"His opinion doesn't matter to me," Kevin said.

He didn't deny Neil's words, though, and Neil heard that even if Matt didn't. Kevin was raised a left-handed striker, but Riko broke his playing hand last December in a fit of jealous rage. Kevin had been trying to relearn the game right-handed since March, but he was nowhere near as good as he'd once been. Public opinion said he was a genius for managing to play at all these days, but Kevin felt his fall from grace keenly. As brutal as Kevin could be toward the rest of the team, he was hardest on himself. It was the only reason Neil tolerated his condescension.

Neil pushed away from the mirrors and finished getting ready. Dan and Renee were waiting for the men in the foyer, and they went into the stadium for warm-ups. After forty minutes of laps and interval runs they trekked back into the locker room for water. They were stretching out as a group when the front door open.

Neil glanced at the upperclassmen to judge their reactions as Nicky and Andrew joined them in the foyer. Dan went back to her stretches after a split-second glance in their direction, and Matt's expression tightened when he spotted Andrew's smiling face. Only Renee managed a smile, and her voice was friendly, if quiet, when she said hello.

"Hi Renee," Andrew returned. "Are you moving back into the dorm yet?"

"Tonight," Renee said. "We packed Matt's truck this morning."

Andrew accepted that without argument and vanished into the locker room to change. Nicky hung back a minute, looking a little uncertain as he faced his teammates for the first time in days. Dan looked at him again, but her stony face was not encouraging.

"Hey," Nicky said, subdued. "Holding up?"

"Somehow or other," Dan said. She didn't ask how Nicky was. Chances were she didn't want to know.

Nicky said nothing for a bit, then, "How is Allison?"

"Do you care?" Matt asked.

"Matt," Renee said in quiet rebuke. To Nicky, she said, "She's having a hard time right now, as expected, but we make sure she's never alone. She still won't speak to Betsy, but I think she'll open up soon."

"Yeah," Nicky agreed, barely a whisper.

Wymack waited until he was sure they were done and then gestured at Nicky. "You two get down to the court and start doing laps. I don't pay for electricity in this place so you can stand around and gossip. The rest of you finish up here and get some water. As soon as Andrew and Nicky are ready we're suiting up for drills. We've got—" Wymack stopped at the sound of his phone ringing down the hall. "These leeches are going to drive me insane. I should have invested in a secretary."

Nicky went into the changing room while Wymack went in search of the phone. Neil was standing at the back of the foyer, closest to the hall, so he heard when Wymack answered. Despite Wymack's obvious annoyance, he managed a civil tone.