Everyone in town know what the kids say about the priest's daughter.
Severa peers at Lucina over the top of her sunglasses as she drives slowly beside her. "Do you know who my father is?"
Lucina hums, wiping sweat away from her eyes while walking under the blistering noonday sun. Her trek along the town's main road from the fields to her home was much hotter than she anticipated and the road is conspicuously bare of trees, as if the town's founders had feared an attack by bandits in the woods. "The priest, correct?"
In a town as small as Ylisse, everyone knew who each other was from the diplomatic guidance of Mayor Emmeryn to the bar owned by the easy-going Gaius to the beautiful priest who ran the church. And his infamous daughter.
The girl in question glances sidelong at Lucina, driving her convertible so deliberately that they can hear the crunch of gravel beneath the tires. "And you've heard of my reputation?"
Lucina gives her a strange look. Every teenager is familiar with the furious girl who skips class, makes money in drag races, and wears clothes that show off enough skin to make the boys gape. Not that it takes much convincing. Between her abrasive attitude and disdain for others, it's not a surprise that most kids stay away from Severa Faulkner like she could cut into their flesh with her words. Which some think she can. It's a contrast to her mother, who is one of the most beloved teachers at Shepherd High, coaching every girls sport team and inspiring students to take the breadth of her classes from home ec to literature. Her daughter is never seen in them though.
It hurts Lucina slightly that Severa chooses not to remember that they used to be friends.
She tilts her head to look at the girl in the car, dressed in a thin, low-cut tank top and possessing a layer of something odd behind her scowl. She almost looks nervous. "I don't think it's possible to go to school and not hear about you," she says, neutrally.
Severa snorts and slams back into her seat. She doesn't look at her. "And you're still talking to me, because...?"
"You started it first." Lucina grabs the top of her soccer jersey and wipes her brow with it. She's slightly disgusted to find the material already moist. "And you pulled up alongside me," she points out.
"Because what kind of idiot walks along the main road under the summer sun?" Severa glares at her, pretty features twisted into a semi-permanent scowl. "It's over 30 degrees."
Lucina shrugs, although she can feel the heat rush to her face. That might be the sun stroke though. "My bike broke down back a kilometre or so. Also, the roof to your car isn't up either."
In fact, Severa's skin along her arms and shoulders are already turning pink from the exposure to the sun. She would burn shortly if she continue on like that for even another ten minutes. Why is her roof down? Also, how does a priest's daughter get a convertible out here? Severa doesn't seem to want to answer.
"Why are you even out here in the first place?" The driving girl grits out.
"I like going out to the fields and the woods on my own. It helps me think. Why are you here?"
Another question that Severa doesn't answer.
Lucina wipes at her face again. She opens her school bag and pulls out her water bottle, the last of water sloshing around with a lazy gurgle. When she swallows the tepid water, there's a distinct sense of dissatisfaction. "Would you happen to have water?"
Severa snorts, looking away. "No." She goes silent as the car and Lucina slowly edges down the rough road. "You're going to die of dehydration if you keep going like this. Town's another three kilometres."
Lucina waves off her assertion. She probably wouldn't die, per say. "How kind of you to care."
Severa flinches as if struck. She glances away, sweat matting strands of hair to her forehead, cheeks, and neck. Lucina could see the perspiration beading down the exposed skin and into her cleavage, which suddenly made her uncomfortable.
"I know who you are. And you know me." Lucina says, mostly to distract herself.
"Of course, I do. Everyone knows the niece of the mayor and the daughter of the principle." Severa stares ahead, gripping her wheel tightly. Her knuckles have gone white. "Most perfect student to ever come along in Ylisse's history. A's in everything and in every single school club. Star of the soccer team. Is there anything you can't do?"
Lucina smiles, grimly. "I can't fix a bike."
"Or think to call for help, apparently."
Lucina scratches at her cheek. "Actually, I broke my phone last week." While cutting fruit. That's not a story she plans to share with anyone. "I'll be okay. I wouldn't want to ask anyone to burden themselves trying to help me correct my mistakes."
She swears she hears Severa mutter "Oh my gods, you cannot be real" before driving a little ahead of her and stopping the car altogether. She opens a passenger-side door. "Get in."
Lucina peers at the door and the girl curiously. "Why?" From the looks of the other girl, Lucina wouldn't get yet another answer.
Severa's jaw is tense, although she doesn't make eye contact. Her whole body is rigid, on the edge of fleeting like a small animal watching for an attack. Her shoulders hunch together. Her eyes look so sad.
Lucina remembers what the kids at school say about the priest's daughter.
She looks shocked when Lucina sits down beside her. "You're actually accepting a ride? From me?"
Lucina peers at her from the corner of her eye. "You did offer. Did you mean it?"
Severa huffs. "Of course." She presses a button that makes the roof behind them lift up and cover them, although Lucina is still puzzled about why she had the roof down in the first place. She veers into the centre of the road before accelerating, the faded fence posts alongside the roads blurring into a irregular pattern of brown. Her hands are steady as she handles the wheel. There's a tremble in her jaw that Lucina finds fascinating, like the slope of her nose and the curve of her mouth. The other girl seems to find her equally as engaging if the frequent glances out the corner of her eye mean anything. But perhaps they don't.
They drive the rest of the way in silence, and Lucina lets Severa take her home.
