Flagrant Foul (gxg)

Chapter 24

We had to hustle all day on Thursday. The morning started with an early alarm for the flight to Indy, then we raced for a quick lunch, only to get lost on the way to the NCAA office thanks to construction rerouting us before we got to the building and we finally arrived right before our meeting. Once the meeting was over, which ran much later than expected thanks to the amount of evidence we were presenting, we had to drive quickly back to the airport for the return flight. Maybe we should have gotten a hotel room for the night, but this was already costing too much, and it was on Skye's dime. I really needed to pay her back!

As for the meeting itself, it was tense. I think the representatives were shocked to hear what was happening at the school, but there wasn't a lot they could do. Even seeing the video didn't give them much to go on in terms of issuing a punishment against Tegan since it didn't happen on the court. Normally they would levy discipline on a school or something if there were infractions. But in my case, the school hadn't done anything wrong. All they did was react to how they interpreted the evidence, though they really never gave me any chance to prove myself. Did they move too fast? In my opinion, yes, but they couldn't really be faulted from the NCAA's point of view.

The best that the NCAA could do was to do exactly what Skye had suggested they do, and that was to issue a blanket waiver to the entire team so that none of the players would have to be forced to play in a situation that they were uncomfortable in. We hadn't even left the office when I texted Leah to tell her about the outcome, and before we were on the flight home, we had both applied to enter the transfer portal with our waivers, and be available for other schools to recruit. The transfer portal was normally a set range of dates that allowed student athletes to transfer between schools without sitting out for a year, and by giving us a waiver, the NCAA was allowing us to do so even though we weren't within that date range. That meant I didn't lose a year of my basketball eligibility, and it was a huge relief!

On Friday, I had two more stops to make. One was an early morning visit to the police station, where I met with the officer who had told me not to leave town. I let him watch the same video, and he made and kept a copy for himself. There was going to have to be a discussion with Tegan about the restraining order, but right now I was in the clear for any breaking and entering charges. She could deal with the rest on her own. I had little doubt nothing but another slap on the wrist would happen though.

After that, I had the pleasure of stopping by the NC State campus just before lunch and seeing Coash Austin. I obviously had no classes, so I was able to get there well before the scrimmage review. When I knocked on her door, I heard a quiet reply that sounded close enough to a 'come in' that I just went ahead and entered. Coach was sitting behind her desk, staring at her laptop screen, her mouth in a frown.

"Hey Coach." I took a seat across from her, putting the plastic bag I had with me on the floor.

"Rivers." She sat back with a sigh. "I guess I have you to thank for the call and the email I just got?" She didn't look happy, but that wasn't on me.

I just shrugged. "If it is from the NCAA and about the transfer portal and all your players, then I guess you can thank me. But it really is all on Tegan."

"Why are you doing this?" she asked.

The fuck? "Excuse me? Tegan lied about everything, even the damned lost shoes in last years tournament, and then got me kicked off the team, kicked out of school and almost got me arrested. Why is me fighting to clear my name a bad thing? She is the one that you should be asking that to. I just wanted you to know the truth, because I know for a fact that the video is going public. So, you should be prepared."

"You didn't have to go to the NCAA!" she yelled at me. "This could ruin the whole program!"

"Of course I had to go to them! That was the only way I could play this year! And as for your program, that was already ruined! Tegan's selfishness cost you me, and Leah was going to transfer as soon as she could anyway because she didn't want to play with a snake like her! This way you have the rest of your team anyway, and better chemistry without Leah wanting to kill your star every time she saw her."