The coaches waited. When nothing else was forthcoming, one of them swept the crowd with a mean look. "The next person to start a fight here is getting written up and will sit out of the next five scheduled games, spring or fall. Do I make myself clear?" There was a chorused assent, and the coach flicked an annoyed look between Neil and Riko. "You two stay away from each other the rest of the night. Wymack, get him off the court until he's feeling civil."

"Neil wasn't fighting with himself," Wymack said, with steel in his voice. "If Coach Moriyama wants the Away side, I'll take the Home."

"Of course," Moriyama said, looking unmoved by the chaos. "Riko?"

They set off in one direction, so Wymack practically carried Neil the other. Neil knew Abby and the Foxes were following them off the court but he couldn't take his eyes off Riko to look at any of them. He lost sight of Riko when Wymack shoved him through the court door, but it wasn't until Wymack bodily planted him on one of the Home benches that Neil could look up at him. Wymack waved Katelyn and Nicky's date Thomas back onto the court with an impatient jerk of his hand, then rounded on Neil again.

"What the hell was that?"

"Coach?"

"Don't you dare 'Coach?' me, you malfunctioning retard."

"No, but really," Nicky said, looking wide-eyed at Neil. "What happened?"

"Neil hit Riko," Matt said. "It was beautiful."

"What?" Nicky squawked. "Not fair! I missed it! Go do it again. Or not," he added quickly when Wymack leveled a death glare at him. "You can't blame a guy for dreaming, right, Coach?"

"Shut up." Wymack returned his glower to Neil. "I'm waiting."

Neil felt his wrist and winced at the lingering pain. Abby slipped past Dan to get to him and sat at Neil's side. Neil let her take his hand and looked past Wymack at the court. "Riko bought off the prosecution." The words came slowly; they were so awful he thought he'd be violently ill just hearing them aloud again. "That's why Drake risked coming all the way here to see Andrew. Riko would get the charges dismissed if Drake would—" He gritted his teeth and shook his head, unable to finish.

He didn't have to say anything else. The music was still going, blasting through the speakers, but the silence between the Foxes was absolute.

Aaron was the first to get his voice back. "You're lying."

Neil sucked in a shaky breath and looked at Kevin. In French he asked, "Did you get it? My ticket?" Kevin stared at him and through him, too stunned to understand or respond. "Kevin, look at me."

"I'm going to kill him," Nicky said.