They split up to their rooms to prep for bed. Neil climbed up the wooden ladder to his loft and stretched out on the mattress. The simple pleasure of having a real bed didn't last long. After the lights were out and his roommates had quieted down, Neil was left with just the darkness and his thoughts. He lay awake long into the night thinking about Kevin, and when he slept, he dreamed of his father waiting for him on the Foxhole Court.

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER SEVEN

By Neil's third day on the court, he had no idea how the Foxes made it to championships last spring. His guess that the team was made up of four groups was partially accurate, but the lines he'd drawn were flexible. Whenever Allison and Seth were fighting, Allison ended up with the girls and Seth retreated to Matt. It seemed Allison and Seth didn't believe in middle ground: either they were slinging vile insults at each other or they were making out in the locker room regardless of whoever might be around. Neil didn't know what triggered the abrupt and constant change in emotions. He hoped he never understood.

The entire first week of summer practices was eaten up by in-fighting as the court hierarchy fell into place again. When Dan was acting as their captain, she ruled them with the same angry spine Neil saw that first day. She didn't hesitate to push people into line and the Foxes let her have the final say in everything. Even Andrew followed her orders, though Neil guessed it was because he was amused by her supposed fearlessness.

Kevin knew more about the sport than any of them ever would and he had some lingering authority from his stint as their assistant coach, but his cold personality was a turn-off and his approach made it hard for the others to listen to him without snapping back. He caused the majority of the arguments that week, and most of those fights were between him and Seth. Kevin and Seth hated each other with a loathing second only to what Seth and Nicky felt for each other. It took only one wrong word to turn their arguments into physical brawls. The fighting hit a peak on Wednesday afternoon when Andrew left practice early for his weekly therapy session. The second he vanished, Seth went for Kevin with fists flying.