The team consisted of four players – Cire, Dawn, Elize and Niall. That day the clouds were lightly cast overhead. Dawn wondered if it would rain, while walking to the Driving Range.
While Dawn was practicing the three of them watched her from a distance and snickered. With her heightened sense of hearing these days, Dawn could hear a fly buzzing from ten feet. And she also heard what they were whispering about.
"Why does she always use small clubs?" Elize asked.
"I know, right? I have never seen her using one wood! I think her drives are bad and just because she can"t use the club, she has been avoiding it," replied Niall looking at Cire. She was instigating Cire from the past few days about Dawn.
Cire crossed her hands across her chest and blew a bang out of her eyes, "I don"t know why the college even made her join the team. And sometimes I do wonder about her capabilities."
"Why don"t you ask her to use the one wood? Or tell her to have a match with us?" said Elize, keeping her elbow on Niall"s shoulder.
"Oh right! Let"s challenge her. After that I have a brilliant idea to report to the coach that she is unfit for the team," Niall giggled excitedly.
"What idea is it?" asked Cire. There should be a good plan if they were going to go against Dawn. She was so excited and angry at the same time that her impatience to kick Dawn out of the team notched up.
"Just keep watching!" Niall grinned. "You ask her that, okay?" she said as she wore her glove. Niall snickered. She narrowed her eyes. This was going to be interesting. The thing was that Niall"s younger sister was also a golfer and she couldn"t make a cut in the college team because of Dawn"s entry at the last minute. This irked her a lot. Her sister had cried for two nights and she was looking for a way to get back at Dawn. This was the first opportunity that she had got after a month to throw her out. She had watched Dawn practicing and noticed that she never used long-distance clubs. She would always use short distance clubs on the pretext that she was aiming to hit the ball straight rather than long. Did that mean that her long shots went awry? Was she hiding it from the team? If that was the case, Niall had full confidence that she would expose Dawn and it would carve the perfect opportunity for bringing her sister in the team.
Dawn bit her lower lip. She walked to her set, wiped the iron-head of the club, and placed it nicely in the bag. She picked up another shorter one this time and when she was walking back to her area of practice, she saw the coach standing afar and talking to another player. She decided not to get into the drama. This scholars.h.i.+p meant a lot to her. Apart from the money that she had brought with her, she really didn"t have any other source of income and that was what she was using. She had been on a shoestring budget all the time and not indulging in any kind of luxuries. Only the utmost that was needed was bought.
She fetched another fifty b.a.l.l.s for herself from the Range Keeper and started hitting them.
"h.e.l.lo Dawn," said Cire. Dawn took the shot calmly and very gently. It went straight up to where she wanted it to reach. If she would have applied her strength, the shot might have crossed the boundary of the range.
Dawn brought her club down and rested her hands on it. She gave a sweet smile to Cire and replied politely, "h.e.l.lo Cire!"
"I would like to see your shots with one wood. I haven"t seen you use them at all," she said fiercely narrowing her eyes.
Dawn pursed her lips. "Cire, there is no point in doing that. Actually, I have to practice my small shots. You see fifty percent of the game is dependent on the small shots. If you are perfect in that, you can win any game."
By that time Elize had walked to them. She interjected, "Do you mean that drivers and putters have no use? You are talking like a novice. Have you faked all those certificates in the college admission form?" Elize turned to Cire and said, "We must tell the coach that she is not the right fit for the team. She should be replaced with a better player and I think Niall"s sister is way better."
Dawn s.h.i.+fted in her place. On the inside, her anger was rising but if that gave way, she might lose control over her personality. She could transform. She let out a long breath. She looked up and reiterated her stand, "I want to continue with my short chips. Why don"t you all also go and practice your game rather than wasting time here?"
"What do you mean, Dawn?" Cire almost screamed. "I am the Captain of the team and I need to see your game. Pick that wood and show me your drives, else I am going to report to the coach that you are not right for the team."
At the back, Niall poked her tongue in her cheek at the drama unfolding in front of her. She had to choke her laughter. She sauntered to the group and added, "Why don"t we compete over the best ten b.a.l.l.s, Dawn?" Her light grey eyes bored into Dawn"s green ones.
Dawn didn"t want to get into it. So she politely replied, "I am not interested. Let"s just practice our game for today. As for the compet.i.tion, we can always show our skills on the courses against the teams we are pitted with."
Niall"s eyebrows furrowed. This girl was not falling in the trap. "Are you scared already?" That one statement usually rubbed the opponent in the wrong way.
"I am not scared, Niall," Dawn replied. She looked up and noticed that the coach wasn"t there. She heard his footsteps coming up to the first floor of the range where they were all standing. She really wanted these girls to go now. "It"s just that I am not in a mood. Maybe, next time."
Niall and Elize laughed wickedly. Now they were sure that Dawn was actually hiding the fact that her drives were horrible. "Loser!" Niall said.
Cire frowned and her mouth curled down. She went to Dawn"s golf bag, picked the driver and held it horizontally. "This is Callaway Burner. Latest, very powerful and expensive. The University has provided it to you to play with. If you feel you don"t need it, why have it? Have you ever seen this kind of equipment in your life?"
Dawn had only played with the most expensive custom-made sets throughout her life. Her last golf set was a whopping $250,000, which was the same price as her father"s latest Ferrari.
"This is not the latest in their line," Dawn corrected.
Annoyed as h.e.l.l, Cire"s mouth twisted. She looked at the graphite shaft of the driver and caressed it. Suddenly, she lifted her leg and pounded the shaft on it. The shaft broke into two. "Here, since you don"t need it," she said, giving it back to Dawn who was shocked.
Niall and Elize laughed heartily.