Euphoric Innocence

🔹-Golf

"So, what was high school like for you, Lyxe?" I asked. I wondered if he was a quiet, shy boy in high school, like he was now in college.

"Pretty much the same as now, but I was involved in more stuff in high school than I am now." Alyxe replied.

"Stuff like what?" I asked curiously.

"I was on the soccer team, the golf team, the tennis team, the basketball team, etcetera, etcetera." Alyxe explained.

"Woah, so everything but the football and swim team it seems," I commented, my voice laced with wonder and amazement.

"I actually got kicked off of the swim team," Alyxe said with a chuckle.

"And might I ask why?"

"For swimming too fast," he admitted.

"Huh?" I asked, "That doesn't make any sense. Isn't the objective to swim the fastest so your team can win?"

"Yes, but when you're swimming as fast as me, the objective kind of gets thrown out of the window. But, it wasn't all bad. I ended up getting lots of scholarships, even some for swimming, but I got a full ride from golf, so that's how I ended up here." Alyxe informed, seeming pleased with his achievements.

"Golf," I mumbled. I wasn't the biggest fan of it, but my dad played it back in high school too and he had me go out to the course with him sometimes. He'd even let me watch him play in tournaments, although I had to sit on the golf cart so that I didn't disturb him when he tee'd off or with any other strokes.

"Golf?" Alyxe inquired, titling his head as he stared at me with a curious expression, "Do you want to play? Or is it something else?"

"Hearing about it just brought back some memories, that's all," I assured. "But, I'd love to watch you play."

"Come on," Alyxe says suddenly. I followed suit. I was always quick to trust him and follow along with whatever he did. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing though.

Next thing I knew, we were at a golf course.

"We can share my clubs until we can get you some new ones," Alyxe said, taking his golfing clubs out of his trunk.

"Who said anything about getting me new clubs?" I asked surprised.

"Oh, you're definitely getting some," he assured, opening the door for me. "Hey, Carlos!"

"Yo, what's up, Alyxe, where've you been?" The guy, known as Carlos, asked with the biggest smile on his face as he walked towards Alyxe. "And who's this little one? Your girlfriend?"

"Best friend," he corrected.

Ouch.

"Nice to meet you, little one. I'm Carlos, Alyxe's old coach." Carlos said, holding his hand out for me to shake.

"Oh-uhm-okay," I said nervously. It was hard meeting new people, "I'm Analeese."

"Nice to meet you," he said. He looked over at Alyxe, "So, how many holes today?"

"I think 9 should be enough, we'll play the small
course."

"Alright, need a cart?" Carlos asked. Alyxe nodded. "Alright." Carlos opened up a drawer and handed Alyxe a key with a big number eight on it. "Cart 8, have fun."

Alyxe took the key and guided me to the cart with the corresponding number on it. He set his clubs on the back and secured them tightly before walking over to the driver's side and turning on the ignition.

"The small course should take us no more an hour or so." He informed me. I nodded.

Once we'd arrived at the first hole, he took out his driver and tee'd up a beautiful pink ball. He handed me one as well as a tee for when my turn came.

He lined his ball up with the target, the red flag located in the middle of the green, then he took a step back and took two practice swings. When he stepped back up to the ball, he did a sort of tilt. Then, he brought his club back, and with more force than you can imagine, he came back through, striking the ball perfectly.

He stepped back after watching the ball make it all the way to the green. It was now my turn. I decided to not use a driver, but to instead use my gap wedge. The green wasn't that far from the tee box we were standing at right now. So, I didn't really see why Alyxe decided to use a driver, especially on a par 3. But, I'm sure he knows what he's doing.

I prepared everything. The tee, the ball, the club, my aim, my stance. Everything felt right. And with that, I hit the ball. It was perfect. We got back on the cart and drove down to the green. Once we'd made it there, Alyxe grabbed his putter, turns out, he had an extra one for me, so I used that one.

"Looks like you're farther out," I commented with a small smile on my face, "So, you have to go first."

"Yeah, yeah." he said with a playful roll of his eyes. He set up his putter behind the ball, then took a couple practice swings. He walked over to the fringe and squatted down, he did a little tilt with his head, which I found to be the cutest thing ever. I realized what he was doing, he was reading the green.

He walked back up to his ball and set up again. Then, he hit the ball, right into the hole. A birdie.

"If you wanna beat me, Annie, you might want to get this one into the hole." Alyxe teased. I smirked. Game on. And just like he did, I got a birdie too.

The next eight holes were competitive, we were trying to outdo each other with each stroke. So far, I was winning, which was weird to me. But, I think I realized what he was doing.

"Alyxe, be serious."

"I am," he said, teeing off from tee box. We watched as the ball made it to the green and continued to roll right into the hole. A hole in one. He was beating me again.

When it was my turn, I didn't have his luck. I ended up having to chip and put. But, it was an up and down sort of thing. One chip, one put. I still got par, but it didn't mean anything to his hole in one.

"It's okay, you're still doing better than most." Alyxe said, trying to make me feel better, but in reality, I wasn't really upset.

"I used to play golf with my dad, so I'm not new to the sport. Things just happen. And so I had to stop playing for a while." I admitted, getting off the cart at the last hole.

"Oh, I see, so you're not technically a newbie. But, you've never played on a team before." Alyxe confirmed. I nodded.

Just like the last 8 holes, he set up just the same, but this time, he ended up a little farther away on the green, so, he'd have to putt at least once or twice.

But me? Well, I'd hit it to where if I putted it in, I'd have a birdie. Hopefully luck was on my side.

After getting off the cart at the green, Alyxe had to go first. He made a perfect putt and awarded himself a birdie, and I did the same. We got our score cards and added up the scores from each hole. If we holed out, our grand total should be 27 since we played 9 par 3 holes.

I ended up with 22 and Alyxe beat me with 16. You could really tell that he was an amazing golfer and I believed that without him, his golf team probably wouldn't have won many matches, but I can't confirm that since I don't know how good the other players were.

"You did so good, love. You hungry?" Alyxe asked, giving me a ride back to the main building. The breeze was hitting my face nicely and sending goosebumps to my legs and arms.

"I could eat, what do you have in mind?" I asked.

"Sushi?" he asked with a smirk, causing me to giggle and nod.

"Sure."

"Hm, back where we started," Alyxe said, parking the cart and guiding me back into the main building. "Carlos, we're back." he said, placing the cart key on the counter.

Carlos took the key and placed it back into the drawer, "Did you two lovebirds have fun?" he asked.

"Yeah, he beat me. As expected." I said with a sigh.

"That's Lyxe for you. Certified professional," Carlos chuckled.

"Alright, alright," Alyxe said, grabbing onto my hand and leading me out the door, "See you next time, Carlos."

"See ya. Thanks for coming out," Carlos replied.