It was a normal day so far. Luna's jams could be heard all the way from the garage, Lincoln was reading comics in his underwear, Lucy was sneaking up on people and trying to read her new poem to them. The only real oddity was the twins had only fought twice since waking up.
The oldest girl, Lori, was sitting on the couch in the living room. A Dream Boat rerun was on TV, but she only half listened to it as she texted people on her phone. She had about five different conversations going, not counting her hourly text telling Bobby she loves him.
She didn't pay any mind when the front door slammed and she heard someone run in and stop right behind her.
"Hey, uhh, Lori?" she immediately recognized Lynn's voice.
"Hmm?" was the only response she gave, really just wanting the girl to go away.
"I was just wondering if you'd... uhh... help me with something?"
"Ugh, what does she want?" Lori thought to herself.
"Help with what?"
"Yeah, could you just come out to the backyard with me?" Lynn said. Lori rolled her eyes, knowing the girl was purposely redirecting the question.
"No, Lynn. I'm not going anywhere right now. Tell me what it is you want or go away."
"Fine! I want you to..." Lynn's voice faded into a quiet mumbling.
"What did you say?" Lori said, still not lifting her eyes from her phone. Although her sister's behavior caught her attention.
"I SAID, I want you to..." again, Lynn's voice slowly faded into a mumble.
"UGH!"
Lori yelled as she got up. She put her phone into her pocket, and turned around to see her sister.
"Speak up, Lynn, or I'm literally not helping you with anything!" she yelled out, catching Lincoln's attention on the other side of the living room.
Before the boy could ask, Lynn grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her into the kitchen. When she knew they were out of everyone's earshot, she sighed and turned back around to her sister.
"Lori, I want... I want you to teach me how to golf..."
Hearing that surprised Lori.
"Teach you how to golf? Lynn, you hate golf! You always whine when you're dragged to one of my games, and you hate it when I watch it on TV!"
"I know, I know! I'm not really into it... but..." Lynn's eyes darted away nervously.
"Buuuuuuut?"
"W-Well... the middle school is making a golf team, and..." Lynn began blushing. "A-and Francisco is trying out for it, so I..."
Lori couldn't help but grin. She knew all about Lynn's first crush, and she must really like him to wanna get on the golf team with him.
"Ah, young love..." Lori said, mostly just to tease her sister. "Ok, fine. I'll help you out, but you owe me big time!"
Hearing that made Lynn jump up and down in excitement, followed by running over and hugging her sister.
"Thanks, Lori! You're the best!"
Aw crap, why'd she have to do that? That's the one sure thing to melt through the ice Lori tries (and usually fails) to surround her heart with.
As she thought to return the hug, Lynn suddenly let go and grabbed her arm again, dragging her to the door.
"Woah, there!" Lori said as she pulled her arm back. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Uhh, to the back yard? So you can help me?"
Hearing that made Lori burst into laughter.
"What!? What's so funny!?" Lynn yelled out.
"We can't golf in the back yard!" Lori said, still trying to stop laughing.
"Well then were do we golf!? The front yard?"
After a moment, Lori finally forced herself to stop.
"Just go out to the car and wait for me."
Lynn nodded and left. Lori, meanwhile, went upstairs to her room. As she walked in, her sister Leni, who was reading a fashion magazine, looked up and happily waved at her. Lori smiled and waved back, and then went to their closet and looked through it.
"What are you looking for, Lori?" Leni asked from behind her.
"I'm grabbing my clubs so I can go to the driving range."
"Driving range? But, like, I thought you drive on streets?"
Lori sighed.
"It's not a car place, Leni. It's a place to go practice golf."
"Oh... But, then, why isn't it called a golfing range?"
"Because you dri-You know what, I don't know, Leni." Lori changed her words to end the discussion faster. "It must be a mystery."
Lori finally moved enough clothes out of the way to find the large blue golf bag, which had gotten covered up since it's between seasons. She pulled it out and put it over her shoulder.
As she walked by her dresser, she stopped. She reached for her phone and looked at it, seeing a bunch of new messages, one of which was from Bobby.
After a moment of thinking, Lori put the phone down on the dresser and kept moving.
"Buh-bye, Lori!" her sister yelled out, waving to her again. "Have fun!"
"Thanks, Leni. See you when I get back." she said as she shut the door behind her, a genuine smile on her face.
As Lori descended the stairs, she yelled out.
"MOM, DAD, I'M GOING TO THE DRIVING RANGE!"
After a moment, a muffled yell could be heard responding from her parents' bedroom.
