"She's my mum's friend," Liam clarified, as we sat around a small metal table sipping lemonade. There were way too many chairs gathered around it and we were getting glared at by a cafe worker, but it was relaxing all the same. After being out in the sweltering heat and then having to argue our way in, it was nice to just sit and drink something refreshing.
Speaking of, why the hell was everyone so aggressive in this place? There was no way Brenda was letting us through that door until Liam spoke up, and now we were seemingly in trouble for, god forbid, having six chairs instead of four around our table.

Considering this was a family friendly activity centre, with most of the focus on things kids would find entertaining, you would think the staff would have to have smiles painted on their faces 24/7, so they wouldn't scare the children. Though, I suppose, they didn't get paid enough to have patience. I knew that feeling. Last summer I had worked an ice cream stand in the local park and, despite just standing there for a few hours slinging ice cream, I came home everyday exhausted. Screaming children and impatient parents really just leeched the energy out of you. Suddenly I didn't blame the staff for being so grumpy. After all, it was a sunny day and they were stuck in here.

After we finished our lemonade, Klaus disappeared for a couple of minutes and then returned with a tourist booklet- the type with a map of the centre and list of activities- and a pen he had got from somewhere. I was about to wave my own booklet at him to show that he was too slow and I'd got one already, when he started tearing the corners off and then writing on them. Or pretending to write. The nib of the pen wasn't even clicked down and, had I not been involved in his antics, I would've questioned it. Instead, I pointed out a grown adult dressed head to toe in Finding Nemo apparel to distract the table and give Klaus the few seconds he needed to fake the name slips.

"Okay guys," he said, and we all turned back to him. How he'd got it, I had no idea, but he had put the scraps of paper in a small plastic bowl, the type you would put grapes or cut up vegetables in to give to a child; bright pink with multi coloured dots to make the healthy food seem more fun. However, I had a sinking feeling, as if something was about to go wrong. "I'm going to pick names out at random and that'll be the teams for mini golf."

"We're playing in teams?" Duncan questioned, and I nodded, knowing the exact thing to say to get him excited.

"And there's prizes for the winning team!"

Quigley and Duncan perked up at the same time, truly looking identical in that moment. There was no denying their competitive nature and their wanting to win, especially if prizes were involved.

"But I left them at home," Klaus concluded, making my brothers slump down in their seats again. Klaus didn't let that faze him and continued. "So the teams are... drum roll please."

The majority of us patted the table lightly, trying to not cause too much of a ruckus and get into trouble again. Duncan didn't get that memo though, and thundered away, smacking his hands loudly against the metal. Klaus pulled out the first slip of paper.

"Violet," he said, before scrunching it up, just in case anyone tried to look at the paper. Then he reached for another bit of paper and, despite knowing who he was going to say, I still felt that rush of anticipation. "And... Quigley!"

The pair looked at each other in surprise, sharing a smile that showed they were truly happy to be teamed together.

Klaus got out the next bit of paper. "The next team is... Isadora and..."

Liam, I thought to myself, waiting for him to say it.

"Klaus."

Huh?

I couldn't believe it. After all of that, all of our planning, he had purposely messed it up. And for what? Now it made Quigley and Violet's pairing look obvious and like we had done it on purpose. Which we had, but we didn't want them to know that. Given the fact that Klaus and I usually paired up for everything, it really made the whole thing look premeditated. Our plan was basically over.
And, in my shock, I had completely forgotten about Liam, who was sat there looking more than slightly annoyed. I mean, he had technically come with us to hang out with me but now he was put on a team with Duncan, a guy he'd never even met before today.

I gave Klaus a look but he just avoided my gaze, not wanting to meet my eyes. Instead, he played the part of a perfect host, going over the rules and stuff that we had decided on the day before. I couldn't take it in though, as I couldn't get over what he had done.

When he was done explaining, we all made our way over to the mini golf course so we could get our clubs and golf balls. I purposely walked with Liam so I could try and speak to him.

"Sorry about the teams," I said, trying to sound sincere, "I didn't realise we were doing random ones."

Liam shrugged but I could tell he was just being polite when he said: "It's fine, don't worry about it."

Then he went off and hung around Duncan, his partner for the course. At least they seemed to get along well. So far there had only been good things- chatting, laughing, joking- from the pair, so I just hoped it would stay like that.
As for Quigley and Violet, they were chatting away as well. And from the looks of things, they were none the wiser to our antics, which was very lucky. Just thinking that we had got away with it set my mind at ease and I relaxed a bit, getting rid of some of my irritation.

Klaus must've sensed it because he finally fell into step with me after trailing behind. "Sorry," he said, "but we work better as a team."

I gave him a look but decided I didn't want to argue, so I changed the subject. "I think Violet and Quigley were happy."

Klaus breathed what seemed to be a sigh of relief when I didn't snap at him, something that didn't go amiss by me. However, we didn't have time to talk things over properly as we were being given our clubs and shown to the first hole of the course.

Then the competition began, each of us taking it in turns to hit the ball, with Violet noting down each teams scores after each hole. By the time we got through all 18 we all but collapsed back into the cafe chairs, getting another round of ice cold drinks like we had when we first arrived. Then Violet counted up the scores and announced the winners.

"In third place is..." she said, pausing for dramatic effect, "Duncan and Liam."

We clapped for them as the pair shrugged and then shared a high five. In the end, it seemed like they had got on well and worked together, to the point where Duncan had actually concentrated instead of getting distracted by the sets of the different themed golf holes.

"And the winner is..." Violet said. We did a drum roll on the table, building up anticipation. "Me and Quigley!"

"Well done guys!" I said, congratulating them. Really the best team won in the end, and it seemed fitting that the pair that inspired our whole summer of activities would be the first ones to win something.

And them winning was the perfect evidence that they worked together well, both of their qualities complimenting each other. They truly were the perfect pair, that much was clear.

Maybe our set up would be easier to complete than we thought.

A/N: Omg I've literally had such a busy day, hence why this chapter is posted a bit later in the day than the last few have been. I hope you don't mind! The next chapter will be out Tuesday so see you then! ❤️