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Chapter Text

It was early summer in Runeterra. The days were finally getting longer and the weather warmer. After the long and cold winter the town of Zaun had to endure, it was a joy for Vi and her sister Powder to be able to spend a whole day outside again.

Being woken up in the morning by the warm sun on her face was very special for Vi.

The last few months of high school were a waste of time in Vi's eyes. Most teachers used class time to revisit topics from the past few months in order to prepare students equally for the upcoming final exams.

"Do they really have to try to reinvent the wheel," Vi muttered to herself while one of the younger teachers tried to explain the years of conflict between Demacia and Noxus using "innovative" teaching methods. Day in, day out, one repetition after the next....

The only exception among all the teachers was Vi's honors teacher Mrs. Cassandra Kiramman, who was also the principal of the school Vi had now been attending since 7th grade.

Mrs. Kiramman taught math and biology and cared for her honors course as she would her own children. Vi didn't know if she had children. The only clue about her marital status was the shimmering silver platinum wedding ring that Vi had noticed many times before when Mrs. Kiramman had handed out her papers or chores.

Instead of a diamond, as is usually the case with such rings, it was adorned with a small plate of metal with a coat of arms - to Vi it always looked like two crossed keys.

Powder was also already looking forward to the summer vacations. Vi's little sister was one grade below her, but had chosen music and sports instead of math and biology as Vi had.

Her advanced course teacher was an oddball: everyone referred to him only as Mr. Silco. As far as Vi could tell, it was a nickname he had been given in his youth.

He had once been a well-known athlete from Zaun and had won medals in track and field at some major competitions. Nowadays, he usually wore a black trench coat combined with a red and gold suit vest.

The sight made Vi laugh every time, but Powder had a lot of respect for him - so Vi mostly kept her giggles to herself when she spent breaks with her sister.

Some of the few bright spots in her last semester of school were the afternoons. Because of the last semester, Vi's school day was often over by 1 p.m. and she had plenty of time to prepare for her school project group, which she offered on Mondays and Fridays for the students in the younger classes. The principal had a list posted in the foyer and people could submit ideas for afternoon events.

Vi's father had told her at the time that such a project group always looks good on later college applications and with the prospect of perhaps being allowed to lead one herself, Vi was soon convinced of the idea.

Even if she didn't have high hopes that her project group would be admitted in the end: after all, she was planning to offer a golf project.

How often had she been told by acquaintances, classmates or dates that golf was a sport for old people? At first, she often just shrugged her shoulders and agreed with these statements. But by now Vi didn't care at all.

She had tried many sports in her life so far. Among them were soccer, tennis, field hockey, volleyball and now for almost 6 years golf.

At first, Vi couldn't really understand her fascination with golf, but the fact that you basically only play against yourself and the course appealed to her right away.

Oddly enough, the idea to take up golf didn't come from her father.

Vander had been a golf coach for 20 years at a mid-sized country club in the south outer reaches of Zaun. The name of the golf course said it all: The Last Drop Golf & Country Club.

The outer reaches of the city had become a scene of heavy industry for several decades, and Zaun's economic growth, closely tied to that of Piltover, the continent's technology capital, saw more trees cut down and lakes filled in year after year.

The city grew uglier in Vis and Powder's eyes as a result. But it was their home and despite all the problems with the bad air, the growing poverty and one concrete block next to the other, they could not imagine moving to another city. They would lose their friends; the familiar environment would change.

On some restless nights, the thought gnaws at Vi: What happens after school? Where will her path take her? For her uncertainty about her future, she could sometimes hate herself.

Vi never had that one dream of later life. Some kids want to be doctors, policemen, or lawyers.

Whenever friends asked Vi where Vi saw herself in 5 years, she had answered as follows, "I think I'll go to college. Maybe get my master's in another city and then get into an office job."

Taking up a profession, such as being a doctor, was something Vi had never considered - even though she had no problem seeing blood. The documentaries about wild animals with their gory scenes on TV that Powder and Vi were allowed to watch during dinner as children had never spoiled her appetite.

"Here you see a Crimson raptor mother with her three chicks after the mother finished her hunt for a scuttle crab. The chicks greedily eat the fresh meat. Such a big meal should fill the family up for a few days," it sounded from the speakers of the TV in the Wicks' living room.

"Ugh, how can you stay calm and eat your fish with mashed potatoes in peace with something like that," Powder asked her sister with a suppressed gag in her throat.

Vi grinned at her, amused by her little sister's behavior, "It's the way of nature, Pow-Pow. Eat and be eaten, it's the cycle of life. If Dad wasn't so good at cooking and making our favorite food for us, I'd have to eat you to survive."

Vi bared her teeth playfully and bit a hole in the air in front of Powder with a loud *clack!*.

"You're stupid," Powder returned in reply, "besides, you'd have to get a hold of me first."

With that, her little sister jumped up, grabbed her jacket off the hook in the hallway of the apartment in one fluid motion, and ran toward the door.

"Catch me, sis!"

"Well wait, I'll get you!" Vi grabbed her army boots and half-jumped to the door in pursuit of her little sister.

Powder was more nimble, but not as persistent as Vi. Usually, their little sports session ended with Vi catching up to her after 5-10 minutes and they went to the park together for ice cream.

"Oh how nice it would be to experience that lightheartedness again," Vi thought with a somewhat dreamy look as she sat with Powder at her favorite café today.

The owner of the café was an old friend of her father. Benzo had also worked at her father's Golf & Country Club in the past, but in the restaurant business, and 10 years ago he fulfilled his lifelong dream by opening his own "restaurant."

Since then, it has been a family tradition for the Wicks to stop by at least once a week for a bite to eat. Most of the time, it was even on the house - something Vi and Powder rarely complained about.

For the past few months, however, Powder had been dragging her sister Vi to Benzo's café for another reason: Ekko had started working there.

The boy was no stranger to Vi, either. They had played golf and trained together in the past.

After a few years in the club's youth team, however, Ekko had joined the men's team, and since then the friendly contact between Ekko and Vi had become less and less.

In the meantime, he had made a name for himself in some smaller golf tournaments in the Zaun area and was considered one of the greatest young talents in golf in Zaun - Vander had also mentioned this several times.

Ekko was currently looking to earn a little extra money to help launch his college golf career - much to Powder's delight.

"A cupcake sundae for my two favorite guests," Ekko said with a little bow as he brought Vi and Powder their order.

He winked at both of them and placed the plate between them.

"With the wonderful combination of raspberry ice cream, cookie ice cream, and a chocolate frosting with blue and pink sprinkles! Where did you get that idea?" grinned Ekko at the two girls: Vi with her short upswept pink hair and Powder with her waist-length blue braids.

"Are you really going to ask that question every time?" returned Vi shortly, rolling her eyes slightly.

She did find pleasure in the fact that Ekko's friendly, slightly flirtatious manner brought a smile to her face, but there was no need to keep bringing that up to him.

With Powder, however, this question recently had a completely different reaction.

"Oh, you know, the ice cream reflects Vi and me so well. She's the slightly tart part of the raspberry ice cream and I'm the sweet part of the cookie ice cream...and the sprinkles, well, a combination of our hair...!"

At the last part of her sentence, Powder slowly grew quieter and more embarrassed, nervously playing with her long braids.

"I'm the slightly sour part, Pow-pow?" Vi gave her sister a light pat against the shoulder.

"I'm just teasing you a little, sis."

"Yeah yeah, wait until we get home later, you'll get the sour part," Vi laughed as she watched her sister and Powder's face grew redder and redder.

Ekko turned to Vi, "Have you heard about the school golf championship coming up, Vi? I was going to ask you if you were going to be there too. Maybe I'll see you on the golf course again sometime."

The School Golf Championship was the largest golf tournament next to the Club Championship, which was held each year near the end of the season.

Last year, unfortunately, Vi was unable to participate because she had caught a silly cold during the summer.

However, she had completely forgotten that she could still participate this year - she was actually already done with all school subjects and was only counting the days to the final exams: another 14 days and she would have her school days behind her...

Powder leaned over to her sister and whispered softly in her ear: "You're going, aren't you? I'll come too and caddie for you if you want."

A smirk ran across Vi's face. Powder would definitely take her job seriously and lend a hand, but secretly Vi knew her sister's attention wouldn't be all hers.