"OK, BE BACK BEFORE CURFEW!"
Lori went outside, and headed toward the family van, affectionately named "Vanzilla". She saw Lynn was already sitting in the passenger seat, and got into the driving seat herself.
"So, where is it we're going, exactly?" Lynn questioned.
"The country club. They have a driving range we can practice on."
"Oh, ok."
The drive was fairly quiet. Lynn couldn't help but notice the abnormal lack of ringing or vibrating that Lori's phone would constantly produce, but didn't bring it up.
Eventually, they drove past the main building of the country club. Lynn knew nothing about the place, but she'd see the people who go there. Usually the snooty local rich folks, like that fathead Tetherby guy. But there were a lot of normal-looking people too, so she didn't judge too much.
Just a short way past that, Lori pulled into a driveway right outside a large field. From here, Lynn could make out a long building to the left where a lot of people were hitting golf balls.
"Could you grab my bag for me? I'll go buy us some balls." Lori said as she got out of the car. Lynn didn't respond, but she nodded.
As her sister left, Lynn opened the back door and grabbed the bag. There was a bunch of those golf sticks... golf bats? Golf somethings in there. Why did she need so many? Was one not good enough?
Whatever. Lynn slung the bag over her shoulder and walked over to the building... Well, it wasn't a building, she noticed now. It was just a big, long roof. As she got there, she saw a long line of people under that roof, each in their own little booths, hitting their golf balls as far as they could. At least golfers got to hit stuff, that made it a LITTLE more fun.
Eventually, she saw a spot with her sister Lori standing there, waving her over. Hefting the bag up, Lynn jogged over to her sister, who was now opening a large bucket.
"What's in there? Golf balls?"
"Yep. There's about a hundred or so. That'll cover us for today."
After the bucket was opened, Lynn took one of the balls. She'd seen them before, these little white spheres with tiny craters in them. Man, golf would be so much more fun if these were bigger. Imagine bowling golf, or basket-golf!
"No, no, stop criticizing Lori's game." Lynn thought to herself. "She was nice enough to help you, and you're doing this for 'Cisco. Can't let either of them down."
"Ok!" Lori said as she knelt down. She put this little thing that looked like a yellow rubber nail into the grass. "Put the golf ball on that. It's called a tee."
Dropping the golf bag to the side, Lynn knelt down and put the ball down on top of the tee. She wondered if it wouldn't just roll off, but it was perfectly still.
"Oh!" Lynn said aloud to herself. "That's why golf balls have those little bump things! So they stay on this!"
"Yep!" Lori confirmed. "Now, I rented some clubs, since mine are a bit too long for you."
Lori turned around and grabbed another golf bag, which was slightly smaller but still had the same-looking tools in it.
"First thing I want you to do is grab the driver, and let me see how far you can hit the ball."
Lynn took the bag and looked through it... Which one was a driver? These things didn't have labels or anything, just different things on the end.
"The one with the really big end." her older sister clarified, thankfully.
Lynn grabbed the one with the fattest head, and Lori nodded to show she was correct. Lynn pulled it out, and held it in her hands, getting a feel of the weight and balance of the thing.
"So, I just hit the ball now?"
"Hit it as hard as you can!" Lori said. Lynn could tell by her enthusiasm that this was her favorite part of the game.
The younger girl lined her self up, aligning the head of the driver with the ball.
"She actually has decent form for a first-timer." Lori thought to herself. "Wait... what is she-"
Lori watched as Lynn back up a few feet, holding the club over her head. Then she yelled, ran forward, and swung it down as hard as she could, which DID send the ball flying... along with the tee half the dirt underneath it.
"Lynn! What on Earth was that!?" Lori yelled out, more surprised than anything.
"What? That's how that guy in the movie hit balls really far!"
"...What movie?"
"Well, Luan noticed me looking at golf stuff, so she lent me this DVD! The guy in it would hit the ball like that, and send it REALLY far, right into the hole! Of course, he also got mad when he missed and told the ball to suck his white as-"
"OOOOK!" Lori yelled out to silence the girl. "First of all, did you even watch the movie all the way through?"
"...No. I thought I saw everything I needed to, so I stopped it and went outside to practice!"
Lori sighed, shaking her head. "Second of all, forget literally everything you thought that movie taught you. Don't trust Luan for educational purposes."
Lori grabbed another ball and tee and set it up, before grabbing her own driver.
"Here, watch how I do it."
Lori aligned herself with the ball, making sure she was lined up just right. Then, in one movement, she moved her arms back, and swung, sending the ball almost as far as Lynn.
