Thursday's excitement had nothing on Friday's. The whole school got decked out overnight with vibrant orange and white streamers. Ribbons and banners hung off every sidewalk lamp. Live student bands took over the amphitheater for short concerts and the student newspaper released that morning gave details for the afternoon parade. Cheerleaders roamed the campus in small packs, flaunting their short skirts and bright smiles and revving up school spirit wherever they could.
Traffic around campus that day was horrendous as spectators flooded in and settled down for back-to-back weekend opening home games. None of the Foxes expected to win that night, as they were opening the season against their longtime rivals Breckenridge. Until Edgar Allan made its move, Breckenridge was the largest and first-ranked school in the district. Fortunately the football team's chances for Saturday afternoon's game were much better. It would be too much of a downer if Palmetto lost both opening games.
Campus police were out in full force that day, helping direct traffic and making sure guests didn't interrupt classes. Neil hated the sight of their blue uniforms, but having them around was better than dealing with the press. He had enough problems getting along with his classmates now that he was wearing his Exy jersey.
He caused a small disruption wherever he went. Neil wanted to cut class and hide at Fox Tower until game time, but athletes weren't allowed to call out without a legitimate medical excuse. Someone from the athletics committee went around all day counting heads through classroom windows, and Wymack would be the first to hear Neil was absent.
Luckily Neil's teammates had anticipated trouble. Matt was waiting for him outside his Spanish classroom to walk him to his next class. It didn't matter if the school rallied behind their Exy team or not; Neil was a secret finally let out of the bag.
Anyone who followed the school's news knew the ERC had bent the rules to protect Neil's anonymity. Neil had checked the internet periodically throughout the summer to make sure it was working. As of this morning, though, his name was everywhere.
Almost as disturbing was finding out Andrew hadn't lied to Neil back in May. In almost every article that talked of Neil's pathetic experience Kevin was quoted as having high hopes for him. Kevin really had said Neil would one day be Court. It was a bold statement from a former champion, and it only added to the intrigue surrounding the Foxes' tenth player. The looks Neil kept getting made his skin crawl, but Matt kept them moving through the crowd without a problem.
After math Renee took Neil to history, neatly bypassing a group of cheerleaders before they noticed the jerseys in their midst. Allison found him after his history class. He had an open period, so she dragged him to lunch with her and Seth. Neil's nerves killed his hunger, but he obediently put food on his tray and sat with them.
It was the first time Neil had been alone with them, and it went better than he expected it to. They were in an "on" stage in their relationship, which helped. They talked mostly to each other, sparing only a few words for him, but Neil was content to watch. Seeing Seth act something other than completely hostile was fascinating, but he still didn't know what Allison saw in him. A girl with her money and connections could have had anyone and anything, but she chose to be a Fox and date Seth. Neil didn't think he would ever understand that decision.
"Well?" Allison asked, startling Neil from his thoughts. "What are you going to do about a date?"
They'd spent most of lunch talking about the Exy's kickoff banquet. Every school in the southeast would put in an appearance, including the Ravens. Neil wasn't planning on attending, but he hadn't yet figured out the logistics of skipping it.
"I'm not bringing one," Neil said.
"That's stupid," Allison said. "Even the monster's got a date."
Neil wasn't expecting that, but he could guess. "Renee?"
"She hasn't asked him yet, but it's inevitable."
Allison picked her pita bread into pieces and mopped up leftover salad dressing with it. "Money's on the table as to whether or not he says yes. Pot's getting pretty big, so get your bet in fast."
The only thing the Foxes had in common besides Exy and hardship was their strange obsession with betting on the stupidest things. Neil had figured that out only two weeks into practice. A week didn't go by when there wasn't money on something or another.
Neil looked between Seth and Allison. "Are Andrew and Renee...?"
Seth looked like he might be sick. "Better not be."
Allison gave a prim shrug. "Renee promises it'll never happen. I believe her," she said, glancing at Seth like she was daring him to argue. He stabbed at his chicken and kept quiet. Allison pointed a chunk of bread at Neil. "You're running out of time to find a date. Ask Aaron to set you up with a Vixen. I'm sure Katelyn knows a pretty face or two."
The last thing Neil wanted to do was hook up with a cheerleader. He had no fond memories of Millport's high school squad. "Who is Katelyn?"
"Aaron's unofficial girlfriend. Look for her at the game tonight. It's pretty pathetic watching them moon over each other long distance." Allison checked her watch and pushed back her chair. "Have to run. Meeting my advisor." She leaned across the table to give Seth a quick kiss and carried her tray away.