"I don't know yet, Ekko. I actually have to study and final exams are in two weeks, you know how it is," Vi replied, turning her head slightly in Ekko's direction.

"Violet Wick and studying? Don't make me laugh...Since when does our mastermind have to study for exams to write a good grade? I've known you for a long time and you've never had any problems in school. So what's going on?"

"I've spent the last few months just teaching golf to the kids in my school project group. It's been a while since I've had time to play a round of golf just for myself."

Vi wasn't lying to Ekko about that: she hadn't played by herself in a long time, and the few shots she'd taken for her students to show how a golf swing worked weren't a determining factor in how good she currently was.

"Come on, Vi. I know you can do it," Powder interjected from the side. "Besides, someone needs to put our champion in his place for once."

She was carrying a torch for Ekko here with her emphasis on the word "champion."

"Okay, I'll think about it, Ekko. When is the tournament again?"

"The last weekend in July, so pretty much in 3 weeks. I would be happy to see you there." Ekko winked at Powder at that, while Vi searched her phone for the calendar to fill in the date.

She kept meaning to start putting all the appointments and dates in there, but immediately forgot, and there wasn't much to put in at the moment either.

Most of her time Vi spent with Powder or in her room anyway. So the current reminders were just the next holiday: Progress Day was on Friday before the tournament - one of the biggest holidays in Piltover and Zaun.

"Okay Pow-pow, I have to leave soon. My school group starts in half an hour and I don't want to make a bad impression if I show up late, right? So let's finish our ice cream and get going," Vi said, glancing at her watch.

"What are you getting from us, Ekko?"

"Nothing, it's on the house for my friends today. But don't tell on Benzo! Otherwise I'll get in trouble again for buying beautiful women a snack."

Vi rolled her eyes once more and flippantly gave Ekko the middle finger. Ekko, in turn, just grinned across both cheeks and said goodbye with his typical little bow.

So, he's slowly overdoing it with his little flirtations, Vi thought with a smile on her lips.

Powder was mesmerized and ran her fingers lightly over her lips "Did he just call me 'beautiful'?"

"Oh God, you got it all over you, Pow-pow!" Vi was just able to suppress her laughter enough that Ekko didn't catch any of her outburst.

"Oh, Violet, you're just jealous because I have someone to adore right now. But you'd rather hole up in your room or hang out with your favorite sister all day," Powder replied.

"Hey, not nice...Besides, nothing happens between the two of you from idolizing alone. You're going to have to reach out to him if you want anything to change. I'm sure he notices how you react around him, Pow."

Powder just snorted, rolled her eyes, and took another spoonful from her cupcake sundae.

The next few minutes flew by and before long, the sundae was completely eaten.

Vi grabbed her small black backpack, her red slightly battered leather jacket that had several patches on it and walked past the counter towards the outside.

The air was pleasantly warm and refreshingly crisp on this Monday afternoon. Vi hugged her little sister and said goodbye before running to the bus station and hopping on the next bus that would take her toward Zaun High School.

It was a 15-minute ride and Vi put her headphones in her ears. She had discovered her love for country music a few weeks ago. Powder was right in that Vi was a little envious.

It had been over a year since her last dates and the guys she'd been out with had all been jerks, as it had mostly turned out during the second date. If it had happened at all and Vi hadn't been ghosted beforehand.

Since then, Vi still had Tinder installed on her phone, but used the app more out of boredom than to find a partner.

Country music was of limited help in lifting her spirits. Most of the songs were cheesy love songs and only made the emptiness in Vi's heart grow.

Vi had always found it difficult to show her feelings openly, but music was a good outlet for that. She could put on her headphones, pick a song that suited her mood, and switch off.

Because of Powder's love for music and her choice of performance courses, she always had new bands ready for Vi that she didn't know yet and whose music could take her mind off things.

After another song by Thomas Rhett - 'Die a Happy Man' Vi decided she had moped enough and changed the song to an Electronic Playlist she had been sent by Powder.

After the bus ride and 5-minute walk, Vi had arrived at the school's entrance gate.

To her amazement, Mrs. Kiramman was standing in the doorway and seemed to be waiting for someone. When she saw Vi, she kindly waved her over.

"Hello, Violet. I'm sorry to barge in, but I remembered that you're offering your golf group today around 4 p.m., and I wanted to ask you to stop by my office for a few minutes afterward. I have something to discuss with you."

Cassandra Kiramman chose her words with a precision that almost made Vi a little afraid to appear in the principal's office alone, long after classes had ended that day.

As if recognizing the tension and surprise on Vi's face, her honors teacher gave her a warm smile and added a "Everything's fine. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I'll see you later then, Mrs. Kiramman. Around 6:00 then?"

"See you later, Violet."

The golf project group went by in a flash today.

Even though Vi wasn't afraid of her teacher, she racked her brain for the next 1.5 hours about what Ms. Kiramman might want from her.

Had she forgotten some homework assignment? Was it about something Powder had done?

It wasn't until a little girl's voice snapped Vi out of her thoughts and pulled her back to the present, "Ms. Wick, am I doing this right? I feel like I'm holding the golf club wrong."

The girl was part of Vi's beginner group that she always taught on Mondays, and while she already understood the correct approach behind the golf swing, she was once again holding her hands the wrong way.

"Let me take a closer look, Zoe. So...what did we say, if you're right handed, where does your left hand need to be on the grip?"

The little girl smacked her forehead lightly with her right hand before replying, "Oh, I keep forgetting...Then it belongs on top?"

"Exactly," Vi replied with a nod, "and how many times do I have to tell you to please address me as Vi? Otherwise I feel so old already."

She now turned her gaze to the group of 6th graders and got a quick nod from all of them.

"Well wonderful! Let's hit the net a few more times and then we'll play a little game, okay?"

All the kids yelled out enthusiastically, "YES!"

Vi was very grateful to her principal for all the paraphernalia that was provided.

Golf equipment is very expensive in itself, and Mrs. Kiramman had even build a practice facility on the edge of the sports field for Vi after her first year leading the golf project.

This included some tee mats with safety nets and a putting green made of real grass. Vi didn't know what to say at the time.

She was completely overwhelmed by the school's support and hadn't understood why Mrs. Kiramman had placed such great trust in her.

At the end of today's practice, Vi planned to play a little game of putt with the kids - the little ones even insisted that Vi play along and she gladly accepted the challenge.

Vi took the flag out of one of the holes on the putting green and placed it on the edge in the grass.

"So, everyone, please listen for a moment. We're going to play a game that my father used to play with us at the end of practice. Please don't ask me why it's called that, but we're going to play 'Freljord putting'. The goal is to be the last person to putt the ball in the hole. We all start together right away and hit the golf ball towards the hole I just took the flag out of. After that, it's always the person's turn who is farthest from the hole. You may use your ball to kick other balls away. However, if you are the person farthest from the hole twice in a row, you also lose and are disqualified. Do you understand that so far?"

Zoe was the only one to speak, but the subsequent nods from the other children indicated to Vi that her explanation had apparently been received by all of them.

"Good, then please line up next to me."

It took a minute for all the kids to pick up their putter and a ball and position themselves next to Vi.

"Everyone ready?" asked Vi.

"Okay, then on 3. 1...2...and 3."

Vi took out her club and tapped the golf ball just lightly. The distance between her and the golf hole was maybe 10 yards.

However, it was slightly downhill, so she didn't need as much power to hit the ball all the way there.

The kids in her group did the same. Some hit a little harder, some a little lighter than Vi.

The picture that played out before Vi's eyes reminded her very much of the training sessions in the youth team of her golf club with her father as coach.

Six golf balls went off at the same time and all stopped at different places around the hole.

Vi's ball stopped right at the edge of the hole and she almost felt a little bad.

The way her ball was lying, it was very hard for the kids to win anymore.

After a few minutes, only Zoe and Vi were left in the game.

Zoe's ball was right on the opposite side of the hole but was farther away than Vi's. So it was the girl's turn.

She stood over the ball at her feet for a while, her mouth twisted into a thoughtful expression, her eyebrows pinched together and her brow furrowed.

Suddenly her face cleared and Vi looked at her curiously. The little girl had an idea, and Vi saw only one way she could still lose.

Zoe would have to hit the ball over the hole with enough speed to keep the golf ball from falling in, and use it to kick Vi away.

However, this plan involved a lot of luck. If she didn't hit the ball right, it would fall right into the hole after she would have hit Vi's ball....

