CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: HOLE IN ONE
July 24th, 2020
At this point in her summer stay in Michigan, Gemma was feeling more homesick than ever. Her shifts at Target were dwindling because at this point, she did not need to worry about making enough money for rent at her New York apartment. So without working as much, Gemma was spending more time at home than she was before. Although working so much was burning her out, Target was a nice escape from all the wedding planning. Though now that Gemma was spending more time at the Perry household, she was seeing more and more of Avery. The wedding, being only two weeks away, was almost all planned out. Avery was still at the Perry house more than Gemma would have wanted, planning out the minor details with Gayle like table seating, centerpieces, and more small components in which Gemma did not care to remember.
So when Gemma walked downstairs to find Avery sitting at the dining room table with Gayle, she was slightly annoyed.
"Gemma!" Avery chirped. "Just the person I wanted to see,"
"Hey," Gemma flatly said. She kept herself occupied in the kitchen by warming up leftover dinner from the night before, hoping that Avery would see she was busy and in turn, not talk to her.
"Are you doing anything later?" Avery joined Gemma in the kitchen, clearly not getting the hint.
"Depends," Gemma shrugged. "Why?"
"The wedding is in two weeks and since I'm not having a bridal shower because Rowan and I aren't going to be living together - "
"Get to the point, Avery." Gemma rudely spoke, though surprisingly, Avery was not alarmed by her former friends' rudeness.
"Right," Avery laughed. Ever since her baby bump grew bigger, something in Avery was becoming more dingy. Pregnancy brain, was what Marcie called it. "I wanted all of us to do a few more nights out before the big day. I was thinking mini golfing. You know how to mini golf?"
"Not really," Gemma wanted nothing more than for this conversation to be over, so she could go upstairs and eat her leftover pasta in peace.
"That's fine, none of us are really good anyways. Will you come tonight?"
Gemma thought about it for a moment as she watched the microwave timer count down to zero. She did not want to say yes, but something in her wanted to see Rowan, given she only had a limited amount of time to see him before he was married. It hurt her, seeing him happy with Avery, but Gemma knew that at this point, there was nothing she could do about it. She still loved him, though any hope of them ever getting back together was slim to none. And even though it hurt her to see him, Gemma still felt as if she needed to see him, because although she was sad, the other part of her felt happy in his presence.
"Yeah," Gemma agreed, keeping her eyes locked on the microwave. She took her food out, hoping Avery would walk away.
"Yay!" Avery clapped, obnoxiously like a child. Made sense, Gemma thought, since she literally was carrying a child. "I'll text you the details."
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As soon as Gemma pulled her mom's car into the parking lot of the mini golf place, she felt her heart sink to her stomach.
"What's wrong?" Marcie asked, instantly picking up on her best friend's change in demeanor.
"Rowan and I used to come here on dates, all the time. I didn't think this would be the same place Avery planned for."
Marcie frowned. She placed her hand on Gemma's shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "We can go back. It doesn't look like any of them are even here, yet."
"No," Gemma was quick to deny Marcie's suggestion. "I want to see him."
"I understand," Marcie sadly smiled. "Should we go in?"
Gemma just nodded, and exited the car. Although it did not look like anyone else of the wedding party had arrived, Gemma was surprised to see Avery and the rest of her bridesmaids standing in the front entrance.
"Gemma! Marcie!" Avery smiled a large smile. "So glad you're here!"
"Same," Marcie responded sarcastically.
"I was able to get us all unlimited golfing, so we're gonna go ahead and start. Feel free to join us!" Avery grabbed some extra gulf clubs, extending them out to Marcie and Gemma.
"That's okay," Gemma politely declined. "I'm going to wait for Wesley."
"Good." Miranda snickered, earning a glare from Avery.
Marcie watched as the bride to be and her minions started their game of golf, laughing as Avery barely held the club correctly. It did not take long for Wes, Caleb, and Jonah to arrive -- though Gemma was confused to see them walking in, without the groom to be.
"Hey," Wes waved as soon as he saw Gemma and Marcie. "Ready to lose to the best mini golf player ever?"
"I don't know about that," Marcie laughed challengingly. "I'm pretty good at this. Been playing since I was five."
"We'll see about that, then." Jonah winked, grabbing a club and handing Marcie one as well.
"Where's Rowan?" Gemma asked Wes as they grabbed their clubs. Gemma watched as Marcie struck her first ball, and to no surprise, she got a hole in one. Marcie laughed, while Jonah stood there, speechless.
"He's helping our mom put groceries away. He'll be here soon." Wes gave Gemma a knowing look, before placing his golf ball on the pavement. "Watch this, Marcie!" Wes, like Marcie, also scored a hole in one.
Marcie cocked her head, watching the ball as it rolled effortlessly into the hole. "Looks like I've got some competition, then."