Seth and Neil finished up a couple minutes later. Seth took Neil to his speech class. Dan met Neil afterward and escorted Neil across campus to Fox Tower. She left him at the crosswalk, since she still had another class to get to before she was done for the day.
"Rest up," she said. "Tonight's going to be a long night."
Neil was too tense from the morning to follow that advice, but he made a beeline for his bed anyway.
He'd lived in several towns like Millport over the years and dealt with small-town curiosity and distrust most of his life. Somehow Palmetto State grated more against him, maybe because his jersey and place on the team demanded people pay attention to him.
He couldn't fade into the background here, not with these colors and not after tonight's game. There were twenty-one thousand people enrolled at Palmetto State University. Neil wasn't playing for himself anymore; he was playing to represent them.
Friday afternoon's practice was canceled because of the game. The team was expected to be at the stadium by a quarter after six for their seven o'clock serve. Matt collected Neil from the bedroom at five-thirty for a light dinner with the upperclassmen. Dan finished first and went to check on Andrew's lot. Her expression was grim when she returned, but Matt gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
"He'll be fine," Matt said. "He was last year."
"I thought Kevin didn't play last year," Neil said.
The upperclassmen exchanged looks. Neil looked from one face to another, trying to track their silent conversation. Seth and Allison radiated impatience and disapproval, but Renee was smiling a little. Matt grimaced and shrugged, leaving the decision to Dan. Finally Dan sighed and turned on Neil.
"There's something we haven't told you yet," Dan said. "We were going to tell you a while ago, but you and Andrew were having so many problems we figured we'd wait. We didn't know how you'd react."
"We didn't trust you to keep your mouth shut," Allison translated.
Dan made a face at her but didn't deny it. "So Andrew's technically legally required to take his medication, right?"
Neil had a feeling he knew where this conversation was going, but he didn't believe it. "Yes. It was part of his plea bargain."
"He struck a bargain of his own with Coach," Dan said. "The only reason he signed with us is because Coach agreed to let him come off his drugs for game nights. Coach ran it by us first since we're the ones out there on the court with him, but no one else can know. Not even Betsy knows he does it. She's his doctor; she'd have to put an end to it."
"How is Andrew supposed to guard our goal when he's sick?" he asked. In Columbia Andrew softened his withdrawal with alcohol and cracker dust, but he couldn't do that here. Neil still remembered how violently Andrew shook as he puked on the roadside.
"He's not sick yet," Matt said. He put his hand up at eye level. "Andrew's withdrawal is a three-stage process. Imagine you're flying high all day. Then suddenly you stop drugging. First you crash." He smacked his hand down to waist height. "That's stage one. He doesn't get sick until stage two."
"Andrew adjusts his schedule on Fridays depending on what time our serve is," Dan said. "He misses his dose a half-hour before the game starts and always plays first half. Usually he can ride stage one until halftime. Then he takes his medicine again and spends the rest of the night on the bench."
Neil guessed that was how Andrew slept all the way to Columbia. He almost made it all the way to Sweetie's before getting violently ill. "What's stage three?"
"Give him his drugs or get stabbed in the face," Matt said dryly. "It's not fun. Luckily we've only ever seen him get that far once."
"He won't get that bad tonight," Dan said. "Besides, you'll be half the court away from him. We just thought you should have a heads-up, even if it's a couple months late. Are you going to be okay with this?"
"Is it going to jeopardize our match?" Neil asked.
"No more than anything else will," Matt said.
"Then I don't care," Neil said. "He can do what he wants."
It wasn't the complete truth, but Neil didn't know how to put his remaining reservations into words. Andrew said he hated this game, so why would he make it worse for himself by coming off his drugs for them? At least medicated he might find the matches entertaining. The only guess Neil had was that Andrew hated his medicine more than he hated Exy. That was interesting to consider, but Neil didn't have time to think about it tonight.
It didn't take long to clean up their dinner mess and they met Andrew's group in the hallway. Andrew looked on top of the world as usual, but Kevin's expression was tense. Tonight was Kevin's first season game since his injury and his debut as a right-handed Fox striker. Kevin had to shine tonight if he honestly wanted to make a comeback. How he was supposed to do that with his weaker hand and a team like the Foxes as backup, Neil didn't know.
They left the dormitory early, but traffic was so backed up they were almost late. The stadium had turned into a madhouse sometime between morning practice and now. The parking lots were crammed and security was everywhere, directing fans and watching for drunken foolery. Every gate was open and the guards manning them wielded metal detectors. A line of police cars and two ambulances kept a path clear for the athletes' cars. Two guards stood outside their door, and after a cursory check to make sure none of them were carrying anything illegal into the stadium, they were allowed into their locker room.