Zoe took a swing with the putter and hit the ball toward the center of the golf hole.

Vis eyes tracked the golf ball and as it rolled over the edge of the hole, it hit the back of the hole, bounced upward, landed right behind Vi’s ball and gave it a slight bump along with it.

Vis' jaw dropped while her ball disappeared into the hole with two turns and the typical sound rang in her ears.

Zoe's eyes lit up brightly with joy, she held her golf club in the air above her head and screamed, "I won, I won, I won - yay!!!"

Vi could not believe what had just happened.

She had thought the probability of this outcome was almost impossible. But sometimes the strangest things happen in life.

She gave Zoe a high-five, congratulated her on her victory, and then asked the kids to collect all the clubs, put them in the golf bags, and head to the locker room.

A short time later, Vi was standing alone in the corner of the schoolyard, gathering all the bags and locking them up near the gym in a specially designated room.

Her own golf stuff was also in that room. A quick glance at her clubs was enough to awaken the desire in her to play golf herself once again.

"Should I take these things home and ask Vander to drive me to the golf course again on Wednesday?" thought Vi.

Actually, she already felt like taking part in the school golf championship.

Especially since she had missed her chance last year, because only high school students are allowed to participate in the tournament and if not now, never again.

Vi slung her golf bag over her shoulders, left the room and headed for the locker rooms as well.

Just before she reached her destination, the kids from her group approached her and Zoe came running up to Vi, beaming.

"Thank you so much, Vi. That was so much fun today," the little girl said.

At that, the words almost rolled over in her mouth. Vi could tell she was excited and nervous.

Afterwards, Zoe hugged her and Vi didn't know what hit her. It felt really good to have someone be so open and warm. It was a behavior that Vi had never in her life expected from a 6th grade student.

"See you next week!"

"See you next week, Zoe," was all Vi, still baffled by the situation, could produce.

Before Vi was to report to Principal Kiramman, she quickly jumped in the shower and changed into her street outfit.

She stuffed the sweaty polo shirt and short workout shorts she had packed especially for class into the black backpack in her locker and threw her golf bag over her shoulder on the way out.

She held her backpack in her right hand, letting it blow around in the gentle summer breeze as she walked across the courtyard of Zaun High School to the main building.

The school's hallways were completely empty at this hour, and even Mrs. Kiramman's secretary, known only as Sky to all the students, had already gone home.

Sky had earned her name because she wore something sky blue almost every day.

She was famous for her blazer, which she pretty much always had hanging in the office.

She was the good soul of the school and always had an open ear for the students' problems.

Vi knocked three times in quick succession on the door to Mrs. Kiramman's office after placing her backpack on one of the chairs in the anteroom, her golf bag right next to it.

"Come in," came the reply, and Vi opened the door.

"Ah, Violet. I'm glad you could spare a moment."

The warmth of her smile gave Vi a pleasant feeling of safety and security. Ever since her father became a single parent after her mother's death, Vi had been missing something in her life, and perhaps that warmth was one of the reasons she liked Mrs. Kiramman so much.

"But of course. What exactly would you like to discuss with me, Mrs. Kiramman?"

"Well, I wanted to check with you to see if you were aware that the school golf championships will be held in three weeks. I have the list of registrations for the tournament in front of me right now and I couldn't find your name, Violet. It can't be that my head of the golf project group isn't playing in this tournament for our school."

Her principal's teasing wink caught Vi off guard.

"Um...Mrs. Kiramman, that's quite a coincidence that you bring that up now. Today at lunch I also had a conversation with a former player from my junior team. He goes to another school and wanted to know if I was participating as well."

"Haha it's a small world," her principal replied with a smile on her face, "so how about it? Can I still sign you up?"

"I don't know. I haven't played properly in ages and I'm definitely out of practice. I'd need more practice again, and I can't imagine I could represent our school worthily..."

"Violet, I have regular parent-teacher conferences and the feedback I get from the parents of your project groups' kids is all positive. Zoe has now even convinced her parents to let her take her course permit so she can finally play on real golf courses. I can't imagine it will be a big problem for you to get back into your sport. You'll do fine, I have no doubt about that."

A comforting feeling of warmth rose in Vi.

Cassandra Kiramman had hit a sore spot with Vi: her insecurity.

But not in a bad way, but in a motherly loving way. Her insecurity was gone. Her father was the same way, and the memory of hugging little Zoe reinforced Vi's decision.

"Okay, then please still sign me up. I won't let you down." Vi's voice was clear and confident.

"I'm glad to hear that, Violet. I'm already rooting for you for the competition and, of course, for the upcoming final exams."

Mrs. Kiramman played around with her wedding ring, turning it counterclockwise with the thumb and forefinger of her left hand, then the other way around again.

"Then you will also meet my daughter. She's competing for Heimerdinger High School out of Piltover," Cassandra Kiramman said.

Vi noticed how her principal's gaze slid toward the windows at that. Did she look sad? Vi didn't know how to respond, but her mouth was quicker than her thoughts.

"Your daughter?" asked Vi with a puzzled expression on her face. Why had she never spoken of her?

"Yes, my daughter: Caitlyn."

Chapter Text

Mrs. Kiramman's words kept Vi in her thoughts for a while. So she had a daughter and this daughter also played golf, like Vi...?

What were the odds of that???

Maybe that was one of the reasons, if not the reason, why Cassandra Kiramman had chosen Vi's activity in particular out of the many different school projects. She may have seen in her daughter how much fun kids or teens could have with the sport and wanted to give more young people access to golf because of it.

"I didn't know you had a daughter," Vi said carefully. "You never mentioned that..."

"That's not really relevant, Violet," Cassandra interrupted her, "when I'm here, I'm a principal first and a teacher second."

"You're right, of course," Vi returned shortly. Had she just crossed a line? Why would her teacher talk to her about her daughter, too? Her mind was going completely crazy. Vi had to calm down again.

"At the time, my husband Tobias and I decided against sending our daughter to the same school where I was principal. You know how children and young people can be, Violet. Suspicions of favoritism quickly arise when you realize that the principal and one of the students share the same last name."

Vi was well aware of how mean kids could be when something didn't suit them, and for a brief moment felt transported back to second grade.

Back then, Vi had moved out of their small apartment in Piltover with Powder and her parents and into a nice, big 4 room apartment in Zaun. Finally, Powder and Vi had their own rooms.

For Vi, sharing her room with Powder had never been a bad thing. She loved her little sister more than anything.

But when she had reached puberty, Vi realized the advantages of having her own room - she could be undisturbed for a few hours and switch off her head.

Vi and Powder had to change their school and adapt to the new environment in Zaun. Vi started in the 3rd grade and Powder in the 2nd grade.

Within the first two years in elementary school, the first friend groups crystallize and for the time until secondary school, they usually remain unchanged.
As the "new kid" in the class, it is often very difficult to become part of one of these groups - and that doesn't get much better when you are directly the top of the class.

For Vi, it had always been easier to make friends among the boys.

The whole unicorn and princess phase had never been Vi's thing, and the girls in her elementary school class often referred to Vi as a boy because of her short hair and athletic talents.

In order to maybe belong someday, Vi had even tried to let her hair grow out longer....

However, the hair never really wanted to get longer than with a bob haircut and if Vi was honest, the wild growth didn't look nearly as good as with a professional bob style.

The long hair was more Powder's thing after all. Her sister already had a long braids at 8 years old that reached over her shoulders.

Vi was brought back to reality by her teacher's questioning look. How long had she been in her thoughts now?

Had Vi missed a sentence from Mrs. Kiramman? Without further ado, Vi decided to simply respond to Mrs. Kiramman's statement.

"Yes, I can very well relate to how mean children can be, Mrs. Kiramman."

A gentle smile made its way onto Cassandra's face as She looked at Vi.

"I'll be sure to hold you up, Violet. Thank you so much for stopping by again. I'll put you on the list and you'll probably get a written invitation in the mail in two days. Is your address that Sky gave me earlier still correct? 7 Wolfseal Road, The Lanes, Zaun?"

"That's correct, Mrs. Kiramman," Vi confirmed with a cautious nod. "Have a good evening."

With that, Vi turned on her heel and headed toward the door.
Just as she was about to pick up the doorbell, her teacher called out to Vi:

"By the way, the school championship will be held at two different golf courses: the first round at the championship course at Last Drop Golf & Country Club and the second at the championship course at Piltover University."

