Friendship and Loyalty in Deep End: Scarlett and Pen's Tested Bond

Introduction

Ali Hazelwood’s Deep End dives into the turbulent waters of elite college athletics, but its emotional core is the friendship between Scarlett Vandermeer and Penelope Ross. Their bond, forged in shared confessions and vulnerability, faces relentless pressure from unspoken truths, jealousy, and conflicting loyalties. The novel argues that authentic friendship is not a sanctuary from conflict but a crucible in which honesty must be risked, even when it threatens the relationship itself. This analysis traces how the theme evolves across the plot, drawing on character decisions, symbolic objects, and the hard-won reconciliation that redefines loyalty.

Thematic Claim

In Deep End, friendship and loyalty are active commitments that demand vulnerability and truth, not passive allegiance. The journey of Scarlett and Pen reveals that protecting a friend by withholding hard truths is a betrayal of the very trust that built the friendship. True loyalty requires the difficult conversation—admitting faults, owning mistakes, and allowing the relationship to be transformed by conflict rather than smothered by silence.

Building a Friendship on Shared Secrets

The foundation of Scarlett and Pen’s bond is laid early through radical self-disclosure. In the prologue, Pen sits across from Scarlett at a birthday brunch and confesses that sex with her boyfriend, Lukas Blomqvist, was “intensely meh.” This raw honesty shocks the introverted Scarlett but forges an unexpected intimacy. Later, Pen confides her sexual frustrations, and Scarlett reciprocates by sharing her own submissive desires—a conversation that inadvertently sets the plot in motion when Pen, tipsy and well-meaning, reveals Scarlett’s preferences to Lukas (Chapter 6). Pen’s gratitude for Scarlett’s non-judgmental ear seals the bond: she calls Scarlett supportive and cool, grateful for a teammate who accepts her completely. The friendship’s currency becomes secrets, each woman believing the other will protect her vulnerabilities.

Yet even here, seeds of future strain are planted. Pen’s clumsy disclosure of Scarlett’s kinks to Lukas entangles friendship with romantic desire. Scarlett’s horror and Lukas’s piercing curiosity foreshadow a conflict where loyalty to Pen will be tested by Scarlett’s growing attraction to the same man.

Secrets, Omissions, and the Test of Loyalty

The true battleground emerges once Scarlett and Lukas begin a clandestine relationship. Scarlett is torn between her deepening feelings for Lukas and her desire to shield Pen, who is reeling from a breakup with Theo (Chapter 57). Pen, emotionally raw, clings to an outdated vision of her past with Lukas, even wondering if she made a mistake leaving him. Scarlett, aware that Pen is not ready to hear the truth, hedges that she and Lukas are not officially dating and resolves to “put her first, just for a while.” This well-intentioned omission is the first fracture in the friendship’s trust.

Loyalty morphs into a double bind. Scarlett’s silence is framed as kindness—sparing Pen further pain—yet it is also dishonesty that devalues the original ethos of openness. The novel portrays her internal conflict with nuance. When her instinctive disappointment flares upon Lukas’s call about Pen’s car breakdown (Chapter 37), she feels deep shame: her loyalty is laced with self-interest. This self-awareness underscores the complexity: even good intentions can warp loyalty into avoidance.

Jealousy and Betrayal

The tension reaches a breaking point when Carissa sends Pen photos of Scarlett and Lukas in Amsterdam (Chapter 66). Pen’s jealousy, fueled by loneliness and the false notion that Lukas was her “crash mat,” explodes in a cruel outburst at the NCAA championships. She accuses Scarlett of being a seagull who stole Luk like a sandwich, hurting Scarlett and stealing the joy of her gold medal. The betrayal is painful, but the novel traces its psychological roots: Pen’s desperation for security, not pure malice, drives the attack. Her apology later reveals that a false positive pregnancy test and Theo’s rejection left her utterly alone, clinging to an outdated relationship.

The fracture is mutual. Scarlett’s earlier omissions contributed to the misunderstanding. The theme insists that loyalty cannot survive on half-truths. Scarlett reflects, “I also made mistakes. I could have told you that I was falling for him.” This admission becomes the pivot: the friendship can only be repaired when both parties own their failures.

