Maddy dragged herself near one of the sprinklers, limping, with her fingers tightly wrapped around a metallic bottle. Her legs were not very stable, but she just pushed forward anyway.

The sprinkler head was thankfully not rotating like most of them were, so when Maddy kneeled next to it and placed the mouth of the bottle in front of it, she didn't have a hard time filling it up, although she sure looked like she was doing her homework when there was a party going on next door.

When the bottle felt heavy enough in her hand, she got up stiffly and pressed it on her dry lips, greedily gulping the icy water down as she slowly hobbled back towards the others.

That was when she felt a hand landing on her shoulder, and next thing she knew, she was on the ground.

Right in front of a sprinkler. She remained frozen as the steady, high-pressure burst of water splashed her face and hair and body, dampening Carter's hoodie and the collar of her once-white shirt. She wasn't so sure she had taken in what had just happened as she slowly looked down at the soil, where the water had already started forming a small, muddy lake underneath her bent legs. Then she looked up.

Facing a satanic Mia. "Oops... I'm so sorry, Maddy. Are you okay?" she asked, fake concern all over her perfect face.

"You..." Maddy glared at her, speechless. She could feel the little pool of muddy water beneath her spreading, until the ice cold liquid flowed under her thighs and through her skirt.

You bitch, she wanted to scream.

"What happened?" Sia jogged towards them.

Maddy bit her bottom lip, clenching her teeth. "Nothing."

She struggled to get up, but her feet just wouldn't cooperate, the pain slicing through her with each move. Sia rushed to help her, grabbing her hand and sliding hers around her waist.

"Logan!" she shouted. "Don't you have a medical kit in the car?"

No answer.

"Logan?"

Maddy, Sia and Mia turned around, looking for the boys. Who were on the other side of the field, playing with the water, splashing and pushing each other like kids, their laughter loud and childlike in the most adorable way.

"Hey, wait for me!" yelled Mia and sprinted towards them across the grass, ready for a very exciting water fight.

Sia gawked at them, still holding Maddy so she wouldn't collapse, and let out a snort.

"Hey, don't pay attention to Mia... She's just a bit... prejudiced against people she doesn't know."

"Prejudiced? She hates me."

Sia laughed. "She'll get over it. Now, let's get you back to the car and treat your wounds."

The two girls stumbled towards the Ford, one of Maddy's arms draped across Sia's shoulders, the curly-haired girl practically dragging her. When they finally made it, Maddy sat on the edge of the back seat with a moan, half her body in the car, half out.

Sia took her shoes off and, although it still hurt, Maddy was surprised to find out Sia made it less painful than when she had done it herself earlier. Her hands were light as a feather, soft and very gentle.

"Jesus, girl, you're bleeding!" she screeched at the sight of the blood staining Maddy's socks.

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Okay, where's the kit?" Sia wondered out loud. "Oh, there it is." She grabbed something from the truck. "First of all, we might need some water, but the water from the sprinkler system is too cold, so we have to wait a bit."

"Okay." Maddy nodded. "Umm... you don't have to stay here with me, you know. You can go with the others."

"I'm not leaving you alone here to bleed, you dummy. Besides, I'm not five." She spared the other three a scornful glance. "Unlike them," she observed.

"They seem to be having fun," commented Maddy, who got a good taste of satisfaction when Logan pushed Mia in front of a sprinkler, his arms locked around her, blocking each move she tried to make to escape.

"I can have fun while talking to you."

Maddy fought the urge to smile like a fool at that, but deep inside her radiated a beam of happiness at Sia's words.

"How long have you known each other?" asked Maddy, gaping at the others fooling around.

Carter threw his head back and burst into laughter, and Maddy thought he looked like a little boy when he laughed like that, so carefreely and blithely.

"Ever since kindergarten. I used to be so chubby back then, and one day I fell down in the school yard, and the boys started laughing at me. So I started crying like the baby I was." She laughed, a smile reminiscing about countless precious memories forming on her full lips. "Mia noticed. She actually beat them both up for making me cry. She's like my older sister or something. And then one thing just kinda led to another and... we've been pretty much inseparable ever since."

