Neil opened his mouth, thought better of arguing, and said, "We're clear."

"I did warn you," Dan said, unsympathetic. "I think Kevin's threats are more effective though."

Abby eyed Neil. "I'll ask again, then. Are you okay?"

"I'm—" It was too automatic a response; Neil bit it off when Kevin took a threatening step forward. He huffed in annoyance and dug for a better answer. "It's just sore. So long as I can keep my mark off my right side I'll be—okay."

Matt laughed at the near-miss. "I don't see this experiment ending well, Neil."

"Some people are just hardwired to be stupid," Wymack said. "Now stop yapping and listen up. We have a lot to get through."

Wymack started with the backliners and worked his way forward, pointing out missed opportunities and highlighting their scattered successes. He had a list of the second half's starting line-up, so he spent the second half of the break going over their opponents.

The Foxes gave him their undivided attention, but they didn't stop moving. Matt stopped stretching in favor of pacing the length of the wall. The others shifted, stretched, and jogged in place as Wymack spoke. Abby collected empty cups, tossed them in the trash, and handed out refills. Neil drank his so fast he barely tasted it. He was starting to get his second wind back, but he was glad to sit out part of the next half. He wanted to be fully recharged before he joined Kevin on the court.

A buzzer sounded overhead. They were due in the inner court in one minute, and Allison was still missing. Abby nodded at the look Wymack sent her and went in search of the missing dealer.

"Let's get ready to move," Wymack said.

Wymack shooed them into line and grabbed his clipboard off the floor. Neil looked down the hall to where Abby stood outside the bathroom door. She motioned at Wymack to go ahead, so Wymack opened the door and led the Foxes back into the stadium.

Neil wouldn't need his gloves or helmet for a while, so he set them on the bench and helped Nicky situate the stick rack. By the time he straightened Allison was already on her way out. She was dressed to go and came straight for her racquet. Neil tried scooting out of her way without being too obvious about it. If she noticed, she didn't comment. The dead look on her face said she'd narrowed all of her attention down to the task at hand.

Starting line-ups were called to the door shortly afterward. Neil stayed near the bench with Matt and Renee and watched his teammates file onto the court. He wasn't ready to talk about Allison with either of them, so he focused on the other unsteady player on their team.

"Why does Andrew do this?" Neil asked, unable to stay quiet any longer. "If he doesn't care about Exy, what's the point of going through this every Friday?"

"Would you want to be crazy high every day of your life?" Matt asked.