"But we've lost a month of practice already," Neil said. "Why couldn't we have started this in May?"

"Because you set Andrew off unnecessarily," Kevin said, annoyed. "He said I couldn't be alone with you and he wouldn't let me bring you here."

"And you always do what Andrew says?" Neil asked.

"He is the only reason I can stay here, so yes," Kevin said. "Now shut up and practice. We're weeks behind where you should be at this point."

They spent the next half-hour on that same drill before moving on to footwork. Kevin called it quits at twelve-thirty. Neil was disappointed to stop after just two hours, but as he helped Kevin collect their balls and cones, fatigue started to set in. He was yawning by the time he followed Kevin off the court.

Kevin went into the stands to find Andrew, so Neil took a rare first shower. He was halfway through when Kevin joined him. Neil dried off and dressed in the sticky heat of the shower room and went into the locker room to drop his uniform off. He waited there for Kevin, and then followed Kevin to the lounge to collect Andrew on their way out. Andrew said nothing to either of them as he drove back to the dorm, and they filed up the stairs to the third floor in silence.

Neil was quiet as he went into his dorm room, but the excess care was unnecessary. Matt was at his desk, bleary-eyed and half-slouched. He perked up a bit as Neil closed the door behind him, and in the light from his monitor Neil could see the worry on Matt's face.

"You good?"

Neil realized Matt had been waiting up for him. Surprise warred with unexpected guilt in an uncomfortable twinge. "Yes. He's teaching me Raven drills."

"You're going to hate getting up in the morning," Matt said, shutting his computer down.

Neil knew he wouldn't. He'd be tired and sore, but he'd be getting up so he could go back to the court. It wasn't worth arguing about, so he murmured something unintelligible and preceded Matt into the bedroom. Matt got into bed while Neil collected his sleeping clothes, and by the time Neil finished changing, Matt was already asleep. Neil climbed up the ladder into his bunk and passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

It felt like only a matter of seconds before his alarm was going off to wake him up again. Neil double-checked his clock to make sure it was right, scrubbed the exhaustion out of his eyes, and went down the ladder to get ready for the day.