She moved as if to hit him but stopped before taking the swing, maybe thinking about her yellow card. Neil pushed her roughly out of the way and kept going. She spat obscenities at his back that he ignored. He was more interested in Seth, who'd crossed the court to give his shoulder a violent clap. Neil clacked racquets with him as they split up for their spots on the half-court line. Dan whooped behind Neil.

"Let's do that again, Foxes!"

Neil didn't score again until he came on during the second half. Two points weren't enough to earn his place on the line, but it made him feel better about standing on their court. It was almost enough to ease the sting of their eventual loss to Breckenridge at seven points to nine. The season had just begun, after all, and Neil had until October to improve.

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER TWELVE

When Neil's alarm went off at one the following morning, it took a minute of groggy staring before he remembered why he was getting up. He stuffed his alarm clock under his pillow, wished Kevin and Wymack both an early death, and dragged himself to the edge of his bed. Matt's alarm sounded when Neil was halfway down the ladder. Seth grumbled something rude across the room when Matt didn't immediately turn it off. Matt's pillow muffled whatever he said in response but his tone was unfriendly.

Neil stopped at the bottom of the ladder to scrub sleep out of his eyes. Matt finally found his alarm and silenced it. Seth huffed, noisily rolled over, and started snoring again right away. Matt glowered blearily across the room at him before looking at Neil.

Matt looked as miserable as Neil felt. Wymack warned them last night they'd have an early start today, but there was no way the Foxes could start the season without a small party. Andrew's group predictably sat out of it, but Neil and his roommates had ended up hanging out in the girls' room. The upperclassmen put away most of a bottle of vodka even without Neil and Renee helping them. At the time they all thought it would be worth it. After getting less than an hour of sleep, Neil wasn't so sure.

Someone pounded on their suite door. Neil went down the hall to answer it. The hall light was brighter than Neil expected. Neil rubbed his eyes again, both to get the spots out of them and so he wouldn't have to look at Wymack. It should be impossible for Wymack to look so awake at this hour, but there he was looking completely refreshed.

"Stop yawning and get moving," Wymack said, clapping his hands in Neil's face. "We're on a schedule. I want everyone on the bus in five."

Neil shut the door in his face and went to get dressed.