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)
Kevin started to say something, but Andrew beat him to the punch with a calm, "Eight inches. He's only five-eleven."
Neil and Kevin pivoted to stare at Andrew. The flash of a grin on Wymack's face said he caught the significance of that remark and knew what it meant for the Foxes' chances tonight. The rest of the team blew right by without noticing. Dan said something to Allison about how to compensate for Neil's possible handicap. Neil knew he and Kevin were meant to be included in the conversation but he couldn't follow along.
Height was arguably the most critical detail on an Exy court. A player's height decided how long of a racquet they could wield and determined their reach. To most players, a general figure was good enough; it didn't matter if they were an inch or two off because they just needed an idea of what they were up against. They used the number solely to determine how tricky their mark would be to get around.
Neil and Kevin knew the exact height of every Longhorn backliner because they couldn't play the game without that information. Technical players like Kevin could use a man's height to map out his every weak spot. More importantly, he could cross-reference his own field of reach against his mark's and find the best places to push. That was how he got around defense so often.
Instinctive players like Neil knew where those gaps were without calculating angles and overlap. If Wymack gave Neil a pen and told him to draw a backliner's blind spot on a diagram, he couldn't do it, but once the game was going Neil could find it in a heartbeat. He wasn't good enough yet to take full advantage of that insight, but Kevin said a talent like that would have eventually secured Neil's spot on the US Court.
Andrew had no excuse for knowing Beckstein's height. For starters, Beckstein was a backliner. If the Foxes did their job right Beckstein shouldn't ever get close enough to goal to take a shot at it. More importantly, Wymack had only given out the Longhorns' heights once: when he'd first read the UT line-up out to his team. That statistic was printed on the round-one pamphlet Wymack handed out last week, but Andrew had stuffed that paperwork in his locker the first chance he got. Neil hadn't seen him take it out since.
Andrew had looked a thousand miles away when Wymack went over the Longhorns' roster, but he'd heard every word and he'd retained it. That perfect retention was what saved them in their match against Belmonte last fall. Wymack made a throwaway comment about penalty shots during the halftime rundown. The game didn't come down to penalties, but with so few seconds left on the clock and so much pressure on the Belmonte striker to tie the score, Andrew knew he'd go for what was familiar. He'd blocked an impossible shot without thinking twice.
Neil looked at Kevin, then Wymack, wondering why no one had told him Andrew had an eidetic memory, wondering if they'd even known. He couldn't help but give it another test. He mentally scrolled through the Longhorns' offense line and settled on a fifth-year striker. "How tall is Lakes?"
"Look it up," Andrew said.
"Humor me just this once," Neil said. Andrew started to turn away, so Neil hooked his gloved fingers in the netted head of Andrew's racquet and gave a careful tug. He tried again with an insistent, "How tall is she?"
"Five-six?" Matt guessed.
"Five-eight," Andrew said.
"Close enough." Matt shrugged apathy.
Neil let go of Andrew's racquet in favor of holding onto his own. "We're going to win."
"You were expecting us to lose?" Dan asked.
"No," Neil admitted. His lips twitched, and he knew from the hard pull at his mouth that he was wearing his father's smile. He pressed the side of his glove to his face, nearly crushing his teeth into his lips. He tasted blood before it was safe to drop his hand again. Neil leaned back a bit and looked past Andrew at Riko. "I'm just glad he's here to see it. Let's see if we can't rattle him."
"Let's," Wymack said. "Anyway, imagine I actually got through everything important I needed to say, because it's too late to finish it now. The court's open. We're on with the usual drills, ones and threes. I say this every time because you make me say this every time: keep the balls on our goddamned side of the court, Andrew."
The Foxes yanked on the last of their gear and headed on for a few drills. Neil was content to take it easy, more interested in judging the state of his body than one-upping his own goalkeepers. The sight of Riko had set every one of Neil's fading bruises to pounding, but now he barely felt a thing. The only thing that mattered was his team and the way they moved around him.
They had to leave the court for coin toss. Dan won them first serve and Wymack had a couple seconds before the line-ups were called to gather his team close.
"Remember," he said. "It's two out of three to advance and you can't afford to lose the first game of the season. Strikers, get three goals apiece or I'll register you for a marathon. Backliners, if you look like idiots you'll keep them company. Dealers: you've got this. Renee, play it like you know how. Andrew, keep the score at three or under for your half and I'll buy you as much alcohol as will fit in your cabinet."
The announcer called both starting line-ups to the court. Neil took his place on the half-court line and sent a final look Kevin's way. By some miracle Beckstein was on the court against Kevin. Kevin answered his glance with a nod. Neil was almost bouncing by the time the buzzer sounded.
For a while the game was an even back-and-forth. There were a couple collisions, a couple near-misses, and more than a few rude words exchanged. Wymack was right to warn them about the Longhorns' dealers. The girl Texas put in as a starter was fast and dirty. She and Dan shoved at each other almost nonstop. Even when the ball was on the other side of the court they rapped their sticks together in a constant check. How Dan held out so long before snapping, Neil didn't know, but she lasted a good ten minutes.