Page 71 of June

Enid laughed and hung her head.

“You caught me,” she said.

“And you’re getting an extra stroke.”

Caroline held up the tiny pencil and the scoresheet and made a mark.

“I’m really trying not to make that a sex joke…” Enid noted.

Caroline laughed then and said, “You failed, obviously.”

“I’m not doing great at mini-golf, either,” Enid replied. “Maybe I should just give up on it and stare at you while you play?”

“You can stare at me no matter what. We take turns,” Caroline said.

“Stop making sense,” Enid replied and looked down at the bright pink ball Caroline had picked out for her earlier just to mess with her because Enid had mentioned that pink was herleastfavorite color.

She pulled the club back and swung, causing the bright pink ball to bounce off one wall and then the other before it went through a series of obstacles and bounced into a puddle of water that was also meant to be an obstacle. Caroline saw that and laughed. Enid grunted at herself. Caroline laughed even harder. Then, Enid felt arms snake around her from behind, and Caroline’s vibrating body pressed against her.

“You are really bad at this, but somehow, I think that makes you even hotter,” she said through her laughter.

“It’s only the fourth hole. I’m just out of practice,” Enid replied and placed a hand over Caroline’s arm.

“I know I’m a little shorter than you, but this feels really good,” Caroline said as she placed her chin on Enid’s shoulder.

“It does, yeah,” Enid agreed as she smiled wide.

A throat cleared from behind them, and Enid turned to see a family of four lined up at the hole, waiting for them to finish.

“Want me to get you a new ball?” Caroline offered as she pulled away.

“No, it’s okay. I’ll just grab that one and admit defeat on this hole.”

They walked up to the water, and Enid knelt down on the fake turf to grab the ball that now smelled like chlorine and maybe a little bit like algae. Of course, Enid had no idea howalgae actually smelled, so she assumed that was what it was and stood up.

“Make sure you wash your hands when we’re done,” Caroline said, looking on as Enid held up the ball in victory.

Enid laughed and took Caroline’s hand in her free one. Then, she grabbed her club that she had rested against one of the obstacles on the hole with the same hand holding the ball, and they walked to the fifth hole together.

“You go first this time,” Caroline suggested. “That way, if you take forever, I can wrap us up quickly.”

Enid laughed and placed the ball down. A few seconds later, she lined up her shot and swung, and the ball made it through the clown’s mouth. She followed it, hoping she had earned herself a hole in one, but found that the ball got stuck in a ninety-degree angle obstacle that meant she’d have to tap it a little before she could take a real shot. She heard Caroline laughing and looked up to see her standing next to the clown’s big head, watching Enid contemplate her next shot.

“That bet we made earlier is really going to work out for me, huh?” Caroline asked.

When they’d paid for their eighteen holes, they’d made a bet that if Caroline won, Enid would buy them food from the concession area inside the arcade, and if Enid won, Caroline would. Enid was grateful she had applied for a few jobs that morning before class because if she was really going to date a girl, she needed to have a job to afford dinners, movies, and mini-golf nights.

Unsurprisingly, Enid had lost their bet in the end. Caroline hadn’t kicked her ass or anything, but Enid had definitely lost by at least five strokes. So, when they went into the arcade, Enid went to the concession stand to get them an order of fries and onion rings to share and a corn dog for Caroline. Enid went with the slice of cheese pizza that didn’t look too old but hadundoubtedly been previously frozen and bought at the grocery store. She got them both something to drink and headed to the table, where Caroline was already sitting.

“Can I steal a bite of your pizza?” Caroline asked after stealing a fry.

“Can I steal a bite of your corn dog?”

“Depends. Do you eat them with mustard or ketchup?” Caroline asked.

“Oh, I’m sensing this is an important relationship question, right up there with, ‘Do I want to have kids or get married one day.’”

“Obviously,” Caroline teased.

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