Wymack was in the lounge and immediately directed them to the changing room. Neil was halfway through the men's door when Kevin snagged his collar and hauled him down the hall to the back door. Kevin pulled it open and pushed Neil ahead of him through it. Neil stumbled a step, caught his balance a second later, and went to the inner court.
The Foxhole Court was the second collegiate stadium he'd been in, the first being Edgar Allan's Ravens' Nest, but he'd never been in one on a game night. It was one thing to admire the dizzyingly high seats, and another thing entirely when those seats were full. Not all of the sixty-five thousand seats were taken yet, but at least three-quarters were. The stadium rumbled with the sounds of tens of thousands of feet. The crowd's yelling and laughing were deafening, and this was before the crowd had a reason to be loud. Neil wondered what they would sound like after the Foxes scored. Maybe it'd be loud enough to crack his bones inside him.
It didn't take anyone long to notice Neil and Kevin in the inner court. When the closest section went crazy, the sound ignited a small wave up the stands. Orange Notes, the campus band, was still filing into their section, but they reacted to the excitement unquestioningly. The drumline beat out a ferocious rhythm and a couple trumpets started the school fight song. A few seconds later the students joined in, yelling the words at one another and the empty court.
"Don't waste their time tonight," Kevin said at his ear. "They came to see you play, so give them something to believe in."
"They're not here for me," Neil said. "They're here to see the famous Kevin Day."
Kevin put a hand to Neil's shoulder blade and gave him a small push. "Change out."
Neil took one last peek up at the stands before heading back to the locker room.
Wymack called them to the foyer when they had all their gear on and passed around the Breckenridge Jackals' roster. Matt took one look at the starting line-up and made a face.
"Hey, Seth. Looks like Gorilla's back."
"Shit." Seth held out his hand in a demand for the paper.
"At least they're taking us seriously from the start," Aaron said.
"Easy for defense to say." Allison took the roster from Matt and gave it to Seth.
"Gorilla?" Neil asked.
"Number 16, Hawking," Nicky said. "AKA Gorilla. Six and a half feet tall and three hundred pounds of pure douchebaggery. You'll know him when you see him, trust me. He looks like a football player that got lost on his way to the field."
"He's also dumb as a brick, so he sat out of championships last year on academic probation," Matt said. "It's kind of a yearly ritual for him."
"He's defense," Dan said, looking at Neil, "and he loves body-checks. Don't get between him and the wall, Neil. He'll break every bone in your body if you give him the chance."
"Don't worry, though," Matt said. "He'll probably be too busy killing Kevin and Seth to notice you."
"This is my reassured face," Neil said, pointing up at his blank expression.
"Are you done wasting my oxygen yet?" Wymack asked. "Let's get moving. We're on home court for warm-up. We're doing simple relay shots first, Andrew and Renee twice through each. Andrew, keep them on our side. You hit a single practice shot onto the Jackals' side of the court when they're warming up and I won't start you until second half."
Neil looked at Andrew at that. Andrew looked fine so far, but maybe they were still too far out from first serve for him to be feeling any withdrawal.
Wymack kept going. "Starters down the line: Seth, Kevin, Dan, Matt, Aaron, Andrew. I've got three subs each half, so you'll all get a swap except the goalies. Kevin, you're out if your hand so much as itches. Don't be stupid tonight."
"It's been eight months," Kevin said.
"Don't risk it your first game back," Abby said.
Kevin grimaced but gave up arguing. That was good enough for Wymack and Abby, so they sent the Foxes scrambling for their helmets and racquets. They lined up at the door in order of playing position, with Dan out of place at the front as their captain. Wymack had an earpiece in that linked him to the announcer's booth. When he heard the okay, he led his team out to the benches. Neil's helmet muffled some of the crowd's screaming, but his ears were still ringing when he followed the Foxes onto the court.
Neil knew the Fox team was the smallest in the NCAA and Breckenridge one of the largest, but he hadn't expected the difference to feel so vast. The tan-and-black Jackals seemed crowded on their half, making the Foxes look pathetic and small on theirs. Neil tried not to feel intimidated. When that failed, he put everything he had into warm-up drills instead. The twenty minutes flew by faster than he thought they would and they were shepherded off the court by the referees: the Jackals out the north door, the Foxes out the south.
The announcer's voice just barely carried over the crowd's racket, but as it got closer to game time someone thought to turn up his volume. By the time he called the team's rosters his voice was echoing off the court walls. As their names were called, the Foxes lifted their racquets in silent salute. The crowd roared in response to each one, and Orange Notes' drumline pounded away on whatever their sticks could reach.
