After that was said, most of the girls got up from the big table we all sat at, and some girls went into the changing room to get their stuff from their lockers. I just turned around in my seat without getting up, now looking out the window. I could see some students running across the schoolyard through the rain; just like us, they probably had their last club meeting, and now wanted to get to the school bus as fast as possible.

I suddenly realized that the stupid me forgot to pack an umbrella in the morning, so I too had to run through the rain to get to my car now. I did park right beside the entrance, but that wasn't of much use to me. The cheerleading club had its own building that was separated from the school, so there was no direct connection to the parking lot. Generally, that wouldn't be a problem, as there was a backdoor on this side of the school, but as school had ended already, the entrance on this side was locked.

Two years ago, the school was extended, and we cheerleaders got our own small gym, more than big enough for us to train. Connected to the gym was a big changing room with lockers and this club room. As the head cheerleader of two years ago helped to design this room, it looked quite lovely, not at all like a building belonging to a school. A U-shaped table was in the middle and could fit ten people, its wooden surface being dark brown. Six comfortable white chairs were positioned around it, one for every cheer member we had at the moment. We had shelves with different trophies and other awards on them, and banners hanging on the walls. There were also photos from all the cheer teams of the last years.

Hanging on the wall at the top of the U-shape was a big blackboard, but we never used it up to this point. We usually only used the screen that could be let down in front of it. In most cases, we just used it to watch movies or YouTube videos. While Quinn, Ida and I preferred to hang out at home, the other three girls often spent their time in this room.

Except for the first week of summer break, where the whole school was being cleaned, we could use the building freely whenever we wanted. One time we six went to a drive-through at two in the morning on a Saturday and went here to eat and watch a movie. After that, we had a sleepover and stayed here until Monday for school.

Because of stuff like that happening from time to time, all of us had sleeping bags and clothes stashed here. But there was one holy rule we all had to obey: Absolutely no boys allowed.

I knew I wouldn't be breaking that rule anytime soon. But to my knowledge, Ida broke that rule already. She told Quinn and me about having sex inside the gym once. But now that I think about it, that might have been with a girl; that technically wouldn't be breaking the rule. I still couldn't wrap my head around Ida being bi and sleeping around with people she didn't even know.

Initially, Zarah said that she "doesn't want to barge in on someone having sex in the club room, which she cares about like her own home." And she really did. She cleaned it regularly, bought furniture and ensured that everything got fixed and replaced whenever something broke. Of course, she didn't pay for everything herself, we either split the costs among all six of us, or the school paid for it.

It wasn't hard to see that the school was fond of the cheer squad; after all, we were the team with the second-most tournaments won, right after the chess club.

The girls came out of the dressing room with small bags, and I asked, "Quinn, Ida, do you want to come over?"

"Sure," both of them said at the same time, which made them look at each other and start giggling. I took my bag, pulled out my car keys and said, "Let's go for a run then."

I got up and went to say my goodbyes to the other girls. First, I went into the changing room, saying bye to the raven-haired Amanda and hugging her lightly. Then I went back into the main room where the blonde Zarah and Kelly with her crimson-dyed hair were standing and did the same with them.

Right after, I went out the door and started running, Quinn and Ida following behind me. We ran as fast as we could, trying to stay as dry as possible. While the sisters probably just didn't want to catch a cold, I aimed to keep myself dry, so I didn't wet my car too much. After running to the other side of the school building, my eyes finally fell on my car.

Even in this rain, my neon blue Nissan GT-R was shining brightly. I got it from my grandfather for my seventeenth birthday and loved this car more than anything.

Neither my parents nor my grandparents were nearly wealthy enough to buy such a car for me just like that. I wouldn't even want them to spend so much on a car for me. We did have enough money to live well, but like my father and grandfather always said, "Spend it, not waste it."

Meaning that if you want to buy a car, get one that has what you need, not waste money on one that is unnecessarily expensive.

And my car definitely didn't fit into that picture. The reason for that is that it was a gift for and from my grandfather. He worked a long time for Nissan in a very high position and helped design that car type. So after retiring one year ago, he got this car as a parting gift from the company. And because he is such a fantastic person, he had it painted it in my favorite color and gave it to me.

After reaching my car, we all hopped in, and I revved my engine before pulling out of the parking lot with a small drift.

"Hold your horses, little girl, I want to at least reach my eighteenth birthday before dying in a horrible car crash caused by you showing off. And tomorrow is yours, so it doesn't seem like a good day for you either," warned Quinn. Although she jokingly said that in an alert tone, I knew that she was used to my driving. She was lucky that it was raining because usually, I would drive a lot faster.

When we arrived at the modern house which I called my home, I drove us to the garage that was beneath the building; to reach it, I had to maneuver down a path right beside the house.

The garage was on the same level as the small beach which was behind my home, not far away from the ocean. It was a secluded shore with small cliffs going all around, even in the water rocks were blocking the way; only a tiny opening between the stones let in the water of the ocean. The only access to our cove was the path beside my house, so this was my family's private beach.

