Emily smirked but didn’t comment.
Patty arrived back at the table.
“Emily!” she exclaimed and signaled for her to get up to give her a hug. Emily
obliged. William sat there, regretting telling Emily what he had been up to during
her last semester of school.
“You’re up, Willy!” Mrs. Addison yelled.
William sighed and got up.
He grabbed his ball. The holes were a bit too small to fit his fingers. He just
placed his fingers over the holes, not in them. He stared at the ten pins at the
end of the lane. He hoped he could hit more than two of them.
He knew Emily wouldn’t care if he bowled a zero or a three hundred game. But he did
think if he was out-bowled by three old women, she may lose a little bit of respect
for him.
He took a deep breath and blew the breath onto the purple ball he was holding.
“Please hit five pins,” he told the ball.
He began to take the steps when he heard a shout.
“Gutter!”
He stopped. It was Emily’s voice, not Mrs. Addison. He turned around and saw the
four women laughing.
He threw the ball and walked back to the table without checking if he hit anything.
“Holy shit!” Mrs. Sanders exclaimed. Mrs. Addison’s mouth hung wide open. Patty’s
face beamed with pride.
William Further had gotten his first strike.