Reconciliation and the Redefinition of Loyalty

The park scene in Chapter 66 is the novel’s definitive statement on friendship. Pen delivers a raw apology, explaining the cascade of events that led to her cruelty. She admits she used Lukas for security and lashed out when she saw him kiss Scarlett. Scarlett listens, acknowledges her own silence, and offers forgiveness—along with a ride to the airport. The reconciliation does not erase pain; it reconstitutes the friendship on a sturdier foundation of honesty.

This moment echoes earlier promises. In Chapter 46, when Pen feared Carissa’s bullying, Scarlett vowed, “I’m on your side. … You can trust me.” Then, trust meant solidarity against an external enemy. Now, loyalty means the courage to confront internal betrayals and still choose each other. The theme evolves from simple support to a shared capacity for self-examination and repair.

Character and Symbol Connections

Scarlett’s psychological arc with the inward dive mirrors her journey toward emotional integrity. Just as she must face her fear of imperfection and the unpredictability of existence (Chapter 43), she must confront the messy, unpredictable nature of friendship. The inward dive symbolizes the introspective work needed to move from avoidance to honesty. Similarly, the tie-dye shammy that Lukas sends through Pen becomes a token of entangled bonds: a gift passed between lovers and friends, reminding readers that love and friendship can coexist only with transparency.

Therapist Sam and Coach Sima provide external perspectives reinforcing the theme. Sam’s gentle guidance helps Scarlett articulate her fear of “not being perfect at it”—a fear equally applicable to friendship. Scarlett learns that she doesn’t have to be a flawless friend, only an accountable one.

Complexity and Contradiction

The novel refuses to paint either woman as wholly virtuous or villainous. Pen’s cruelty is balanced by genuine remorse and earlier acts of kindness—holding Scarlett’s hand after a botched meet, grabbing her protein bars, making her feel chosen. Scarlett’s secrecy, while protective, violates the trust she once prized. Deep End suggests that loyalty is not a fixed state but a practice fraught with missteps. The epilogue, years later, shows a mature Scarlett and Lukas sharing notes on a magnetic board, but it is the friendship that remains buoyant—not despite the conflict, but because both women navigated it honestly.

Study Questions and Answers

1. What central conflict tests Scarlett and Pen’s friendship in Deep End?
   The friendship is tested when Scarlett hides her romantic involvement with Lukas from Pen, fearing it will hurt Pen after her breakup. Combined with Pen’s jealousy triggered by manipulated photos, this omission leads to a public outburst that nearly destroys their bond.

2. How does Pen’s apology in Chapter 66 illustrate the theme of loyalty?
   Pen’s apology shows that loyalty requires acknowledging one’s own faults. She admits she used Lukas as a security blanket and lashed out out of fear. By taking full responsibility and not demanding immediate forgiveness, she demonstrates that true loyalty repairs trust through honest self-reflection.

3. Why is Scarlett’s decision not to tell Pen about Lukas considered a mistake according to the novel’s thematic logic?
   Scarlett’s secretiveness undermines the very foundation of their friendship, which was built on sharing intimate truths. The novel suggests that shielding someone from pain by lying about important emotional realities ultimately causes greater harm and erodes trust, making eventual reconciliation harder.

4. How does the symbol of the inward dive relate to the theme of friendship and loyalty?
   The inward dive represents Scarlett’s struggle to confront her fears and imperfections head-on. This metaphor extends to her friendship: just as she must stop avoiding the dive, she must stop avoiding honest conversations with Pen. Loyalty, like diving inward, demands facing scary truths rather than flinching.

5. In what ways does the novel complicate the idea that a loyal friend should always offer unconditional support?
   Deep End shows that unconditional agreement can enable harmful behavior—Pen’s reliance on Lukas as a “crash mat” and Scarlett’s enabling of that fantasy by staying silent were forms of misplaced loyalty. The novel argues that real loyalty sometimes requires challenging a friend’s perspective, admitting your own errors, and risking conflict to help each other grow.