“Yeah, sure, on the way.”
While I wait for Wes, I act like I’m busy by picking up left-behind water bottles and putting them in the recycling bin. Mr. Williams is off to the side, talking with some of the other officials, and I know at any minute, I’ll be back to driving him around.
The second Wes comes into view, I rush to where he is. We switch phones again and he asks, “How much longer do you need me to stay?”
I shrug. “You can leave now. I don’t care anymore. If Mom asks, just say I have a headache and I’m going home to nap. And if my friends start blowing up my phone trying to figure out why I disappeared, just ignore them. I’ll text them back later. In fact, turn my phone off. I really just don’t care.”
Wes puts a hand on my shoulder, which prompts me to look up at him; his face is full of concern. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s fine. I just need this to be over.”
He hesitates a second, but there’s nothing more he can do. He’s already doing so much. They all are. I got myself in this mess, so I’ll have to get out of it.
“Okay, well, call me if you need me. Even if it’s just to talk.”
My eyes get misty and I’m afraid I’ll break down at any second. “I’ll make sure I’m home by four so you’re not late for Sophie’s party.”
Wes leaves and I want to sit on the ground and never move. But Coach will surely banish me for that, so I walk toward Mr. Williams and wait for him to tell me he’s ready to hit the course again.
I stand there patiently, but Mr. Williams isn’t in any hurry. My eyes wander around the area and I see Leo off to the side, next to the now-vacant check-in table. All his clubs are out on the table and he seems to be rearranging his bag.
I judge the distance between us and weigh the pros and cons of going to talk to him. He’s only a few feet away and I will hear Mr. Williams the exact moment he calls for me. And Coach has ridden off in his cart, so he’s not around. And it’s not like I’m talking to Leo while he’s playing.
“Hey,” I say when I get close. “How’s it going today?”
He stops what he’s doing and turns toward me. “Hey! It’s going pretty good, actually.” He moves in closer, his hand reaching out, and I’m not sure if he wants to touch me or hold my hand or pull me to him, but I’d be good with all of the above. He stops midway as he remembers where we are, and his hand falls to his side. “I’ve managed to shave a few strokes off my game today.” He tilts his head to really look at me. “Is your hair wet?”
I scrunch my face up. “Yep. Made an appearance at the party at the pool.”
“Ah!” he says. We both glance in the direction of the pool even though we can’t really see it from here. “I’m guessing Mae and the girls are still over there.”
“Yeah, at least for another hour, I think.”
“But you couldn’t stay the whole time?”
“This feels a lot like you’re asking an off-limits question.” I just know he’ll hear about the inner-tube race from Mary Jo later, but I don’t want to waste what little time I have with him talking about her.
He puts his hand to his chest. “I would never!”
I wave toward the table that has all his clubs and things on it. All of them with that neon-green grip, except for one in the middle. “What are you doing?”
“Rearranging my bag. Mae and the girls bought me a new club as a gift and I’m trying to make room for it.”
“Oh, that was nice of them,” I say. I mean, look how nice I am, giving them a compliment.
He ignores the clubs and focuses on me. “What’s the grad party tonight? I don’t have to dress up in a costume, do I?”
“No. It’s a scavenger hunt.”
“Like we have to go into the woods and find sticks and leaves?”
“No, not like that. Someone did this party for a group of girls a few years ago and it was a hit, so now every year someone has The Scavenger Hunt. There are teams and you go around town and do things. And you post it to your team’s Instagram account so everyone can see what everyone else is doing.”
He steps a little closer. “Like what kind of things?”
I shrug. “Well, I don’t know what we’ll have to do tonight, but last year, they had to do things like go in front of Starbucks and sing ‘I’m a Little Teapot.’ With the dance and hand motions and everything. It was fun watching the team accounts last year.”
“I bet,” he says, laughing.
