Chapter Text
“You knew, didn’t you?” Jeremy Knox asked when he heard my plans. “You knew you were leaving when you asked me to take you out of the lineup over break.”
We had been good friends since the moment we had played on the same court my freshman year at USC. As captain of the Trojans’ exy team, he had been the best teammate and leader we could have possibly asked for. Unfortunately for me, this only made transferring to Palmetto State that much harder.
“If you try to bench yourself with the Foxes, they will tear you apart.”
Those final words were followed by a smile and a firm hug, but they still felt like a punch to the gut. He was both right and wrong, and the lies only made the guilt worse. I hadn’t played a single game in over four months, and the ache of standing on the court was too much.
I wanted so desperately to play again, but I wouldn’t let them do it. I wouldn’t let them turn me into a Raven.
So I had to leave exy behind.
*****
The first day of the fall semester passed by in a blur of syllabus discussions and unfamiliar faces. I didn’t expect much different, but I found myself distracted by Jeremy’s words in my head. I couldn’t imagine what he thought after he heard I was leaving the game completely.
I was just as distracted by the nice weather, having biked around campus the night before (and, admittedly, past the courts). It was hard to shake exy when the Foxhole Court seemed to loom over everything, even when it was out of sight. Its reputation preceded it, mostly because of the players that called it home.
I shook my head a little as I left my last class for the morning, trying to focus as I glanced at my schedule to double check. Every bone in my body itched to go to a practice that didn’t exist. Instead, I knew I would walk back to my single dorm room waiting across the park and start the essay already assigned for next week.
This was what I wanted, really. Exy just couldn’t be my future, and the personal invitation to study journalism under the lead professor was too good to pass up. I could cover games with the sports reporting crew, stay close to the action, but far enough to keep from getting sucked back in.
I had barely stepped foot off the building’s front steps when a student approached from my left. Shit. I thought I’d at least have a day or two, but ignoring her wasn’t an option. Rip off the band-aid, right?
“Hey, y/n, right?” the woman asked as she extended a confident hand to shake. “I’m Dan, the captain of the Foxes. Do you have a minute?”
“Sure,” I replied with a smile, accepting her offered hand. “I’m heading across the green if you want to walk and talk.”
Dan was friendly, but her eyes were made of steel. I had heard the stories of the first female captain wrangling a rowdy team into shape and had nothing but respect for the player before me. Watching her play at USC last year had been just as incredible.
“How was your first day?”
“Oh, you know. Syllabus week feels the same at any school.”
“We thought we might be seeing you on the court, but Jeremy mentioned you had decided to step back.” Interesting, that he had reached out to her and not me yet. Cutting right to the chase, her real question went unasked but not missed. How can we change your mind?
“Yeah, I moved to focus on my studies, as much as it kills Jeremy to hear.” I shrugged.
“I’ll be honest,” Dan said, stopping in front of another building along Perimeter Road. “I can’t understand why one of the best players at USC would walk away. I’m sure you have your reasons, but we could really use another body right now. This is my next class, but think about it, will you? We’ll talk soon.”
She was gone just as quickly as she had appeared, the definitive tone of her closing remark only emphasized by the purpose in her stride. No didn’t seem to be the answer she was looking for.
Tuesday morning was the same. Dan waited for me after my class, talking about nothing and everything, but thankfully no mention of exy. I doubted her motive had changed and my mind certainly hadn’t, but I appreciated her friendly patience. Wednesday, she found me outside like clockwork. Thursday, too. Friday was only different because she wasn’t alone.
I immediately recognized her companion, but seeing the infamous Neil Josten in person instead of in news footage was certainly a different experience. His cool gaze seemed to walk a careful line of polite disinterest, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was being watched more intently than he let on.
Beyond a standard introduction and reference to hearing about my transfer, Neil let Dan do the talking until we reached her building.
“We have our first home game next Friday. Come watch, and maybe it’ll change your mind,” the team captain said, extending the invitation with a smile.
“I’ll think about it.”
And I knew I would think about it – constantly, obsessively – but I also knew the price was too high to accept.
*****
Dan Wilds paused at a window outside of her classroom to see y/n and Neil walking down the path. She thought it would have been better for all sides if she had gotten through to the new transfer on her own, but she couldn’t play the waiting game forever.
They were missing a piece of the puzzle, and she knew her vice-captain could be persuasive in ways that she could not. Morally ambiguous persuasion, sure, but results were results.
Dan hoped the monsters would play nice for once. Somehow she doubted that was very likely, but it was a risk she was willing to take.