Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
"I was being polite," Riko said. "You haven't seen me antagonistic yet."
Jean looked at Kevin. "Hello, Kevin."
"Jean," Kevin said quietly.
Jean's smile was lazy, but the look in his gray eyes was ashen ice. Neither of them had anything else to say to each other, but they stared each other down unblinking. Andrew lost interest before long and leaned forward.
"Jean," he said. "Hey, Jean. Jean Valjean. Hey. Hey. Hello."
Jean huffed a little in annoyance but looked at Andrew. Andrew held out his hand and Jean was foolish enough to take it. Andrew's knuckles went white as he crushed Jean's hand. Jean couldn't hide all of a flinch, and the smooth look on his face gave way to an irritated scowl. Andrew only smiled wider at the sight of it.
"I'm Andrew. We haven't met yet."
"For which I am grateful," Jean said. "The Foxes as a whole are an embarrassment to Class I Exy, but your very existence is unforgivable. A goalkeeper who doesn't care if he is scored on has no right to touch a racquet. You should have stayed on the sidelines like the publicity stunt you are."
"That's a bit out of line, don't you think?" Renee said.
The woman now on Riko's right gave a loud snort. "If someone like that replaced you in goal, you must be downright terrible. I can't wait to watch one of your matches. I think it will be entertaining. We would make a drinking game of it but we don't want to die of alcohol poisoning."
"Yeah, that'd be a shame," Dan said with heavy sarcasm.
"This is the first time our teams have met," Renee said, sounding completely unruffled by such rude words. "Do we have to start off so poorly?"
"Why not? You're poor at everything else you do," the woman said. "Is it honestly fun to be so terrible?"
"I imagine we have more fun than you do, yes," Renee said.
Neil could hear the smile in her voice. He didn't know how she could keep up such a nice tone. His fear was an icy ball in the pit of his stomach, but listening to the Ravens' derision was eating a hole through it. Keeping his mouth shut and staying out of the conversation was taking more willpower than he thought he had. The longer he sat there in silence the harder it became. Neil fleetingly wished he'd inherited his mother's patience instead of his father's temper.
"Fun is for children," Jean said, looking away from Andrew.
If he'd been going to say anything else, he forgot it when he got a good look at Renee. Andrew let go of Jean's hand while he was distracted, but it took Jean another moment to withdraw it. Riko barely moved, but Neil was so attuned to his presence he didn't miss it. Neither did Jean, judging by how fast he found his tongue again.
"At this level it is supposed to be about skill, and your team is sadly lacking. You have no right to play with us."
"Then you shouldn't have transferred districts," Matt said. "No one wants you here."
"You took something that does not belong to you," a Raven said. "You brought this year's humiliation on yourselves."
"We didn't take anything," Dan said. "Kevin wants to be here."
The Raven across from Renee laughed. "Don't tell me you really believe that. Kevin went to you because someone had to teach you what Exy is supposed to look like on a court. If he had stayed on as an assistant coach maybe he would learn to stomach your failures. Now that he's playing with you there's no way he will last the season. We know Kevin better than you ever will. We know how much your incompetence must grate on him."
"So do we," Aaron said. "It's not like he's shy with his opinion."
Kevin finally found his voice. "They know how I feel, but words alone won't fix anything. A team that needs this much work requires a larger commitment than that."
"You won't stay," Jean said. It sounded less like a prediction and more like an order. "You should reconsider our offer before we rescind it for good, Kevin. Face the facts. Your pet is and always will be dead weight. It's time to—"
"What?" Andrew turned a wide-eyed look on Kevin. "You have a pet and you never told us? Where do you keep it, Kevin?"
Jean flicked him an annoyed look. "Don't interrupt me, Doe."
The sound Nicky made at Neil's side was sharp and offended, but Andrew smiled in the face of Jean's strange insult. "Oh, points for trying, but save your breath. Here's a tip for you, okay? You can't cut down someone who's already in the gutter. You just waste your time and mine."
"Enough." Dan snapped her fingers at them. "Break it up. This is a district event and we have twenty officials on hand. We're here to get to know each other, not to start fights. If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. That goes for both teams."
"Is that why your new child is being so quiet?" Riko gestured at Neil. "He doesn't have anything 'nice' to say?"
"Leave him alone," Matt said.
"He was very spirited the last time we met," Riko said. "Perhaps that was just a show for the crowd? Hello, I am speaking to you. Are you really going to ignore me?"
Nicky dug his fingers into Neil's thigh under the table, a silent and desperate reminder to keep his mouth shut. Neil left half-moon marks on the back of Nicky's hand with his fingernails and counted to ten. He only made it to four before Riko opened his mouth again.
"What a coward," Riko said with exaggerated disappointment. "Just like his mother."
Neil stopped counting.
"You know, I get it," Neil said. "Being raised as a superstar must be really, really difficult for you. Always a commodity, never a human being, not a single person in your family thinking you're worth a damn off the court—yeah, sounds rough. Kevin and I talk about your intricate and endless daddy issues all the time."