My Best Friend, Jack ✓

1. Last day of summer

Thwack. 

I jolted awake and jumped out of bed, my hands out in front of me like some sort of ninja. Blinking a couple of times to adjust to the light, I glanced at my watch and noticed it was only 9.00AM in the morning. Another loud bang reverberated off my bedroom window and I marched across the room, prepared to spew some profanities at whatever had woken me up. 

Rubbing my tired eyes and making sure my flannel pyjama shirt was buttoned appropriately, I opened the window and leaned out, looking down at the front garden. Strange. I couldn't see anything that would've made such a loud sound but I noticed a few droplets of water rolling down the glass of my window. 

"Gotcha!" A voice shouted suddenly. 

A boy emerged from behind the tree that was a few feet in front of my window and a bit to the left. I would recognise that voice anywhere. I grinned as I saw my best friend, Jack come in to view. He had on a pair of grey knee length shorts and a plain white t-shirt. His sandy blonde hair was brushed back and his bright blue eyes twinkled with their familiar sense of mischief. He had a look of accomplishment plastered all over his face. 

"What're you doing here so early?" I yelled down. 

"This is your wake-up call, Ava," he shouted back, walking towards the window with his arm behind his back. 

"But it's Saturday!" 

Before I could register what was happening, his arm shot out and my eyes caught sight of something red flying towards me. 

"Bombs away!"

My eyes went cross-eyed as the red blob zoned in on me. My instinct was to duck but for some reason, my body wouldn't obey me and I just stood there as the water balloon hit me square in the forehead. It erupted and water cascaded over my hair, down my face and all over my flannel pyjamas. The water was ice-cold and my breath hitched in surprise. My mouth opened in shock and my eyes widened as I felt water droplets cascading down my back, underneath my pyjama shirt. 

I heard Jack's maniacal laughter coming from below and I calmly pursed my lips, brushed the wet hair out of my eyes and clenched my fists together. Looking down at Jack, I blew out an exasperated breath as I saw him rolling around the floor, his arms flailing with amusement. Even from up high, I could see the tears of laughter falling from his eyes. 

'You are so dead!" I yelled, turning around and bolting for the door. 

I didn't even care that I was soaking wet. I jumped down the stairs two at a time, only slightly aware of the trail of wet I was leaving behind me. My dad was at the bottom of the stairs, trying to read the paper whilst getting ready to go up to his office. He glanced up at me as I bounded towards him with a murderous look on my face. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth in surprise to say something, but I blew past him in a hurry. 

"Sorry, dad. This is war," I said over my shoulder, all the while bolting for the front door. 

"Why are you wet?" I head faintly, before I threw open the door and flew outside. 

I wasn't surprised to find Jack still in a delirious fit of laughter on the front lawn. As he struggled to catch his breath, I ran forwards and jumped on him. Hard. He let out a whoosh as I put all my body weight on him. I was only small, 5"4 inches in height and 108 pounds, but that didn't stop me. Grabbing my long, blonde hair between my fingers, I squeezed out all the water and it splashed him square in the face. I laughed as he spluttered when the water fell directly in to his open mouth. 

"You deserve that," I grinned, getting ready to ring out my flannel shirt the same way. 

He held up his hands and grinned back, his eyes still twinkling with mischief. "Wait, truce?" he asked.