Chapter 34

"Juads Priest, Stoner, will you hit the ball already?"

"Miniature golf is a game of precision, Steve. Precision and perfection. And you can't rush either." Stoner said. Then, after a brief pause, hit his putt. He and Steve both watched it roll, bounce off the corner board and ease its way down the ramp. There it struck one of the pylons and rolled gingerly toward the hole. It paused, then fell in for a hole-in-one.

"You can't rush it, man." Stoner smirked.

Steve rolled his eyes and set his ball down. Friday nights at The Wild West Mini-Golf-And-Go-Kart Arcaditorium were not the best place to hang out (unless you were a junior high kid on a group date, he notes, looking around), but Stoner's girlfriend always let them golf for free, so...here they were. Thinking about perfection and precision, Steve lined up his shot.

"Hey, isn't that Jennipher Semmes over there?"

Ha ha, Steve thought, I will not be swayed by Stoner's Jedi Mind Tricks.

"With some dude?"

Steve couldn't help it. He looked up as he swung, sending the ball careening nowhere near the hole. But yes, at the Starbucks next door, Jen and some dude were sitting outside, laughing together. Steve's stomach dropped and he felt bile rising in the back of his throat. Oh, throwing up would not make Stoner's girlfriend happy...