Allison gave a prim shrug. "Renee promises it'll never happen. I believe her," she said, glancing at Seth like she was daring him to argue. He stabbed at his chicken and kept quiet. Allison pointed a chunk of bread at Neil. "You're running out of time to find a date. Ask Aaron to set you up with a Vixen. I'm sure Katelyn knows a pretty face or two."

The last thing Neil wanted to do was hook up with a cheerleader. He had no fond memories of Millport's high school squad. "Who is Katelyn?"

"Aaron's unofficial girlfriend. Look for her at the game tonight. It's pretty pathetic watching them moon over each other long distance." Allison checked her watch and pushed back her chair. "Have to run. Meeting my advisor." She leaned across the table to give Seth a quick kiss and carried her tray away.

Seth and Neil finished up a couple minutes later. Seth took Neil to his speech class. Dan met Neil afterward and escorted Neil across campus to Fox Tower. She left him at the crosswalk, since she still had another class to get to before she was done for the day.

"Rest up," she said. "Tonight's going to be a long night."

Neil was too tense from the morning to follow that advice, but he made a beeline for his bed anyway.

He'd lived in several towns like Millport over the years and dealt with small-town curiosity and distrust most of his life. Somehow Palmetto State grated more against him, maybe because his jersey and place on the team demanded people pay attention to him. He couldn't fade into the background here, not with these colors and not after tonight's game. There were twenty-one thousand people enrolled at Palmetto State University. Neil wasn't playing for himself anymore; he was playing to represent them.

Friday afternoon's practice was canceled because of the game. The team was expected to be at the stadium by a quarter after six for their seven o'clock serve. Matt collected Neil from the bedroom at five-thirty for a light dinner with the upperclassmen. Dan finished first and went to check on Andrew's lot. Her expression was grim when she returned, but Matt gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"He'll be fine," Matt said. "He was last year."

"I thought Kevin didn't play last year," Neil said.

The upperclassmen exchanged looks. Neil looked from one face to another, trying to track their silent conversation. Seth and Allison radiated impatience and disapproval, but Renee was smiling a little. Matt grimaced and shrugged, leaving the decision to Dan. Finally Dan sighed and turned on Neil.

"There's something we haven't told you yet," Dan said. "We were going to tell you a while ago, but you and Andrew were having so many problems we figured we'd wait. We didn't know how you'd react."

"We didn't trust you to keep your mouth shut," Allison translated.