Neil went looking for Renee after his math class on Monday. He'd had a couple months to learn the gist of his teammates' schedules. He didn't want that kind of knowledge taking up space in his head, but he spent too much time with the Foxes to not know where they were everyday. He knew Renee's schedule was like his: she had two back-to-back classes, then a free period before her next lesson. The trick was getting to her before she got too far from her classroom, but luckily Renee was only one building over from him. That proximity was why she'd been chosen to walk him from math to history the day of their opening game.

He took the stairs down to the sidewalk as quick as he could, dodging students who were in no particular hurry to get anywhere and neatly avoiding those who were in as much of a rush as he was. He caught the edge of a vending machine to help whip him around the corner of the building and spotted Renee's distinctive hair maybe twenty feet away. Neil squished his reservations and unease deep and set off after her.

Renee glanced over when he finally caught up with her, and Neil didn't miss the way her eyebrows shot up. "Neil, hello. This is rare."

"Are you busy?" Neil asked. "I wondered if we could talk for a couple minutes."

Renee laughed. "I should stop betting against Andrew when it comes to you," she said, then explained when Neil frowned at her. "He told me you'd come see me but I didn't think you were ready yet. But to answer your original question: no, I'm not that busy. Do you mind talking as we walk?"

Neil didn't have another class for two hours, so he followed her on an easy stroll across campus. Between campus, Perimeter Road, and downtown was a grassy park referred to as the Green. If it had an official name Neil hadn't seen it on any brochures. He assumed Renee wanted to sprawl and soak up some sun like so many other students were doing, but she cut a path around the dozing co-eds toward the downtown shops.

"Did Andrew say why I wanted to talk to you?" Neil asked when they were halfway across the Green.

"He was a little vague on the details," Renee said.

"I asked you this once and you didn't really answer," Neil said. "Now can you tell me why Andrew likes you?"

"Last year Andrew took a few of us out to Eden's Twilight one at a time," Renee said. "You know now why Andrew invited Matt. He invited Dan to see if she was a woman worth following on the court. He asked me because he, like you, didn't buy into this front." She gestured at her face and rested her fingertips on her cross necklace. "He wanted the truth, so I told him.