Here's the thing about our annual water fights; we take them way too seriously.

We are always put into two teams and we get a base each. The game is only over when one team calls truce, but that means they are the ones that lose.

We had all got changed into our bathers and were now back on the grass in our teams.

My super duper awesome winning team consisted of; Lachie, Caleb, Jesse and myself, whereas the other team had Ethan, Cody, Suvi, Immy and Jayden.

They had one extra player but it didn't really matter, we would kick their butts either way!

We were all currently standing behind our bases, which were two tables turned on their side to make a shield. Each team had a bucket of water ballons, two full buckets of water, and whoever ran out of each first usually got the hose.

It turned into madness! I loved it!!

"Ready?" Lachie yelled from beside me, crouching down behind the table.

"Set!!!" Someone from the other team yelled out,

"GO!!!!!"

I quickly got a few water balloons out of the bucket and peeked my head over the top.

I ducked just in time to avoid getting hit, the balloon smashing on the table and spraying water over.

I stood up and fired both of mine towards the other side where there were a few heads sticking up. Everyone else on my team followed my lead and started pelting them.

We knew we had hit someone when we heard shrieks from behind the table.

They were making no effort to fight back, so Caleb and Jessie had moved the bucket of balloons to the middle where we were standing, two on each side of it.

Every few seconds we would grab more balloons, and it was good to see that our supply was depleting quickly.

I decided to get a bucket and go over to the other side, so I told Lachie and Caleb "cover for us," and pulled Jesse with me to get a bucket each.

"Ready?" I asked Jesse, crouching over to get the bucket's handle and run.

"Ready," he smirked back, and then we ran.

Of course we got hit by a few balloons, but it was totally worth it.

We both got to the other side and tipped the buckets upside down.

Luckily I had gotten Jayden and Ethan, so now they were cursing while I was laughing.

"KATIA! GET BACK HERE!!" Caleb shouted, so I quickly turned and sprinted back, Jesse on my heels.

"We're out. We need to go get the hose," Lachie said as soon as we got back, puffing a little bit.

"Shotty!!" Caleb called, so we quickly devised a plan for Caleb to get the hose without getting hit much.

The three of us would stand up and let them hit us while he ran and got the hose and saved us all.

"GO!" I shouted and Caleb started running towards the wall.

We all stood up and to no one's surprise, they started pelting them at us, but no one noticed Caleb as he turned the tap on.

I could see Jay get the bucket from the side of his fort and I knew he was about to run over.

As soon as he started running, I ran out and spear tackled him to the ground. I luckily barely got wet and now Jayden was soaked.

"Sucker," I poked my tongue out and got off him but he caught my ankle, effectively tripping me over.

Just like the morning, he sat on top of my legs and pinned my arms down.

"I've got one!!" He shouted to his team as I tried to squirm away, but he was too strong and I was stuck.

All of his team were running out with the rest of their balloons and the other bucket they had left.

And I was going to get all of that.

I didn't give up though.

Just as Suvi got to me with the bucket, I heard Caleb with the hose.

It looked like one of those slow motion scenes in movies, where Caleb was yelling something incomprehensible while running towards the big group, effectively 'saving' the helpless character. Which in this case was me.

Immy and Suvi started screaming and ran away, Ethan and Cody following closely on their heels.

And since Jay was still on top of me, Caleb stood next to us with the hose spraying directly onto Jay's back.

"AH COLD COLD COLD!!!!" Jay squealed when it hit his neck and he finally rolled off me.

I sat up and saw people from both teams - still at their respective ends - laughing at the three of us.

I couldn't help it, I laughed too.

"WE WON WE WON!!!" I started chanting, and everyone from my team joined in.

"Yeah yeah whatever." Jay was saying from the ground still, but he was smiling.

.

.

We had all stayed out in the backyard to a) dry out and b) clean up.

The girls were responsible for picking up the water balloons and the boys were putting the tables back, then helping us.

We got it done in less than twenty minutes which was probably our best time yet.

"Who wants to get changed first?" Lachie asked, flopping back down on the ground. He clearly wasn't going to.

"I do!!" Suvi said, at the same time as Immy said "Yeah I will!"

I laughed, sometimes they acted like they could be twins.

"Well one of you can get changed in the bathroom and one can get changed in my room," Lachie offered and with that they were off.

All the guys sat back on the grass so I followed their lead, crossing my legs.

"What's the plan for tonight?" Jesse asked, flicking his hair out of eyes.

"Ooh!! Can we play spotlight?" Jayden asked, sounding like a little kid.

"Yeah sure. I was also thinking we'd play never have I ever?" Lachie suggested and I wrinkled my nose.

