Go long

"Now we can play with all the rules clearly stated." said Ollie.

"Okay, but I don't think that we really did clearly state all the rules." said Matt frowning, he knew that Ollie was just excited that they were all doing something fun together, but he was way too innocent to know that Maddie had a knack for cheating.

He didn't know why, but he definitely felt that Maddie had it out for him. She was going to find a way to pick on him and him alone because for some odd reason she was annoyed with him.

"Should we make them more specific or...?" asked Ollie as Maddie narrowed her eyes at Matt.

"No, it's fine, let's just continue." Matt replied, oh well, luckily since he was half vampire, he wouldn't feel as much pain as Maddie would want him to. He would let her have her fun this once. He had to admit that he had been picking on her more lately, and that could truly be very annoying.

"Hehe." giggled Maddie. Ollie paid no attention to her sudden giggle, Annie on the other hand just shook her head.

"Okay Matt, here it comes, go long." said Ollie as he threw the ball to Matt and it was clear that he threw it harder this time.

Matt looked overhead as the ball flew over him and he ran to catch it, he jumped into the air and caught it.

"That was a good throw." laughed Matt as Ollie laughed.

Matt threw the ball to Annie, it almost slipped out of her hands but she caught it in the last minute.

"That was a tricky one." she laughed and threw it to Maddie who didn't even attempt to catch the ball with her hands, she just stopped it midair and it dropped right into her hands.

"Oh come on!" exclaimed Matt and Annie, now this was definitely cheating.

"That's got to be cheating Ollie." said Matt.

"Well... technically no...once again she caught the ball." said Ollie leniently. 

"No she didn't she stopped it midair, that's an illegal move!" said Annie annoyed.

"Oh you two just stop whining, nobody told you not to use your magic." declared Maddie happily.

"You're so not fair Maddie." said Annie.

"Since when have I ever been fair?" she replied.

"Everyone just shut up and let's continue the game." she said throwing the ball at Matt.

"Alright, if you want to play it that way, then we'll play." he responded, instead of catching the ball he hit it with great force in Maddie's direction as it looked like it was not going to stop before causing destruction.

Maddie didn't even try to catch it, instead she wriggled her finger and sent it flying in Annie's direction.

"This is just getting ridiculous." Annie replied blowing in the air causing the ball to fall down gently.

"The two of you better stop it, this isn't a deathmatch." said Annie.

"Sorry..." apologized Matt.

"We are just playing a harmless game so be careful." she added.

"Yeah, yeah..." said Maddie scoffing.

Annie threw the ball at Ollie, he jumped and caught it and threw it to Matt who ran to catch it.

Maddie chuckled feeling a little bit impish, she raised her hand slightly and a wall of dirt lifted up obstructing his way. 

Matt did not see it coming, he hit his face and body in the wall as the ball almost dropped but Annie ran over and caught it for him.

"*Ouch*." he cried as he fell down on his face holding his nose.

"Matt, are you okay?!" asked Annie as she rushed to him and Ollie followed behind her.

"It hurts so much." he said.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine now... that was... painful." said Matt as he got up and Annie checked him for scratches and bruises.

"Maddie, that was too low, even for you." said Ollie as he shook his head.

"Hey, are we not going to talk about how Annie just cheated by catching the ball when it was his turn." accused Maddie.

"Are you serious right now Maddie? Is that what's important or the fact that you played dirty and hurt our friend?" asked Annie angrily.

"Last I checked stopping people from catching the ball isn't against the rules." insisted Maddie.

"You are unbelievable Maddie." said Ollie shaking his head.

"This is too far even for you." said Matt as he also shook his head.

"You all are just babies, there's nothing wrong with a little roughness in fun." said Maddie.

"Oh is that so now?" asked Annie as Maddie nodded.

"Alright then, this is all on you Maddie." said Annie the ball in her hand covered by a thick layer of ice as she threw it aiming straight for Maddie's head.

Maddie didn't even flinch, she snapped her fingers and the ice layer around the ball melted as she caught the ball.

"It's going to take more than that to scare me." replied Maddie smugly.

"Oh really now?" asked Annie as she giggled.

"Yes." replied Maddie not noticing how Annie gave Matt and Ollie a subtle nod as they nodded in response.

"You three can't beat me!" Maddie declared confidently. "You're right, the three of us can't beat you individually, but together we can, right guys?" asked Annie smiling smugly.

"Ahh, I see where you're going with this and even though it's cheating I don't mind. The three of you combined can't beat me." Maddie replied laughing, she was very confident that even if they all ganged up against her, they would not win.

"I hate how confident you sound." said Matt as he shook his head.

"Yeah, yeah, just know that I'm not going to be the one to drop the ball." she replied. Annie did not wait for Maddie to stop speaking, she instantly threw the ball at her.

