Kai strolled across the grounds of the academy well after the sun had set behind the hills. The grounds were enormous — almost like a country club, not a school. Marble statues of well-known golfers flanked the walkways, their hard stone grins standing guard in every corner.
But Kai wasn't here for the scenery. She was looking for something.
Who was that boy?
In her house, she heard a different explanation from her father as to why golf was a lonely game, but even the loneliness had a trace.
Today, the boy who had appeared before her left nothing but a hollow silence behind him.
She had turned the corner near the eastern greens, where few students ever ventured. There he sat again, on the rim of the practice bunker, gazing quietly at a worn golf ball in his hand.
Kai stopped.
Then, against her better judgment, she stepped forward.
"Hey," she said quietly.
The boy didn't flinch, or turn.
"Go back," he growled. "This isn't your side of the course."
Kai blinked. "I didn't know greens had boundaries."
For a moment, he almost smiled — but it dissolved like a tendril of smoke.
"Doesn't matter," he growled. "You'll learn soon enough."
Kai crossed her arms, standing her ground.
"You're Evan Rhodes, aren't you?"
That interested him.
His eyes climbed, cold and unforgiving as ice. "Who told you?"
"Nobody," Kai shrugged. "But everyone speaks of you as if you're a specter. Former child prodigy, vanished after some tragedy. Sounds like you're still haunting the course."
Evan stood up, brushing dirt from his pants. "Is that why you're here? Chasing campfire legends?"
"No," Kai replied calmly. "I'm here because I saw something. You're the only one who didn't notice my swing today."
Evan's face pulled into a tight line. "Why would that be important?"
"Because you're the only one who behaved as if they already knew what it would be like."
There was silence. Heavy silence.
Evan strode away from her, heading into the woods behind the course.
"Leave it alone, Summers," he said without turning.
Kai got up and let him fade into the trees, as he had previously.
But she couldn't leave it alone.
She realized that Evan wasn't just haunted by what had transpired — he was stuck in it.
And while Kai wanted to conquer tournaments, now she also wanted something else: to make him see the game differently, not as a specter, but as a man.