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)
By halftime the results from the other night's match were in: UT had slaughtered Belmonte and would proceed to the death match. Having a rival knocked out gave the Foxes the second wind they needed and they dominated the court through second half. The Foxes won by a comfortable margin, took their time washing off afterward, and were back on the bus by eleven. Neil found a message waiting for him when he turned his phone back on: "42".
He typed out a "Go away" but deleted it immediately. The last thing he wanted to do was encourage whoever was taunting him by acknowledging the messages. Neil shut his phone off again instead and went to celebrate with the upperclassmen.
CHAPTER TEN
A week without a match didn't lessen the intensity of their practices any, but Wymack built in a little elbow room where he could. It wasn't consideration but necessity: he'd made the first round of cuts with his stack of would-be Foxes and needed his team's help to narrow it down. The girls took to the task with enthusiasm Neil hadn't expected. He thought choosing their own replacements would be a bittersweet reminder they were graduating in a year. If any of them were aware that their time was running out, though, they gave no sign of it.
Less surprising was Kevin's scornful rejection of every file Wymack had to offer him. He insisted Wymack put out a second request, to which Wymack demanded Kevin be a little more accepting of strikers who hadn't been raised to be champions. Neil didn't have the experience or insight to argue with Kevin, but he quietly clung to one of the choices he'd made and refused to let it go. Kevin tried wrenching it from his hands only once before writing Neil off as a know-nothing and rounding on Wymack again. Abby stepped in when the argument got too loud and banished Wymack and Kevin to opposite ends of the locker room.
On Tuesday Kengo was released from the hospital. If he wasn't Riko's father, he might have made it home without question or fanfare, since Kengo Moriyama passed as just another wealthy businessman. As it was there were a couple reporters waiting on his doorstep. Kengo answered their questions with stony silence and let his assistants clear a path for him. HIPAA laws kept anyone from figuring out what had put him in the hospital in the first place, but he appeared to have recovered, so eventually the press gave up and moved on.
On Wednesday afternoon Andrew had his weekly session with Betsy Dobson, which meant his group would catch a ride with Matt. Kevin and Nicky were waiting for them in the hallway when Neil followed Matt out of their dorm room. Aaron was nowhere in sight. Neil locked the door behind him and looked to Nicky.
Nicky shook his head. "He said he was catching a ride with Andrew today."
"To the court?" Dan asked.
Neil considered Nicky's wide-eyed expression and guessed, "To Dobson's. Aaron wants to sit in with him."
"No shit," Matt said, startled. "You think so?"
"Crazy, right?" Nicky asked. "I said I didn't know Andrew agreed to it, and Aaron said Andrew didn't know what he was planning. Aaron hasn't come back yet, so either he's dead in the parking lot or he pulled it off. Guess he got tired of Katelyn avoiding him? Speaking of, one of these days I want you to tell me how you roped her into it."
"I asked," Neil said.
"There goes that 'asked' thing again," Matt said. "Does it mean something different where you come from?"
"Most of the time, yes," Neil said.
The unexpected honesty startled a laugh from Matt. Without Andrew and Aaron's antagonism throwing up roadblocks, it was easy for the Foxes to mingle. They went down the stairs a mixed group. Nicky checked the parking lot for signs of Aaron's gruesome demise and hoisted himself into Matt's truck with a wild grin when he found none. Despite that glee he was fast to volunteer Neil as spokesman when Wymack needed an explanation for Aaron's absence. Wymack responded by assigning the Foxes extra laps. Neil expected at least Nicky to grumble about it, but Nicky was so floored by his cousins' questionable progress he shouldered the work without complaint.
Andrew and Aaron had to notice the intense scrutiny they were subjected to upon their eventual arrival, but neither one acknowledged the attention. The Foxes weren't suicidal enough to ask how it'd gone. Andrew looked unruffled, but Aaron's expression was downright vicious.
Wymack looked from one to the other. "Is this going to be an ongoing thing? I need to know how to plan around you."
"No," Andrew said.
Aaron flicked him an irritated look. "Yes."
"Okay," Wymack said, and that was that.
-
They didn't have a game on Friday, but the ERC finally posted the following week's line-up. Six teams from the evens bracket were proceeding to the death match, compared with eight from the odds. The Foxes would face the University of Vermont Catamounts at home. UT was up against Nevada and Washington State would take on Binghamton. In the odds bracket, the Big Three had miraculously avoided drawing each other's names. They'd all proceed to the third round, along with whichever team won the Oregon-Maryland match. There would be another week-long break between the death match and round three.
A free weekend meant they should have spent the night drinking in Columbia, but Aaron's stunt on Wednesday dragged the twins' cold war down to a whole new level. According to Nicky, Aaron was only at the dorm long enough to sleep or change clothes. Nicky assumed Aaron spent the rest of his free time with Katelyn. Neil hoped he was wrong. Katelyn might be willing to talk to Aaron again now that he'd put his foot down, but Andrew had a promise to keep and more reason now than ever to lash out at her. If Katelyn was smart she'd lie low for a couple weeks.
They couldn't go to Columbia without Aaron, so Nicky dragged Neil to their room instead. Aaron was missing, but Nicky and Andrew claimed the beanbag chairs and teamed up in a horror game. Neil had brought his backpack, but the creepy music and occasional on-screen scream were perfect excuses to not attempt any homework. He looked to Kevin, who unplugged his headphones from his laptop and motioned over his shoulder to the bedroom. Kevin grabbed the computer, so Neil fetched a notepad and closed the bedroom door behind them.