"At least I know one of the courses inside and out," Vi's voice trembled a bit as she uttered that sentence.

The course at Piltover University was one of the hardest golf courses, if not the hardest, in the area.

She was supposed to play that one in less than 3 weeks and represent her school with dignity?

Vi's self-confidence shrank within seconds. What if she failed and couldn't get anything together on her first day on her home court?

"You'll be fine. I have no doubt about it."

There was that warmth in her principal's voice again, Vi turned briefly again, gave Mrs. Kiramman a smile and opened the door to the outer office.

Quietly, she let the door fall into the lock behind her and gathered up her things, which Vi had placed next to the small armchair a few minutes ago.

Leaving the school grounds in the direction of the bus stop, Vi noticed that there was still a light on in Cassandra Kiramman's office.

It was after 6:30 p.m. by now. Was she working late now?

All the other lights in the school building had already gone out, but then the big overhead light in her office went out, too, and Vi averted her eyes from her school.

The bus ride home took just under 20 minutes.

Upon entering her apartment, the smell of burgers hit Vi's nose and she saw her sister and father sitting at the living room table.

They were laughing together and Powder was grimacing one after another.

Vander looked up and gazed into his older daughter's eyes.

"Violet, there you are at last. Powder and I made burgers and were actually expecting you half an hour ago. What took you so long? And why did you bring your golf stuff?" her father asked.

"Mrs. Kiramman wanted to see me briefly after my school project, and after we met Ekko at Benzo's Café earlier and talked to him about the upcoming school golf championships, I figured I should get some practice in, too," Vi pulled her shoulders up slightly in embarrassment, lowered her gaze, and turned her head slightly to the right.

Vander's eyes lit up with joy.

"That's my girl! Are you entering the competition this year? I saw the announcement for the tournament on the bulletin board today. The first round will be played on our course and there are great prizes for the winners. I understand there will even be some talent scouts in attendance..."

"Dad, Dad, Dad...wait a minute," Vi held both her hands in front of her and made a calming motion with them, "I haven't practiced by myself in a long time. Please don't start talking about talent scouts already."

"Okay, I get it, daughter dear. But I'm glad you want to start playing by yourself again. Powder has already told me that Ekko will be playing as well. It will definitely be interesting to compete with your old teammate again...and from what I hear, the boy is even better looking than he used to be."

Vander looked over at Powder gently, but couldn't help a small grin. Vi could see her little sister completely blushing and wanting to sink into the ground right here and now.

"Oh, Daddy," Powder squeaked, hiding her face behind her double cheeseburger.

"Come hang your jacket in the hall, put your golf bag down, and get something from the kitchen too, Violet."

Vi didn't argue further, setting her things down in the hallway and walking past Powder into the kitchen.

As she passed, she gave her little sister a quick tousle through her hair, earning a teasing "Hey" followed by Powder's laughter.

The kitchen smelled pleasantly of homemade burger patties.

Her little family had found a special blend of spices to give the burger meat another flavor of their own to match.

The right combination of curry and paprika powder along with salt and pepper added a sweet, slightly spicy touch.

First, Vi took a burger bun that had warmed up in the oven and spread a touch of butter on both halves.

Shortly after the butter melted, chopped lettuce went on the bottom, mixed with a sauce of ketchup, mayonnaise, Sriracha and chopped pickles.

This little trick ensured that the sauce didn't run right down the burger and that the plate didn't look like a battlefield afterwards.

Following that was a large slice of tomato, two patties each topped with a slice of cheese, two crispy fried strips of bacon and caramelized onions.

And there you had it, the Wick Special Double Decker!

Vi sat down at the table with her father and Powder, grabbed a couple of fries from the bowl that sat on the table between them, and devoured the burger within minutes.

They spent the rest of the evening together playing board games and an impromptu karaoke session as Powder got her Bluetooth box out of her room and played some familiar songs from the past year.

Her sister could sing very well and Vi tried hard to hit the notes as best as she could so as not to throw Powder off her rhythm.

After three songs, she let Powder have the stage to herself and leaned back relaxed in one of the two armchairs that decorated her living room along with the comfy couch and a large rug.

Around 11 p.m., Vi couldn't keep her eyes open any longer and went to her room to get ready for the night.

She put on a T-shirt that said "Piltover's Finest" on the front. The brand's name was written in small letters and positioned on top of her left breast.

Her mother had found this little boutique in the heart of Piltover almost 10 years ago. Since then Vi regularly bought new things there: on the one hand as a memory of her mum, on the other hand she liked the style of the store.

She lay down in bed, threw the covers over her head and fell asleep within a few minutes. During the night, Vi recalled all the things that had happended on this day.

The next morning, Vi was awakened by her cell phone alarm clock around 7:00 am.

She had forgotten to turn off the alarm last night. Today she had no classes at school and wanted to spend the day with her dad on the golf course.

Vi grabbed a towel from her closet, jumped in the shower, and within 15 minutes she felt refreshed and ready for the day. She had grabbed a dark red polo shirt from her closet, along with a pair of grayish chinos. On her right chest was the sewn-on logo of her golf club.

A round, brown-orange crest with a black border, the inscription decorated with serifs. "The Last Drop Golf & Country Club" was written in a semicircle along the edge of the top half, and "Since 1875" was written in the same font size on the bottom.

Adorning the logo in the center were two crossed golf clubs, similar to a pirate flag.

Powder, by all accounts, was already on her way to school, because when Vi went into the kitchen to make herself some toast with jam, she found only Vander there, fiddling with the coffee maker.

"Good morning, Violet."

"Morning, Dad. Has Pow-pow left already?"

"Yeah, she left about 10 minutes ago. She was going to buy a snack for school on the way. What do you think the chances are she'll walk to Benzo's Café for that?"

Vander laughed heartily, and Vi felt like she was infected by it.

"I'm sure she's just stopping by to say good morning to Ekko," Vi winked at her father, meanwhile digging two slices of toast out of the breadbox and sticking them directly into the two slots of the toaster.

"I've advised her she needs to give herself a little jolt if she wants to go out with the boy. Sometimes we boys are slow on the uptake and need a nudge in the right direction."

"Tell me about it...", Vi rolled her eyes thinking of all the jerks she had dated a few years ago.

"Okay, I'd suggest you finish your sandwich now, I'll finish my coffee, and then we'll head out for some fresh air. You drive, Violet."

Vander tossed her the keys to his car in one fluid motion and disappeared into the living room with his "World's Best Dad" coffee mug.

The drive out of town to the golf course flew by for Vi. The streetscape changed from the streets Vi was very familiar with, framed left and right with concrete apartment buildings, to the foothills of heavy industrial buildings.

Smoke and fumes rose everywhere from the chimneys of the factories.

Zaun had become the manufacturing capital on this side of the continent over the years.

Every product from stone bricks to concrete to steel beams needed to build new homes and factories in the area had originated here. Some factory operations also focused on making electronic parts or building cars.

"If this keeps up with economic growth and increasing demand, the golf course will be surrounded by industry in a few years," Vander said with a dejected look through the window of his old car.

"If this keeps up, soon we won't have a tree within 25 kilometers of the city," Vi added gloomily.

After three minutes, they reached the city exit and drove along a country road toward the country club.

The main building of the golf club looked a bit like an old castle with two medium-sized turrets guarding the entrance to the grounds.

Directly behind it was the parking lot where Vi parked her father's car. Vander had his own parking space marked "Reserved for Golf Instructors."

Vi grabbed her golf bag from the trunk, gave Vander a big hug, and then walked purposefully toward the side entrance of the clubhouse.

She set her bag down outside next to the door and went inside. Standing at the counter was a young man Vi didn't know. He greeted her in a friendly manner.

"Good morning, what can I help you with?"

"Good morning, my name is Violet Wick. I would like to play a round on our championship course. When would be the next start time? If it's okay, I'd like to play by myself."

"Violet Wick? Related to Wander Wick?"

"Yes, that's my father." Gesturing with her right thump over her shoulder toward the front door through which Vander was coming at that moment, Vi punctuated her statement.

"Oh, I almost figured that...Um, yeah...next start time...hold on please," the receptionist returned while staring intently at the computer screen to his right.

"Yes, that would be in half an hour. There's not much going on this morning. There are only two other groups playing in front of you. An older couple and a young girl in front of them. Have fun on the course!"

