Neil spent the entirety of the three-hour walk sorting out a perfect half-truth. The details he was going to give up made his blood run cold, but if he could get Andrew to keep quiet about them somehow, Kevin couldn't use them to identify him.

Neil wasn't quite ready to face Andrew yet and he didn't want to deal with his teammates' curiosity over his prolonged absence, so he went to Wymack's apartment instead. By the time he arrived it was half past four. Wymack had made Neil keep the spare key, but Neil knocked on his door anyway. Wymack wrenched the door open like he wanted to take it off his hinges, but surprise washed out the fury on his face when he saw Neil.

"Where the hell have you been?" Wymack demanded, looking Neil up and down. "Andrew got back from Columbia hours ago. Matt called me to say you weren't with them."

"I took a different route."

"Yeah?" Wymack gestured at his drenched clothes and sweaty skin. "What'd you do, run here?"

"Walked," Neil said, and Wymack stared at him. Neil realized too late Wymack was being sarcastic. He couldn't take it back, so Neil traced his path in the air with a finger. "I hitchhiked to Spartanburg, then to Northlake, and I walked here from there. I know it's kind of sudden, but can I stay here for a little while?"

Wymack grabbed his elbow and hauled him inside. He slowed just long enough to slam the door behind Neil. "Are you stupid or just crazy? Do you have any idea what could have happened to you between here and there? What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking I wasn't going to ride back with them," Neil said.

"You should have called me," Wymack said. "Me or Abby or any of the upperclassmen. All you had to say was you didn't want to stay with Andrew. Any of us would have come and gotten you."

Neil stared at him, too startled to respond. Wymack threw his free hand up in exaggerated disgust and dragged Neil down the hall to the kitchen.

"Stretch out and drink some water," he said, letting go of Neil.

Neil did as he was told but watched as Wymack stormed out of the kitchen again. Wymack paced up and down the hall with angry, heavy footsteps. On his second pass he had his phone out and at his ear. He was out of sight when someone picked up on the other end, but Neil heard his furious voice loud and clear.

"You have five seconds to get your retarded psycho ass to my apartment! You even think about telling me no and I swear to god I'll throw Kevin's contract down a garbage disposal."