"What?" Lachie asked, looking my way.

"Oh, I just don't want to drink," I told him. There was no point in lying. I only had a few months until I was legal and I didn't really want to drink before then.

Most of our group was already eighteen and I knew they'd all drink.

"Well, how about people who want to drink, drink and people who don't can just use water?" Ethan suggested and I nodded.

"Yeah that's sounds good," I smiled.

After that, Suvi and Immy came out of the house so I got up to go get changed.

I picked up my bag from inside the door and went into the hall to go to the bathroom.

It took me a minute to find, but when I did I closed the door behind me and locked it.

I unzipped the top of my bag and looked through what Jayden had packed me.

I pulled my jeans out that I had on before and slipped them on, successful to not fall over again. I then got out my light grey long sleeve which was tight on the sleeves but baggy in the body.

It was the most comfortable top I had, apart from Jay's hoodies.

I rolled the bottom of my jeans and tried to brush the knots out of my hair with my hand. I took a final look in the mirror then went back outside.

After fifteen minutes everyone was changed and we were on the grass again. It was beginning to get dark, but it wasn't quite dark enough to play spotlight.

I was lying on my stomach along with almost everyone else except for Suvi and Caleb who were both sitting.

"Do you guys want dinner before or after spotlight?" Lachie asked, changing the subject off football.

"After!!" Jesse replied and a few other people nodded in agreement.

I didn't really mind, I wasn't hungry.

I heard the hinges creak on the gate, so I flicked my head around to see who was coming through. I thought it would be Lachie's older sister, but I could not have been more wrong.

"Tristan," Lachie greeted him and I actually buried my head in Jayden's shoulder.

I did not want to see hiiiiiim.

Jayden was laughing quietly while rubbing a hand on my back soothingly, like he did when we were kids.

"Mum asked if I could drop this off," Tristan explained, giving Lachie the box that he'd been holding.

"Oh yeah I forgot about that, thanks," Lachie smiled, obviously a bit tense.

It was a well known fact that Tristan was not a part of our group, but I could tell Lachie still felt bad. I mean they were family friends after all, but that didn't mean Lachie liked him any more.

"So, what's going on?" Tristan asked awkwardly, brushing through his fringe as he always did.

"Oh y'know, just hanging out," Lachie responded just as awkwardly, shifting his weight to the other foot.

"Oh cool, cool," Tris half smiled, then i think he got the idea that it was kind of weird.

"Anyway I better get going," he offered a smile to the rest of us sitting on the grass and then at Lachie.

"Yeah, thanks again for this man," Lachie smiled, lifting the box for emphasis.

"No problem," Tristan left with that, closing the gate behind him.

I let out the breath that I didn't know I was holding in.

"Not even awkward," Ethan contributed making everyone laugh.

"Okay! I think it's dark enough to play spotlight now!" Lachie said when he came back out of the house, his hands now free of whatever was in that box.

"Teams or everyone to themselves?" Suvi asked, bouncing up and down.

"Everyone to themselves but you can team up if you want," Lachie explained as everyone began to stand.

"I'll be it," Jayden volunteered because for some reason he loved starting 'it'.

"Okay, count to fifty and then you can come find us," Lachie instructed, so Jayden walked inside and then we all ran off.

The best thing about Lachie's place was that it was huge.

There was the backyard where we had been before that was surrounded by a fence, but after that there was a few acres of land, completely covered by trees.

"Immy, Katy, come with me," I heard Suvi say from the darkness to my left.

"Okay," I whispered back with Immy, and we followed Suvi's footsteps until I realised where she was going.

The treehouse.

It was officially the best place to hide because you couldn't see it from the ground unless you had been there before.

Suvi climbed up first, then Immy.

I eventually got to the top of the ladder and crawled into the treehouse. I saw Suvi and Immy both sitting cross legged sitting against walls next to each other. I sat with my back against the wall with Suvi across from me and Immy to my left.

The thing about the treehouse is that it closes up so that the only things that open are what you want open.

It was actually sort of like the treehouse in High School Musical 3.

It was a really nice night compared so I leaned over to the corner and pulled the rope that opened the roof.

"DNM!!" Immy shouted.

"SHH!" I whispered loudly and she immediately covered her mouth with her hands.

"Sorry," she whispered back and I just laughed quietly along with Suvi.

"But ya dnm, we haven't dont that in ages," Suvi smiled.

I could only see the outlines of their features, but my eyes were adjusting to the dark more and more every second.

"Buzz not first," I said, smiling proudly.

I always had to go first so it was nice to not have to.

