t know why Julie always talked so badly about the girl - they were supposed to be best friends and yet Julie never had anything nice to say about her, but, moreover, he knew Kendra didn’t deserve anything that Julie was saying about her. “Alright, Jules, that’s enough,” he tried carefully, looking to her with a small frown. “She’s a good person, you don’t have to talk so much shit about her.” And, it annoyed Calum, it really did, and he wasn’t entirely sure why - he had a hunch, but he didn’t want to admit it to himself, not when he was dating Julie.

Julie scoffed, rolling her eyes slightly when she heard Calum’s words. “Yeah, and you don’t have to always defend her,” she complained, sliding her arms around his neck, “She’s such a loser, I don’t see anything worth defending.”

Her words made Calum’s blood boil a bit, and he could feel his defensiveness over Kendra growing as he pried Julie’s arms away carefully. “I mean it, Jules, that’s enough,” he told her before he shifted to grab his drink.

Luke bit on the inside of his cheek impatiently as his girlfriend, Olive, continued her scathing attack on her supposed best friend, Lia. He listened closely as Olive continued on, his eyebrows furrowing as Olive laughed. "Oli, c'mon, you've had your fun." Luke warned quietly. He'd always felt over protective of Lia - the girl was beautiful, and so incredibly sweet, and just knowing she existed made Luke wonder if he'd ever have a chance to be brave and express his feelings. Frowning, Luke took a sip of his Coke, pretending to look disinterested as Olive looked to him.

"Oh, come on, sweetie, you don't mean that." Olive grinned, her grin growing wider at a thought. "God, imagine someone like that dating someone like you." She shifted closer to her boyfriend, pressing a kiss to the side of his neck, not noticing how Luke seemed to squirm slightly. "There's nothing about her that deserves anything as good as you."

Luke squirmed out of Olive's kiss, but stayed as she wrapped her arms around his middle instead, because he knew if he didn't, she wouldn't shut up. "Just stop shit talking her, Olive. It's not fair." He warned quietly, not bothering to wrap an arm around her in return as he glanced at his phone, wishing something, anything, could get him out of this situation.

Kendra walked up the garden path that lead to Julie's beautiful home. Julie's family were incredibly wealthy, and the girl was always dressed in designer clothes, carrying the latest handbags, and using the latest model phone. Knocking the door meekly with the thought, Kendra couldn't help but notice how out of place she was in this neighbourhood. Her family weren't awful, she loved them, but she couldn't help but feel a little jealousy towards Julie - but she always swallowed it down, because Julie was her best friend, and she'd do anything for her.

Lia breathed out quietly as she parked outside of Olive’s home, chewing on her lip. A part of her never felt good enough to hang out with Olive, especially when comparing their lifestyles. Still, they’d been best friends for as long as Lia could remember, so she tried not to think too negatively. Climbing out of her car, she made her way up to Olive’s house and lightly knocked on the door, shifting anxiously as she peered around a bit.

Julie rolled her eyes slightly in response to Calum’s words, pouting slightly. “Come on, babe,” she whined quietly, leaning against him before she leaned up to brush her lips against his with a grin, “It’s not my fault she’s such a loser. I mean, have you seen her?” She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Awful, honestly.”

Calum frowned slightly as he listened to Julie, turning away from her affection a bit, though he couldn’t help but wonder how in the world Julie could think anything like that about Kendra. The girl was beautiful, inside and out, and none of it made any sense to him, because if Julie thought so poorly of Kendra, then why the hell did she pretend to be best friends with her? “Stop it, Jules,” he repeated quietly, watching her, “Seriously. It’s not cute and it’s not funny.”

Julie pouted with the mention of it. “But, babe -” she started before hearing the knock, and she rolled her eyes. “Seriously? Now, of all times?”

“I’ll get it,” Calum said, pulling free from Julie’s hold as he headed to the door, taking any opportunity he could to get away from her and to get away from her cruel words about Kendra. When he opened the door, though, he paused when he saw Kendra, as beautiful as ever, and he wondered how somebody like her existed in this world, when it clearly didn’t deserve her. “Kendra, hey,” he greeted eventually, offering a small grin as he moved aside to let her in. “Come on in.”

Olive frowned at Luke's phone. "Oh come on, babe, you're not angry at me, are you? I'm only being honest -"

"No, Liv, you're being a bitch." Luke corrected with a frown, pulling away from his girlfriend completely. If Luke's parents knew how cruel she could be, Luke knew they would be disappointed with his choice of woman, and Luke was really beginning to struggle to see what he saw in Olive. "If you have nothing nice to say about the poor girl, why bother being her friend?"

"To make myself look good." Olive shrugged, having no qualms about admitting to her awful attitude regarding Lia, frowning as Luke pulled away. "Babe -" She was disturbed though, with a light knock at the front door, and she rolled her eyes. "Ugh."

Luke frowned. "I'll go and get it." Luke disappeared down the hallway, going to open the front door, smiling as he saw Lia, a genuine smile. "Hey, Lia." He offered the girl a smile, one that he hoped made her feel a little more at ease, noticing she seemed tense. "Come on in, Olive's in the lounge."

Kendra shifted uncomfortably on her feet as she straightened out her jacket, her hair tied into a neat braid, a spare hair tie around her wrist. Looking up when the door opened, Kendra offered Calum a weak smile. "Hi, Calum." She greeted happily, but the only happiness she'd had was seeing him. Of course, Kendra had no intention of making her feelings for Calum clear, because he was with Julie, and she was perfect for him, and Kendra could never disturb that. "Thanks." She moved inside, smiling at Calum as she did. "What's new?"

