Neil closed his eyes. "Why did you tell the ERC I would make Court?"

"Because when you stop being impossible and do what I tell you to, you will."

Andrew hadn't lied. The articles hadn't lied. Despite Kevin's angry words and rude impatience, Kevin believed in Neil's potential. Kevin wanted to train Neil. He wanted to play with Neil, and he wanted to shape Neil into the star he'd once been. Kevin would never forgive Neil for vanishing on him without warning this fall, and Neil hated that. As complicated as Neil's obsession with Kevin was, one truth was undeniable: he didn't want Kevin to hate him.

"So what are you going to tell Kathy?" Kevin asked.

"That I hate you," Neil muttered.

"You don't."

"How would you know?"

"Because if you did, Andrew would not let you anywhere near me," Kevin said.

Neil opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Kevin. "Right. I almost forgot about your guard dog. How did you win him over, anyway?"

"When you know what someone wants, it's easy to manipulate them. Case in point," Kevin said, gesturing from Neil to the room they were standing in.

"I was under the impression Andrew wants nothing."

Kevin didn't bother to explain. They waited in silence until the makeup artists arrived. Kevin let them in when they knocked. He was all smiles and polite charm as the artists set to work. When the two were ready, they were escorted to a lounge to wait. A widescreen TV showed the stage, which was currently empty. Neil checked the clock on the wall and saw they were ten minutes out. He passed time looking at the questions laid out for him. Most of them were basic, the same sorts of questions his teammates had asked him at the beginning of summer.

An aide came to collect Kevin when it was almost time for the show to start. Neil watched him leave, then looked back at the TV. At seven on the dot the show's opening music started and Kathy waltzed onto the stage to applause. She stopped in the center to bow and wave at her morning crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, good morning! I know it's a little early for most of us to be awake on a Saturday morning, but we've got a fantastic show in store for you today. Our musical guests are the four extremely talented men from the up-and-coming Hobgoblin's Thunder." She paused for the resulting cheers. "But let's start the morning with last night and the start of the NCAA Exy season!"