Chapter Name: Another Round
Notes: Snappelinz you might have to setup a tent for this one ;) Or perhaps a sleeping bag. Prepare for a long one.
Thanks to reviews f girl, SorrisoD'Amore, bigtukker, RemDiamond, Fuck Creddie (lol), baronvonmilo, Fanfic-Reader-88, Carl Rahl, PerennialKillJoy, DontxLetxGo, and Snapplelinz.
Thank you to my beta reader cliche_much aka fbnk_luv aka themarchgirl aka Miguel Sanchez aka Doctor Nguyen von Phuoc.
"Welcome to Mulligan's Magnificent Mini-Golf, what can I do you for eh?" The man behind the counter asked in in a typical Canadian accent. Despite the warmth still lingering in the air he was wearing a furry loggers hat and a jumper.
"So uh, we're here to play some rounds."
"O' course you are, why else come here eh?"
"Well yeah we just wanted to know what the deal was."
"Why didn't ya just say so?" The man behind the counter was wearing a name tag declaring himself to be 'Phil', and he handed Spencer a pamphlet. It had a little picture of a lumberjack, flannel and all, wielding a golf putter.
"Take a gander at that eh, it'll tell you all aboot it."
"Uh.. thanks."
"Don't mention it eh. Y'all come back when you're ready."
We stood aside as a group to let another couple in to speak to Tim. Spencer examined the little booklet, before exclaiming, "What the hell is a loonie?"
Sam immediately piped up, "It's Canadian for a dollar." We all turned to look at her, "What? My mom dated a train driver from Winnipeg a few years ago."
"Every price has 'loonie' after it. 1 round, 4 'loonies'... a large soda, 2 'loonies'. The only thing loony here is these crazy canucks." Spencer shook his head, "Let's just get the full 4 round deal. Anyone got a problem with that?"
Myself and Carly voiced our approval, Sam just shook her head. We walked back up to the counter.
"Welcome back, what can I do you for eh?"
"Eh.. just the 4 round package."
"No problem eh," Tim reached down below the counter. He pulled out 4 putters, 4 golf balls, and a set of score cards plus tiny pencils, "Only a few rules eh, no shoutin', no yellin', no whoopin', no smackin' the ball outta the course and you bring everything but the scorecard back to the shed at the end."
"Okay." Spencer replied.
"One last thing, there's four courses. Two players max on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd courses, then you can have four at the last. Your choice what order. Have fun eh!"
"Thanks."
As we walked away, Sam said what we were all thinking, "Psycho..."
"So how we gonna do this kiddos?"
I spoke, "Way I see it, it's pretty simple. Four people, 3 courses. We split into pairs, and swap partners for the next round, then again for the last round and that will mean after the 3 rounds we'll have played with each person. Then we do the last one as a foursome?"
"I don't wanna play with you nerd. Can't it just be me and Carls, whilst the double dorks go play with each others balls till the 4th round?"
"Sam." Spencer and Carly chided at the same time.
"I'm not a dork." Spencer pouted, his pride hurt by Sam's jab.
"Okay, the dork and the artist then." With that Spencer's smile came back.
"Leave Freddie alone Sam." Carly came to my defense.
"It's true, he'll be all 'I have to measure the quantum Pythagoras and hit it with just the right amount of torque'. Lame." Sam said, putting her hands up to her nose like she was adjusting her glasses, along with making her voice high pitched and squeaky.
"Quantum Pythagoras? Torque? That doesn't make any sense Puckett!"
"We'll see how much sense you make after I beat you over the head with this stick!"
"You know what? I think I might just go play on my own. Have fun Sam. Spencer. Carly. They probably won't care if you have 3 guys at a course if you play fast." I turned to walk off to the far side course, but Carly followed me.
"Freddie wait." I stopped in my tracks, but didn't turn around.
"Yeah?"
"You know what." I sighed, knowing that if I kept being stubborn it'd ruin the night. I didn't get it. Sure, I could stand up to Sam, and even Carly and Jennifer.
Yet sometimes I just folded like a house of cards and just walked away instead of facing the problems.
"Fine."
I trudged back, watching Sam's smug grin. Carly took note of it, and took action. "Just for that, you and Freddie can pair up first! Now get going. Come on bro."
"Right sis." Spencer followed the orders of his little sister, who walked away to the course on the far side.
