He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter Seven - Playing Roughly

It had been a fairly long and challenging week. The three candidates for Student Body President had begun their campaigns, though this wasn't much more than posters and a small mention in the school newspaper. Anthony's was to the point; his face and 'Vote for Me' in capitals underneath. Katy's looked oddly professional with the girl posing with a smile that would not look out of place in a celebrity magazine and the caption 'Let's Vote for a Better Future Together!". Cameron's was... unique; her best selfie surrounded by psychedelic flowers, rainbows and unicorns. Oddly, or perhaps not, there was no caption.

By midweek, the number of Anthony's posters stuck to walls and boards had quietly increased; the boy was quite grateful to the student who had helped him pick up his pile of posters that had scattered in the corridor when a jock had tripped him over. Someone else had 'kindly' added a strip saying 'Cameron for SBP' on her posters (covering a decent portion of the colourful extras). In contrast, some of Katy's posters had become buried beneath club notices or collateral damage in a food fight that had broken out in the canteen, although it didn't take her long to replace them with newer, improved posters. Not everyone was impressed with them though.

Chance of losing the SBP election; Katy Daniels 9%, Anthony Marshall Jr 92%, Cameron Lacey 99%.

Aidan groaned beneath his breath. This was going to require so much more effort. He would have wept, but didn't want to waste the tears. "Do you think she hired a professional photographer?" The girl, Tammi (with an 'i'), sitting next to him mused to her besties.

"I don't think her family has that sort of cash though," her friend Lola replied, while blowing gently her newly painted nails.

"It's so photoshopped!" Jeanie stated. "No one is that blemish free!" The other girls nodded and offered mixed words of agreement.

"Why did someone cute not stand for election," Tammi wailed. "Who wants to vote for a nerd, a teachers pet or an airhead! Oh no offence Jeanie!"

"None taken," said Jeanie Lacey. "I got the brains and she got two huge globes of fat!" The girls simultaneously glanced down at their chests and sighed.

*****

Finally, the weekend arrived and a moment to put the mission on hold. He probably should have wondered what the mission had to do with saving his new friend, but he simply accepted that there probably was a reason for it. He wouldn't even think about it over the weekend. On the Sunday, he would be playing golf with Warren and his dad. The old man had looked completely astounded when he'd not only asked if he could tag along (when he normally had to be dragged), but if he could bring a friend as well. His dad, having lost the ability for speak for a while, had slowly nodded his agreement.

However today was Saturday and with nothing better to do, Aidan decided to sleep as much as possible, then eat popcorn and junk food while watching a marathon of old sci-fi films before sleeping some more, showering and then going to bed. All in all, he felt the day was well spent. Before he closed his eyes, he sent Warren a simple text to wish him goodnight.

****

Thwack! The small, white ball leapt into the air after being hit by the golf club, before coming to land in the dew touched green grass.  "Where did it go?"  A boy, with slightly overgrown hair and small frame looked around with pale eyes.  A larger boy, with black hair and a slightly amused expression pointed to a spot a handful of feet away, before he chuckled.  Warren glared at him, watching as the other boy tried and failed to hold back his laughter with his fist.

"I'm sorry," Aidan apologised.  He replaced the tee carefully into the ground and placed a fresh golf ball on top of it.  "Here, let me help you."  He reached around the back of the smaller boy, guided his posture and led his practice swing, calmly explaining his actions as he did.

Aidan's father watched the two boys for a moment after chatting with a golfing buddy, who'd joined them for the game.  "Aidan," he called out.  "Stan and I are going on ahead."

"Alright, dad," Aidan called back, before refocusing his attention on Warren.  "Okay, ready to try again?"  Warren nodded, so Aidan took a few steps back.  This time, with a a small amount of luck, the ball flew around fifty feet before landing.  Warren smiled triumphantly at Aidan, who generously did not point out that his ball was almost two hundred feet ahead of that. 

"Not bad," Aidan complimented, before retrieving the first ball and the set of clubs placed to one side. 

"So what now?"  Warren asked.

"Now, you go hit it some more, until you get it into the hole on the green," Aidan told him, as they walked to Warrens golf ball. "Oh and we count the number of hits it takes."   He handed Warren a club and the boy swung wildly at the ball.  It flew only around twenty feet this time.

Sighing, they continued the light trek across the course.  "Do you play often?" Warren asked.

"Meh, my dad drags me to play at least once a month," Aidan replied.  Their conversation paused once more as Warren attempted once more to conquer the ball.  This hit was a little better, but still failed to reach Aidan's first shot.

"Do you like it?" Warren asked.

Aidan considered the question for a moment.  "I don't know, never really thought about it."  They watched Warren's ball fly once more, this time at a slight angle and into the rough, long grass to the side of the course.  "Kind of having fun playing with you though."

"I don't know why," muttered Warren.  "I can barely get the ball to go anywhere!"  It took two attempts for Warren to get the ball out of the rough and Aidan could finally take his second swing at his own ball.  They edged closer to the green, pausing to allow another group of golfers to pass though before experiencing a tense moment as they had a near miss with the sand bunker.

Once on the green, Aidan sank his ball in two hits, whereas Warren putted his around several times before it finally decided to roll into the hole.  Warren pumped his fist into the air as Aidan laughed.  "How many shots was that?"

"22," Aidan said as he checked his tally. 

"That's not too bad right?" Warren suggested, his voice held a small note of hope.

"Well, this hole is par 4..."

"Meaning?"

"It should only take around 4 hits to get the ball from the tee box to the hole."  Warren pulled a sour face, causing a slight smile to appear on the other boy's. 

"Okay, okay, I get it, I suck at this!"  Warren pouted.

"Well, no one is perfect," Aidan said.  "Want some lunch?"   Warren nodded.  And so both boys gave up playing golf after the first hole that day.