Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Jean had his backpack half-packed when Cody’s words sank in. He checked his bag before remembering his laptop was nothing more than a charred hunk of metal. “I need to visit the library before practice.”
“Oh? Sure,” Cody agreed, finishing up and pushing everything into their bag. “Before or after we eat?”
“I will be quick,” Jean promised, and off they went.
He found an open computer near the window and put in his student credentials. There were a dozen-odd unread emails in his inbox from the last few days, notifications from professors and the campus, but Jean ignored all of them. It didn’t matter that he didn’t know Sergio’s phone number. Edgar Allan, like USC, used a very straightforward system when assigning email addresses to its students. Jean remembered his, which meant he knew Sergio’s. Jean opened a new message and filled in the TO line before hesitating.
Cody was on their phone, but Jean was still so long they glanced up. “Good?”
“Maybe,” Jean said noncommittally.
He hadn’t spoken to Sergio since he left Evermore, but Sergio was a Raven, and he’d closed ranks against Jean. He’d sent a letter to Palmetto State with Jean’s notebooks, same as the rest of them had. The chances of him answering Jean were slim; the probability of it being a pleasant response was even more unlikely. There was more to lose than gain by reaching out. Jean glanced at the mouse, telling himself to let it go, before typing out a simple, “Lyle?”
He sent it before he could change his mind and logged out.
“Done?” Cody asked. “Great! Let’s eat.”
“Yes,” Jean agreed, and forced his former teammates from mind.
Afternoon practice got out a few minutes early, and Jean followed Cat and Laila to Jeremy’s car for the long trek west. The Wilshire family chef had the week off, since Jeremy was the only one home, but Cat was excited to get her hands on his expensive appliances. Jeremy was obviously unaccustomed to hosting people at his place, and the best entertainment he had to offer was a tangled-up yo-yo and a hacky sack. They ended up watching a lot of TV, as the house had five across three floors.
William was up before them the next morning and sent them off with four travel mugs of coffee. Cat sang his praises until Laila kissed her to silence with a grumpy, “Too early, babe.”
Jean and Tanner went from Lyon to the library, where Jean suffered through an uncomfortable, stilted conversation with Dobson. As soon as he hung up on her, he led Tanner over to the computers. Tanner didn’t care where they went so long as he could find an open chair, since he had two quizzes to study for. He settled down and immediately got back to work, and Jean logged into the system.
Beneath a few new automated messages from USC was a response from Sergio, time-stamped for three in the morning local time. Jean tapped into it and read the short message in silence: “He’s gone. Andritch terminated his contract and sent him home last night.” It was followed by a few blank lines, and then, “You look dumb as fuck in red, Moreau. Almost had to gouge my eyes out when I saw you.”
Jean scowled and wrote back, “It is hideous, but it is better than wearing black.” He pressed Send, started to close out of his inbox, and hesitated when he understood the greater implication. He opened another message and said, “It is too early in the year for the Ravens to watch USC’s games.”
He sat back and considered the clock. With the Nest closed, the Ravens should be living in real-world time this year, but Jean wasn’t sure how Edgar Allan was handling their classes. Did they fire the Ravens’ dedicated professors or simply move them to a static, daytime schedule? It wasn’t worth asking about when he and Sergio were on such thin ice, so he set to marking his other emails as Read. Halfway down, his inbox refreshed. A new message from Sergio now sat at the top.
“Fuck USC,” was the predictable response. “Finn heard Zane visited you and wanted to see how it went down.” On its heels, another email: “First time I’ve ever seen you look afraid of him, JOHNNY.”
Jean shut down the system immediately.
-
Friday night was a home game against Las Vegas. Shawn resumed his rightful place on starting lineup, so Jean was left on the sidelines after the halftime break. Tanner ended up on one side of him, and Derrick and Derek on the other. The double-Ds were prone to hollering and hooting at every clever move, whereas Tanner saved his loudest cheers for the goals. Jean would surely be deaf by the time they let him on the court, but it helped distract him from the indignation of playing as a sub.