"For the Breckenridge Jackals," the announcer said, and went through the list of players slotted to play tonight. The Jackals' names were greeted with mixed boos and polite applause from the Foxes' side, but there were large sections of Jackal fans in attendance on the north side of the stadium. Their pep band played the fight song as soon as the last name was called, but Orange Notes promptly drowned them out with Palmetto's song.
The six referees for the game opened the doors on either side of the court and entered. At their beckon, Dan and the opposing captain joined them at half-court for an obligatory handshake and the coin toss. The head referee signaled first serve for the Jackals and home court for the Foxes. Three referees followed each captain off and arranged themselves along the wall near the court lines.
Wymack made shooing motions at his starting line. "Get out there and make them sorry they showed up tonight. I want my subs at the wall cheering them on, but if you trip up a referee I will cut you. Let's go."
Dan led her players to the door and thumped the wall when they were ready. The announcer called off the Foxes' starting line-up from offense to defense. Kevin was the first onto the court, and the entire stadium had a fit at the sight of him. It didn't matter what school the fans were here to support; Kevin was in uniform after an eight-month absence. All predictions said he'd never play again, but he carried a racquet with him to half-court like he'd always known he would return.
Seth followed Kevin on and joined him at the half-court line. Dan was the Foxes' offensive dealer and stood halfway between half-court and first-fourth. Matt and Aaron spaced themselves out on first-fourth, and Andrew was the last one in place in their goal.
Breckenridge filed on next. Nicky pointed to Gorilla as soon as the player made his entrance, but Neil didn't need any help spotting him. "Remember to thank Seth and Kevin later for getting crushed in your stead."
He might have been joking, but Neil nodded anyway. Anyone who could make Matt look delicate was not someone Neil wanted to face on the court.
Nicky looked at Neil. "Hey," he said, sounding uncharacteristically hesitant. "We haven't really had a chance to talk after... Well. I wanted to say sorry, but I kept chickening out. Are we okay?"
"I don't know yet," Neil said.
Nicky weighed that for a minute, then sighed and said, "Fair enough."
The referees slammed the doors with a resounding bang and bolted them shut. There were vents and fans along the ceiling to keep air circulating on the court. The vents would let out echoes of serves and checks, but the players would have to yell for their voices to filter out into the stadium. Neil didn't know what they were saying to each other now as they waited for the game to start, but he doubted it was pleasant seeing as how Seth was flipping off one of the Jackals' strikers. Seth turned the gesture on Kevin a couple seconds later.
"Oh Lord," Abby said at Neil's back. "They could at least pretend to get along when playing against this team."
"Not a chance!" Nicky said. "Ten bucks says they hit each other inside fifteen minutes."
"I'm not taking that," Allison said.
"You could try to be optimistic about the first game of the season," Renee said.
"Maybe you saw who we're up against," Nicky said, pointing at the opposing team. "You really think optimism is going to help us?"
"I think it can't hurt," Renee said with a smile.
Allison started to say something, but the warning buzzer drowned her out. If Neil looked up he could almost see the scoreboard where it hung over the dead center of court. A clock, the score, and shots on goal statistics were displayed on all four sides, as were screens for replays and close-ups. Right now the board would be counting down the last minute to game start, but Neil didn't strain to see. He didn't want to take his eyes off the court. He pressed his gloved hands to the wall and leaned forward, trying to see all of it at once.
His heart pounded in his chest, sending shuddery heat through every inch of his body. He held his breath waiting for first serve.
The buzzer went off again, and the game began. Breckenridge's dealer flicked the ball into the air and slammed it with his racquet. The distinctive crack had Jackals and Foxes breaking formation and rushing forward to find their marks and places on the court. The nerves Neil felt earlier evaporated under the wild weight of the crowd's enthusiasm. Their screams jarred against his skin and the stamping of a hundred thousand feet beat in time to his pulse. Two bodies crashed on the court as the game started rough from the get-go. There was a roar of approval from the rafters.
The ball hit the wall in front of the subs and went careening away. Dan caught it before it went far and threw it to Seth. Her momentum sent her into the wall further up and the Jackal dealer slammed into her a second later. The wall shuddered under their weight. Dan practically threw him aside to get back into the game, and the subs pounded on the wall in support.
Neil raked his gaze along the court, past the Jackal striker that was struggling with Aaron. Aaron and Matt were pushing the Jackal strikers up the court away from goal, but they didn't want to leave too much empty space between them and Andrew. Andrew stood alone on the white line marking the goalkeeper's territory, watching the game unfold in front of him. He spun his racquet in a circle, mocking the Jackals' efforts with that carefree stance.
