Scarlet lead May out of the restaurant and into a cab. Inside the cab, he quickly whispered an address to the cabbie and then say back with a smile on his face as the cabbie start to maneuver the streets.
"Scarlet, where are we going?" May asked nervously.
"Don't worry about it," Scarlet said "it's all part of my plan to show you an amazing time tonight,"
May sat silently thinking to herself, Plan?What does he mean by plan?
When the cab finally arrived at its location May was in a quiet panic. She stepped out of the vehicle prepared for the worse but instead saw something completely unexpected.
In front of May stood a giant flashing neon sign of a golf ball with a smiling face being hit by a golf club.
"Um Scarlet, what is this?" May asked as Scarlet finished paying the cabbie.
"This is mini-golf," Scarlet said with a big grin.
"What is mini-golf?"
"You've never heard of mini-golf!" Scarlet said shocked. "It's only one of the greatest games ever!"
Scarlet grabbed May's hand and lead her up to the booth where he got them both a putter and bag of balls. Then they walked over to the mat that had a flag next to it with the number 1 written on it.
"Alright so the game is simple," Scarlet said "You just have to hit your ball into that hole," he said pointing to the hole that was just on the other side of a small horseshoe shaped piece of turf.
"Isn't that kind of far away, though?" May asked.
"It is. Which is why you get to keep hitting until you make it,"
"You keep hitting it?"
"Yep, where ever the ball lands during your turn, that's where you'll hit it from next time, and every add hit adds to your score. Whoever has the lowest number of hits by the end of the game wins," Scarlet explained.
"I guess that makes sense," May said still a bit confused.
"Here let me go first and I'll show you how it's done," Scarlet stood on the mat and took a putting stance. He took a moment to line up his shot before hitting the ball. The ball hit the far wall and rolled with the curve of the course and rolling down the other side of the horseshoe and stopping a few feet from the hole.
"See, What did I say, it's easy," Scarlet said stepping back.
May stepped up to the mat and tried to copy Scarlet's position. She moves the putter back and forth a bit before giving the ball a weak hit. The ball rolled about halfway down the first stretch of the horseshoe before slowly stopping.
"That wasn't bad," Scarlet said trying to sound optimistic. May just groaned.
"It's alright May. You just need to know when to give the ball some oomph and when to give some meh," Scarlet said "Watch this," He walked over to his ball and took up his putting stance again. He carefully lined up the ball and the hole in his mind before giving the ball a lighter tap than he had last time. This time, the ball rolled forward slowly and fell into the hole.
"Just like that alright," Scarlet said "Now you give it a shot,"
May walked over to her ball and tried to get into the same stance as Scarlet had.
"No no no no," Scarlet said watching May. "You need to grab the putter like this," Scarlet walked up behind May and put his hands on hers and his head over her right shoulder. May quickly turned a deep shade of red.
"You see if you hold the putter like this," Scarlet moved May's hands into a proper position "then you have more control over the club,"
"Uh-huh," May said trying her best to pay attention.
"Alright then, once you have a good grip on the putter you need to line up your shot," Scarlet said "Try to imagine it in your head. You need to concentrate on how the ball is going to move once you hit it,"
At that moment May was having trouble concentrating on anything.
"Finally, once you know how you want the ball to move you just have to hit It," Scarlet then started moving his and May's arms back forth in a mock putting style. "You have to find that right balance between oomph and meh so that ball goes where you want it," Then Scarlet moved May's arms back once again and this time actually hit the ball.
This time, the ball mimicked what Scarlet's had done the first time but it ended up a few feet closer to the hole than Scarlet's had.
Scarlet took a step back to admire his work as May turned around to face him not realizing what color her face was.
"Oh my gosh," Scarlet said shocked "Are you alright May? You look like you're about to pass out!"
"What?" May said confused before she realized what he meant which only caused her to turn even more red "I'm fine really," she said looking down.
"Well you should at least take your beanie off, then you might be able to cool down at a bit,"
"No!" May said jumping backward and pulling her beanie down lower "I can't take it off!"
"Well sure you can," Scarlet said "You just need to pull it off before you pass out from heat exhaustion,"
"No no it's fine really," May said standing up straight again "look see I'm totally fine," She was trying her hardest to stand straight and not wobble.