"Thank you."

Leaving the clubhouse, the fresh country air rose to Vi's nose and she closed her eyes briefly while taking deep breaths.

How long had it been since she had been out here? It felt even more like an eternity now than it had yesterday in the café with Ekko and Powder.

Vi felt a new energy flow through her...being here on the golf course gave her an unnaturally strong sense of freedom.

Vi searched in her bag for the small box that hid her headphones, pulling an apple from the depths of her golf bag, or what was left of the apple.

Somewhat disgusted, she tossed the apple into the nearest trash can in the very finest basketball fashion.

Vi's headphones were perfect for golf practicing. They had no cord but worked like Powder's jukebox via Bluetooth. So the danger of getting caught in the cable during the golf swing and jerking the headphones out of her ears was gone.

She went to the practice facility's ball machine and inserted a coin.

The mechanical whir of the machine started, followed by the clack of practice balls plopping into a basket at Vi's feet: Vi now had 35 balls in all.

She picked up the basket and walked to one of the driving range's tee mats and began her warm-up routine.

First a few stretches, followed by some shoulder gyrations to warm up the muscles in her arms and make turning her upper body as easy as possible.

Vi grabbed a golf club from her bag, one hand on the handle and one hand on the club head and stretched her arms out in front of her.

With her upper body, she began to bend down slightly until Vi's hands almost touched the ground in front of her and back again.

She repeated the same procedure on the horizontal plane, first turning 90 degrees to the right before performing the movement in the other direction. Vi could feel some of the knots in her back loosening with a soft crack.

The first shots with an iron even went really well. Vi was satisfied with the result and switched to another club.

Vi pulled down the hood of the club to reveal a shiny piece of metal: Vi's "3 Wood".

While the club head of an iron is comparable to that of a field hockey stick, unfortunately that statement cannot be made for the 3 Wood and Driver, the largest club in Vi's golf bag.

The grip at the top is always the same, but the shaft length and the shape of the club head are sometimes massively different.

The shorter clubs had a narrow head, which Vander had often compared to a butter knife, while the golf clubs for the longer distances had a more voluminous head, which in the current era was largely made of light metal and carbon.

Vi hadn't taken a swing with the 3 Wood in over a year. Vander had told her earlier that 40 years ago the woods still had a core of wood and that's where they got their name. But to Vi, 3 Wood just sounded better than "3 Metal".

She took a swing, guiding the club over her shoulders and behind her head in a fluid, almost painterly motion. After a brief pause, Vi lowered the club and hit the ball right in the center of the clubface.

With a loud hiss, the ball flew into the air and toward the 200-yard marker on the golf range. Vi listened, somewhat enamored, to the sound of the air drag dividing in front of the ball as it moved farther and farther away from her.

Behind her back, Vi heard a soft clap.

"Wow, what a hit, Violet. So that's where my training really bore fruit. That looks great," Vander called in her direction.

"That's right, Dad. I never would have gotten this good without your help and training," Vi replied, a little embarrassed.

"Well, you've always had a knack for ball sports and I'm really thrilled that you've now found a sport that you enjoy so much...But always remember, golf is not a power sport, it's a test of will in many areas. If you can control yourself, you will win championships. Those who can't will never be winners."

"Are you quoting your favorite movie 'The Greatest Game Ever Played' again, Dad?"

Vi loved that movie as much as her father did, but she had heard that line hundreds of times before and she feared she would hear it often enough.

With a smile on her face, she turned to her golf bag and put all the clubs back in their designated compartment before Vi lifted the bag and dangled it over her right shoulder.

"I'm going to head out to the first tee now. I'll see you after the round, okay Dad?"

"Have a nice game. I'll be waiting for you in the clubhouse later, Violet."

Vi walked two minutes from the golf range to the first tee of the championship course. The nature out here had nothing to do with Zaun.

There was green grass everywhere, large trees, and occasionally a few streams and small ponds separating the individual golf holes.

The country club could be compared to an oasis in the middle of the Sahara Desert: Every time Vi was here, she no longer felt like she was in Zaun, but somewhere on the other side of the continent on vacation with her family.

After the last few years, the golf club didn't quite fit into the overall picture of the area.

But Vi didn't care. For her, the course meant freedom, relaxation and peace of mind.

A short time later, Vi stood in front of a large weather-beaten wooden board that listed the layout of the course along with all the important information.

"Par 72, 18-hole championship course - The Hounds' Fang," Vi read quietly.

Vi remembered again the lecture her father had given to all the students at that time during the first lesson for her golf course license exam.

"A normal golf course consists of 18 holes with different lengths. How many of you have played miniature golf?" asked Vander in a calm voice.

A little boy standing right next to Vi shyly raised his hand. Vi and some of the other kids did the same.

"I've got a lot of experts in my class," Vi's father laughed to himself, easing the general tension among the children.

Many were nervous about holding a golf club for the first time: Vi as well - though she just didn't want to disappoint her father.

Vander continued his little monologue:

"Most miniature golf courses are designed so that you can reach the hole in one or two strokes in most cases. Yet a 'golf hole' is often no longer than 10 yards. Out here, some courses are up to 550 yards long. There are par 3s, par 4s and par 5s. The numbers mean that a professional player or a good amateur finishes the holes with a score of 3, 4 or 5.

As a rule, a golf course is laid out in such a way that the sum of the pars adds up to 72 in the end. All the golf courses around Piltover and Zaun adhere to this 'rule,'" Vander winked at the children gathered before him, "Rules are very important in golf, but more on that later."

Vi thought about how many times she had played this course and ran her finger down the wooden board in front of her, going over each hole in her head.

In total, the championship course had ten par 4s and four each of par 3s and par 5s. A smile spread across her face and she once again sucked in the fresh country air.

The wooden board pointed the way to the men's and women's tee boxes at the bottom.

Vi passed her left arm through the second loop of her golf bag's strap and reached with her right hand to slide the strap over her biceps onto her shoulder. With a little jump from Vi's knees, the two straps placed themselves comfortably in the dip of her collarbones and Vi walked left past the blackboard and the four-foot hedge behind it to get to the ladies' tee.

There was already another golf bag at the tee box and Vi briefly looked at her watch to check if she had made a mistake in the time.

No, everything was correct. Her watch was correct. She had also had a smart watch for a few weeks and now finally didn't have to check every day to see if the hands were still ticking correctly.

Next to the golf bag stood a tall person with her head bowed forward, her eyes presumably fixed on a smartphone. Vi couldn't estimate how old the person was. Maybe a little older than her.

The dark blue hair was tied in a ponytail and coming out of the small opening at the back of her cap - it looked perfect.

The woman was wearing a polo shirt just like Vi, but in white with three black lines parallel to each other running down the back from the neck to the skirt. The skirt matched her hair in a strong dark blue. The light of the sun made the color look a bit more intense.

The person's long legs held Vi's gaze a little longer than she would have liked to admit in retrospect.

They weren't as trained as Vi's were, but Vi couldn't see any blemish right away - except for a small birthmark on the right calf. But there was something cute about that, Vi noted, puzzled.

Vi grabbed the straps of her bag with both hands, hugging them tightly to her chest, and walked toward the unknown person.

No response.

Now there were only ten feet between Vi and the unknown person. The stony gravel of the path under Vi's feet had given way to lush grass and thus her footsteps could barely be heard.

Vi cleared her throat.

Still no reaction.

What was going on here? Had Miss had a bad breakfast today??

Normally, on the golf course, one reacts at least with a short nod or a simple greeting.

Slightly annoyed, Vi tapped the stranger on the left shoulder.

She flinched and whirled around with a startled expression on her face. Vi could see that the girl was about her age and...which explained the behavior just now...was wearing in-ear headphones that Vi hadn't seen from behind.

Vi immediately felt bad and gritted her teeth. She hated it when Powder surprised her with headphones on her ears or scared her from behind and mentally prepared herself for an angry response from her counterpart.

The girl frantically pulled one of the two headphones out of her ear with her right hand and nervously felt her two front pockets of the skirt. Probably looking for the small box for the in-ears.

"Oh fudge, you scared me...sorry about that, the music was too loud and I didn't hear you coming closer," the stranger said before Vi could voice her apology.

"Don't be sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you either, but you didn't react, so I thought...", Vi's words rolled over in her mouth and she wanted to sink into the ground.

