Rainbow Connection, AFTG ✔️

2.19

CHAPTER NINETEEN
PORTER

In the week before the Foxes' played the Trojans', Neil and Aaron switched dorms. Though Porter had never been fond of Aaron, he found him to be a much better roommate than Neil when it came to cleaning his toothpaste off the counters when he spills it.

That said, Aaron and Andrew had new layers of tension between them because of it. The anger came all from Aaron, while Andrew simply seemed bored by his separation tactics. Andrew gave the same expression when he saw Katelyn, though, and she was the whole reason for this dorm situation.

The day of the Trojans' game came up quickly after the Bearcats were eliminated. Their loss meant PSU was the number-three team in the nation. It made them buzz, but Porter saw the hesitance behind the excitement. They could only get so happy before they had to face the fact that USC was an overwhelmingly spectacular team. Compared to the Foxes...well, it seemed Kevin had little to no faith that they would win.

"Hey," Porter had stopped him after a night practice leading up to the game. Kevin was in the middle of pulling off his gloves, his helmet forgotten and his hair wet with sweat. "When I first got here," He told him, "You told me the Foxes had a chance. Keep me believing that, alright?"

Kevin wavered, but he had eventually nodded. As they entered USC's stadium, he hopped Kevin remembered that.

The Trojans' and Foxes' stadiums were the same sizes, but USC's darker red-and-gold theme made the Trojan Court appear significantly smaller. Somehow that illusion did nothing to make the Foxes feel better about standing in the inner ring. They'd made sure to get here a half-hour before the doors opened, needing time to mentally steel themselves for the upcoming game. For now, they were alone. In ninety minutes they'd take on team number-two.

"Yeah," Matt said, at last, the first one to speak since security let them in. "No problem."

Kevin had nothing to say, but Porter knew it was because Kevin was too busy soaking in the joy of being back on Trojan territory. His mood was high, his expression was content. It was at complete odds with the nerves and dread evident on his teammates' faces.

The doors opened, letting the crowd in as an unending wave. Wymack ushered his Foxes back to the locker room. One of USC's staff stopped by not much later to give them a rundown on the night's outlook. The game was completely sold out, there were six news stations in attendance, and twelve recruiters from summer major leagues and pros would be watching. She had to know none of those representatives would be looking at the Foxes but she listed their cities and teams anyway.

"We don't have USC's line-up," Wymack said. "Any idea when we'll get that?"

"I'll see if I can get a copy," she promised. "Do you need anything else?"

"That's about it," Wymack said, so she left. As soon as the door closed behind her Wymack looked to Dan. "You and Kevin start thinking about what you're going to say in pre-game."

Dan rubbed hard at her arms, struggling to hold herself together and give her team a captain's unwavering confidence. "Does 'We're excited to be here' and 'We're going to do our best' cover pretty much everything?"

"How about 'We're gonna own these losers'?" Nicky suggested.

"And that's why you're not allowed to talk to the press," Matt said dryly.

The locker room was built to accommodate much larger teams, so it was easy for the Foxes to spread out. They found breathing space wherever they could, needing a couple of minutes to get their heads on straight before tonight's match. It certainly didn't help Porter, but when the reporters showed up they were all out of time. Kevin and Dan offered polite praise for USC and promised an interesting match. Wymack saw the press out as soon as possible and sent his Foxes to get changed.