Lia shifted a few times while she waited, though, when the door opened, she looked at it, pausing with surprise when she saw Luke there. The last thing she really wanted was to see Luke - another reminder that Olive got everything she ever wanted. Chewing on her lip, she offered a weak smile in response to Luke, anyways, because his smile at least served to make her feel a little better. “Hi,” she greeted quietly, nodding slowly as she shifted to step in with a quiet, “Thank you,” but she paused, blinking as she realized something. “Oh, um, am I interrupting anything? I can always just come back some other time, I don’t mind.”

Calum offered a smile to Kendra, watching her, admittedly just happy to see her, that she was there, because her being nearby made the tension he felt around Julie ease. Julie wouldn’t dare say anything cruel about Kendra with her being there, thankfully - Julie was awful and rude, but she didn’t seem all too eager to out herself for her behavior. Still, he wished he could tell Kendra that Julie wasn’t somebody she wanted to be friends with, that Julie certainly wasn’t her friend, but he was terrified of upsetting Kendra, of hurting her in any way and ruining any happiness she might have. “Nothing, really,” he told her as he closed the door behind her, “We were just talking. It’s been a while since I saw you last, how have you been?” Mostly, he was trying to continue talking to her without Julie around, wanting to relish in her presence before Julie could ruin it.

Luke smiled to himself as Lia chewed on her lip, finding the gesture so attractive, he couldn't quite explain it. Shutting the door as Lia crossed the threshold, Luke studied her. "Do you want a drink or anything? Coffee?" Luke offered politely, wanting Lia to feel welcome, knowing that Olive wouldn't be the one to do that. He felt sorry for Lia, he really did - she deserved so much better than Olive, an entitled brat who thought the world should be on their knees for her. Lia was nothing like Olive, and Luke bit his lip with the thought - he'd had a crush on Lia for a while now, but he knew that admitting it would cause more trouble than what it was worth, and he wanted Lia to have an easy life. "No, no, you're not interrupting at all." Luke promised. "I'm glad you're here, actually."

Kendra shifted as Calum spoke, tugging her sleeves over her hands just to give herself that extra sense of security. Calum was all Kendra had ever asked for in life, a good man with a good heart, but his affection belonged to Julie and Kendra wasn't the sort to start trouble. Looking to Calum as he asked how Kendra had been, she offered him a small smile. "I've been okay," she shrugged lightly, already feeling as though she was unwanted in the house. "I'm not interrupting anything, right? I could just... come back tomorrow or something." Kendra reassured. "Uh, babysitting, working, the usual - how about you, though, Calum?" She asked, always curious about the boy, tempted to walk out and arrange to meet Julie another time.

Lia shifted slightly as she listened to Luke, grateful for his politeness, even though she was still certain Olive probably wouldn’t want her there. “Sure, um, coffee would be great,” she decided quietly, nodding slightly, trying not to look at Luke too long, because she knew that, if Olive came and saw, it would likely cause trouble. She blinked, though, with his words. “What? Really? Why?”

Calum watched Kendra, noticing how she shifted and tugged at her sleeves, and he hoped that he wasn’t making her nervous in any way, because the last thing he ever wanted to do was to make her uncomfortable. Still, he smiled slightly as he listened to her and nodded. “I’m glad to hear it, truly,” he told her honestly, his voice soft to avoid startling her. He blinked, though, and shook his head. “No, no, you’re not interrupting anything. Not at all.” He smiled as he took her in and nodded slightly. “I’m glad things have been going well for you. It’s not stressing you out too much, is it?” He arched a brow, but was unsure of how to answer her question, because he couldn’t really tell her the truth, that he was miserable with Julie. So, instead, he smiled and shrugged. “Oh, you know, busy and everything. Nothing too bad.”

Luke nodded with Lia's request of coffee, moving to the coffee maker with ease, able to navigate Olive's kitchen with his eyes closed - he couldn't help but wonder what Lia's home was like; how cosy it was. Luke was certain that it would be as warm as an open fire, and just the thought made the corners of his lips tug upwards a little. Grabbing a cup, Luke hummed, grabbing another one, because he knew that if Olive saw Lia having a coffee without one made for her, she would cause some sort of drama - she seemed to be addicted to it anyway. "You're just nice to have around." Luke admitted, knowing that if Olive heard him, he'd be in the dog house. "What flavour creamer?"

Kendra tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and smiled softly with Calum's reassurances, wondering how such a nice boy had ended up with someone as controlling and mean as Julie. Studying Calum silently, Kendra listened to his voice carefully, because just the sound seemed to comfort her more than she could openly admit. "No stress, I promise. The kids I look after are amazing, and work's going great." Kendra smiled, bumping Calum's shoulder with her own in reassurance. "How's the band going? Where is Julie, anyway?"

Lia was surprised to hear Luke’s words, and she found herself watching him, unable to help it. “Well… Thanks,” she murmured quietly, offering a small smile as she watched him, “It means a lot.” And, it did - she wished she could tell him how much, but she forced that thought away. “Um… Is there white chocolate flavor?”

Calum smiled slightly as he listened to Kendra, easily amazed by her, always amazed by her. She was so kind and thoughtful, and she was perfect - and she didn’t even realize it. “That’s good, I’m glad to hear it. It sounds like you’re having fun,” he told her, nodding, “The band’s going great. Julie’s… I don’t know, somewhere in the house.” He waved dismissively, not really caring to worry about Julie right now.