CHAPTER FOUR

The ride to Belmonte University was relatively uneventful. Neil had brought along schoolwork to pass the time, but he didn't have enough homework to fill a six-hour drive. Luckily Nicky could talk for days once someone got him going, so Neil had someone to distract him from how long they were on the road. Renee joined them at one point to talk about possible plays and ask for advice. She'd already talked to Matt and Wymack, but she wanted to bounce ideas off the other half of the defense line.

Abby drove most of the way so Wymack could sleep. They were driving back after the game instead of checking into a hotel for the night. Wymack would drive that leg and hopefully wouldn't send them off the road. They could have just hired a driver like most schools did, but Wymack was almost as leery of dealing with outsiders as his Foxes were. It was apparently better to be uncomfortable but safe than to trust a stranger with his fractured team.

They stopped for gas and a bathroom break, stopped again for a quick dinner, and crossed a time zone on their way to Nashville. First serve was at seven-thirty, but Neil's watch said they reached the stadium at seven forty-five. There was no point in setting his watch back an hour just for one game, so he took it off and stuffed it in his duffel bag.

They left the bus in a fenced-in parking lot manned by a couple of dispassionate security guards. Two volunteers waited for the Foxes to unload their gear before leading them to the away team's locker room. Neil trusted his feet to get him there and looked around. Belmonte University's stadium was almost identical to the Foxhole Court in the size and build, but it was hard for Neil to see the similarities when the crowd swarming around them wore green. He looked for orange and couldn't find it anywhere.

After four months at the Foxhole Court, Neil found the layout of Belmonte's locker room disorienting. The rooms were larger, to accommodate the league's bigger teams, but it felt smaller and backwards somehow. The changing rooms were right inside the door they came in, and the bathroom was separate. Neil guessed it was cheaper to have one unisex bathroom than install toilets in both changing rooms. There was a room Abby could use in case any of her players got injured. The last and largest room was for the Foxes to argue strategies between halves and meet the press after the game.

One of the volunteers took the back door into the stadium to find the referees and alert Coach Harrison to their arrival. The other went over a checklist of basic rules with Wymack and Abby. Wymack had to wait for the officials so he could turn in their paperwork and roster, so he sent the Foxes ahead to change out.

Neil carried his bag into the bathroom and locked himself in a stall. It was a cramped space to change out in, but he'd had a lot of practice. He pulled his shirt up over his head and draped it over the top of the door so he could get his chest armor on. He yanked the straps tight, twisted to check his mobility, and snapped the buckles to lock his gear in place. He strapped his shoulder pads on overtop and hooked them into his chest plate. Neil had to dig past the rest of his gear to find his jersey. The Foxes had two sets of uniforms: home and away. The former was orange with white lettering and the latter was reverse. Neil liked the white version better as it was a little easier on the eyes.