The dark look on Matt's face said he wouldn't forget that anytime soon. "He can try all he likes, but he'll piss only me off. Dan's not ashamed of the choices she made. This is different," Matt said, pointing at Neil. "I don't know what Jean said to you, but Kevin had to get shitfaced to deal with it."

"It's not what Jean said that upset Kevin," Neil lied. "It's what I said. I told Riko Kevin and I mock him all the time and wouldn't let Kevin explain himself to Jean. I spoke for him and refused to let him back out of this. I've basically made things a thousand times worse for him. I'm not sorry, though."

Matt laughed. "You're a piece of work, you know that? Let's get back out there before Coach realizes we're missing."

They headed back into the stadium to find their team. The Ravens had dispersed, likely relieved from running interference upon Riko's return. Dan and Renee were standing with Kevin and Andrew near one of the walls. Allison had joined them at some point, but Aaron and Nicky were still lost on the dance floor. Neil looked for Wymack and found him talking with Moriyama in the middle of the floor.

"Oh, Neil came back," Andrew said. "I didn't think you would."

Neil pulled his fist from his pocket and uncurled his fingers. Andrew glanced first at the phone in Neil's palm and then up at Neil's face. Neil didn't return the look but said in German, "I made a different call this time."

Andrew laughed and rocked on his feet. His grin was wide enough Neil could see it in his peripheral vision. Neil didn't really expect him to switch languages, because the conversation was likely more entertaining to him when they had an audience, but for now Andrew was willing to play along. "How interesting. How unexpected. Did it hurt a little?"

"Not as much as my next conversation with Kevin will."

"Not tonight." Andrew waved a hand in dismissal. "I'll give him to you tomorrow."

Neil put his phone away and looked up to see the upperclassmen watching them. Neil knew Matt would talk to them later and pass on his vague explanation, so he wasn't surprised when neither Dan nor Renee asked him what was going on. Instead Matt looked from Neil to Andrew and asked, "How many languages do you speak, exactly?"

"A couple," Neil hedged, and distracted them by asking Andrew, "Who is Doe?"

"Oh, that's me," Andrew said. "I didn't enter the foster system with a last name, so I was tagged as a Doe. Like John Doe. Get it? Ah, they think they're clever. I changed my name when I was adopted. Yes? Nicky said he told you all about it."