Maddie didn't even flinch, she just flicked her hand and sent the ball flying towards Matt who jumped and caught it.

"Oh and I'm sorry for being so harsh, I didn't expect the ground to be so hard." she added.

"Apology accepted, but we're still going to make sure that you lose." he replied smiling as Maddie laughed.

Matt threw the ball to Ollie who waved his hand over the ball and threw it. The ball flew in the air wobbly and Maddie tried to stop it but it broke out of her barrier spell and it almost hit her in her face until she luckily caught it with her hands.

"What kind of spell was that?!" asked Maddie shocked.

Ollie just just chuckled, there was no way he was going to tell her, he knew that she would just recast the spell.

"Alright fine, don't tell me blondie, but you just proved how cunning you are." she said as Ollie frowned.

"Don't give in dude, she's just toying with you, we all know that she's going to use the spell against us if you tell her." said Matt, he needed Ollie to stay strong.

"Yes, you're right." said Ollie as he nodded.

Maddie needed to go for the weak link if she was to end this stupid game and she knew just who to go for.

Maddie threw the ball powerfully at Annie who had to start running to catch it.

"We're right behind you." said Matt as he and Ollie ran after the ball as well.

"Oh no you're not." said Maddie as she touched the ground and instantaneously Ollie and Matt found themselves frozen in a thick block of ice.

"Oh come on! This is serious cheating!" shouted Matt as his entire body was frozen.

Annie did not dare look back, she had to catch the ball. It was clear that she was too short to catch the ball.

Ollie on the other hand had already broken out of the ice and waved his hand as the ice thawed and melted away.

"Levitatis incanterores." said Annie as she began to lift up into the air and she caught the ball before gently falling to the ground.

"*Phew*, that was a close one." said Annie as she laughed.

"That's because Maddie cheated again." said Matt shaking his head.

"I don't know why you're still complaining, at least I used soft ice this time instead of the hard dirt, you should be thanking me." she shouted from where she was.

"Guys, I think that if we want to keep up with her, we have to play at her level." said Ollie.

"I know, but won't that make us no better than she is?" asked Annie.

"No, it won't she started cheating first, we're just going to even the playing field." replied Matt.

"Hey stop conversing over there and let's play already." shouted Maddie, she would cheat and listen in on what they were planning but she didn't want to be that wickedly mean.

"I guess you're right, she did start cheating first." agreed Annie.

"So let's give her a taste of her own medicine." she added.

"I agree, now I think that we need to distract her, she won't want to be caught off guard." said Matt as they all nodded.

"Who is going to distract her?" asked Ollie.

"I'll do it, because she'll easily suspect if you are annoying her on purpose, and well Matt's the only one who can throw with a lot of power naturally." said Annie.

"So I'll focus on distracting her, Matt will focus on throwing the ball and you Ollie focus on stopping her from catching the ball." said Annie as they all nodded.

"Oh, I see that you guys are done plotting against me now." Maddie shouted at them as Matt scoffed.

"Shouldn't you be a tad worried that we're all plotting against you and no one is on your side at all?" Matt asked.

"Nope, because intelligent people like myself are always faced with opposition from others, it's nothing new." Maddie said confidently. Matt felt like rolling his eyes, he did not know how she could be so proud of her abilities.

"It doesn't matter because no matter how intelligent you are, without people on your side, it's going to be hard to win." he replied.

"We'll see about that, enough talking, throw the ball!" she shouted. Annie threw the ball to Matt as they all shot each other knowing glances.

It was clear to Maddie that they had devised some sort of plan against her, but it didn't bother her at all, they wouldn't win.

"Why so silent blondie?" asked Maddie looking at Ollie, he suddenly went so quiet and he looked very awkward as well, he definitely had some sort of role to play in this their plan, and she would start by taking out the weakest link in her opinion.

"Hey Maddie, you know for someone who was really unpleasant in the morning your mood has really taken a 360 degree turn, if you ask me, it's almost as if you're actually having fun." said Annie taking away Maddie's attention from Ollie to her.

"Oh wow really, don't get me wrong, this isn't me having fun, I'm not having fun at all." she replied.

"Yeah right, that's hard to believe." said Annie.

"Oh Annie, you know me, and if this was even just a little bit fun, I wouldn't be like this." said Maddie as she laughed.

"I know you, and you are definitely having fun." said Annie as she swiftly tucked her arm behind her back.

Maddie was quick to notice that movement from how far away she was.

"No I'm not, fun is when I'm watching cute cat videos, this isn't fun." she responded.

"Stop fighting it Maddie, it's alright for you to enjoy an activity that Ollie suggested." said Annie, she knew just what to say to make Maddie instantly defensive, she would never admit that Ollie actually suggested something fun.