The ball hit the wall further down the court, and Neil turned his attention back to it. Dan was the first to it again, and she sent it high over Seth's head. Seth and Gorilla raced each other up the court to catch the ball on the rebound. Seth caught it but couldn't hold it for long. He carried it only half a step before Gorilla took a swipe at his racquet.
It didn't look like much of a strike, but it sent Seth's racquet flying. Gorilla caught the ball as it bounced off the ground and turned to heave it all the way down the court. It hit the wall a few inches to the right of the home court goal. Andrew watched it bounce away.
One of the Jackal strikers got around Matt and ran for it. Andrew stopped spinning his stick and shifted, readying himself just in time. The striker took a fast shot on goal and Andrew beat it forcefully away, sending it right back down the middle of the court.
The Jackal dealer tried to catch it, but it was going faster than he anticipated and it bounced out of the net of his racquet. Dan stole it from him. He bowled her over in response, and the ball went rolling away. Dan beat her stick against the ground in anger as she scrambled back to her feet to chase him. The Jackal dealer already had the ball and was running toward home court.
"Atta girl," Abby said. "You've got him."
Dan couldn't catch up to him in time to stop him from passing the ball, but she didn't slow. She slammed into the dealer hard enough to send them both sprawling. Jackal fans roared in outrage, demanding a card for that trick, but the referees didn't move.
Body-checks were only legal when played by or against players who were carrying the ball, but allowances were made for hits that happened in the first two seconds after the ball left a player's net. Officials knew sometimes athletes were simply going too fast to stop in time. It allowed a loophole for spiteful collisions like Dan's, but that only made the game more fun for the fans.
Aaron was small enough he could get duck under his striker's arm. He intercepted the ball in an impossible move and kept spinning back to face home court. He passed the ball to Andrew without slowing and was back on his feet a heartbeat later. Andrew hit the ball with an underhand swing to clear it out of home court. The ball bounced off the ceiling and fell back into the fray.
"Move it, Foxes!" Wymack roared.
"Let's go, Foxes, let's go!" the Vixens called out further down.
The crowd picked it up and echoed the chant back to the cheerleaders. The other subs joined in, but Neil was numbed into silence by the speed and skill of the game.
He'd watched his teammates fall apart to in-fighting all summer long, but now he finally saw them as a whole. As much as the Foxes disliked each other at times, they disliked their opponents more. They were still too fractured to be truly great, but they were good enough to give him chills. Neil finally understood how the Foxes made it to third place last fall and scored a spot in championships.
Unfortunately, Breckenridge was better. Twelve minutes into the game they finally broke the Foxes' defense line. A Jackal striker caught the ball and carried it right into Aaron. Aaron was bulled over, giving the striker a straight path to the goal, and all of the Jackals crushed forward inside the first-fourth line.
The striker got dangerously close to goal before taking a shot. Andrew snapped it right back at him, bouncing it off his helmet. The Jackal dealer caught the ball next, and Dan was a second too slow to stop him from aiming for the goal. Andrew deflected that shot as well, but the Jackals were pressed too close for him to clear the ball. He aimed high, but Gorilla was close enough and tall enough to snag it from the air.
"Get it out of there!" Wymack yelled at the wall.
Gorilla knocked aside two Foxes like they were nothing and ran for the goal. Matt threw himself into Gorilla like his life depended on it, taking them both out. Matt's unguarded striker caught the ball and fired, and the goal flared up red behind Andrew. Breckenridge's fans went crazy as the buzzer sounded first point. Wymack swore viciously and turned in an angry circle, looking for but not finding something to vent his anger on.
"Nice try, Foxes!" Renee called, clapping.
The Jackals pounded each other's backs in congratulations as they ran back down the court. Gorilla was the last to go where he and Matt were still picking themselves off the ground, and he stopped by the goal to say something to Andrew. Whatever it was, Andrew didn't seem impressed. He stood his racquet in front of him, folded his arms across the net, and perched his chin on his arms. Gorilla waved a hand at him in dismissal and jogged across court. Dan swung past Matt to give him a quick pat-down.
They almost made it to their starting spots without incident, but then Kevin's defenseman shoved him on his way by. Kevin shoved him back almost hard enough to knock him over. The Jackal backliner spun around to say something, and Seth gestured expansively as he joined in. Kevin ignored the Jackal to say something to Seth, and Seth answered by throwing a punch at him.
"I win," Nicky said. "It's only thirteen minutes."
"No one took your bet," Abby said, sounding weary as she watched Kevin and Seth fight.
"Don't you bet on these retards," Wymack said.
