VOXISTALE: Novel Edition

Chapter 62

"Okay. Her."

They were driving down the road, headed for the golf course, having decided to get some golfing in. Lisa wasn't particularly thrilled about it. They were passing by a group of girls walking down the sidewalk, and Greg flushed, sinking in his seat. "Dad. That's Tiffany Woodrow. She's like, the most popular girl in school. I basically don't exist to her."

"Okay. Her best friend," Daniel suggested. "Popular girls usually have surprisingly nice friends. Sometimes."

"How about we just go golf and forget about my love life?" Greg suggested.

"If you insist," Daniel shrugged. "But if I can offer you some fatherly advice . . . you really should start making more of an effort toward girls," he told his son, giving him a smile. "I mean, being good with the ladies is in your genes, thanks to your old man, after all."

Greg forced himself not to smile. "I'm too shy," he said simply.

"You can work through it," Daniel assured his son. "It's easier than you think. Talking to girls is like having a normal conversation . . . but with a girl."

"I have normal conversations with girls. Frisk and Sadie are two of my best friends." Greg replied curtly.

"Okay. But there's usually more flirting involved when you're interested," Daniel added. "When you see a girl you like, just walk up to her, flash your pearly whites and say "hey". Maybe give 'em a little wink. Chicks dig winks."

"That only works for football players. No girl's gonna 'dig it' if the class nerd winks at her."

"Alright, time to shut down the pity party. Greg, you're a handsome boy. Most girls couldn't care less if you're sporty or not. Worrying about being too nerdy for girls won't get you anywhere: you have to start trying. Next time you see a girl you think you like, why not just try to talk it up with her? It'll do a lot for your confidence."

"Ah hah." Greg laughed dryly. "Yeah, no. I'm not ready for that sorta thing."

"You asked me to trust you, and I did. Now I'm asking you to trust me." Daniel pointed out, and Greg let out a sigh.

"Alright. I'll . . . I'll consider it."

"That's all I ask," Daniel smiled. "So to bring back the old topic, you sure you absolutely have zero interest? You're not crushing on anyone? Not even anime girls like all the other boys your age?"

"Dad!" Greg's cheeks heated up. "No, I'm not crushing on any anime girls. That would just be . . . weird."

"You sure? The kids these days are apparently calling them . . . waifus? It seems to be a pretty big deal."

Greg's face was red with embarrassment. "Dad, you need to spend less time on anime websites."

"I read about it on Facelog," Daniel replied as they rounded a bend, nearing the golf course.

"Well, then you need to spend less time on Facelog." Greg replied, hiding his face.

Once they finally arrived at the golf course, and after they'd all gotten out of the car, Daniel took in a deep breath of fresh air. "Man, I used to love coming here. Gunwale Park is the best golf course for . . . I dunno, I definitely don't know any better ones. Oh! Look!" He pointed at a couple of young women walking down to the first hole. "They look around your age. Practice my lessons, dear son. Make me proud."

"Daaaad . . ." Greg groaned, staring out at the girls. He'd be stupid not to admit that they were rather pretty, but he was certain they were college students. No chance he was going to start flirting with college girls. "Can I at least pick who I flirt with for myself?" Gregory requested, earning a shrug from his father.

"I don't see why not. As long as you don't chicken out, of course."

"I won't," Greg stated firmly, looking around the golf course to try and find someone that was a little closer to his age. He noticed another pair of girls, a little out of the way, but he did recognize them. Those two sat near him in second period- they were pretty nice, so he let his hopes go up, just a little.

"Okay. Them." Greg pointed.

"That's your girlfriend!?" Lisa cried out.

"What— no! Shush." Greg hastily replied, flushing once again as Daniel chuckled.

"Alright. You go talk to them and I'll get our equipment. Come on, Lisa."

"Aw, but I wanna meet Greggy's girlfriend!"

Greg tried to recompose himself, praying that the two hadn't heard Lisa's shouting. That would be humiliating. He took deep breaths as he began to walk over to them, swallowing the growing lump in his throat . . .

"Oh, hi Greg!" one of the girls- Pauleen, as Greg recalled- greeted. He was a bit surprised she knew his name.

"Hey. Uh . . . didn't expect to see you here." Greg gave an awkward, brief wave. He'd talked to Pauleen and her friend, Georgia, before. The two girls were best friends and looked a lot alike. It was easy to assume they were twins, even though they weren't even siblings. They were both short, with fluffy, curly auburn hair, and round faces with large eyes. The differences between the two were eye colors- as Pauleen had green eyes and Georgia had brown eyes -and their hair length -as Pauleen had short hair and Georgia had long hair.

"I didn't realize you got out much." Georgia greeted back.

"Oh- well, you know, I'm just here with my family. I don't go golfing much . . ." Gregory swallowed, trying to think of something smooth to say. "B-But if I'd realized you two would be here, I would have started coming a long time ago," he managed to say, instantly regretting his words . . . but to his surprise, the girls didn't start laughing at him. In fact, Georgia was smiling, a hint of pink on her cheeks. Greg was ready to fall over, astonished that that had worked even a little bit.

"That's sweet," Pauleen smiled too. "Maybe we'll see you out there, if you can catch up to us."

"Yeah . . . uh . . . maybe I will." Greg scratched the back of his head, barely able to recover from the awe of successfully delivering a smooth line, even if it had been a bit bumpy. Maybe his dad was right. Maybe this was in his genes. "I'll uh . . . I'll catch you later. Here with my dad and little sister."

"See you out there, Greg." The girls said together, waving after him as he retreated back to his father, who was currently trying to convince Lisa that she'd be better with a smaller club.

"But I want to use the normal one!" Lisa frowned, even though the normal-sized club was taller than her.

"Okay, I'll bite. Lisa, if you can get one ball in the hole with the normal club, I'll let you use it. But if it's too hard for you, you have to switch," Daniel offered.

"Hmph. Fine, daddy." Lisa replied, and happily took the longer club as Greg approached.

"So. How'd little me do?" Daniel asked, turning to his son, who awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Uh . . ." He straightened his glasses. "It was . . . well . . . easy." He admitted.

"Really? You sure you didn't chicken out?" Daniel teased, to which Greg shook his head. "I'm just kidding, I saw you talk to them while Lisa was stockpiling clubs."

"It was weird. They actually knew my name, and they didn't laugh at me," Greg stated, looking more confused than anything, glancing back toward the girls.

"Well, son, that's because people do notice you. Like I said, you're a handsome young man, and you're hella smart- pardon my french. I'm sure you have a lot of admirers you've never even considered." Daniel told him, and Greg blinked. He'd . . . honestly never thought of that. Could it be possible that girls around the school liked him in a way similar to how girls fawned over Terrence or Rian? Well . . . probably not that much, but it was a hopeful thought.

"Thanks, dad. I couldn't have done it without you."

"You wouldn't have done it without me," Daniel corrected, handing Greg a club, the same size and shape as the one Lisa held. The little girl seemed to be struggling with her own, forced to hold it with both hands. "Now let's go golfing."