"No he didn't! We all know it, this is childish, very, very childish!" Maddie replied aggressively. Annie on the other hand started to count down from five with her fingers behind her back, both Matt and Ollie were paying attention to her counting.

"Just admit it Maddie, this is fun not childish, the ground won't open up and swallow you if you do." said Annie as two fingers were left.

"Oh but I would rather the ground open up and swallow me than admit that!" she replied as Annie's fingers dropped from two, to one, to zero and as soon as there were no fingers left Matt threw the ball with all his strength as it went flying through the air violently.

"Drats!" exclaimed Maddie as she saw the ball heading straight for her, for some odd reason she had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to stop this one with a barrier so she began to run. She ran after the ball as from overhead it overtook her.

She increased her pace, running faster, she felt like she was about to catch up to the ball when she suddenly felt the ground give way underneath her, she slipped and fell tumbling down covered in dirt and mild scratches.

Before she knew it she got up and found herself in some sort of hole in the ground, she looked up and could see the sky from the opening of the hole.

She was deep underground and the only thought on her mind was that the ball should not fall down, she was not even concerned about how she was covered in dirt right now.

"That's what I'm talking about!!" said Annie happily as she, Matt and Ollie gave each other high fives.

Maddie scoffed, closed her eyes and she could see that the ball was about to hit the ground. Maddie clapped her hands and in a split moment a green portal opened up in front of the ball as it was about to hit the ground.

The ball suddenly appeared behind them and hit the ground as an explosion of what appeared to be paint compassed them.

"What just happened?!" asked Annie as she spit out paint that had entered her mouth.

"You lost, that's what." said Maddie victoriously as she was lifted out of the hole and the paint dispelled only remaining on their clothes and skin.

"But how?! We saw the ball right there, it was about to fall, we were about to win." said Matt, this was unbelievable, there was no way Maddie won, no way.

"But you didn't hehe." said Maddie as she giggled.

"I only have won question, how did you win?" asked Annie, she did not look pleased at all.

Ollie on the other hand started to laugh.

"Teleportation spell." said Ollie and Maddie at the same time and they both laughed.

"Of course, you're so annoying, why didn't you just let us win?!" asked Matt annoyed.

"And miss the priceless look on your faces? No way." laughed Maddie.

"Of course the three of you combined can't even beat me." she said triumphantly.

"This is pointless." said Matt, he definitely was not taking this well at all.

"What's pointless was the fact that you guys trapped me in a hole, as if that would stop me from winning." she scoffed.

"And it's so worth it to be covered in dirt and see you guys covered head to toe in paint." she laughed.

"You know what, in all honesty, it was a good game, even though we didn't really go play as intensely as you did." said Ollie as he laughed and Maddie cleaned herself up.

"Yes, I agree with Ollie, it was a good game, it was fun, and I have to admit that last play was as classy as it was devious." said Annie as she laughed.

"What's devious is you guys putting me in a hole, and I know it was you blondie." Maddie narrowed her eyes at him as he chuckled.

"I agree with Ollie, next time we will definitely match your aggressive nature." said Matt.

"But I agree it was fun." he said as he laughed.

"Oh please, even if you guys were very aggressive I would have won anyway." said Maddie as she brought her phone out of her pocket and took a picture to preserve this moment in time forever.

"Just a picture to make sure you never forget that I won." she said happily as her phone disappeared.

"Will you ever let us hear the end of this?" asked Matt.

"Not a chance." she laughed.

"Anyway, I think that's enough games for today, I'm hungry." said Ollie with a wave of his hand all the paint on them had disappeared.

"For once blondie you say something reasonable. I am starving as well, beating you three really took a lot of energy." said Maddie dramatically as Annie almost rolled her eyes, shaking her head she walked back to the picnic blanket.

"I have to agree, running around like this really does burn energy." she replied as she sat down.

"Relaxing would be more satisfying if we had won." said Matt as he sat down.

"I agree, but the fact that we can all agree we enjoyed ourselves is satisfying enough." said Ollie smiling.

Maddie was about to say something to refute him but she decided to hold her peace, after all, she had won like she said she would. Against all odds she beat the three of them easily.

"Stop thinking about how you beat us so easily." said Matt, he knew exactly what she was thinking.

"I can't help but think about it when it's true." Maddie said smugly, the smile of a winner was always different from that of a loser and they all knew it.

"Geez Maddie, you didn't win the Olympics, give us a break." said Annie as she laughed.

"What are the Olympics?" asked Ollie confused.

"It's just a human thing where basically all our different countries come together to compete in different sports." explained Matt.

"Ahh I see, we have something like that over here as well it's called the—" said Ollie

"We are here to eat not for a culture lesson." said Maddie as Ollie laughed.

"True, so as the winner, would you like to have the honour of checking the picnic basket?" he asked.