Gemma laughed at their competitiveness, while she tried to repeat their actions. She failed though, as she ended with a three on the first hole. The game went on, just like that. Caleb and Jonah were decent at this, while Marcie and Wes were neck to neck the entire time, both of them scoring many hole in ones, followed by a few two's and three's. Gemma, oppositely, consistently scored five's. Mini golf was not her thing, though she enjoyed watching the challenge between Marcie and Wes. When the game ended, Gemma obviously scored last place, while Marcie beat Wesley by one point.
"Rematch!" Wes called as they walked back to the front. "That was bullshit!"
"Told you I'm good at this," Marcie laughed. "Best two out of three?"
"You're on." Wes was determined to win.
"You coming, Gemma?" Marcie asked as everyone prepared for another round.
"I'm gonna go get some water, I'll catch up in a sec."
"Get me one?" Marcie asked.
"Sure."
Gemma wandered for a minute until she found a vending machine, which to her luck, was out of water bottles. Sighing, she went with the next best option, which was some kind of fruit juice. She waited for the machine to dispense two bottles of the juice, and when it did, Gemma grabbed her drinks and turned around to walk back towards the group. Though when she turned around, she was surprised to see no one other than Rowan, sitting on one of the many benches scattered throughout the golf park.
Slightly startled by Rowan's sudden appearance, Gemma waved. "Did you just get here?"
"Nope," Rowan slightly smiled. "I've been sitting here the entire time. I'm surprised you didn't notice me."
"I was kinda on a mission," Gemma laughed, holding up her two bottles of juice.
"I see," Rowan eyed the drinks in Gemma's hand. "Pretty important mission."
"Mini golf makes you thirsty, especially when you're playing with Wes."
"He is stupidly good at this," Rowan laughed.
Gemma's feet must have not been caught up to her brain because without thinking, she joined Rowan on the bench he was sitting on.
"How long have you been here?" she asked. She wondered why he was just sitting here, and why he had not gone in yet.
"About fifteen minutes," he answered honestly.
"Why haven't you gone in yet?" Gemma was not sure if she was asking too many questions, but she couldn't help it. She was curious. And, being this close to Rowan was making her stomach move in ways it hadn't before.
"I don't know," he sighed. "I guess I just don't want to mini golf. Too many memories with this place."
Gemma's heartbeat increased. She just nodded, knowing exactly what Rowan meant.
"Yeah," she was not sure what else to say.
A silence fell upon them. It was not necessarily awkward, though Gemma was unsure on what to do. She could sit there and keep talking to him, or she could go back in and join Marcie and Wes.
Just as she was about to choose the second option, Rowan spoke up.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Gemma nodded, curious to see where this was going.
Rowan hesitated before speaking again, simply because he did not know how to word what he wanted to say to Gemma.
"What would you do if you were stuck in a situation that you didn't know how to get out of?"
"Uh - " Gemma started answering his random, oddly specific question, though she instantly regretted it. She had no idea how to respond, because she could not figure out why he would ask her, of all people, such a question. There was one reason floating through Gemma's mind of why Rowan could be asking that, but she did not want to dwell on it because it would only get her hopes up. It would get her hopes up, for something she knew was absolutely impossible.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have - " Rowan's face filled with regret as Gemma looked him in the eye, clueless on how to respond. But she did anyways, saying whatever came to her mind.
"I would look at all the possible ways to get out of the situation, and choose the best one."
Rowan closed his eyes. "If only it were that easy."
Gemma's mouth fell slightly open, unsure on what to say, because her heart felt as if it was going to beat out of her chest. Rowan could not have been referring to what Gemma hoped. The wedding was two weeks away. There was no way he could be having second thoughts, now. Gemma wanted to respond, and ask him to confirm her suspicions, but before she could say another word, the bride to be appeared out of nowhere.
"Gemma, there you are!" Avery noticed Rowan was sitting beside her, "Rowan! Did you just get here?"
"Yeah," he lied. He got up from the bench, leaving Gemma. Avery immediately jumped in Rowan's arms, where she left a bunch of kisses all over his face. Rowan smiled and kissed her on the forehead. Gemma's heart sank to her stomach. As much as she wanted to, she could not take her eyes off the future bride and groom.
"Come on," Avery tugged on his hand. "You're missing out."
Rowan did not respond but instead, laced his fingers with Avery's. He followed her into the mini golf park, not once looking back at Gemma, who still sat there on the bench with her unopened drinks in hand.
The familiar pang in Gemma's chest appeared as she stood up after a moment. She could feel her eyes brimming with tears, though quickly blinked them away once she spotted Marcie in the park. She approached them, careful not to glace at Rowan and Avery, who were kissing by the first golf hole. Gemma took a deep breath in and out, trying to bring herself back to how she was feeling when she first arrived. Though as her eyes found their way to the bride and groom to be, Gemma's lip began to quiver.
The wedding was two weeks away, but Gemma did not know how much longer she could handle seeing them together.
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a/n: ooohh.... the plot THICKENS. just wait til u see what i have planned ;)