Carly took no notice of the groans and protests of Sam.
Sam turned to me. Her eyes narrowed, her eyebrows pointing down and inwards.
"Is this going to be one of those nights Sam?"
"What nights would those be?"
"You know, the type you make a living hell." I said, walking towards the first hole. There was a couple in front of us, so we waited behind them.
"Eh, maybe not a living hell. I haven't decided yet. Depends on if you annoy me more than usual." Sam replied nonchalantly.
"Well, we'll only be together for the one round. Maybe we could keep it civil? You know, mature?" I requested, trying to remind her of that promise she'd made in the past.
Sam ruminated on my proposal for a minute. The pair in front of us left the hole, and she stepped up. The first course was a basic 'funny obstacle' course, and this one was the typical 'windmill'.
Sam stepped up, blasted the ball without waiting to check on the windmill's movement, and the ball smacked into the wooden arm with a clunk. It rolled gently back down to the 'tee' area hit the back and rebounded right where Sam had dropped it to begin with.
"Goddamnit!"
I shook my head and noticed that a few feet to the side there was a small girl with pigtails in her long blonde hair. She was staring at us. Her hand was covering her mouth and her eyes were wide with shock.
"Sam you can't swear, there are kids about!"
"Fine dork. You know what? I'll keep it civil," Sam said, making quotation marks by her head, "Only 'cos it'll make my victory as sweet as a deep fried double-size fat cake."
"Victory? You can't even get the ball through the windmill."
Sam huffed. This time she hit the ball slow. It didn't even make it up the ramp.
I laughed, "Nice shot Puckett."
"Stupid ball. This is rigged, I bet there's a guy inside who watches the player and pushes a button to make it speed up."
"You try it then!"
"Alright I will."
I'd watched Sam's attempts and the couple before us. I was confident that I had it figured out. I stepped up and dropped the ball onto the ground. It made that 'pock' sound as it bounced up and down on the course that was a flat layer of felt underneath hard concrete. The sound grew faster and more annoying until it finally stopped when the ball came to rest.
I took my stance, relaxed my shoulders and swung through the ball. It sped up the ramp, fast enough to make the distance quickly, but not so fast that it'd jump off the ramp.
It neatly passed in between the arms, disappeared behind the interior, and I heard it drop on the other side.
We walked around to the other side. The ball wasn't on the green. I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. It was obvious the ball had gone straight in for a hole-in-one.
"Lucky shot."
"Luck had nothing to do with it."
"Come on, let's go." Sam started off to the next hole.
"Sam, you forgetting something?"
"What?" She looked at me like I was an alien.
"You still haven't got your ball in the hole yet."
"Fine. You want it in the hole? Here!" Sam dropped the ball down next to the hole, then tapped it in.
"Happy?'
"I'll be generous. You know, because we're being 'civil', so that's 4 shots for you, 1 for me."
"FOUR!"
"Hey, you took two and couldn't get it up the ramp, 4 is more than generous."
"No way. I'm going back there, and just you watch."
I stood off beside the windmill as watched as Sam set the ball up again.
...
"Seven for you, one for me." I tallied the score. I tried to, but couldn't keep a tiny hint of smugness from my voice.
"Grrr."
"You want the four back? I'll give it up if you admit you were wrong." I smiled, knowing Sam was between a rock and a hard place.
"Never!"
"Seven it is. You do play to win right? That's what I've heard. That Mama plays to win? Is winning more important that admitting you were wrong?" It was pretty fun turning the thoughts inside her head up against themselves. It didn't happen very often as she stayed guarded. Using humor as a deflection. In a way, I think the web show itself is a huge manifestation of that.
Sam wasn't exactly outgoing. Yet she'd show up on the web show and be funny all the time. People would ignore her up-bringing. Her sister overshadowing her academically and behaviorally. Those who might giggle amongst themselves that Carly would only ever be friends with Sam to make herself look better took notice.
Maybe deflection by humor isn't the best description. At least for that. I'm not sure how to describe it. It's not really deflection, as it's Sam on the show. It's not scripted down to the last syllable. It's not written beyond a basic outline.
It's just.. her. Perhaps it's a different type of humor that's the reason. Instead of the instinctive reflex when someone threatens to open her up, there's no need for security. No sense of keeping her thoughts inside her own head. Not being analyzed, or judged.
