Rainbow Connection, AFTG ✔️

2.14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
PORTER

Kevin canceled Thursday night's practice on account of the night's line-up. The odds bracket had their last games tonight, with Edgar Allan against Maryland and Penn State against USC. Only two teams from each bracket would proceed to the fourth round, which meant one of the Big Three was getting eliminated tonight. It was the first time in six years one of them was going home before the semifinals, and Kevin needed to see it happen. Somehow the entire team got roped into it, and they all stayed at the stadium after Wymack dismissed them for the day.

Some clever scheduler made sure the Ravens and Trojans were the hosting schools. The time zone difference meant the Foxes could watch both games back-to-back. Wymack ordered them pizzas but didn't stick around for the matches. He'd nailed down which six players he wanted to recruit and was busy figuring out travel arrangements. He was hoping to have all of them signed by the time the Foxes got back from spring break.

Dan kicked Wymack off his computer long enough to use his printer. She came back with four signs and a roll of tape, and she hung the papers above the TV. They were each team's cumulative points going into tonight's matches.

Kevin barely glanced at them while the Raven match was on, but as soon as the USC-Penn State game started he kept darting quick looks up at them. Even back in the Nest, Kevin had always been a diehard Trojans fan. Kevin watched the game like a poor result would be the death of him.

By the time the Trojans and Lions hit halftime the entire team was invested. James was silently skulking from a chair, eyes glued to the screen in a glare. Porter wasn't even sitting in a chair, only two feet away from the TV with wide eyes.

These teams played like they were professionals. They didn't have the Ravens' spotless record but they were only a half-step behind Edgar Allan. Kevin had warned them weeks ago the Foxes weren't ready to face these schools. Porter and James had known what they were up against, but even they hadn't fallen to the realistic cynicism of Kevin. All of the Foxes seemed sobered. Dan muted the commercials, tapped the remote against her thigh in a nervous rhythm, and said, "So we definitely need to step it up, guys."

Kevin frowned at her. "Even if you'd stepped it up when I told you to a year ago, you would have no chance of beating them. There is nothing at all you can do this late in the year. They are better than we are and they always will be."

"Do you get off on being such a Debbie Downer?" Nicky asked.

"Denial does none of us any good," Kevin said. "We struggled against Nevada. How do you honestly expect us to make it past the Big Three?"

"California's overdue for a big earthquake," Nicky pointed out. "That'd take care of USC, at least."

"That's a little extreme, don't you think?" Renee asked.

"We need something extreme at this point," Allison said.

Renee's expression was calm and her tone steady, but Renee didn't need to look disappointed in them for them to get the message. "The Trojans had our backs when we needed them most. Do you really want them to suffer just so we can profit?"

"It's just not fair," Nicky said, shying away from her gaze. "Us getting this far and putting up with so much and then losing here, I mean."

"We haven't lost yet," Dan said, "but we will lose if you give up right out of the gate."

Kevin started to say something, but Neil reached behind Andrew and popped Kevin in the back of the head to shut him up. Matt choked on a laugh and tried unsuccessfully to pass it off as a cough. Kevin froze for a startled second, then sent Neil a scathing look.