Chapter Text
The cigarette charred Neil’s nerves just as much as it eased them, he stubbed it out on the wall that he was leaning against soon enough, the smell of smoke bringing up memories of a burning car and a beach at sunset, The door to his left opened inward just as he slid down the wall to sit on the ground, Coach Hernandez’s eyes latched onto Neil’s brown ones immediately. Neil pretends not to catch the glance that Hernandez sends towards the burned out cigarette laying on the asphalt next to him, he also pretends not to notice the way he unconsciously held his duffel bag a little bit tighter and a little bit closer.
“No parents at the game today?” he asked even thorough he most likely already knew the answer, if he didnt then he wouldn't ignore all the times that Neil had slept in the locker room, or the duffel that he almost always kept with him, or even the way his cheeks were slightly sunken in and how his smile never quite reached his eyes.
“They were busy” Neil responded close to automatically at this point.
“That's too bad they really should have got to see you play” and that's how it went after awhile, Hernandez stopped pushing about his parents and just ran along with his quick made excuses. Neil knew the coach didn't want to hear his sob story, his parents were gone, or at least the ones everyone thought he had, one buried in a bag on the beach and the other locked up, neither his teachers nore his coach wanted to hear how he was alone, and to be completely honest it was terrifying, they didn't want to hear about the nights outrunning his past or hold his mother as she died and then burning her body, so he kept to what he knew, a carefully strung web of lies. He told everyone his parents were always busy, or away, or on some business trip out of state. It was easy enough for them to believe, he wasn't living in a back alley or anything, more like where he was living wasn't completely legal in any way. Millport was dying, had been for years, that left houses untouched, left to rot with a for sale sign on the lawn on our front. No one checked in on these houses anymore, leaving they're wood to rot and break away till nothing but empty shells remained, any sort of memories having left long ago. These vacant homes were perfect for neil, all he needed was the protection from the elements, he wasn't aloud to get sick that's how he gets caught, his mother had once given him quite the beating when he got them both sick and they had to stay in a town called bridgebury a few days longer than planned, the scars sometimes ached with phantom pains when the weather got to cold or it rained, on those night she would lay froze, his hand on the knife that was under his duffel which he was using as a pillow, ever creak of wood or crack of thunder would make him jump, those days were some of his bad days, where memories would flash before his eyes like movies on repeat. More often than not Neil would end up breaking into the locker room and huddling in the back corner, though was it really breaking in when Hernandez started to leave it unlocked for him after he noticed the first few times Neil slept there.
“It wasn't supposed to be our last game” Neils train of thought ran off its tracks with that sentence.
“I guess i'm not as much of a good luck charm as you thought” Neil made reference toa moment at the beginning of the fall, they had just won their second game, they scored more than any years past, Hernandez had called Neil their ‘good luck charm’. No matter how hard he tried Neil could never give up Exy, even with the promise that the wind still whistles into his ear sometimes late at night.
Hernandez didn't say he would call Neil’s parents with the score like he used to, knowing he would just get pre recorded voicemail. Hernandez finally turned his body towards Neils and let out the breath that people did when they decided they were about to speak.
“There's someone here to see you” that made Neils stomach churn and his skin go pale. He slung his Duffel bag quickly over his shoulder hoping to make a quick escape before whoever it was cornered him. The sound of someones knees clicking from behind him made him realize that escape was no longer an option, so he did what he did best and bullshitted a smile and turned to face whoever the fuck decided to make another problem in his life. The first thing he noticed was the man's white wife beater that put the tribal flame tattoos he had on full display. Neil's shoulders drew tight and his smile wavered as he remembered Nathan standing over him with a steak knife, his white wife beater stained with who knows what. The man didn't give off the most threatening aura with his easy going stance and his finger tapping on the folder at his side but men near the same age as his father always made his mind scream at him to run.
Hernandez placed a hand on Neils shoulder, ignoring the slight jolt that went through Neils body. “He's from a university” he said like it was supposed to ease Neils mistrust of strange men.
“What the fuck. Who the fuck is this because no one recruits froma town like millport, that doesnt happen, were not in some fucking spin off of cinderella, no one even fucking knows where millport is”
“That's what GPS is for, don't know if you've heard of it” University man as Neil had lovingly dubbed him spoke. Hernandez tightened his grip on Neils shoulder in warning.