Not that my family would buy a property like this, it just had been passed down for generations, starting at the first mayor of this small town. All my parents did was renovate the house and add a second story because they were planning to have children.

Luckily the cliffs and rocks blocked the waves, so even in a storm like this, the waves didn't reach our home.

I parked the car in the garage before getting out, the girls following my actions. It was a big building; there was enough room for three cars. But as my family only owned my car and my dad's dark red Range Rover Evoque, a third of the garage was stuffed with random items.

My mom had no car of her own because for work and business trips my parents would get picked up by the company anyway, and if one of them did need to go somewhere, they still had my dad's car.

I went to the door which connected the garage to the staircase of my house, but when the door refused to open, I realized that I made a mistake.

"Um... girls?" I was sure they wouldn't like what I was going to tell them, "When my parents leave for a longer while, they shut the doors of the house using the electronic lock. I didn't think about that in the morning, so I don't have the key for the staircase inside the garage..."

"So... what you are trying to say is, that we have to go in through the front door?" Ida was trying to sound calm, but I could see it in her eyes that she was pissed.

"Looks like it," I shrugged and made my way to the open gate of the garage.

I made a few steps outside, walking the path we drove down. It was covered by a roof, but there was still a lot of water running down the road.

Before going up the hill, I stopped and looked at the beach; I was still sad that my summer break started with this rain. If the weather wouldn't be such a pain in the ass, then I would have been lying there, enjoying the sun and the warm sand.

Suddenly I got pushed from behind and landed face first in the wet sand, salty taste entering my mouth. I got up and looked at Ida who took a photo of me covered in dirt, getting poured on by the rain. She was laughing and said, "That's what you get for forgetting the key."

After doing that, she tried to quickly make her way up the wet path, closely followed by Quinn. Just shortly after, I heard a slipping sound and saw Ida falling while screaming like a little girl. She landed on the road and slid down a bit, taking down Quinn with her.

"Are you fuckin' kidding me?" Quinn cursed while getting up, completely drenched, then continued, "If you can't heave your fat ass up that hill, then at least don't take me do-"

At that moment, Quinn froze. I looked over, just to find Ida not only wholly wet and dirty but also bloody on her forearms.

"Oh, shit," I cursed because I knew what was going to happen. Ida and blood were a bad combination. A terrible one even.

When she was a little kid, Ida always clung to either Quinn or her older sister, until one day when she was in a car crash with her family. A semi-truck hit their car, and they flipped, being trapped in the car upside down. Both of Ida's parents died instantly, while her sister got stabbed by a metal piece in her stomach area and was slowly bleeding out. Ida witnessed the whole thing, unable to help her sister because she was stuck between some bent car pieces.

Since that day, Ida was traumatized and gets panic attacks when seeing either her own blood or that of someone close to her.

"Ida, look at me... look at me, Ida. It's fine... you're fine," Quinn tried to calm her down, but without success. I witnessed this twice before, and it really wasn't a pleasant sight. At first, her breathing gets heavy, then she starts to scream at the top of her lungs as if she would be feeling immense pain and fear. Once she even passed out because she didn't breathe while screaming.

"Dammit girl, don't go screaming in my face!" Quinn slapped Ida hard. As she didn't show any reaction, Quinn hit her a second time, which made Ida snap out of it. She blinked a few times and held her head while cringing like in pain.

Ida started crying, and Quinn hugged her tightly, speaking, "It's fine, Ida. I'm here."

Ida hugged her back, sobbing into Quinn's shoulder. They let go, and, before anything else could happen, Quinn grabbed Ida's hand and pulled her up the hill. I followed and, after I unlocked the front door, we went inside.

"We look completely messed up," I couldn't help but chuckle at the look of us three. We looked like we lived in the jungle for days. Dirty, soaked and roughed up. I continued, "You two hop into the shower in my parents' bathroom, I'll go wash in my room. I'll bring you some clothes when I'm done."

"Brea? I just thought of something," started Ida, while Quinn was wrapping Ida's still bleeding forearms into a towel, "Why exactly didn't we just wait in the garage for you to open the door from the inside?"

I felt really dense because that didn't cross my mind at all, so I said, "Honestly, I just didn't think about that."

"You know, sometimes I could just-" responded a pissed Ida but was cut off by Quinn, who put her arm around Ida's waist and pulled her into a hug.

Then she spoke, "It doesn't matter now, does it, Sis? What's done is done. Now come on, you need to wash your arms."

Ida sighed but then turned around, walking in the direction of my parent's room alongside Quinn, who still had her arm around Ida's waist.

I started in the direction of my room, but overheard Ida say, "Thank you, Quinn... I love you..."

"I love you too, we are sisters after all," replied Quinn.

After a moment of silence, Ida responded, "...right."

Hearing that conversation made me smile, their friendship really was something else.

When all of us were done showering, I got a first aid kit from my bathroom so Quinn could clean Ida's wounds properly. After that, we watched TV until we passed out late at night.