Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
"Maybe."
Neil sat at his desk to wait. Kevin usually collected Neil at ten for their night practices, but Andrew had been gone for hours with Renee. It was now a little after eleven. Neil yawned into his hand as he watched the clock. He wondered if he should just go to their room and ask Kevin if they were canceling practice and decided he'd do it at half after. Seven minutes before his self-imposed deadline, Kevin finally showed up.
"At some point you have to let him sleep," Matt said, following them into the hall so he could go next door to Dan.
"He can sleep when we've won finals," Kevin said.
Andrew was waiting for them in the car as usual. Despite the ugly way Kevin and Andrew left each other at practice, there was no obvious tension between them now. Andrew said nothing when Kevin and Neil climbed into his car and took them to the stadium in silence. Maybe his bout with Renee took the energy out of him, or maybe Andrew didn't care enough to hold a grudge. Neil wasn't sure, but he watched Andrew go up the stairs into the stands to wait on them and wondered.
"Now, Neil," Kevin said from the court door.
Neil pushed all thoughts of Andrew aside and followed Kevin onto the Foxhole Court.
CHAPTER THREE
Thursday's practice was more uncomfortable than Wednesday's was. It would be easy to blame Andrew's drugged reappearance in their goal Thursday afternoon, but Andrew mostly behaved himself. He didn't mention Seth a single time and had little to say to the upperclassmen.
The problem was what Dan and Matt had noticed Wednesday night: the team stood to be so much greater without Seth on the line. Andrew, Aaron, and Nicky might have personal issues off the court, but they worked well together on it. Matt had an in with the group thanks to his talent and whatever Andrew put him through last year. Dan led them and kept them moving from her spot as the offensive dealer. Kevin pushed Neil mercilessly on the strikers' line, but Neil fought tooth and nail to keep up. Renee smoothed over the jagged edges whenever they started to show.
For the first time in Fox history, the team was a unified force. Dan and Matt could see that, but Neil saw the guilt on their faces and heard the catch in their words when they spoke during breaks. They didn't want to find the silver lining of Seth's death and they were hesitant to exploit it. Neil wanted to tell them death was no reason to hold back, but he found their humanity interesting. He just hoped they got over it before first serve on Friday night.
Their second match of the season was an away game, for which the team was grateful. Seth's absence was noticeable enough at practices; the first home game without him would be awkward and distracting. Neil didn't think Allison was ready for that yet.
Wymack needed them at the court by twelve-thirty on Friday so they could get on the road on time. He signed them out of their late morning classes, but it didn't save Neil from his Spanish and math lessons. After calculus he dropped his bag off at the dorm and met his teammates. Dan did a headcount in the hall to make sure they were all present, and then they split up between two cars for the short drive to the stadium.
Since Saturday's trip to Columbia, Neil had been riding to the stadium with the cousins. There was more room in Matt's truck than there was in Andrew's backseat, but Andrew had given Neil an explicit order Saturday night: stay in Kevin's line of sight and keep Kevin interested in his potential. Neil could have argued that there was nothing to gain from sitting behind Kevin in a car, except now Dan and Matt trusted him to somehow bring the team together. They were right when they said Andrew was the key. Neil had to stay on his good side until he figured out the right leverage, so he swallowed his discomfort and did as he was told.
He had a new reason to be uncomfortable when they pulled into the stadium parking lot. Abby had been out all week taking care of Allison, but her car was here now. That meant Allison was waiting for them in the locker room.
On Saturday morning Neil insulted Riko on national television. Kevin warned them Riko would retaliate the same day. The Foxes should have stayed together out of sight, but Allison and Seth went bar-hopping downtown with friends. Neil saw Seth right before they all split up. He remembered telling the upperclassmen goodbye before following Andrew south to Columbia. Four hours later Seth was dead.
It could be tragic coincidence and convenient timing. It could be Riko's handiwork. The latter was absurd, but the former was impossible. Allison knew Seth's bad habits. She knew Seth liked mixing drinks with his prescription pills. Neil saw Allison dig through Seth's pockets in search of the bottle. She'd come up empty and kissed Seth's irritation away. Somehow he overdosed anyway, and Andrew was convinced Riko was behind it.
Neil hadn't been directly responsible for someone's death in years, though he knew how many people died in his mother's quest to keep them safe. Neil never wanted to be his father, but he didn't want to turn into his mother, either. They were different kinds of heartless and Neil, for all his problems connecting with other people, didn't want to be a monster. The way this season was starting, though, maybe it was inevitable he'd turn into his parents.
Neil needed more time to figure out which theory he sided with, but it didn't matter what he thought. If Allison connected the dots and blamed Seth's death on Neil there'd be no dealing with her this year. Neil had to patch things up with her somehow, but he didn't know where to start. He'd never been good at winning people over. Someone like Allison wasn't likely to be his first success.