“I sent him yout file, he needed a striker, i didn't want you to hope so i didn't mention anything”
“You..? what?” Neil couldn't get the words out, Nreil stared at him blankly.
“ i tried telling your parents when i found out that he would be here but they never sent anything back, you said they were gonna try and make it this time so i thought i could just talk to them here”
Neil tensed again at the mention of his parents. “They did try and it just didn't happen” Neil dismissed him with a clipped answer and averting his gaze back to university man.
“Well i don't have time to wait '' university man spoke once again, waving the folder in his hand around as he spoke. “Its so late in the season that i shouldn't even be considering this but shit happens, you need a team i need a striker sub, sign on the dotted line and your mine for the next five years” Neil knew the context was different but he didn't like the way this man used ‘Mine’
Neil tried to choke out his answer multiple times before he even got close to what he wanted to say. “I- please go” Neil couldn't handle the thought of that folder, with all his information inside, even though it was all a carefully built identity, one of the twenty two that stood between him and him. His father would get out eventually and Neil knew right where he was heading and he dreaded the day, joining a college team would make him noticeable and that was exactly what he had been trying to do the opposite of for so long that he didn't know how to do anything else.
“I need an answer, preferable before tonight, the committee wasn't happy when janie got locked up” Neil knew in that second exactly who this man was- Coach David Wymack.
“Palmetto state Foxes” Neil was frozen, he didn't even realize he had connected the dots out loud.
Coach Wymach, as Neil now knew him, almost looked skittish for a moment “the News was everywhere i guess, ever a small town called millport that no one even knows where it is”
Wymack’s reference to shit happening was really referring to when his last recruit Jamie tried to Kill herself. The Palmetto State Foxes were cast-offs, rejects, every name for that in the book. Wymack had a history of recruiting only athletes from what some would call broken homes’, some thought it was for publicity, many different opinions had circulated over the years but what everyone knew was that the foxes were bad, like terrible, like won a single game all season bad, at least that was until Kevin Day joined as assistant coach last year. The only reason anyone paid any attention to the foxes was for a laugh, so maybe Neil could- wait no he had to keep running. Kevin joining the foxes meant that any possibility of Neil joining them went out the window, it would be too close of a call, he couldn't risk everything he had built so far, ever carefully laid brick that built up the wall that separated him from everyone else. He could never see Kevin again, some things needed to be left to rot.
“You can't be here”
“Well here I stand, need a pen?”
“I can't, i'm not playing for you” Neil already turned to leave.
“Kevin signed you though”
Neil Bolted,he ran towards the locker room, he didn't stop when he heard Hernandez call out startled by his sudden disappearance or when he heard Wymach let out a string of curses colorful enough to paint the bland walls of Millport Highschool. He couldn't feel his legs aching yet but he knew they would soon, he couldn't risk it though, not when everything was on the line, Fuck ‘Neil Josten’ hr be someone else, someone who was never recruited for a rag tag group of broken athletes.
He wasn't fast enough, never fast enough.
He was halfway to freedom, he just had to get through the locker room but then he realized he wasn't alone, he was so close to freedom but then a swing of a yellow racket and the skid of his feet stopped it all. The end of a racket slammed into the core of his very being and suddenly he was on his knees clutching his ribs and trying to breathe.
“Minyard this is why i don't like bringing you to meet the recruits, we haven't even been talking an hour and he's already crouched over in pain from the end of a racket.” Wymack only sounded slightly annoyed “this is why we can't have nice things”
“Couch we aren't aloud nice things because therethey'rese to us, if mister cinderella knock off over her was a nice thing then he would be leaving the ball would he”
“He's no use at all with a broken rib”
He just shrugged his shoulders absently, Neil already knew who this blonde was though, Andrew Minyard, short, angry, and drugged to all hell. And Neil saying someone was short really means something because he's not on the tall side himself. Another body soon entered the picture as Neil finally caught his breath and stood up. Neil didn't have time to focus on the new face though as someone was talking to him.
‘You good kid?” Wymack didn't at all sound concerned, probably not looking for another lawsuit. Neil Waved him absently.
“Im Fine”
Then Neil finally had time to see whoever had come into the picture and there he stood in all his glory.
Kevin Fucking Day.