Disclaimer: I own nothing. Enjoy!
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That Endless Summer
Chapter Eleven: War, anyone?
Cause it's me against the world
(Oh what a stupid day)
Yeah, it's me against the world
(Just stay out of my way)
And incase you haven't noticed
And incase you haven't heard
It's just me against the world
And the world is winning
-Me Vs. The World, Halo Friendlies.
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"Rise and shine Sleeping Beauty" Ric murmured in my ear as I groaned, turning away from him and attempting to pull the cover over my eyes.
"Nup, we're not having any of that today." Ric said, pulling the sheet that was covering my face down before opening the windows, letting the bright sunshine in.
I blinked once or twice, before rolling over and looking at the bedside clock, which was flashing 8:45.
"What?" I cried "Ric, its so early, I've still got another two hours of sleeping time left, before Maddie and I can hit the beach."
"You make it sound like you'll actually go swimming." Ric laughed, pulling me up and throwing me over his shoulder.
"We might." I said halfheartedly "You never know."
"Well, I think you're going to enjoy what Luke and I have planned for today." He said as he carried me into the bathroom.
He set me down, and I peered around his body to see army print type outfits sitting neatly in the corner.
"You've got to be kidding me." I said, completely shocked by what I saw. "I have to wear that… in public? God Ric, is this some kind of practical joke?" I snapped at him.
"Woah, woah, woah." He replied, walking over to me. "Calm down Cass. Its all part of the plan." He said, kissing me gently on the lips. "Trust me, okay?" He mumbled against my lips, causing them to vibrate, and send me into fits of giggles.
"Okay." I said softly, nodding, as Ric smiled. "Just let me shower." I said, pulling up my Pj top.
"Actually Cass, you might not wanna do that." Ric said cryptically. "Just, get changed." He said, kissing me on the cheek "And then we'll set off."
I rolled my eyes at him as he shut the door and changed quickly. I was in the middle of washing my face when Maddie came storming in.
"I see they've got you in it too." She said angrily, motioning to her own army print outfit. "No matter how many times I tell them, they will not listen to me. Army print and kakhi green is flattering on no one." She huffed, sitting down on the toilet seat next to me.
I smiled to myself as Maddie huffed away. She was always so conscious of her fashion. Not vain, as some might call her, but she liked what she liked, and was damned if anyone was going to stand in her way making her wear something she just did not want to wear.
"Stay right there Maddie." I said as an idea hit me.
She looked up at me, completely bewildered and surprised that I hadn't been listening to her, but I was gone in a second, then back, holding a camera in my hand.
"Oh no no no" She said, raising her hands and covering her face " We are not, under any circumstances, having photos of my in army print." Her voice said from under her hands.
"I think we need to document this day." I said, trying to convince her. "I'm terrified of what the boys have planned, but any day they manage to get us both into army print, well, it's a day to be documented." I continued, when someone knocked on the door.
It opened slightly to reveal Ric, wearing his own army print outfit. "Here," he said, handing me this black goop "You'll need to put some of this on your cheeks." He finished, smirking before leaving the room.
I sniffed the black stuff timidly, and quickly pulled it away from my nose when a horrible smell wafted up there.
"This is some cruel practical joke, isn't it?" Maddie moaned, letting out a breath before slumping back against the toilet head. "Ric and Luke want to mock and ridicule us all day, for being naïve enough to trust them and put this on."
"She of little faith." I said to her "They wouldn't dare ruin our ultimate summer."
"Wouldn't they?" She asked seriously, raising an eyebrow, which momentarily threw me off course. I shook my head and looked towards her.
"No Maddie, they wouldn't do that to us. Something tells me they've got something MAJOR planned. Ric was being sneaky, and Ric is never the sneaky type unless he's hiding something from me. So we've got to take this as we would all other surprises. Be completely suspicious and not trust anything they make us do… but go along with it just the same." I said, preparing my camera.
And as Maddie looked up at me, I snapped a quick shot. "We're going to need evidence that it happened, of course." I laughed as her face went bright red.
"Oh, that deserves an immediate retaliation." She said, pulling her own camera from her bag before I could protest, and snapping her own shot of me.
"Oh, I hate you so much right now." I glared at her as she glared back at me.
"Bring it on." She said, before bursting out into fits of laughter. "We really need to spend less time together."
"Oh, but then who would I annoy to hell and back, but still know they would always be there for me?" I pouted, as Maddie threw an arm around me.
"You're the devil Cassie," She said, as we walked out of the bathroom "And I'm the devils best friend."
