Dead Girl Walking ― Aaron Minyard

62. seventeen going under

i was far too scared to hit him
but i would hit him in a heartbeat now
that's the thing with anger
it begs to stick around
― sam fender

♦

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON BROUGHT THE PRESS for interviews and footage. Knowing it was inevitable and the press would start to make up their own facts if Mara and Neil didn't set the record straight (or as straight as they could, given the ongoing investigation and the Moriyamas' involvement), Mara grabbed Neil and suffered through the reporters' incessant questions. 

They confirmed that they were, in fact, twins, citing private circumstances for their separation and making it clear that was all they would say on that matter. They managed to avoid some of the more awful and invasive questions by reminding them of the investigation into their fathers' businesses. Though it was clear they were reluctant, the press moved on after a couple more tries. 

Unsurprisingly, they asked about the extent of the twins' individual injuries. Mara confirmed that she and Neil would be out of Friday's game but would do their best to be back on the court for semifinals. Neil's unflagging confidence in the Foxes' ability to proceed earned a grin here and a nod there and established that, Nathaniel or Neil or whoever, the Foxes' mouthy rookie was the same person he'd always been. 

When they were done with the twins, they went down the Fox line, even cornering Abby and Wymack. Finally, they left and let the Foxes focus on their scrimmage. 

On Friday night, Dan headed to the half-court line as the Foxes' second striker, and the rest of the strikers filed on behind her as their names were called. Renee and Nicky were left on the sidelines with Mara and Neil as the night's subs. Renee would be in and out for the backliners, since the Bearcats would run defense into the ground, and Andrew would hold the goal the entire game. 

The Binghamton Bearcats strode onto the court with palpable arrogance. Mara couldn't blame them for their overconfidence given the Foxes' sorry state tonight, but she could judge them for it. The stadium roared, excited, as the last ten seconds counted down.

The Bearcats took first serve, and the game was violent from the first minute. It became clear quickly that they were trying to eliminate another player. The Foxes were a skeleton crew as-is—if they lost another player, they were finished. 

Wymack's vicious swearing said he understood why yellow cards were popping up all over the place. Abby grimly unpacked her first aid kid and waited for the first injury. Nicky paced irritated lines and yelled colorful insults at the Bearcats through the walls. Renee attempted to quiet him when he got too loud but said nothing otherwise. 

Mara gave up on remaining calm as she watched Allison take another spill, on her feet in a second to join Nicky's one-sided shouting match. With the anger came the dread. The Foxes could only tolerate this kind of play for so long. They'd been pushed aside and stomped on most of their lives; the court was the last place they would tolerate this kind of insult. It was only a matter of time before the Foxes snapped. 

Except the minutes raced by, two Bearcats were evicted with red cards, and the Foxes kept their cool. They let hits land and racquets fall and gave ground when pushed. Matt didn't even fight back when his striker mark took a swing at him. He dropped his arms to his sides and let the punches land until the referees tore them apart. Dan scored on the foul shot and hugged Matt on her way back to half-court. 

The Foxes had chosen victory over pride tonight. 

It was a necessary sacrifice, but it took an emotional and physical toll on all of them. They spent most of halftime fuming, too angry at their opponents to appreciate how well they were doing. Wymack toned down his halftime recap, not wanting to set anyone's fraying tempers off with his usual gruff approach. If anyone heard him, they gave no sign of it.