The Foxhole Court

"The Palmetto State University Foxes were a team of talented rejects and junkies because Wymack only recruited athletes from broken homes. His decision to turn the Foxhole Court into a halfway house of sorts was nice in theory, but it meant his players were fractured isolationists who couldn't get along long enough to get through a game."

“Andrew bets you can outrun everyone on this team. Coach said you clocked a fourminute mile back in Arizona. That true? You're a little short to run so fast."
"I like running," Neil said.
"Fuck running," Seth said. "Learn to score. Word is you still can't score on Andrew."
"No," Neil admitted. "Not yet."
"When you do, you can talk to me," Seth said. "Until then, stay out of my way and try not to drag down my line too much."
"Welcome to the Foxhole Court," Matt added”

"We have to talk. Something went wrong this morning." "We're Foxes. Something is always going wrong," Seth said, but he fished the remote out from

"You lost. Your school is the laughingstock of the NCAA. You're a team with no concept of teamwork."
"Lucky for you," Neil said. "If we were a unified front you wouldn't have a chance against us."

As much as the Foxes disliked each other at times, they disliked their opponents more. They were still too fractured to be truly great, but they were good enough to give him chills. Neil finally understood how the Foxes made it to third place last fall and scored a spot in championships.

"Coach says he's got potential." Matt looked at Neil. "Andrew says you're fast."
Neil frowned. "When did he say that?"
"When do you think, wiseass?" Seth asked. "We talked all kinds of shit about you after you booked it."

"We'll tell everyone you're there for conditional early practice. Chances are half of them will believe it. You won't be able to fool the rest, but that doesn't matter. Foxes are Foxes for a reason and they know we wouldn't sign you if you didn't qualify. That doesn't mean they know specifics. It's not my place to ask, and I'm sure as hell not going to tell them."

"All right," he said, then promptly forgot what he was saying when he got a good look at the back of the bus. "Damn it all to hell. Hemmick! You were supposed to wake them up ten miles ago."
"I don't want to die," Nicky said.

"Hey, Pinocchio," he said without looking at Neil. The cheer in his voice was too mocking to be real, but Neil doubted anyone but the Foxes noticed. "Time to run. This one's for you."

“God damn it, Minyard. This is why we can't have nice things.”

"Remember this feeling. This is the moment you stop being the rabbit."

"You play like you have everything to lose."
"Welcome to the line."

"Exy was a bastard sport, an evolved sort of lacrosse on a soccer-sized court with the violence of ice hockey, and Neil loved every part of it from its speed to its aggression."

"His decision to turn the Foxhole Court into a halfway house of sorts was nice in theory, but it meant his players were fractured isolationists who couldn't get along long enough to get through a game."

"Wymack rarely interfered in the fighting. He let them brawl and then punished them with intense cardio and excruciating drills. Seemed he'd long ago decided his team could only function by testing themselves against each other and establishing their own ranking."

"So much for family, hm?"
"I don't believe in family."
"Neither do I."

"Neil tensed as Andrew's fingers wrapped around the back of his neck, but Andrew only wanted to pull Neil's head down. Neil focused on Andrew's cheekbone so as not to go cross-eyed and let Andrew study his eyes."

"We were just talking about you," Riko said.
"With your fists, it seems," Andrew said. "Don't touch my things, Riko. I don't share."
He reached back without looking and pushed at Neil's shoulder. Neil took the hint and skirted around Andrew and Riko."

“It's about second chances, Neil. Second, third, fourth, whatever, as long as you get at least one more than what anyone else wanted to give you.”

“Hope was a dangerous, disquieting thing, but he thought perhaps he liked it.”

// buddy reread with breana <3

"I'm —" Neil didn't want to say it, but the word was already there, broken and pathetic between them, "— nothing. I'll always have and be nothing."

Neil stepped over it and went to stand in front of Wymack: within arm's reach but just barely. He'd perfected that trick as a kid. He could look at anyone's arms and judge the safe distance from them in a heartbeat. If they had to move to hit him, he had enough time to dodge. Either way he wouldn't catch the full intended force of their blow.

[…] trying to remember the last time someone gave him a gift and coming up blank. That his first one should be from Andrew was unsettling.

"I'm fine," Neil said. [...]
"You say that an awful lot," Matt said. "I'm starting to think you don't know what it means."

Neil looked down at the key in his hand. "Home," he whispered, needing to hear it aloud. It was a foreign concept to him, an impossible dream. It was frightening and wonderful all at once, and it set his heart racing so fast he thought it'd drum out of his chest. "Welcome home, Neil."

Neil Josten is the newest addition to the Palmetto State University Exy team. He's short, he's fast, he's got a ton of potential—and he's the runaway son of the murderous crime lord known as The Butcher.

The foxhole court was the only home he needed; the foxes were his family.

"It's not the world that's cruel," Neil said. "It's the people in it."

"We're Foxes. Something is always going wrong,"

"Hope was a dangerous, disquieting thing, but he thought perhaps he liked it."