Laughing as we reached the living room, we looked up and found Ric and Luke in matching outfits. Grinning at one another, we pulled out our cameras and took a photo before either could protest.
"We're ready." I smiled, as I sidled up to Ric and threw my arms around his neck. "Please don't make us hurt you for making us do whatever it is you're going to make us do." I said sweetly, kissing him on the cheek then grabbing Maddie's hand and skipping out the door.
They better not, I thought, otherwise they will pay.
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"Ric" Cassie whined, "Is this really necessary? Remember the last time blindfolds were involved. We went camping. And Maddie didn't shut up about it."
"Hey" Maddie said indignantly from the back seat "I did too. Besides, I really DO hate camping. Oh god." She said from under her blindfold "We're not going camping again, are we? Think of those poor hotel rooms, they'll think we've rejected them. The beds will hate us for eternity, not to mention the shower…. And the poor spa bath!"
"Calm down Maddie." Luke said from next to her "I promise you that everything will be just fine. And that we're not going camping. We learned that lesson last time." He finished calmly, as Maddie began to breath normally once more.
Finally, we rounded a corner and came to a stop.
"We're here." I told the girls.
"Thanks Sparky, like we couldn't tell already though." Maddie said sarcastically "The engine already stopped."
"She really doesn't mean to be like this." Luke said in mock sympathy "She's still in shock about us really not going camping."
"Harty ha ha" Maddie said, poking her tongue out as Luke maneuvered her to the front of the car.
"Okay, be prepared. What we're about to do is strenuous. It's not for the faint hearted." I said dramatically, as I smirked at Luke "It's going to take it out of you. It's going to push you to the very limit."
"Okay, voice of doom." Maddie interrupted "Can you please just show us?"
Luke and I counted to three silently before removing their blindfolds simultaneously.
"Well?" I asked, as Maddie and Cassie stared at one another.
Luke and I had thought this was going to be a brilliant idea. But as Maddie and Cassie turned to glare at us, I began to rethink our genius plan.
"Paintball?" Cassie asked me incredulously as she poked my chest "Are you kidding?"
"With the running and the crawling and the dirt?" Maddie whined, sitting down on the hood of the car.
"Couldn't we have just, played by the pool all day?" Cassie moaned, as I pulled her closer to me.
"Aww come on, we thought it would be fun. Girls vs. boys. In a very tame, not a lot of running, simple game of paintball." I said softly, as Cassie continued to pout at me.
"Uh…" She said, "Oh…"
"Who said something about girls versus boys paintball?" A smarmy voice said from behind me.
We whipped around and came face to face with possibly, our worst nightmare.
Henry stood next to Hilary, both smirking at us, while Parker, Lily, Josh and Kaden stood a little behind them, smiling awkwardly.
"Hi Cassie." Kaden said a little too enthusiastically, as he waved, and practically served up his heart to Cass on a silver platter.
Parker smiled widely at me, and winked, not so subtly, as Lily shot Luke a look that clearly said 'I want you.'
I hoped that Cassie and Maddie would ignore this little display. For everyone's sake. But sadly, life never seems to go the way I'd like it to.
"You have got to be kidding me." Cassie groaned, as she pulled away from my hug and walked over to Maddie, then they both stormed off towards the direction of the main hut.
Could this day get worse, before it even began to get better?
"So, when does the game begin?" Henry smirked, putting his arms around mine and Luke's shoulders and dragging us after the girls.
Yeah, it could.
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"Why are they here?" I said to Ric in a hushed tone as we followed quickly after the girls.
"Because Henry is the devils spawn, and he and Hilary are plotting world domination through annoying the hell out of EVERYONE, and we're the trial run." Ric snapped at me as we reached the front door, which was still shaking from being slammed shut by the girls.
As I walked into the souvenir hut, I spotted Maddie and Cassie standing near the counter, talking to a man that I presumed was the owner. Neither of them looked too happy to be there, but he continued to yap away, until he noticed the large group that had gathered in the hallway.
"Ahh, this must be the big party we're expecting." He said, smacking his lips as he spoke, and rubbing his hands together.
"Oh you've got to be kidding." Maddie groaned, slumping herself into the available chair and exchanging a look with Cassie.
"Yep, that's us." Henry said happily, walking towards the man. "Henry Hunter" He said, extending his hand "We've got a few more than expected, but that will be okay, won't it?" He said, grinning.
The owner obviously took a liking to Henry, because he simply smiled back and nodded his head.
"I'm glad you all came in appropriate attire" He said finally "You wouldn't believe some of the outfits people turn up here in." He said to Henry, who was still grinning at him evilly, as he followed the owner out the door.
