Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 145402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
"Don't make us late for practice."
"Whatever!" Nicky said, but he scrambled into the backseat. He'd taken to riding in the middle seat so he could keep Aaron and Neil away from each other. He didn't waste his time buckling but leaned between the front seats to stare at the dashboard. He was ooh-ing and ahh-ing when Neil and Aaron got in. Andrew tolerated it for a couple seconds before shoving him out of the way with a hand on his face. Nicky was too excited to be bothered. Instead of complaining, he said, "But seriously, Andrew. Where did you get this thing?"
"Georgia," Andrew said.
Nicky sighed but didn't ask again.
Andrew and Aaron still weren't talking, and Aaron and Neil stayed out of each other's way whenever possible, but the rest of the Foxes filled in the gaps as best they could. Riko's cruel prank last Friday brought out an unnecessary but well-meaning protective streak in the upperclassmen. Even Kevin made an effort to be more tolerable, maybe because he'd seen how shaken up Neil was on Saturday.
Neil could have told them all he was fine, but they were playing together better than they had in a week and he didn't want to rock the boat. The Foxes had one more game to get through for the first round. Their back-to-back wins meant they'd secured their spot in the death match, but they weren't willing to take it easy this week.
Neil tried stuffing Exy into every scrap of free time he had. He brought SUA tactics and line-ups to class with him to hide under his textbooks, and he met Kevin at the dining hall for lunch to argue plays. Despite the active effort he made to focus on Friday's game, his thoughts kept derailing without warning. Whenever Andrew crossed the room, Neil's gaze followed. Every time Neil took his keys out of his pocket and saw the newest addition to his set he remembered Andrew's kiss. He looked at Matt and Nicky to see if he saw them any differently, but nothing had changed. Neil didn't know what that meant, but he knew this still wasn't the time to figure it out. He should wait until next week, when the Foxes had a week off before the death match.
The perfect distraction from himself came on Wednesday, when Kengo Moriyama collapsed at a board meeting and was raced to the hospital in an ambulance. Wymack always kept the news on for background noise when he was working at the stadium, so he messaged his team a heads-up the second he heard. Neil was pretty sure there were microphones in Riko's face before Kengo was even checked in, and if he didn't hate Riko so much he'd be disgusted by the reporters' heartless enthusiasm.
He found snips of the interview online at the library computers between classes. Riko tolerated most of their prying questions with good grace and a calm demeanor, but the ugliness showed when he was asked if he was on his way to the hospital. The reporters knew full well that Kengo and Riko were estranged; they just didn't understand the severity of the separation. Kevin once told the Foxes Riko had never met his father or brother. The Moriyama family had no time to waste on second-born sons, so Riko was shipped to Tetsuji as soon as possible after birth.
The look Riko turned on the woman should have melted the microphone she was holding. "You are aware we have a game tomorrow. My place is here with my team. If the doctors are worth their degrees they will return him to full health whether or not I am there to see it happen."
Neil got out his phone and texted Kevin. "Do you think it's serious?"
"It better not be," was Kevin's first response, and then, "Riko still believes he can win his father's attention with his fame. If the lord does not recover, Riko will take his anger and grief out on everyone around him."
Neil considered that, then said, "Good thing you're not there anymore."
"Jean still is," Kevin answered, and Neil knew better than to comment.
Neil's replacement gear showed up Thursday. Friday's away game against Arkansas meant an all-day drive. They were on the Fox bus before the sun came up and they stopped every four hours at rest stops. Neil finished his homework and studies with too much time to spare and got sick of his book halfway through. He knew SUA's line inside and out, so there was no point in reviewing it. He was tired from boredom, but not tired enough to sleep.
Kevin and Nicky were fast asleep and Andrew was staring out his window at nothing. Aaron was ignoring them as usual. Neil gave up on them as a source of entertainment and headed to the front of the bus, where the upperclassmen were caught up in a lively conversation. They didn't ask why he'd strayed from his usual seat but absorbed him into their group without hesitation. It didn't make the ride feel any shorter, but it was significantly less mind-numbing. How Wymack slept through their noise, Neil didn't know. Willpower, he guessed, because Wymack still refused to hire a driver and didn't want his Foxes staying in Arkansas overnight. He was bringing them back to South Carolina right after the game.
They got into town around six central time, two hours before serve. Dinner was at a local buffet, where they desperately inhaled enough calories to get them through the game, and they had enough time afterward to walk slow laps around SUA's court. When the gates finally opened to let the crowd in, Wymack sent his Foxes to get ready.
SUA didn't play with the speed or aggression UT and Belmonte had brought to the court, but they were the most communicative team Neil had faced. They were constantly shouting back and forth to each other, calling openings and tracking each other's marks. They put up a fight, but they weren't awful about it. SUA had already lost out to both UT and Belmonte; winning against the Foxes wouldn't save them or their dignity.