"Buzz not!" Immy whispered and it looked like Suvi rolled her eyes.

"Fineee," Suvi complied, but then looked at me sort of... guiltily?

"Just spit it out Suv," I smiled at her and she took a deep breath in.

"I kinda maybe sorta like Caleb," she half smiled while my mouth involuntarily opened in surprise.

"Wait. Don't you like Cody?" I asked, completely shocked.

"No!!!!" She exclaimed, maybe a bit too loud.

Oh well!!

"No, we're just really good friends. We've already cleared all that up when he thought I liked him about a month ago," she explained and I didn't know what to do.

So I started laughing.

When in doubt, laugh, right?

"Is that okay?" Suvi asked in a small voice, and I was confused as to who she was talking to.

"Who me?" I asked when she kept looking at me.

"Yes silly," I could see the smile on her face but she was worried.

"Of course it is!! Now that I think about it you would actually be kind of completely perfect together. He'd balance out your craziness," I smirked at her and Immy started laughing.

"Are you sure? 'Cause I know he's like your brother..." She trailed and I seriously couldn't see why she was freaking.

"Of course!! And he's not 'like my brother'," I quoted her, rolling my eyes. "He is my brother."

"So are you going to tell him or do something about it?" Immy asked and Suvi scoffed.

"OOH YOU SHOULD TALK TO HIM KATY!!" Immy said to me and a wide grin spread across my face.

"Yes! That's exactly what I'll do!!" I exclaimed, excited to have something to keep my mind off...

No, don't go there.

"No no no no!! Please don't," Suvi pleaded but I already had a plan formulating in my mind.

"Whatever you say! Immy your turn!" I smirked at Suvi then turned to Immy.

"Well, y'know, the usual," she sighed and I couldn't help but feel sort of bad.

"He acts like he likes you though," Suvi commented and I nodded my head.

He really did.

"But come on guys... It's Jesse. He's never going to like me," she looked out the roof and I rolled my eyes.

"Yes he is, you just have to either talk to him or give it time," I told her and she nodded her head.

"God, we haven't done this in ages!" Immy commented, obviously not wanting to talk about it anymore.

"I know!! We should really do this more often," I contributed and they nodded.

I had completely forgotten that we were playing spotlight until I heard someone's faint shout on the other side of the property.

"So, what about you?" Suvi asked me.

"What about me?" I asked, confused.

"It's your turn!!" Immy exclaimed, smiling at me.

"I don't have anything to say. Everything's the same except that I really am just hoping that Tristan stays away," I explained and they both shook their heads simultaneously.

"No, there's something else," Suvi observed and I mentally cursed her for being so observant.

"No, there's really not," I tried to play off but they weren't buying it.

"Oh come on. You're saying that there's not something going on between you and Jay?" Suvi asked and I laughed.

"Really? We've been friends for ever and-"

"Don't you dare say that just because you've been friends for ever that it wouldn't work and you're too close to like each other," Immy cut me.

"Because that's bullshit. It's obvious you care about each other," Suvi added, crossing her arms.

"But it's true!!" I defended myself and they went back to shaking their heads.

"Let me ask you this then; is he like your brother?" Suvi asked and I could tell she was getting at something I just didn't know what.

"He's my best frie-"

"Is he like your brother?" She cut me and I was really getting sick of this cutting off business.

"Fine. He's not. He is my best friend and-"

"And nothing. You like him and he likes you so can you just go sort your shit out please? It's so obvious Katia," Immy stated gently and I rolled my eyes.

"No it's not. I know he doesn't like me," I finally finished a sentence without being cut off.

"But do you like him?" Immy asked, taking over the questioning.

I think if Suvi asked any more questions she would explode from frustration.

"It doesn't matter okay," I told them truthfully.

It didn't matter if I liked him or not, nothing was going to happen either way.

"It's okay if you like him," Immy said gently, putting her hand on my arm.

"I don't." I said, looking through the roof at the stars.

I think they realized that I didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"Anyway, are you guys gonna play never have I ever?" I asked them, still facing the sky.

"Yeah, you're not?" Suvi asked and I shook my head.

"I mean, I'll play. But I'm doing so with water. I'm not eighteen yet and I don't care if everyone else is, I just don't want to," I explained calmly.

I usually got really annoyed because people would say I'm a wuss and a goody-two-shoes but I just didn't see the need for alcohol.

"Yeah, I think I might do that too," Immy added and I smiled.

"They're in the treehouse!!!" I heard someone yell from across the property and we all looked at each other and climbed down the stairs as quick as we could.

I was closest so I got down first and jumped from about halfway down, Immy and Suvi following my lead.

Then we ran.