The girl's face was beautiful, no impurities to be seen. Vi eyed her for a few seconds. The dark blue eyebrows twitched slightly in amusement, the blue eyes reflected the sunlight and Vi was sure she could see their reflection in the girl's eyes.

"Are we playing together?" the stranger asked. "I signed up on my phone app 20 minutes ago, and I saw that you have a relatively low HCP as well."

"I haven't played here in a long time," Vi returned in response. "I wouldn't be so sure that's meaningful anymore."

"Well, let's find out together," the girl's warm smile was almost familiar to her.

Vi set her golf bag down next to the tee box, rummaged in the front bag for a golf ball, her glove for her left hand and a tee, and grabbed the driver from the top compartment of the golf bag.

"Okay, I'm Violet Wick, but everyone actually calls me Vi," Vi extended her hand to the stranger in greeting.

The girl returned her gesture, and they shook hands.

"My name is Caitlyn Kiramman, but Caitlyn will do."

Vi's blood froze in her veins in shock.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

So there stood Caitlyn Kiramman in front of Vi - the daughter of her honors teacher and principal.

The world really is like a village sometimes. It took Vi a moment before she found the words again.

"Nice to meet you, Caitlyn."

Her daughter had the same warm smile as Cassandra Kiramman, and Vi immediately felt a bit more confident at the start of her first round of golf in ages. On the other hand, Vi didn't know how well Caitlyn could play. Her ambition was aroused and now she wanted to prove all the more that she could play her current HCP.

"A golfer's handicap, also abbreviated as HCP, tells you how good their golf game is. When you start and take this course here, you all start with an HCP of 54," Vander let his eyes wander over the group of his young students.

"What handicap do you have?" asked a little girl from the back row. Vi turned back to her father.

"When you're a golf coach, you don't have an HCP anymore. However, as a coach you get 'Professional' status, so I'm sort of expected to be able to play as well as the guys and gals you see on TV.

In reality, I haven't played that well in a long time, but when I have more time to practice on my own again someday, that may become something again," Vander winked at the little girl.

"What does an HCP of 54 mean, Mister Wick?" another boy asked.

"An HCP of 54 means you are allowed 54 more strokes on our golf course than, say, someone who has an HCP of 0. That would validate your HCP in an official tournament. You would be allowed to play our championship course with 72 + 54 strokes, but I would only be allowed to play 72 strokes. As you get better and play in tournaments, your HCP will get lower and therefore you will get better."

"Is it easy to become as good as you?"

"Of course, it always takes a lot of practice and training to improve your HCP. But the sooner you start and the more commitment comes from you, the faster you will improve."

Vander looked over at his daughter and smiled softly as he raised the thumb of his left hand in a universally familiar gesture.

Vi was very happy to see her father leading the class, but also felt a little pressure to perform. If any of the other kids noticed that she was the instructor's daughter....

At the time, Vi had been at a sleepover party for her classmate Paula. Paula and her parents played at a prestigious golf club in north Piltover, and on Sunday morning they had decided to take their daughter to the golf range. Paula had asked Vi if she would like to come along and try the sport as well.

Vi's parents had never dictated to Powder and her what sports they should pursue. There were plenty of examples of that in their elementary school. Vi and her sister were allowed to try anything they wanted. Powder had started out playing soccer with Vi, but later fell in love with volleyball - and Vi ended up playing golf.

Naturally, Vander was happy as punch that Vi followed his sport with as much enthusiasm as he had in his childhood.

Powder had come along to the golf course from time to time as well and, as a result, knew her way around the sport. A few rounds Powder had also caddied for Vi. But she had never been as captivated as Vi.

After the last few years in high school and the few club tournaments Vi had competed in, her HCP was now 3.5, putting her among the best players the club had at Last Drop Golf & Country Club.

So now it would become apparent how well she still knew her sport...

"So which one of us is going to start?" asked Caitlyn Vi, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Um...Ladies First," Vi indicated the way to the tee box with a wave of her hand and a slight bow. Even as she bowed, Vi winced unintentionally. Was she copying Ekko right now???

"Oh, how lovely. Someone's acting like a true gentleman," Caitlyn joked, holding her right hand over her mouth in amusement. "But I don't know this place, so maybe you can show me the way, Vi."

Caitlyn turned away from Vi and looked along the course, searching in the distance for a flag that might give her a clue as to the approximate direction of the golf hole.

Vi noticed the small freckles that adorned Caitlyn's cheeks. She, too, had those freckles. Caitlyn took a deep breath, her chest lifted, and she stretched once lengthwise. A soft crack was heard.

Vi caught herself as her gaze lingered for a few seconds on the outline of Caitlyn's bra, which showed quite clearly under her white polo shirt.

"Okay, I'll start then," Vi replied, taking her eyes off Caitlyn's torso. Her counterpart's eyes fixed on her face as their gazes met. Had she just been caught in flagrante delicto checking out Caitlyn's figure?

If so, Caitlyn didn't let on.

Vi gripped her driver tighter with her left hand and took the wooden tee between the index and middle fingers of her right hand. Holding the ball so that the bottom of the golf ball was in the small bulge of the tee, she stuck it into the ground along with the ball between the two blue tee marks. However, only very lightly with the tip. The golf ball was now perched about 9 inches above the grass.

Vi placed her club right in the middle behind it and adjusted her stance so that she was facing the middle of the course. But something was funny and when she looked down at herself, Vi noticed she wasn't wearing a golf glove on her left hand.

She let go of the driver and it landed with a thud in the grass at her feet.

Vi cleared her throat, "Forgot the glove!", and jumped in two big steps next to her golf bag. She searched in the small bag on the left side for her white leather glove and luckily found it quite quickly.

She felt like a little girl and a little embarrassed in the presence of Caitlyn Kiramman.

Caitlyn stood beside her, watching closely as Vi rummaged around in her golf bag. She had placed her driver in front of her with the grip end facing the ground and her hands carefully folded over the sole of the club head. Her arms were as white as Vis. For her, too, it seemed to be one of her first days out in the fresh air and in a short-sleeved outfit.

"It can happen to anyone, after all. I forget my glove in one of the many pockets sometimes as well," Caitlyn said with an underlying laugh in her voice.

"Are you making fun of me?" returned Vi playfully.

"No, no. I would never do that, besides we've only known each other for 5 minutes. I just think that a little fun never hurt anyone."

"Good, I can only agree with that. So, I'm finally ready now too." Vi put on her glove and fastened the Velcro. She grabbed her driver off the ground and began her preshot routine again. First positioning the clubface behind the golf ball, then positioning the golf ball level with the inside of her left foot, and last but not least aligning her shoulders parallel to her feet. Her upper body tilted forward about 10 degrees, her legs squatting ever so slightly so that she could stand comfortably and loosely.

And now Vi took her typical swing and hit the golf ball with a little more force than usual.

The tee flew into the air in front of her after contact with the golf club and landed with several revolutions at Vi's feet. The ball shot straight down the course at an easy 150 mph.

Vi even earned a small cheer from Caitlyn and stood proudly on the tee box for a brief moment, tracking her ball with her eyes. Then at about 250 yards, it came to rest.

Vi picked up her wooden tee and went to her golf bag to stow the driver back under its hood. Powder had bought her a club cap in the shape of a plush wolf from an online store for her last birthday. There were thousands of designs, but the wolf had been something of her family's unofficial heraldic animal for some time, and Vi had been overjoyed with the gift.

Caitlyn traded places with Vi at the tea box and also stuck a wooden tee and ball in the ground in front of her. As she did so, she balanced on her left leg and stretched her right leg straight up in the air behind her. As she stood straight in front of Vi, she looked about like a tall, slender T whose leg was a little too short.

When Caitlyn stood back up, she took up position behind her golf ball - facing toward the golf hole. From Vi's vantage point, it looked like Caitlyn was scanning the terrain ahead with her big blue eyes. After a few moments, she gripped the handle of her driver with both hands and stood by the golf ball in a manner similar to Vi. She made two small wrist movements and playfully 'danced' the driver behind the ball before making her stroke.

Vi was full of admiration in regards to Caitlyn's golf swing. She made it look so easy, fluid and effortless. Vi's swing had always been more suited to her strength. But her teammate was proving a point made by Vander with her swing.

"Someone who has a clean swing and always hits the ball in the middle of the clubface usually gets just as far as someone who just uses their power and rarely hits the middle of the club," it echoed in Vi's mind and a smile rose on her face.