The eyes are the window to the soul. At least that's what the common thought is when applied to most people.
Maybe my web show camera is the window to Sam's.
"Grr." Sam said, gritting her teeth all the while.
"Hey, I gave you the option." I told her, as I turned back around from the direction I'd been staring down whilst lost in my thoughts.
"You want this putter shoved where the sun don't shine?"
I laughed it off as I walked to the next hole, "Four it is. But no more mulligans. "Cept the guy who owns the place."
"How about we make it interesting?"
"Whaddya have in mind? And no money. I know your broke ass couldn't pay me back when you lose."
"Pfft, when. As if. How about the double usual for the lowest score? And call that first lot a practice run. A do over."
"The double usual?"
"If you're man enough."
"I am!" I replied fiercely.
"Then make the deal!" Sam spat on her hand and held it out to me. Gross. But I shook it anyway. I wiped the mess off on my pants.
"You are so going down Puckett." We had to wait again for another couple to go through the first hole. This time, we both scored two. I got it through the windmill in one shot, but missed the hole. Sam missed the first shot into the windmill, but holed from the tee area on her second.
We blazed through the next 4 holes, neck and neck. We were tied on 11 shots. Whenever Sam won a hole she'd whoop and cry out. When I won I'd just quietly smile and walk to the next hole.
The 6th hole went two shots to three.
The 7th two to one. "Ha! Take that Benson. Hole-in-one!"
"Beginner's luck."
"We'll see about that."
Seven shots to six, because the 8th was built around a trick similar to the windmill.
"That was stupid."
"Tell me about it. If we didn't see that side channel we'd have been stuck all night."
"Stupid clown."
We went through hole after hole, teasing and reminding each other when we made mistakes. Yet in the end when it came down to it we couldn't be separated.
"A tie. That stupid nub smacked in a hole-in-one on the 18th. I just missed my tee shot, and the two shots meant we both got the same score."
"Really?" Carly asked. Apparently her and Spencer hadn't even bothered counting their strokes. Although Spencer made an aside to me it was because Carly.. to use Spencer's words 'sucked hard'.
"You got lucky nub."
"Whatever, let's switch. Come on Carly, let's go play our round."
"Let us go forth and golf together!" Carly said, before giggling. We linked arms and took off laughing.
"Why am I still friends with those nubs?" I heard Sam question to Spencer in the background. I didn't hear his reply as they wandered off towards the far course, whilst myself and Carly took up the course on the near side.
This course was a stark contrast to the first gimmicky course. The one we stood before was a 'classic' geometric shape and obstacle type course. The ones with the triangles, hills, squares, blocks, all the things you had to try and work out all the angles for. Not one about crazy light up clowns. It was a typical green felt, not the random colors of the previous course.
The first course had a narrow section that opened up into a large rectangle. The hole was in the bottom corner.
"Ladies first."
"How chivalrous." Carly stood up, and made her shot. It cannoned right back at her feet, as she failed to hit it through the narrow gap. She looked at the ball with a furrow in her brow, took more careful aim and hit it through on the second attempt. Carly holed in with a banking shot off the top of the green.
"Three. Not too bad. I'm getting the hang of this just you watch."
"Will do. Now it's my turn." I dropped the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the dark green tee area, and hit the ball fiercely towards the middle of the narrow gap. The ball came off the edge, exited the narrow gap, and hit a triangle obstacle set into the corner of the green. The ball banked off the concrete and rolled towards the hole, where it dropped, making the characteristic whoosh noise as it circled.
"Wow." Carly stood there mouth agape.
"What can I say? Sam was right. It's all about geometry. I'm sure it won't all be this easy though."
"But you got it in one-shot! Not even Spencer managed to do that when I played with him."
"Really? Sam got a few of her own as well."
"Maybe the Shay's just suck at mini-golf." Carly replied as she walked to the second hole. This one was 2 sections separated by a trio of holes that lead into tunnels which fed out onto the 2nd part of the hole. Despite having no obstacles at all, Carly still took three shots to hit the ball into one of the tunnels.
"Drat."
"Have you ever done this before?"
"Not really. I've mucked around at home with Dad's old golf clubs, but not for a long time now. I broke something Spencer was working on and he banned me from them. For my own safety of course. By the time he forgot about the ban, he'd used them on a sculpture or lost them in his room or something."
"Of course he did."