Dan caught up with the two and shoved them roughly apart. She stuck her finger in Seth's face as she chewed him out, then did the same to Kevin. Kevin and Seth finally spread out on half-court to take their spots. The referees by the doors waited to see if they needed to intervene, then decided Dan had handled it appropriately and let it go.
The game started up again with another Breckenridge serve, but the Foxes were fired up and angry from losing the first point. Kevin seemed to take that personally, and he played with a vengeance.
As soon as Dan got him the ball, he laid his backliner mark flat and flew up the court unguarded for a perfect point on goal. The goal went red and the crowd surged to its feet at the Foxes' back. Neil couldn't hear his own triumphant yell over the sound of the excited students. Orange Notes blared the fight song and students screamed the words like a battle cry.
The fight song wasn't half-over before Kevin and his mark were brawling. It took Matt, Dan, and three Jackals to tear them apart. By the time they put a safe distance between the two the referees were there.
The yellow card went to the Jackal for throwing the first punch, and the crowd cheered. Overhead on the screens a cartoon jackal got brained by an oversized hammer. The Jackal fans booed, but their anger was drowned out by the home crowd.
When the teams were set up in starting spot, the referees left. Dan served to get the game moving.
They were twenty minutes in when Gorilla crushed Seth up against the wall. Fans roared with hatred and excitement as Gorilla raced after the ball unguarded. Neil expected Seth to go after him, but Seth scrabbled ineffectually at the wall for a second and then crumpled to the ground.
"David," Abby said, but Wymack was already running down the wall to stand opposite Seth. One of the referees crouched beside him and gestured through the wall at Seth. Wymack hit the wall to get Seth's attention. Seth painstakingly pushed himself onto his hands and knees. Neil looked from him to the game in helpless frustration. Until Seth signaled the referees to call him out, the game was still going, which meant Kevin suddenly had two backliners riding him.
It didn't take Dan long to notice Kevin's predicament. She spun in a circle, wasting precious seconds and losing track of the ball to find her missing striker. Halfway across the court from her, Kevin got sandwiched between the Jackal backliners. He lost the ball and his racquet but somehow kept his feet.
"Call it, Seth!" Nicky yelled, kicking the wall.
Seth finally lifted his racquet, alerting the referees he was unable to continue the period. An alarm went off to stop the game. Matt had just caught the ball, so he passed it to Andrew for safekeeping. The crowd went silent to watch as Seth struggled to his feet. He stumbled sideways into the wall and leaned heavily against it, waiting to get his balance back before trying to walk. Dan ran to help him, and Allison kept pace with him on the outside of the court. Abby hurried ahead of her to the door.
Wymack smacked Neil's shoulder. "Move it."
A flicker of nerves turned Neil's stomach cold. Now that he'd seen the teams in action, it proved what he'd said all along: he wasn't ready to play with a team like this. He didn't have much of a choice, though, so he grabbed his racquet and ran after Allison to the court door.
"Get some!" Nicky called after him.
Allison took Seth from Dan at the doorway and held him still long enough for Abby to get his helmet off. Allison helped Seth over to the bench, and Dan gestured to Neil to step through the door onto the court. Overhead the announcer called out the swap: "Going on for Seth Gordon is freshman Neil Josten, number ten, of Millport, Arizona."
Neil wondered if casket lids sounded like court doors slamming shut.
"Ready?" Dan asked.
"Ready to try," Neil said.
"Let's do this," she said, clacking sticks with him.
They jogged across the court together. By the time Seth finally called out, both teams were up inside first-fourth again. Dan took a spot by her mark. Because Neil was a mid-play substitute, his starting spot was up against the home court wall.
"Is it true?" the Jackal dealer called over to him.
"Coach says you're a one-year rookie."
"Are you kidding me?" a girl demanded, and Neil stared in surprise. The backliner Kevin had been fighting with all game was a woman. "A national champion and an amateur? South Carolina's gotten even crazier than usual."
"An amateur and a cripple, you mean," the dealer said.
Andrew slammed his racquet against the goal, making several athletes jump and drawing more than a few wary looks his way. Neil couldn't see Andrew's expression from where he was standing, but he hoped Andrew was faking a smile. Their opponents would announce Andrew's sobriety in a heartbeat if it got him out of the Foxes' goal. Neil waited, expecting the worst, but Andrew only took two steps back into his goalkeeper's territory and waited. A buzzer sounded overhead when everyone was settled and still. Andrew lifted the ball in his gloved hand.
"Hey, Pinocchio," he said without looking at Neil. The cheer in his voice was too mocking to be real, but Neil doubted anyone but the Foxes noticed. "Time to run. This one's for you."