The ball collided with the club and also whizzed straight down the track. After 5 seconds of flight, the small white ball landed at about the same height as Vi's ball and disappeared from their sight in a small depression in the fairway.

"Is there any obstacle?" asked Caitlyn Vi while still looking after her ball with the club on her neck.

"No, it's all good, Caitlyn. The course is a little hilly. The sand bunkers don't come into play until you get to the green," Vi replied.

"Okay, wonderful. Has an advantage after all, being able to play with someone from here," Caitlyn said with a wink.

Vi's legs suddenly felt like jello at the eye contact. What's going on here??? Why is this girl making me so upset???

Caitlyn slowly walked towards her golf bag and pulled out a club cap as well. However, it was not an animal or a classic hood that matched the club, but a plush cupcake with chocolate icing and sprinkles. Vi had to grin. Someone else seems to have a sweet tooth.

"Have a good game, Vi."

"Good game to you as well, Caitlyn."

It was part of general etiquette to wish each other a good game, her father had drilled into Vi's head during course permit class. Good manners had always been important to him on the golf course. Perhaps a last vestige of the past, when golf was reserved for the elite.

Of course, Vi had always been able to behave well, but during rounds with her teammates or her father, the tone had always been more casual.

Vi shouldered her golf bag and walked towards her ball, down the gravel path to the beginning of the fairway. Caitlyn followed her a few feet away.

"Our golf course has an 18-hole layout. A golf course generally consists of the following things: a tee box at the beginning, a green with a hole and flag, and a path to it. This path is generally called the fairway. The grass is mowed a little shorter here, so the ball is pretty much free. This is where it is easiest for all players to make clean contact between the ball and the clubface. At the edge of the fairway is the so-called semirough. The grass is a little longer here and it can happen that your ball lies as if embedded, so that you always have some grass between your club and the ball. Even for the skilled players, it is more difficult to play the ball accurately from here. If you look even further to the left and right, that's where the deep rough is. Here, sometimes the grass is so high you could disappear into it."

Vander tousled the hair of a young boy standing directly in front of him.

"You definitely don't want to lie there! Otherwise, of course, there are other obstacles on the golf course: Among others, there are trees that can be either in the middle of or at the edge of the course, or sand bunkers and water hazards. From small ponds and lakes to creeks, there's everything here."

Vi's ball was a few feet farther toward the green than Caitlyn's ball. However, Vi liked Caitlyn's position much better. At about 270 yards, in fact, the fairway made a bend to the right, forcing Vi to play around a tree nearly 30 yards high in less than 20 yards. Caitlyn was relatively in the middle of the fairway, allowing her to unknowingly take the tree out of play.

"Do you know approximately how much farther it is to the green from here?" asked Caitlyn after setting her bag down near her golf ball.

The first hole of the championship course was a par 4 with a total length of 404 yards. Vi could have gotten her distance meter out of her bag, but she wanted to impress Caitlyn and looked at the situation in front of her. The length of a golf hole is always measured along the middle of the fairway from the tee box to the center of the green, or so Vi had learned from Vander at the time. Both of their two tee shots were about 250 yards long, so it was still a little over 150 yards to the center of the green. The white flag on the green of Hole 1 indicated to Vi that the golf hole today was probably on the front right edge of the green. White stood for front, blue for center and red for back.

"From your ball, it should be pretty much 150 yards to the center of the green, Caitlyn. For us, the white flag means the hole is in the front half, and if I can tell correctly from here, the flag is on the right side. So I would guess a distance of 130 to 140 yards. Play the ball toward the center, though. The green was designed to slope very sharply to the right in the front area."

Vi was pleased with her assessment and watched her teammate pull an iron from one of the middle compartments her golf bag.

Caitlyn's pre-shot routine seemed like well-rehearsed clockwork to Vi. First, looking behind the ball toward her target, finding a fixed point for Caitlyn to orient her alignment with the ball, addressing the golf ball with the face of her iron, and finally, striking the shot. Her sequence of movements fascinated Vi.

She herself had been complimented a few times on her beautiful, yet powerful swing. Caitlyn's looked even easier.

Her ball flew past the outstretched branches of the tree toward the flag, landed with a little bounce to the left of the flag, and rolled a few more feet toward the hole.

"Thank you so much, Vi. You would make an excellent caddy," Caitlyn congratulated with a gentle smile. "Now it's your turn, let's see what you can do."

Vi was nervous. The girl's prompting spurred her ambition, but she hadn't practiced the shot she would now have to make to get similarly close to the flag in a while. There were two ways to play the ball.

Option number 1 would be a so-called "slice" left around the tree. In this case, the ball starts very far to the left of the target and slowly changes its direction of flight in the air in the direction of the target. Difficult to control, Vi noted in her mind.

Option number 2 might work better, she thought. This would involve her trying to hit the golf ball flat under the low-hanging branches of the tree. This was the type of shot Vi had practiced just last week with her advanced group at school. The ball is more on the side of the right foot here. The hands, including the grip and shaft, are in front of the club head. This ensures that less loft of the club is used. The ball flight and the take-off height are lower.

Vi looked in her golf bag for her 9-iron, and she could usually hit the ball 130 yards with it. By her estimation, she was approximately 115-120 yards from the flag. Vi stood next to her ball and made a practice swing in the pattern described before placing the club behind the golf ball and making her shot.

There was maybe 10 inches of space between the branches of the large oak tree and Vi's ball as it flew under them toward the green. Her ball also landed in the middle of the green and rolled out another two feet.

"Impressive, Vi. If the competition at the school championships in two weeks plays as well as you, it won't be an easy tournament."

Vi noticed how her cheeks were getting hot and she was probably blushing like Powder in the café with Ekko. She hid her face in the motion to her bag as she put the golf club back in its fixed position in the bag.

"Are you participating?" asked Vi, her guilty conscience plaguing her immediately afterward. Of course Caitlyn is playing, but Vi had no idea how or if she should mention that she already knew about Caitlyn...

"Yes, I already participated last year. Unfortunately, I played really badly and wasn't allowed to play the second round on this course. So I figured a play-in round this year to get to know the course wouldn't hurt," Caitlyn returned.

She hesitated for a moment before putting her sentence forward, "I play for Heimerdinger High School of Piltover. I'll have to do without my caddy this year, though..."

Vi noticed a certain sadness in Caitlyn's voice. Something wasn't right here: was this possibly the reason for the strange behavior of her teacher Cassandra Kiramman the day before? Vi wanted to avoid this topic for now, though.

"Cool, then maybe we'll see each other again at the tournament. I'm competing for Zaun High School."

Vi was quite sure Caitlyn winced briefly at the mention of her school name.

Both girls had arrived at the green and set their bags down next to the short-cut grass. Caitlyn took her putter out of her golf bag. Her club was very reminiscent of the typical miniature golf putters with their narrow club head. This design is called a "blade putter". Vi, on the other hand, had a putter with a significantly larger head. Hanging from the back of the clubface was a design that, from above, always reminded Vi of the Tie Fighter from Star Wars. This type of putter design is called a "mallet putter". Both designs have their technical advantages, with which most companies of course always diligently advertise.

Basically, though, it comes down to which head shape you can handle best and create a straight, clean contact with the ball.

Caitlyn and Vi's two golf balls were no more than 30 centimeters apart. The distance between the balls and the golf hole was no more than 3 meters. After a brief look, Caitlyn realized that she was even slightly farther from the hole than Vi.

"I'll get started then," Caitlyn said, crouching down behind her ball. Her long legs kept her skirt from sliding over her knees as she did so. Vi noticed that Caitlyn was well trained. Even though her stature was rather slender, Vi could observe the play of her thigh muscles.

Both Caitlyn's and Vi's golf ball were on a small plateau and to get to the hole they would have to putt the ball slightly downhill. This is where the right speed was especially important for the short strokes. Especially with uphill and downhill putts, speed matters more than direction. Putts uphill take less break. Break in golf was the term used to describe the slope of the green. 

Vander had always talked during practice about thinking of the green as a mixture of valleys and hills. Depending on where the golf ball was and where it needed to go, the valleys and hills affected how the ball rolled.