"Wow..." Lynn said, watching the ball vanish from her sight. "It's almost like batting, then?"
"Kinda, yeah. What you need to remember is that you don't use your legs. You use your hips and your arms. And don't wind it up like a big hit, just move back and then swing, all at once!"
Lynn nodded, mentally taking notes. "I think I got it! Can I try again?"
"Of course! Just remember what I told you." Lori grabbed another ball and tossed it to her. Lynn set it down, and began aligning herself just like Lori.
"Remember, hips and legs... wait, no! Hips and arms, NOT legs!"
Lynn took her swing, and watched the ball go. She hit it pretty good.
"Hey, I did it! I did it!"
Lori chuckled. "Yeah, that wasn't too bad. Still needs a little refinement, but for a first-timer you're catching on quick. Go on and try again. This time, straighten up a little more."
Shot after shot, Lynn drove the ball. Each time, Lori would give her a tip to improve her form, and Lynn actually listened. She was hitting the ball almost as well as Lori herself now, and it took Lori YEARS to figure everything out.
"You know..." Lori began, talking to herself more than to Lynn. "Golf is how me and Bobby met..."
Lynn took another swing, before looking back at her sister, who was looking up at the sky lovingly. "Really? You never told me that."
Lori looked over real quick, not really thinking Lynn was paying attention. But her goofy smile didn't go away.
"Yeah... he volunteered to caddy for a game against Hazeltucky, and he was assigned to me. I remember cause he kept giving me the putter when I needed to drive!"
"Oh! Yeah, he is kind of a dummy... b-but in a fun way!" Lynn replied. Not that she had much room to talk since she wouldn't know the difference either.
"I was literally SO annoyed with him. Then, right before one important putt, he tripped and smacked me in the leg with one of the clubs, and I absolutely lost it. I was about to stomp off and demand a different caddy..."
"But?" Lynn asked, now very into the story.
"But... then he ran up to me, right before I found the coach. He kept apologizing like crazy, saying he was sorry for being so stupid, and how his sister told him caddying was a bad idea, and how he was nervous around me..."
"And you forgave him?"
Lori smiled again. "I wasn't going to. I mean, I was literally FUMING. But when I looked at his face, I don't know... I could tell he was really sincere, and felt bad about it. It was like looking at that dumb seal picture Lincoln had, I just... felt the anger go away."
"Eventually, I ended up apologizing to HIM! And I asked him why he was so nervous, and he said 'Y-you're just... really, really pretty. Like, I saw you in school before, but I never knew you were so beautiful until today, and I couldn't think straight!'"
Lynn couldn't help but smile. Normally, she hated these dumb, sappy love stories, ESPCIALLY with Lori and Bobby. But seeing Lori like this was somehow just... endearing.
"And I guess you kept him as your caddy?" she asked.
"Oh, absolutely NOT!" Lori replied. "I still got a new caddy. But whenever I had a chance, I'd go talk to Bobby. He was really nice and funny, and I didn't really notice until then, but he was cute, too. After the game when we were getting on the bus, he asked me out for the next day, and... well, you know the rest."
"So, that's one of the reasons I stuck with golf so long. It's my third favorite thing in the world, and it introduced me to my second favorite..."
Lynn cocked her head in curiousity. "Third? Second? What's your first favorite thing, then? Your phone?"
"My phone? No way!" Lori said with a chuckle. "My first favorite thing in the world... well, that's a twelve-way tie. Mom, Dad, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lincoln, Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa, Lily..."
Lori walked forward and hugged Lynn, surprising her.
"And last, but certainly not least, you. My favorite athlete."
Normally, someone being this sappy with her would earn them a punch in the head. But all Lynn could do was return her sister's hug. She couldn't recall the last time she felt so close to her oldest sister. Likely never.
"Anyway!" Lori said as she released her younger sister. "We still have a couple hours and a lot of golf balls... What do you say we have a little contest?"
Lynn looked up to her sister with a grin. "What kinda contest you got in mind, sis?"
"We'll go get some ice cream after this, and whoever gets the furthest hit doesn't have to pay! Think you can keep up with me?" Lori said, returning the grin.
"Oh, you are ON!" Lynn said, grabbing her driver again. "Hope you're ready to pay for a super-triple sized sundae!"
Both girls spent the rest of their time competing with each other, each trying to surpass the last girl's hit. Eventually, they stopped tracking the distance, the contest being forgotten as the girls simply had fun and laughed together.