Andrew bounced the ball off the ground and swung with everything he had. Neil didn't wait to see him hit it. He threw himself away from the wall and flew down the court as fast as he could, vanishing past the backliners and strikers who were just starting to move.
Kevin's mark cut across the court toward him, meaning to cut him off, but Neil was faster than she expected and he led her all the way down the court.
The ball hit the far wall and came soaring back. Neil jumped to catch it before it could go over his head.
His mark was there when he landed and he bounced away from her, counting steps instinctively as he swung his racquet out of her reach. Her racquet just barely missed his fingers as she took a swing at him. He could only carry the ball ten steps and had already used six.
He knew he couldn't get around her in four, so he twisted and passed the ball back to Dan. His mark collided with him a second later and he went skidding, arm out and stick dragging along the ground for balance.
Dan passed the ball to Kevin. Gorilla was massive, but his size slowed him down. Kevin got around him and caught the ball, then twisted and threw the ball further up court to buy the strikers breathing room. Gorilla smacked Kevin's racquet out of his hands in retaliation. Kevin swore and gave his arms a violent shake.
The Jackal goalie left goal to smack the ball back down the court at them. Matt intercepted it and aimed high, wanting it to hit the ceiling and come down near the strikers again. Kevin caught it but only had two steps to aim and shoot it before Gorilla crashed into him. Kevin hit the ground so hard he rolled.
The goalie deflected the ball to Gorilla. Gorilla threw it at home court wall again, and the Jackal backliners chased after it to force Neil and Kevin back down the court. They were dragged all the way to first-fourth. Neil decided he hated their "everyone gang up on the goalie" strategy. It was frustrating watching them hammer Andrew like this, especially from this far back. He couldn't get into the fray if there was a chance the Foxes could shake the ball loose. He could only watch as the Jackals steamrolled the Foxes. Three shots later they scored.
"You can't win against us," the female backliner said to Neil. "You guys suck."
"I'd rather be a Fox than a Jackal if you win by hurting your opponents," Neil said. "You're a team of pathetic bullies."
She shoved against him chest-to-chest. "Say that again. I dare you."
Neil wasn't impressed by her attitude. He gave her a bored look and pressed one finger hard against her shoulder. "Get out of my face. You already got carded once. Start another fight and you'll be out the rest of the game."
"Leverett!" the dealer yelled in warning. "Back off!"
She curled her lip at Neil in scorn, took two exaggerated steps back, then spun on her heel and stormed off to her starting spot. The Jackals served as soon as everyone was ready. Neil couldn't go far before he caught up with Leverett again. She shoved him with her shoulder as she forced him back toward half-court.
Across the court Kevin gained possession of the ball, but he lost it a second later as Gorilla knocked his stick away. Neil didn't know if Gorilla really was hitting his racquet that hard every time or if Kevin was just afraid to hold on when the reverberations would go all the way up his hands to his elbows. He wasn't sure which answer he hoped it was. He didn't want Kevin injured, but the Foxes couldn't afford for Kevin to bring his psychological damage onto the court for a game.
Matt stole the ball from his striker and passed it to Aaron. Aaron's only clear shot was to Andrew. It bought him a couple seconds to get ahead of his striker mark, and Andrew hit the ball to rebound off the wall in front of Aaron. Aaron caught it and threw it with everything he had.
"Neil!"
Neil was already moving, following the arc of Aaron's racquet and realizing the pass was meant for him. Leverett swiped at his racquet, trying to ruin his catch, and Neil grit his teeth at the twinge in his wrists. He brought his stick around to beat hers out of the way.
It cost him the precious second he needed to snag the ball, and he almost overextended his arm to catch it. Leverett rammed into him, trying to knock him over, but Neil hugged his racquet close, protecting the ball between his body and his net. Leverett snapped his racquet again to pop the ball free. Neil took another step back to brace himself, gave her a chance to catch the ball, and shoulder-slammed her hard enough to knock her to her ass. He snagged the fallen ball and bolted with it.
"Fucking whore!" she yelled after him.
Neil carried the ball ten steps and threw it to Kevin. Kevin caught it, only to get his racquet smashed away again. Gorilla pounded past him after the ball. Kevin pressed his left hand to his gut and twisted in search of Matt.
"Get him off of me!"
Matt didn't answer, but he heard. The next time both teams were up inside the first-fourth line, Matt dropped his striker and went after Gorilla. Matt tossed his racquet aside to free up his hands and took one powerful swing, punching Gorilla right under his chest armor. Gorilla slumped forward a bit under the blow and the buzzer called a foul. Gorilla needed only a second to get his breath back and then went after Matt. Matt backpedaled away from his giant hands, putting as many people between him and Gorilla as he could. Gorilla shoved his teammates out of the way as he chased Matt across the court.