"The game is simple." He said, as he led us towards a large 'start'. "You split into two equal teams, and both run down separate paths towards your flag. Once there, wait for the flare gun to go. Then the game begins. The object of the game is to capture the oppositions flag, while taking down as many players from the opposition as possible, without getting shot yourself."
"Sounds like a real blast" Maddie said sarcastically as Cassie rolled her eyes.
Boy were we in trouble.
"Simple enough." He said, as he looked between the mismatched group Henry had managed to create "So, who's going on which team?" He asked joyfully.
"Boys vs. girls." Lily said, stepping up to the owner.
"Now I don't know if that's fair…" he began, but the look she gave him quickly shut him up.
"I think its about time we females proved we can play war as well as the men." She said, attempting to smile at Maddie and Cass, who just glared back at her. But Lily didn't back down, just smiled harder as she confirmed "Yeah, its boys vs. girls."
"Right, well, as the lass said, 'boys vs. girls.'" He repeated, as everyone began to shuffle around to stand on opposing sides. Hilary smirked at Maddie and Cass as they trudged over to stand next to them, clearly unhappy with the situation we were about to put them in. Josh and Kaden grinned stupidly at one another while Henry smiled evilly at Ric and I. He'd had this planned all along.
Ruin our day. Ruin our holiday. Ruin our relationships. Ruin our lives.
Ric was right. He was the spawn of satan. And we were about to send our girlfriends off with its evil accomplice. Not to mention two of the girls they hated most in the world.
What kind of boyfriend am I? I thought, as I opened my mouth to speak… but the sounding of a gun beat me.
"Best get going." The owner said, grinning as the girls began a slow jog down their own path.
"Come on men." Henry mocked from the front "Pick up the pace, we don't want to fall behind the girls, do we now?"
"We didn't want to do a lot of things…" Ric muttered from beside me "But what I'd really like to do now is punch…"
"Calm down Ric." I intervened quickly "Don't let him get to you. He wants you to retaliate. Don't give Henry the satisfaction of getting what he wants." I said, hoping that the balls for fists that Ric had would slowly disappear. And they did. But Ric continued to glare at the back of his head, no doubt imagining it as target practice.
"So" Josh said as he came to jog beside me "You and Matilda are pretty serious then?" He asked, obviously wanting to pry.
"Yeah." I answered suspiciously "Why?"
"Oh no reason, its just she and Cassie seemed more than willing to get to know Kaden and I on the beach the other day." He replied nonchalantly, "You know, they told us so many stories about what they got up to in highschool…" He began, before I cut him off.
"And each of them probably ended with Ric and I carrying them home drunk in our arms." I said, sighing. I knew the stories. I lived them.
"No" He said, shaking his head. "They all ended with them being held back from having fun with real men." He said evilly.
If Henry had heard, he would've cried like a proud dad.
Why, why must we always be followed by stupid brats who only want to cause problems for us? We're fine in our own little world, what is so wrong with wanting to be left alone there?
"Cassie looked damn fine in that army print." I heard Kaden tell Josh loudly from behind Ric and I.
No, not good.
"Yeah, Maddie looked pretty sexy too." He replied "Especially imagining her in like, Army boots and nothing else."
He smirked as I turned around to glare at them, and I noted when I turned back around that Ric's face looked slightly pinched, his hands fisted into balls once more.
This was not good at all.
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"Okay." Hilary said as the somewhat mismatched group gathered around the 'team' flag. "When that flair goes up, we're splitting into groups. Maddie you go with Lily, she's taller than you, so you'll make a good pair. I mean, you're short so you'll be able to drop to the ground and Lily can look around for you." She said to me, smirking through every word "And Cassie and Parker, you'll team up too. Because, well, I'm going to stay and watch the flag." She stated, pulling out a little chair and ripping her clothes off to reveal hot pants and a bikini top.
"OH HELL NO." I said, getting angry, walking over to her and pushing her "If we have to all this stuff with the … dirt…" I said, struggling to get the words out. "And the paint balls and the army like stuff, what in the world makes you think that you're getting out of it?" I said, pushing on her shoulders aggressively.
"Because" She said, pushing me back "I don't do running. Or dirt."
"And you think we do?" Cassie asked, coming to stand next to me, glaring down at Hilary, who refused to budge.
"More than me." She replied, smirking as she sat down in the chair she'd brought along. "Besides, a little exercise will do you two the world of good." She said, beginning to whisper "I see your thighs have gotten a little… chunkier… than last summer. Might want to work that off." She said, as the flair gun sounded.
