Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 87395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
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 chestto-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.