Maddy remained silent, unsure of what to say.

I never had a friend like that, she thought. Clarke might have been fun and easygoing, and conversation was always interesting with her, but she was more of a talker rather than a listener. She would run her mouth for hours and go on and on about parties, or gossip about absurd high school drama rumours, and Maddy liked that about her, but they hadn't known each other for more than half a year and they didn't have that invisible thread of childhood friendship connecting them.

"Well, that explains why you didn't go home last night... You were together, right?"

"Yeah, umm... Actually, we had to go bring Mia 'round. She got drunk, called me at 3am. Oh God, you should've seen her." Sia started laughing at the simple recall, and Maddy stifled a laugh at the simple thought as well. "I'm telling you, she was staggering and laughing like an idiot. And she actually called Logan 'daddy'. And she definitely didn't mistake him for her father."

Maddy didn't even try to keep a straight face; she folded herself in two and laughed her heart out. "At least the boys were there to help carry her," she managed to say between her uncontrollable laughs.

"Are you kidding me? I mean, I know I was their first victim in primary school, but after yesterday they'll mock Mia for eternity. But," Sia pointed with her finger, "Carter and Logan still bully me a lot too."

Maddy looked at her pouty face, and they both burst into giggles.

"Boys are dorks."

"Tell me about it. Now that you mentioned it, what is going on between you and Carter?" proceeded to ask Sia, a dirty sparkle inside her raven eyes.

That, she did not expect. Maddy almost choked, clearly taken aback by the question.

"W-What? What are you talking about?" she stuttered, messing her words.

"I mean, you guys literally hate each other. How do you know each other?"

"Oh. We don't know each other."

Sia raised a quizzical brow at her, making Maddy roll her eyes.

"I literally met him today."

"Really? Tell me about it," demanded Sia, who looked extremely thrilled to hear the story.

"I just bumped into him in the bus this morning," said Maddy briefly, unwilling to talk about the ebony-headed idiot. Just the mention of his name ruined her whole mood.

Sia bored into her face with glistening eyes full of expectation. "And...?"

"And that's all. He was an ass, but now I've started to think he's always an ass."

"You'll get used to it once you get to know him better."

I don't want to get to know him better.

"Logan is also an ass. A very flirty ass, on that matter. But you already know that, right?" Sia looked heavenward.

"I mean... Maybe a bit." Maddy remembered the way he scanned her from top to bottom when they first met that day, or the way he winked at her. She played with her fingers on top of her half-exposed thighs, replaying the scene in her head. The blonde tousled hair, the ocean blue eyes, the disarming smile, the ridiculously toned body... He had it all, and he knew it. Even as she was considering that, at some point she sensed Sia was too silent beside her.

Lifting her eyes on her, she was surprised to see the girl had lost her mocking humour and was looking the other way. Maddy followed her gaze, squinting in the darkness of the night until she made out the figure Sia was staring at. It was Logan. Maddy's eyes drifted back to Sia, only to find her completely absorbed by the sight of him. Okay, maybe Maddy didn't know much about crushes, but the way Sia's lips curved slightly upwards as she was gazing at him was not exactly unheard of. Maddy had seen that look before. She wasn't blind, after all.

Her eyebrows shot up, and then a smirk took over her lips. "Shoot. You like him, don't you?

"W-What? No! Of course not! What are you talking about?" Sia faked a very unconvincing snort. "Pff, please, I'd rather fall off a cliff than fall for that idiot."

The way she was panicking made Maddy's smirk broaden. "Okay, you're so into him."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I- Oh, I almost forgot! Let's get your wounds treated." Sia avoided Maddy's piercing glance very carefully as she reached for the metallic bottle of water, now cool instead of frozen.

Maddy stifled a laugh at Sia's elusiveness, but decided to let it slip for the time being. They weren't even that close.