"That's your cue." She said, smiling sweetly, and waving at us "Buh bye."
Feeling the anger rise inside, I threw back my arm, ready to take the witch down, but I felt Cassie dragging me away. So instead I kicked dirt towards her, which went into her eyes, and all over her body.
I ran away from the damn flag with the sweet sounds of Hilary's shrieking in my ears.
"If we weren't out here, with them," Cassie said, nodding towards Parker and Lily "That could almost be music to my ears." She said, smiling, as we ran straight into Parker and Lily, who had decided to stop.
"What the hell is going on today?" I moaned as I picked myself up from the dirt, and tried to get some of the stuff off me "Are we cursed Cassie?" I asked her, as she glared at Parker "We must be, even crappy August wasn't this bad."
"Shhhh" Parker said, putting a finger to her lips. "We've got to be quiet if we intend to win."
"Yeah right." I scoffed "No way are we winning. Cass and I couldn't care less, also." I said, as if saying 'duh.'
"Well, we do. So now we're splitting up." Parker said, motioning for Cassie to follow her.
Cass shot me a 'She's kidding, right?' look as she stood still.
"Well?" Parker said, obviously growing impatient. Such a short temper, that one. With devil horns too.
"We aren't splitting up. And if we are, Maddie and I are going one way, and you and Lily are going the other." Cass said in her own 'duh' voice. "Give me one good reason to go trudging into open bush land with the girl who wants to steal my boyfriend?" She added rather spitefully.
"Fine." Parker said through gritted teeth "We stick together. Come on." She said.
As Cass and I began to follow, I thought of something.
"How come you get to be in charge? What about us, eh? We deserve to be given a shot."
"Fine." Parker agreed again, sharing a look with Lily, "You and Cassie are more than welcome to lead. Now, which direction would you like?" She said, folding her hands over her chest and looking at me.
"Um." I said "How about that way." I continued, pointing a direction that I thought the boys might be in.
"You mean north-west?" Lily said, obviously trying to show off. What it really told me was that the poor girl had no life and actually passed geography in the school certificate.
"Whatever." I said, linking hands with Cassie.
"Think of it as a cardio bar." I said, as Cassie groaned "Yogalaties." I whispered, which made Cassie burst out into laughter.
"Yogalaties." She yelled, as Parker and Lily both said "SHHHH" from behind us, as they continued to creep along, which only caused for Cass and I to giggle more.
"You know what we could do to pass time?" I asked Cassie, as she shook her head.
I handed her an earphone, and my eighties mix came blasting through the headphone.
"Ninety-nine red balloons
Floating in the summer sky…"
"We've been at this for hours." I moaned, as we continued to amble behind Parker and Lily.
"Imagine how crap their sex life must be." Parker tried to whisper, but I heard every word.
"What did you just say?" I asked, walking up to her and spinning her around to face me.
"You heard me. I said, 'Imagine how crap your sex life must be.' Poor Ric and Luke, they probably don't know what they've been missing out on." She said, a wicked grin appearing on her face.
"Yeah right." Cassie said, standing full force over them.
"No, seriously." Lily said, "All you two ever do is whine and moan and lay by the pool or the beach. Like you actually have a future with Luke and Ric. They need females who know how to handle them. And that would be our cue to take over."
"Like hell." I screamed at them.
"No, like reality." Parker spat back at us. "Because what you two are living in is a dream world. And we proved that, didn't we? They told us things they hadn't even thought about telling you. What does that prove? That they can't tell you things, that you've got 'communication barriers'. Whatever the hell it is, its an opening for us." She said, getting into Cassie's face "And we're going to take it."
"Is that a threat?" Cassie asked, not backing down.
"No." Parker said, seeing something over Cassie's shoulder. "It's a promise." She said, running off, with Lily close behind her.
Cass motioned to follow, but I'd seen something else. A little white flag, all on its lonesome, not four meters away. I walked over and snatched it up, smiling triumphantly at Cassie, who smiled back momentarily, before we both heard screams coming from Parker and Lily's direction.
We jogged down to a clearing, to see Ric and Luke playfully mucking around with Parker and Lily, a scene reminiscent of that in 10 Things I Hate About You, when they go paint balling.
The strangest thing was, the first feeling I had wasn't anger. It was despair.
We were losing them. And we couldn't stop it.
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AN:Thanks to Jade for proofing. You rock. Thischapter was a long time coming, and hate me if you will. But no flames. Thanks for the reviews and the patience, but I swear, I've got heaps written. I hope you enjoyed it!