When did I become so dizzy, May thought to herself I can't let him think there is anything wrong with me, May did what she could to give Scarlet her best 'I'm-not-gonna-be-sick' smile.
Scarlet thought for a minute. "Alright, fine, if you say so, just don't push yourself too hard,"
"Alright," May said before walking over to her ball. She managed to get her ball in the hole on her next stroke putting her one over par.
The couple then proceeded to the second hole. This time, the path to the hole was a straight shot but in the way we're two small hills with a valley in between.
"Alright, this one is a bit trickier. If you don't hit the ball hard enough you won't make it over the hill, but if you hit it too hard then the ball will fly off the course," Scarlet said "Oh and it's a three-par hole,"
"Wait what does that mean?"
"Par is how many strokes it should take you to complete the hole,"
"Oh ok then,"
"Alright since I went first on the last hole you get to go first on this one,"
"Ok," May said. She put her ball down in the tee area and started to line up her shot. She tried to remember what Scarlet had told her but every time she thought about the lesson she just remembered how close he was and soon she was bright red again.
"May? You alright?" Scarlet asked from the side.
"Uh yeah I'm fine," May said quickly trying to forget that moment. After another quick moment of thought, May hit her ball up the first hill. The ball zoomed up the first hill and flew past the second one landing just beyond the hole.
"Wow, May! That's was an amazing shot!" Scarlet said.
"What?" May asked not noticing that her ball was next to the hole at first "Oh yeah. Uh go me," she said.
Scarlet then stepped up to shoot his ball. He sunk it on par while May was one under. They continued to play the holes with Scarlet leading and May close behind.
May managed to overtake Scarlet on the seventh hole when Scarlet "accidentally" putted right into a sand trap. Her newfound confidence in her put-put skills was quickly dashed when she saw the ninth hole.
The ninth hole had a windmill right at the beginning with three separate holes right after. Neither Scarlet or May knew where each hole went but they could see that there were three exit holes. Each of these exit holes had their own path and one of the holes exited next to the hole.
"Woah, this hole Looks hard," Scarlet said.
"Yeah," May said a bit intimidated
"Well, I guess I'll go," Scarlet set his ball in the tee area and lined up his shot. He managed to hit his ball through the blades of the windmill and it rolled all the way into the far hole. It went down the tunnel and came out of the hole that was second closest to the hole.
"Alright not bad," Scarlet said "Your turn," Scarlet stepped out of the way for May.
May was still a bit intimidated by this hole. She concentrated on the speed of the blades and hit her ball in time with them, but since she was focusing so hard on when to hit the ball she didn't pay attention to how to hit the ball.
The ball managed to roll past the blades just barely but it did not roll out the other side.
"Well that's not good," Scarlet said while May just groaned. "Hey don't worry about it, I'm sure I can poke it out from the other side,"
Scarlet walked around to the other side of the windmill and looked into the little hole. "Huh," he said "it looks like it is too far on the other side for me to hit,"
As Scarlet stood up and started walking back to the other side of the windmill he noticed a small button on the side that read 'Stop Windmill'. "Hey May get ready I found a way to stop the windmill," Scarlet said and then he pushed the button.
May was already on her knees trying to find a way to hit her ball and avoid the blades when she heard Scarlet call from the other side of the windmill and she saw the blades stop. "Alright," she said as she crawled forward to get the ball.
Scarlet walked around to the other side and saw May reaching for her ball. "You almost get it?" Scarlet asked. May jumped a little when she heard Scarlet. She was about to answer when they both heard the gears inside the windmill start up again.
While the blades weren't moving very fast they definitely wouldn't stop if someone like May was in front of them.
"Uh May I think you need to move," Scarlet said a bit anxiously.
"Hang on I got to get the ball," May said
"I mean the blade is-,"
"Got it!" May shouted as she jumped back from the hole. She managed to just miss getting her whole head whacked by the blade but it did manage to graze the side of her skull.
May landed at Scarlet's feet rubbing the side of her head where the blade had got her. "Are you-," Scarlet had started to say before he froze.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
May then realized that she was rubbing the direct hair and skin of her head. Her beanie had gotten snagged of her head by the windmill and was still sitting on one of the blades.
For the first time, Scarlet was looking at both of May's eyes. He had always thought that her blue eye was beautiful but now he was seeing her white eye? Scarlet thought to himself.