Caitlyn pulled a small coin from her right skirt pocket and placed it behind her ball. She picked up the ball, cleaned it briefly with some spit, and used the printed alignment line on the ball to make aiming with the putter a little easier. When she was done aligning the ball, the coin disappeared back into her pocket and she took up position next to the ball with the golf club in her hands. Two short practice swings later, each resembling only a gentle pendulum motion, Caitlyn placed the club behind the golf ball, took a small swing, and tapped the ball just slightly.

It rolled loose, gaining speed and coming to rest 20 inches behind the hole. Caitlyn contorted her face in annoyance and holed the ball with her fourth shot. Vi noticed that the green not only sloped downward, but additionally sloped from left to right.

Vi adjusted her alignment line on the golf ball accordingly and now aimed about 10 inches left of the hole. She also tapped the ball just slightly and let it roll down into the plateau. The ball came to rest on the left edge of the hole and a second later dropped into the hole with a turn to the right.

"Nice birdie, Vi."

"Thank you very much, Caitlyn. I couldn't have done that without your groundwork, though. I also didn't see that the green still sloped that much to the right," Vi replied in a cheerful voice.

"No problem, we would have been a good team. Unfortunately, in the tournament, it's every man for himself."

Vi liked the idea of playing on a team with the tall, dark blue-haired girl. She could play really good golf and looked pretty too...maybe too pretty.

Vi thought briefly about how Powder adored Ekko when they sat in Benzo's store, and had to admit that she was doing the same thing with Caitlyn Kiramman right now: her principal's daughter.

The two girls put their putters back in their golf bags and ran with their bags to the next tee of the second hole. Caitlyn ran ahead of Vi. The path was a little longer and went through a tree line of several large oak trees. Her principal's daughter carried her bag with both shoulder straps, and the rhythmic clank of iron clubs rubbing together from the movement of her steps was like music to Vi's ears.

She had liked the sound ever since she herself had first carried a golf bag. Her steady steps, matching Caitlyn's pace, ensured that her golf clubs also joined in the metallic 'song'.

The next 8 holes of golf followed a similar pattern to the first hole. Vi started at each hole, and Caitlyn listened intently as Vi explained the layout of the upcoming hole: obstacles to avoid, and positions on the fairway that gave her the best possible angle into the green.

Vi caught herself getting a little red in the face whenever Caitlyn's blue eyes watched her. Caitlyn didn't write anything down, but just went over Vi's statements silently in her head before hitting her next shot.

Vi was quite flabbergasted at how easy it was for Caitlyn to place her golf ball on the hole and follow her instructions and tips...Vi realized for herself that this girl had to be one of the best golfers Vi had ever played with - if not the best (and maybe the prettiest).

After 9 holes, Vi had shot 35. So she was one stroke under par. Caitlyn was even a little better. After the first hole, Caitlyn got better and better with her putter and even managed to hole a putt twice for birdie from over 7 yards. So she was at a total of 34 strokes on the first nine holes and two strokes under par.

During the second nine holes, the two girls talked a little more about things other than golf and Vi really enjoyed talking with Caitlyn. She had a feeling the two were on the same wavelength.

"So what are your honors classes, Caitlyn?"

"I had a really hard time deciding, but it ended up being Biology and Latin," the girl with blue hair replied.

"Funny, I chose biology too, but how do you come up with Latin??? You can't have a conversation with it anymore. Everyone who spoke the language has been dead for several hundred years," Vi couldn't help laughing.

"Now you're making fun of me," Caitlyn said. Vi bit her tongue to stifle her laughter, but before she could apologize to Caitlyn, she added "Isn't the first time I've gotten a laugh for this, but I've always found the ancient world interesting and some of the parallels between our language and the language of the ancient world are so great. I guess those similarities sparked my enthusiasm for it."

"English classes were enough for me; I was never good at languages. But also, what do I need the skills to analyze a poem or a speech for in later life. After all, I don't plan to write love poems on the fly."

"That would have something to it," Caitlyn said, and suddenly Vi didn't think it was such a bad idea anymore, "but I agree with you, Vi. It would definitely make more sense if we were taught to write cover letters...or get an introduction to all the computer programs that will be used later in the work world."

"Do you have a plan yet for what you want to do after school, Caitlyn?"

"Actually, I already have an idea," Caitlyn's eyes revealed a hint of anticipation, "I would love to join the police force. I always got to listen to detective radio dramas as a kid and one of my favorites ever since has been Sherlock Holmes. I always found it fascinating how he could reconstruct the entire murder from a suspect's hands. How about you, Vi?"

"Tough question. If I can be honest with you, I don't know yet...Many, many times I have toyed with the idea of studying. But what and where? I don't know. The choice of possible subjects seems so overwhelming to me and then I don't even know if studying is the right thing for me."

"Hmm, well if you ever need help choosing, I'm happy to help," Caitlyn smiled at Vi and Vi noticed her face getting all hot. She turned to the side and rubbed her face with her hands as she walked the last few feet up to the tee box on the 18th hole of the championship course.

They also finished the last 9 holes with a very good score. Vi had ended up playing a score of 72 strokes and was more than satisfied for her first round after what felt like an eternity. However, she had the feeling that the golf game of her teammate was not completely uninvolved in her good result. In the past, Vi had always had a better score when she played with someone better than herself.

Vander had always said that the only way to improve was to compete with better players and maybe pick up a few of their tricks. "Quod erat demonstrandum", thought Vi and was a little proud of herself that she still remembered her 8th grade math teacher's saying. Perhaps Caitlyn would also be a little surprised by her when Vi presented her thesis to the girl.

Caitlyn finished her round with a total score of 69 strokes (three strokes under par).

At the end of a round, it was customary to either shake hands or do a little hugging between teammates.

"Thank you for the round, Caitlyn," Vi said, gently extending her hand toward her blue-eyed teammate, who just then had her back to her and was about to retrieve her golf ball from the hole.

Caitlyn turned around on the heel of her shoes, putting her just inches from Vi's hand, so Vi almost stuck her outstretched hand into her stomach area. She had not seen Vi's hand and indicated the motion of a hug. Before Vi could react, however, Caitlyn matched her counterpart and lowered her right hand to shake Vi's hand.

"I have to thank you. With all your tips, I feel like I know the course really well now. School championships can come," Caitlyn said, smiling kindly. "Is there any way I can thank you for all the advice? Give you a ride in my car, maybe, or maybe a coffee?"

"I'd love to," Vi returned immediately.

Caitlyn laughed and asked, "Which is it? Giving you a lift or the coffee?"

"Well, I'd take both, but how about I take you out for coffee after you drove me home?"

"That's something to talk about," Caitlyn replied, without hesitation. "Let's put the golf bags in my car, and then all I need from you is an address."

Vi dug her cell phone out of her pocket and texted Vander a quick message so he wouldn't be waiting for her later.

1:40 p.m.

My teammate is giving me a ride to Zaun, Dad. I'll see you at home later. Thanks again for taking me out to the course this morning. I really enjoyed my round today and feel kinda prepared for the school championship.

A few minutes later, her smartphone vibrated and a message from Vander popped up on the lit screen.

1:45 p.m.

Okay, take care!

The car ride to Zhaun went quietly, and Vi listened to the music playing over Caitlyn's radio system as she drove. Some of the songs Vi knew from Powder. If she remembered correctly, the singer's name was Seraphine. Vi hadn't heard much of her, but couldn't deny that the music sounded good. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Caitlyn barely audibly singing along...in any case, she moved her lips to match the music and Vi pulled her smartphone out of her pocket and added the song to one of her playlists - Pop / Stars (feat. Absofacto).

Caitlyn kept to the maximum allowed speed limit throughout the ride. For now, Vi attributed that to her ambitions to join the police force soon. However, it also gave Vi a sense of security and she was able to relax a bit.

Arriving at Vi's house, Caitlyn parked her car across the street and let Vi out.

"Thanks again for taking me home. Can I buy you a cup of coffee now?"

"I've heard you always have to bring a girl home safely," Caitlyn winked at Vi, "but I'm afraid I have to be home this afternoon. But how about this weekend for a coffee? Saturday I'd be free."

"Sounds good. See you Saturday then." Vi took her golf bag out of the trunk and carefully closed the trunk lid.

"See you Saturday," she heard Caitlyn say from the front seat, and a short time later Vi saw only the taillights of Caitlyn's small car turning right at the next intersection toward Piltover.

Wait a minute, it popped into Vi's head like a bolt of lightning, I don't have her number, nor did we agree on a time. What am I supposed to do now?