#alis.

          Basil was glad the Foxes won, but wasn’t happy about the game at all. Not only had he gotten hit, but he’d lost his racquet during the game and caused Alis to miss blocking a shot. While Basil didn’t like the Foxes, he’d always maintained that he didn’t want to be the reason they lost. He didn’t blame Alis for missing the goal because it was his fault. His shoulder hurt from the check, but he was ignoring the pain. It wasn’t anything a few painkillers and some rest couldn’t fix. He’d spent the time back to the hotel angry at himself for the outcome of his performance at the game. One mistake like that could make or break the season. If the Eagles hand’t been worse than the Foxes, they might have won. It was that kind of attitude that made him work twice as hard to be better than he ever had before. If he was going to be on a losing team, at least he wanted to be sure he wasn’t the reason they were losing. Basil might do his best to avoid the Foxes outside games and practice, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a team player when it mattered.

          He’d managed to find out what room Alis was staying in and knocked on the door. When the room’s other occupant answered and it wasn’t Alis, Basil sighed. He’d have to go in search of her for this conversation it seemed. No one could claim he didn’t try. The freshman wondered around the hotel for a bit, trying to figure out where Alis would even be, but couldn’t find her anywhere. Sighing, he thought maybe she was out celebrating and would wait outside until she arrived. It wasn’t that cold outside, so he wasn’t bothered by the chilly air. He slipped out of the hotel and glanced around. That’s when he spotted Alis. Basil moved slowly towards her, trying to decide how this conversation was going to go. When he finally got closer to her, he stood there for a minute before finally speaking.

          “Hey. Can we talk?”