Yet, observed her subconscious, reminding her of the fact she'd most probably have to spend much more time with those four new acquaintances of hers.

"Okay, the water is all good. I'll see if I can take your socks off first."

Maddy took a deep breath, preparing herself for the pain she would have to bear very soon.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Sia?"

"Yes, I am. Trust me, my sister is a doctor."

"Really? How old is your sister?"

"25." Sia gently touched the upper part of Maddy's right sock and pulled it down. When she had rolled it down to the girl's ankle, she stopped, hesitating. "I'll do it slowly, okay?"

Maddy just nodded, sucking in another deep breath.

Sia took hold of the edge of her sock again."Look, I don't know how bad it is, but it might be like a burn. In that case, I'll have to leave the part that's stuck on your skin as it is."

"Just do what you have to do." Maddy shut her eyes as Sia started rolling the sock down once more.

She almost screamed when Sia reached her heel, the cotton material scraping off her skin, rough from the blisters. Sia noticed, but didn't stop. "Are you okay?" she asked, her eyes entirely focused on Maddy's foot.

Is that even a question?

"No," she gasped.

"It's not stuck."

My butt it's not stuck, Maddy almost snapped.

"That's good, it means there's no burn. You know, from the rubbing of your feet on the sides of your shoes."

Is that supposed to make me feel better?

"Do you want me to take it off fast or slow?

Come on, Maddy. It will be like ripping off a band-aid; fast and only slightly painful.

Hopefully.

"Fast. Just do-"

And Sia ripped her sock off.

Maddy screamed, then covered her mouth with her sweaty palm to shut up.

"Oops. Sorry about that," Sia apologized, smiling sheepishly.

Maddy felt she couldn't even speak from the shock. Her leg was shaking.

"Shit, that looks nasty. Your heel is blistered. I'll have to drain the blisters," analysed Sia.

"Huh?" managed Maddy, panting.

"Drain the blisters. You know, with a needle."

You gotta be kidding me.

"Don't look so done." Sia laughed; it was a comforting laugh, somehow. Then she grabbed a needle from the medical kit and wiped it with a cotton pad she had soaked in alcohol.

"Talk to me. It helps."

Maddy wanted to scream, but she knew she had to put up with it. "About what?"she asked between clenched teeth.

Sia punctured the blister. Maddy's leg jerked on its own, but Sia was holding it in a tight grasp.

"Damn it, Sia," cursed Maddy.

"If it hurts, tell me."

Are you kidding me? Of course it frickin hurts!

Sia squeezed Maddy's blister with her fingers near the hole she had made with that dreadful needle, carefully draining the liquid. Her hands were soft and her touch gentle, but the pain was definitely there, cutting through every inch of her.

Come on Maddy, say something. Think. "It will help."

"Do we have any money?" she asked breathlessly in an effort to distract herself from the pain.

Thinking about how the five of them would cope, she worried less about the pain and more about her plans that were falling apart before her very eyes.

"Not really. I mean, except if Logan left any cash in the car, but... it's unlikely."

"Let me guess. He always uses a black cart?"

Sia laughed. "You guessed right. And the idiot left it at his house. Well, his mansion."

She covered Maddy's blister with a tight, clean bandage, then examined her bleeding toe. She then proceeded to pour some cool water from the metallic bottle on it, and then wipe the dried blood with some alcohol.

"Just how rich is he?" Maddy posed the question with a moan of pain, clenching her teeth, veins popping on her neck.

"His father is a pharmacist. I mean, he's the number one medicine supplier in England or something." Sia covered Maddy's toe with the bandage as well to prevent any bacteria infection.

Maddy's jaw went slack. "For real?"

"Yup. Dude, they're literally rolling in it. Logan has his own bloody cottage in Lancashire and..." Sia stopped, her voice growing faint into a low whisper.

Their glances met at the same moment as realisation struck the both of them at Sia's words. Just by looking at each other with flared pupils they knew they were thinking the exact same thing.

Logan has a cottage in Lancashire.