I took two shots, one to hit it into the tunnel, and the second to hole in.
"Nice Freddie." She congratulated me warmly.
"Thank you." I smiled.
The third was deceptive. It looked like it required a bounce shot between two off put rectangular concrete 'blockers' but there was a large enough gap that a straight shot from directly in front to the hole could be done.
To Carly's credit.. she figured it out. To her disservice, she made another horrible shot and it sprung back off a blocker and smacked her on the foot.
"Ow." She pouted, though I suspect the injury was more to her pride than the force of the golf ball on her brightly coloured sneakers.
Before Carly could move away I took her by the arm and gently placed her back in her stance. The first thing I did was fix her hands up.
"See, those hands are around the wrong way." I said as I stood in front of her.
"Oh, ok."
"That's better, you've got a much better grip on the shaft, and you'll be able to keep your wrists steady through the stroke. Now get the ball back, and look straight down. Does the ball look like it's right below your nose?"
"Ah.. not really." I nudged it to the side and back a bit.
"Now?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Try and take a swing." Carly nodded and hit through the ball. It didn't go far, but was straight. It made it just in front of the gap, leaving a simple straight putt to the hole.
"That's so much better!"
"Now try and get it in the hole again."
Carly walked up, and hit it once more, it went straight and true into the cup.
"I did it!"
"Yep. My turn!" I stepped up but hit the ball just off center. It still went straight enough, but it clipped the edge of a blocker and rebounded off into the corner. It was stuck in, so I couldn't get much power in my 2nd shot, only managing to hit it just out enough so I could make the third.
"I won!"
Carly smiled as I picked my ball out of the cup.
"Nice work."
"Thanks for the help."
"Always. I hope I wasn't intruding or acting like a bigshot."
"Where'd you learn this stuff anyway?"
"I googled it."
"Typical."
"What can I say? I'm a child of the internet."
The next hole was a sharp right angled 'dogleg' with a blocker in front. On the far right and far left corners was a triangle rebound. The hole was in the middle on the far right hand side.
"Whaddya think about this one Carly?" I asked as we stood in front of the hole.
"Well, I thought about hitting it on the little triangle things, but I'm probably not good enough to hit it like that. I think I might cut the corner and try and hit it off the top edge into the hole."
"Good plan. You wanna shoot first?"
"Well, I did the first few, now correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you go first if you lose the hole before loser? In which case, since you lost you would go first F. Loser. Benson?"
I smiled at her playful ribbing and stood up. I did try the shot off the triangles. My shot hit the top left one fine, but didn't rebound fast enough. I then missed what I thought was a simple second shot.
"Three. Not my best performance."
"My turn!"
I noticed Carly step up and completely forget a couple of the things I'd just told, so I stepped in behind her.
"Freddie! What are you doing?" Carly asked, her body tensing up. I probably should have realized before I did it that it looked like something of a compromising position. But it was all in the name of technique I promise!
"I'm just trying to help you... I didn't think, you don't mind do you? I'll let you go if you want?"
"No.. it's fine. Just surprised me is all."
"Kay." I took hold of her hands again, and fixed them up once more. Her smooth skin felt like silk under mine, and I maneuvered her hands into the correct position once more. I couldn't help my heart beating a little faster.. could you blame a guy who'd been in..volved in a pretty serious one-sided a crush on the girl whose back was currently pressed against my front, mys arms wrapped around her waist and holding onto her hands?
Just when I thought maybe Carly had noticed it and was about to break away her body relaxed again. Her knees bent just slightly and the breath she'd been holding back was released with an audible exhalation.
"You need to think of the putter like the.." I struggled to think of an analogy. Then it hit me. "You remember those newton balls Spencer made that one time right?" I asked softly through her long hair. I saw goosebumps pop up on her nape. Probably the natural result of the air from my voice tickling her neck.
"Yeah."
"Well you need to think like the head of the putter is just one ball, swinging back and forth on it's own. Keep your wrists and knees steady, and follow through the same distance as your back swing. Most time you just need to tap it. Tappa tappa tap. Like this."
"I moved the putter back a bit, bent my legs slightly and started swinging Carly's arms for her." She started laughing, but I continued, "Don't laugh."
"Sorry.. it's just funny."
