As far as the eye could see, stretching far beyond the horizon and then some, the dark tarmac was beginning to get sticky with heat. The car travelling along had the windows up and the air-conditioning inside was life saving- almost literally. The air was hazy and stifling, anyone caught outside in this heatwave wouldn’t stand a chance for long.

shuffled in the passenger seat, her shorts allowing her legs to stick slightly to the leather seat. She’d long since kicked her shoes off into the foot well and she kept wiggling her toes in front of the vent to cool them. She had a half empty water bottle that she constantly kept sipping from- more water in the back seat that would see them through the rest of their journey and further probably. had wanted to be prepared and although they’d laughed about buying so MUCH bottled water, it was proving to be the right decision.

She sighed and glanced around to her best friend who had her sunglasses on and her hair pulled back into a messy bun that resembled ’s. might’ve been concentrating on the road but she shot a smile and turned the radio down slightly to an acceptable level for conversation.

“We should be there in about an hour.” She offered. They’d been driving for nearly four hours already and the final hour seemed like a lifetime. mumbled something incoherent in response and turned the radio back up with her own half smile.

She was bored. No doubt about it. And hot. Far too hot. Even with the air-con up high there was still a bead of persistent sweat that kept creeping down her temple. As close as she was with she really didn’t think the blonde would appreciate it if she stripped further down than her shorts and vest top. She sighed again, playing with the hem of her shorts before glancing up and spotting something in the distance.

As they drew closer it became more apparent that the object in the distance was another car, pulled to the side of the road with smoke billowing from under the bonnet. glanced to and noticed the sunglasses had been pushed up to the top of her head and they were slowing. The closer they got to the broken down car the more apparent it became that there were two men leaning against the rear bumper looking sour.

“Do you think they’re okay?” asked her friend over the radio. She received a shrug in response as her friend flicked on the indicator and began to pull over behind the other car. As soon as they were immobile undid her seatbelt and swung the door open, a wall of heat swallowing her and invading the car. remained stationary. What if they were…dodgy?

She watched the blonde in her denim shorts and black crop top chat to the two men for a few minutes until they all turned and headed back towards the car. opened the driver’s door and leant down with a smile to address her best friend.

“I’m going to give them a lift to town- they don’t have recovery and both their phones have died…” nodded. It’s not like it would be humane to leave them out in this madness. “…Also says he gets motion sickness so…can he sit up front?” She fought not to frown and nodded silently, exiting the car quickly and regretting it as her bare feet hit the lava-like tarmac.

She climbed into the back seat muttering a string of curse words that might be counted as unsavoury in the wrong company. By the time she’d pulled her seatbelt around and clipped it in, the other man was sitting in the other back seat with her. He threw her a wide grin and offered her his hand. “, but you can call me .”

She took his hand carefully- it was almost as warm as the tarmac and she wondered how long they’d stood under the sun. “, but you can call me .” “Where you girls headed?” The man, , asked from the front.

turned the key in the ignition and threw a look over her shoulder at and the rainbow coloured hair man, , and smiled brightly.

“Chasing the rainbow.”