"What do they do?"

Neil hadn't talked about his family much in Millport, but he'd arrived in Arizona already knowing who the Jostens were and what their problems were like. The answers he'd kept from his high school classmates and coach would have to be good enough for Betsy.

"Mom is an engineer," Neil said. "Dad's halfway through CDL training."

"Will they come out to watch your first match?"

Neil affected surprise. "No. Why would they? They don't like sports."

"But Exy is obviously very important to you, and you are their child," Betsy said. "What you've accomplished here is nothing short of amazing. I wondered if they might come out to support you."

"No. They don't really—" Neil gestured as if searching for words. "We're not close like that. They made sure I got to school and got my checkups and kept my grades up, that kind of thing, but they didn't know my teachers' names or watch any of my games. It's not going to change now that I'm in college. They live their lives; I live mine. It works for us."

"Does it?"

"I said it does," Neil said. "I don't want to talk about my parents with you."

Betsy accepted that and moved on without missing a beat. "How are you getting along with your teammates?"

"I'm pretty sure the majority of them are clinically insane."

"When you say you think they are insane, do you mean you feel threatened by them?"

"I mean they have issues," Neil said. "You know more than I do. Friday's game will probably be a disaster, but I don't think anyone will be surprised."

"Are you ready for the match?"

"Yes and no," Neil said. "I know I'm not good enough to play with a Class I team, but I want to try. I watch a lot of games on TV, but I've never been in a real stadium on game night. We used a soccer field in Arizona that barely sat two thousand people. Coach said we've already sold out opening night. I want to see what the Foxhole Court looks like when it's full. I bet it's insane."

"And Friday doubles as your debut," Betsy added. "The ERC has been generous, letting David keep quiet on you this long. I can only imagine the fallout when the cat's out of the bag."

It took Neil a moment to recognize the name, because only Abby used Wymack's first name. That Betsy called him David so easily hinted at a closer relationship than he expected a psychiatrist and coach to have. Maybe it was because she spent so much time with Wymack's team, but Neil wasn't convinced. Dimly Neil remembered his first dinner in South Carolina, when Abby said she'd invited Betsy over to dinner with them. The three were friends of a sort, which didn't bode well for Neil. How much did they talk about the Foxes?

"You're friends with Coach," Neil said.