"Are you making fun of me? I'm just trying to help you relax a little." I replied in a mock insulted tone. "Back and forth. Like the newton balls." We wiggled side to side for a touch longer and I let go of her hands and stepped back.
"Okay, you relaxed? Make the shot."
"Yes!" Carly smiled, and then concentrated on the shot. Her tongue stuck out the side of her face, as she looked down at the ball. The putter was pulled back like the smooth arc of the newton ball.
The metal blade struck the dimpled ball cleanly.
It flew in between the blocker and the corner, and bounced once on the top, then back on the bottom half. The little white ball rolled and rolled and rolled. It slowed but it kept creeping further towards the hole. I thought it had stopped for good on the lip of the cup, and Carly groaned. She'd have an easy tap-in.
"So close."
The ball then took a half turn more, and dropped into the cup. Carly jumped up in delight and hugged me.
"I got a hole in one!" Carly shouted, lifting both arms in the air and the putter with in in a victory post.
A second later she turned beet red as she realized half the people on the course had stopped to stare at us.
Well.. her specifically. She gingerly dropped her arms back down to her side, but it didn't wipe the smile off her face when she turned around back to me.
"That was so exciting, I didn't think I could do it, but I hit it through, then it bounced and I thought it'd stopped and it just went in."
"That was a super shot."
"Thanks for helping me."
I dismissed her compliment with a wave of my hand, "Was nothing really. You just needed to know what to do. Come on Carly Palmer, let's get going, we're holding up the course."
"Carly Palmer?"
"He was a famous golf guy.. never mind."
We played through quickly for the next series of holes. Except for the 2nd last, which was a hellish double sided hill. The cup was on a flat 'hilltop'. I stopped counting after my 8th attempt and we gave up and moved on.
When we finished the first 9, Carly sat down on a seat beside the course. "I'm hungry. I need some food to power me up for my comeback." Carly declared. Well, it was the 9th hole, the half-way point. The course in imitation of it's larger brethren looped back towards the 'clubhouse' at the start of the 10th hole. There was a series of mini-cafes and food stalls laid out along this far edge of the lot, along with a few sets of tables and chairs. It also had an entry/exit towards the parking lots.
"We were keeping score?"
Carly nodded her head and walked off to the food stands. "What the heck is poutine?" Carly asked.
"It's french fries with gravy and cheese Miss." The man on counter replied. He was dressed in the same clothing as the other employee, but his name tag said 'Terrance'.
"Sounds gross.. but I'm gonna try it. Preppy Cola as well thanks." I looked at Carly like she'd gone mad.
"What? A girl can't try new things?"
"I guess.. I just hope you don't end up like Sam at the pool." I thought back to Sam throwing up after being unable to keep down her lunch that day.
Carly slapped me on the shoulder, "Seriously Freddie, that is the last thing you should remind someone who is about to try something new and gross looking."
"Sorry." I replied, suitably chastised.
Terrance then turned to me.
"Preppy Cola only thanks."
"Coming up." Lucky for us, it appeared he'd just finished pulling a new batch out of the deep fryer. He pulled out a cardboard plate, dumped a load of fries onto it, covered it with the mix of gravy and cheese and stuck a fork in it.
"Here ya go, that be 12 and a half loonies eh."
Carly tried to pull out her purse, but I stopped her. I paid the man before Carly could complain, and I walked off to the table with her food. We sat opposite and I gave Carly her food after making her promise she wouldn't try to pay me back.
As I watched Carly eat, I finished off my Preppy Cola. I turned to throw the can in the trash, when I noticed a man and a woman walking towards the exit laughing. At that point, his hand reached over, his index finger trailing up the side of her hand.
It was then I had my wished for moment of clarity.
The woman stretched her arm just slightly, and he took it. Strong, firm, protective. They didn't look at each other, but they both smiled.
Sure, I'd held hands with Jennifer before, but from my vantage point here, it was just different. I could see their love just in the way his hand had reached over. The way it'd caressed hers. How she placed her hand in his with no hesitation at all. Without looking, they shared an identical smile. For the intents and purposes of those watching on they were clearly, positively together and that single gesture conveyed that to the world.
I turned back to Carly, who had finished her fries and now was starting on her drink, "Carly."
"Yeah?" Carly replied as she took a sip of her drink.
"I think I'm gonna break up with Jennifer."
AN: Yeah. Long chapter. Tell me what you think of it. Please R&R :)
