Page 69 of Olivia's Only Pretending
“I was being nice withcrash. Let’s be real, your idea is tospyon her date,” I said. I grabbed a glass and poured myself a big cup full. “I still think it’s a bad idea.”
I looked around for Gracie. I’d seen her walk in, but she was now suspiciously missing.
“Olivia, we’re doing this with or without you,” Lucy said, also grabbing a glass from my shelf and pouring herself some wine. She took a sip. “Do you want to miss out?”
“Luce, have you ever heard of JOMO? The joy of missing out?” I took a sip of the earthy, berry tones.
“Doesn’t apply here. I know you, big sis. You have SOMO. The stress of missing out. You’d be stressed out not being there to wrangle Gracie and me in. Worried about the bad choices we might make without you there to put your foot down?—”
“I’mtryingto put my foot down right now. Look how well that does me.” I took a gulp this time.
Down the stairs stomped Gracie with a big black hoodie and black leggings for me to wear in her hands. She wore a black cap over her long banana-peel blonde hair.
“You were going through my closet?”
“What else is new?” She shrugged, tossing me the hoodie.
“That is giant,” Lucy said as I slid it over my head. It hung nearly to my knees, and my hands were lost in the sleeves. “Where did it come from?”
“It’s Victor’s,” I explained.
Lucy and Gracie exchanged a glance with raised brows. I ignored them.
I finished changing my clothes and then took another big swig of wine before I looked at my sisters and said, “I guess we’re doing this.”
Sweet River took its mini golf seriously. Mini Golf But Big Funwas expansive with an eighteen-hole course, a loud, colorful arcade off the lobby, and various snack stations to keep your energy up as you played.
“I guess we’re doing this,” I said again, to myself, as we walked into the noisy lobby full of teenagers. I bought our tickets from the freckle-faced teenage receptionist as Gracie and Lucy scoped the place, searching for Mom around the lobby and trying to find a view of the golf course.
After I paid, they raced over to me, nearly crashing into each other to breathlessly tell me that it seemed Mom had already arrived. She and her date were already on the course.
“We’d planned to be here early. Now we’ve missed all the introductory conversations,” Lucy groaned, speedwalking toward the courses. “If only all of us had taken the mission seriously.”
“I’m here, aren’t I? That’s as good as it’s going to get,” I grumbled, following after them. I looked out into the abyss of bright green golf grass, tiny pastel-colored windmills, and bridges.
Gracie and Lucy were stomping around, completely noticeable. Honestly, the head-to-toe black attire made them stick out even more. I grabbed them both by the arm and pulled them behind the bushes.
“Okay, if we’re really doing this, we can’t be marching around the place. We need to be discreet, and we need a real plan,” I whisper-shouted. “We can’t follow them around—it looks like they’re at hole two right now, and three and four are out in theopen. I think there are bushes over by hole five, though. Let’sdiscreetlyhead over there and check them out.”
Lucy and Gracie nodded in agreement.
We scurried behind the bushes and snack bars, crouched low. By the time we reached hole five, the three of us huddled behind a thick green bush, Mom and her date were already strolling over for their turn.
I placed a finger to my mouth, giving my sisters a serious glare to hush them. They stifled their giggles, and together, we peered over the hedge to check in on Mom’s date.
“Mom looks great,” Lucy whispered in awe.
“She’s in my dress.” I snorted.
Mom’s auburn hair was twisted at the nape of her neck, and she had one of my favorite old red wrap dresses with a cream cardigan. I’d lent her that dress over a year ago.
“Well, Ernie, this is actually my first time in …” Mom’s voice got cut off by a group of girls squealing at the neighboring hole.
“Ernie,” Gracie repeated to us, drawing out his name. “Jeff versusErnie.”
“See, it’s all in twist,” Ernie said in an attempt to show Mom how to swing.
“Ernie looks like a bit of a bad boy in that jacket,” Gracie said.
