I took a short breath. I relaxed my body, broadened my shoulders, and gave a hard look while raising my chin. I stepped up to the ball, and in one swift motion I knew it was going in. But just as I was about to raise my fist in triumph, a collective gasp rose amongst the audience. I looked around in confusion, before realizing I had missed. My heart began pounding like a bee buzzing in my chest. I tilted my chin up and gave a pursed smile. I quickly tapped the ball in, and fought back my tears. No one, NO ONE, would ever see me shed a tear. The next few hours are a blur. I distinctly remember approaching the stage, winning a medal, and seeing the trophy being carried out. By hands that weren't mine. Savannah. I growled, clenching  my fists, my nails piercing through my skin like daggers as I remember the smirk she gave me as I missed my putt. My butler sees my reaction and ushers me home.

   I knew they wouldn't come, but as I stare out the window of the car, a little piece of my heart breaks knowing my parents didn’t come to my biggest tournament of the year. The near Christmas snow is the only thing keeping me together right now.

   I wake up the next morning with no energy, the events of yesterday rushing back into my mind. I ring the bell, signaling my butler to bring me my breakfast, “What took you so long” I mutter, shoveling the toast into my mouth. “I've been waiting for so long” I say, my mouth full and smacking my lips. My butler looks a bit disgusted, but what should I care about? I feel a bit bad talking to him like that, considering he practically raised me since my parents were hardly around. I grab my juice and Bertram takes that as his cue to leave. I shout  out after him to close the door on his way out. I sigh, trying to forget yesterday's events. For some weird reason I can’t shake off the feeling that something’s not right. I must've just read the green wrong I tell myself. I shake my head and doze off to sleep. 

   I wake up with my blankets snuggly tucked around my bed, and I immediately know Em is here. Emily has been my best friend since we were in diapers, and she's the only person that keeps me sane. Once she realizes I’m awake she rushed over from my chair, nearly tripping over my rug. “You’re awake” she practically shouts as she hugs me. “You know, you can’t just sleep for the rest of your life like this” she says, giggling as she's trying or giving me a stern look. I groan. “I know, it's just that I know I hit the perfect putt”. “Well there's nothing to do except make sure you don't make the same mistake again next year, right?" Em sighs. "Look Ness, how about this: you get one week to sit around and do nothing; I'll even tell your tutor to skip class this week. But as soon as the one week is over, I need you to get back into your usual routine. You can’t keep living like this; you're basically letting Savannah win all over again.” “Fine” I say, my arms crossed in front of me. Em leaves my room and I stuff my face into my pillow, as though doing that will erase the events of the last day.

    I woke up Monday morning ready to get back into action. “I have a surprise for you” Em says in a sing-songy voice. I can't help but giggle at her voice. “To start off the beginning of what will be an excellent week, I'm taking you to that new bakery on Paramount street.” “You really know how to make me feel better don’t you” I say, giving her a playful nudge on the shoulder. “Waitt, isn’t that where Savannah lives?” I say in a more serious tone. “Well, yes, but I'm sure she won't be there,” Em rushes. I mumble an mhm and tell Em “Worst case, we’re by a bakery so we can just buy a pie to throw on Savannah's face ''. 

   Once Em and I get our coffee and cake I kick back the chair in the bakery and plop down into it. “I, just, don't know if I can get back into golf. It, I dunno, feels wrong?” I began to spill to Em in between bites. Em gives me a look that indicates she knows I'm just lying to myself at this point. 

   That felt so good. I hit shot after shot, the sound feeling the same way like the cake this morning felt in my mouth. My scarf blows behind me in the wind, and I can’t help but to smile. My coach gives me a nod, and I remember why I loved golf so much. She gives a subtle complex look, as though still in thought to why I missed that putt. 

*****************

   The crisp November breeze blows through my hair as I take a walk down the course with my coach. Coffee in hand, I start to get nervous shivers. The feeling of dread that the tournament is just a few days away picks at my brain. As we head back to my house, we decide to watch the clips from the tournament last year, to see if there's any last minute details we can fix in my game.

    We begin to watch all the clips with hot chocolate in our hands. We analyzed every tiny detail, and after what seemed like hours, we were at the shot that cost me my game. I frown a bit, and Liz notices right away.”Hey, I know you don't want to watch this, but it's gonna be for the better okay?”. I nod my head in understanding, still a bit nervous to watch this. I watch as the putt is about to make it in and then “Woah Woah Woah wait.” my breath starts racing, and i feel like i'm drowning underwater and having a panic attack all at the same time. “Rewind to the beginning again. And this time, watch Dave” I say in between shaky breaths. Dave is Savannah's dad, whom I also hate with all my heart. “IS THAT A REMOTE?!” Liz exclaims. “I KNEW that you didn’t miss that putt by accident.” “Well what do we do? Call the tournament heads?” I ask. “Well, before anything, we keep watching”. We watch through the award ceremonies, and see my ball being swapped out with another by Dave. I can’t even describe the hatred and frustration I am feeling right now. Liz quickly speaks up: “Now, before you say anything, I bet you my plan will take any doubts away”. As I listen to Liz’z plan, my grin grows to  the ends of my cheeks. 

   It’s the last hole of the tournament. Savannah is winning by one stroke, and I can feel her heart's ego glowing. But what she doesn’t know is that Liz and I specifically made sure of that. I hear Em cheering in the crowd, and my heart warms. I look at her and wave, taking a deep breath because I know what's just about to happen. Savannah is just about to hit her shot when the big screen with everyone's scores starts to flicker. Liz’s face appears and murmurs run through the crowd. The loudspeakers start to rumble until a clear voice appears: hearing Liz over the loudspeaker makes me feel like I am towering over everyone else. My heart surges. “Everyone, here is the truth.” I see Dave and Savannah exchange looks, and it's clear they think they are there above whatever is about to happen. But the best part is the look of terror when they see their own faces staring right back at them. “This is Savannah and Dave; for those of you that don’t know, Savannah won last year's tournament. A quick round of applause for her”. Liz pauses for a moment before continuing. “Now what you don’t know is why Liz won. Give me one moment”. Liz pulls up the video from last year, and everyone is wondering why reruns are such a big deal. It's not until the clip starts playing a zoomed in part of Dave that they realize. Dave, with the remote. Sounds of shock ripple through the spectators. My eyes are gleaming with happiness. I quickly put in my winning shot as police escort Dave and Savannah out the course. The next day was a blur, but the best part had to be Savannah being escorted by an officer and saying” I am very sorry for cheating, here is last year's trophy that you deserved”. Even though she said it in the most monotone voice ever, I know her pride fell so much, while mine rose for that. I think to myself and realize even though I was devastated when I lost last year, this really was a better outcome than it would've felt last year. So, I guess, everything was worth it. I smile as I close the door on Savannah and go back to my celebratory dinner with not only Liz and Em, but with my parents as well.