As soon as Matt passed the goal, Andrew stepped into Gorilla's path. He looked ridiculously small as he watched Gorilla bear down on him, but he stood his ground and waited with his racquet at his side. Gorilla jerked a beefy hand at him in a demand to move, but Andrew stayed silent and still. Neil held his breath, waiting for Gorilla to move Andrew with force. Andrew might be psychotic, but he was also half Gorilla's size. One perfect punch from Gorilla would crush his skull.
Luckily the referees got there before things could escalate. Matt accepted his yellow card without argument and flashed Kevin a thumbs-up. Through the open court doors Neil could hear the crowd jeering and cheering the short fight. Matt jogged off the court to let Nicky on and was greeted by the home crowd like a returning champion. Gorilla left the court through the Jackals' side a couple seconds later. Neil saw him limping through the wall.
"Matt can hit," Neil said.
Dan smiled. "His mother's a professional boxer. She taught him a couple tricks. Now what...?" Neil followed her distraction to the court door where Wymack still waited. It was almost time for Allison to come on for Dan, but Wymack had both Seth and Allison with him. Wymack gestured between them, leaving the choice to Dan. It only took Dan a second to catch on and she whipped around, looking for Kevin.
Kevin was standing with Andrew inside the goal line, left hand out so Andrew could tug at his outer glove. Andrew undid the straps and peeled it off, then hooked it under his arm so he could take off Kevin's arm guard. He left Kevin's under-glove on, but unhooked the loop from Kevin's middle finger so he could slide the black cloth to Kevin's wrist. Kevin flexed his fingers slowly, staring at his scars, then turned his hand over and flexed his fingers again.
"Kevin!" Dan said.
Kevin and Andrew looked her way and followed her pointing finger to the door. Neil couldn't hear what Andrew said, but Kevin shook his head. Andrew pushed Kevin's glove and armor against his chest and took a step back, and Kevin turned toward the court door. Dan squeezed his shoulder on his way by. As soon as Kevin was out of earshot she muttered something vicious under her breath and sent Gorilla a dirty look through the court wall.
The crowd outside greeted Kevin's arrival with the same enthusiasm they'd shown Matt. He'd only played half an hour, but for now it was good enough just to have him on the court.
"Line up for a foul shot," Dan said as Seth took Kevin's place on the court.
The referees left and locked them in. Foxes and Jackals moved out of the way to let Gorilla's replacement have a clear shot on goal. A buzzer gave the backliner the go-ahead. He took a couple extra seconds to weigh his options, then fired at the corner of Andrew's goal. Andrew slammed the ball all the way down to the far court wall.
Neil ran down the court as fast as he could, wanting more than ever for the Foxes to win this game. He knew they couldn't, but the way the Jackals were playing was infuriating. Gorilla really had been trying to hurt Kevin's hand his first day back on the court, which was unbelievably cruel. Neil hoped Matt had bruised some ribs with that punch.
He snagged the ball from the air as it came flying his way. He ran for the goal, making five steps before Leverett was right on his tail. He fired a shot at the goal that the goalkeeper just barely deflected. Seth dodged around his new backliner mark to catch the ball, but he didn't have a clear shot. He threw the ball back to Neil instead.
Leverett moved as if to intercept it, but Neil didn't let her. He slammed his stick into hers almost hard enough to send both their racquets flying. She cursed as she lost her grip, and then there was nothing to stop Neil from getting to the goal. He caught the ball and carried it all ten steps, calculating angles and the goalkeeper's body language as he ran. His last step was a half-step that helped tilt him forward and he put everything behind his throw.
The goal lit up red as Neil's ball hit home. The buzzer went off overhead, and Neil wheeled around for half-court as his teammates cheered.
Leverett stepped in front of him. "You got lucky."
"You're getting slow," Neil said.
She moved as if to hit him but stopped before taking the swing, maybe thinking about her yellow card. Neil pushed her roughly out of the way and kept going. She spat obscenities at his back that he ignored. He was more interested in Seth, who'd crossed the court to give his shoulder a violent clap. Neil clacked racquets with him as they split up for their spots on the half-court line. Dan whooped behind Neil.
"Let's do that again, Foxes!"
Neil didn't score again until he came on during the second half. Two points weren't enough to earn his place on the line, but it made him feel better about standing on their court. It was almost enough to ease the sting of their eventual loss to Breckenridge at seven points to nine. The season had just begun, after all, and Neil had until October to improve.