The Captain's Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 72: Chapter 72 - Sabotage

By Thursday afternoon, Briarwick High had decided the Ravens were not a football team anymore.

They were a religion.

The hallway banners said UNDEFEATED in letters so big Roxie could see them from the second-floor stairs. Someone had taped a paper crown over Zac’s face on the football poster near the gym, and Mason had been walking around all day telling people to respect royalty like he was not one bad quiz away from academic probation.

The whole school was unbearable.

Angela loved it.

Karen looked like she wanted to file a complaint with the state.

Roxie was trying very hard to act normal, which was rude because normal had been unavailable for weeks.

”Tomorrow’s game is going to be insane,” Angela said as they walked into the gym hallway after practice. ”Like actual insane. People are saying if Ravens win again, they’re basically untouchable.”

”They said that last week,” Karen said.

”And then they won.”

”They won by three points.”

”Winning by three is still winning. Don’t be negative during school history.”

Roxie adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder. ”Please never say school history again. It makes me want to transfer.”

Angela ignored her. ”I’m just saying, the Ravens are undefeated, morale is high, everyone is obsessed, and I think we all know why.”

Karen glanced at Roxie.

Roxie stopped walking. ”No.”

Angela smiled too sweetly.

Absolutely not.

”No,” Roxie said again.

”I didn’t say anything.”

”You breathed like you were about to annoy me.”

Karen nodded. ”She did.”

Angela pressed a hand to her chest. ”I just think QB1 has been very inspired lately.”

Roxie stared at her. ”You’re disgusting.”

”Inspired,” Angela repeated. ”Motivated. Emotionally hydrated.”

”Stop talking.”

”I mean, he almost died on a bathroom toilet yesterday and still texted you after. That is commitment.”

Roxie pointed at both of them. ”That bathroom never happened.”

Angela gasped. ”You’ll never be able to erase the red-faced captains in my memory.”

”It happened because you sent him into the girls’ bathroom like a criminal.”

”Do you mean...” She grinned. ”Like a hero?”

Karen pushed open the locker room door. ”I miss us. Back when Roxie still hated all men.”

Roxie flipped her off.

The cheer locker room was already loud.

Girls moved between rows of lockers, pulling out sneakers, bows, makeup bags, water bottles, and the black-and-red uniforms they had to wear for tomorrow night’s game. A speaker on someone’s phone played music near the benches. Someone was laughing about the seniors’ picture retakes. Two freshmen were comparing lip stains in the mirror like a national decision depended on it.

Roxie stepped inside and felt the room notice her.

It always happened now.

Before, people looked because she was captain.

Now they looked because her life had apparently become a hallway show with bonus episodes.

The gum thing had not spread fully, thank God. Angela and Karen had handled the bathroom like professional liars with emotional damage. But enough girls knew something happened. Enough had seen her leave the cafeteria with Angela blocking her and Karen looking ready to ruin someone’s bloodline.

Enough was always enough at Briarwick.

Roxie lifted her chin and walked in like nothing could touch her.

Practice.

Smile.

Breathe.

Repeat.

A sophomore near the lockers whispered something to her friend. Her friend looked away too fast.

Roxie saw it.

Of course she saw it.

She just did not react.

Angela bumped her shoulder. ”Ignore them.”

”I am.”

Angela reached her own locker and spun the combination. ”Anyway, tomorrow. Full uniform, red bows, game hair, white sneakers. Coach Miller said no mistakes.”

”Coach Miller says that every game,” Roxie said.

”Because people make mistakes every game.”

”Usually freshmen.”

A freshman across the room looked offended.

Roxie smiled at her through the mirror. ”I said usually.”

The girl looked away.

Karen pulled out her uniform and shook the shell loose. ”I still say we need a better chant for the undefeated thing.”

Angela gasped. ”I have one.”

”No.”

”You haven’t heard it.”

”I heard enough in your tone.”

Angela ignored her and started clapping softly. ”Ravens rise, Eagles fall—”

”We’re not playing the Eagles tomorrow,” Roxie said.

Angela paused. ”Who are we playing?”

Karen stared at her. ”You’re a cheerleader.”

”I can’t memorize everything.”

Roxie laughed despite herself.

A few girls glanced over.

She turned toward her locker before they could make it weird.

Her locker was near the end of the row, close to the mirror and far enough from Kendall’s side of the room that everyone pretended the distance was accidental. It was not. Cheer had geography. Everyone knew where the captain’s side started and where Kendall’s side began.

Briarwick girls could make a map out of eye contact.

Roxie entered her combination.

One turn.

Two.

Click.

Roxie reached inside for her uniform bag.

Her hand touched fabric.

Wrong fabric.

Loose.

Thin.

Roxie frowned.

Her uniform was supposed to be hanging in the garment sleeve. Shell, skirt, warm-up jacket, red bow clipped to the top. Perfect. Ready. Untouched.

Her fingers closed around something jagged.

Not sharp enough to cut skin.

Sharp enough to make her stomach drop.

She pulled it out.

For a second, her brain did not understand what her eyes were seeing.

Black fabric spilled over her hand in strips.

Red trim hung loose.

The white Ravens lettering was split through the middle.

Her skirt slid out next, shredded down one side, pleats ripped apart like someone had taken their time.

Her bow fell last.

In pieces.

The locker room went silent so fast it felt staged.

Someone gasped.

Then another girl whispered, ”Oh my God.”

Roxie stared at the uniform in her hands.

No.

No.

The word did nothing.

The fabric stayed ruined.

Angela appeared beside her. ”Roxie.”

Karen stopped moving.

The music kept playing for two seconds too long before someone shut it off.

The silence after was worse.

Every girl in the locker room was staring now. Freshmen. Juniors. Seniors. Girls who liked Roxie. Girls who hated her. Girls who liked whoever seemed safest that week.

The cheer squad split without anyone taking a step.

Roxie could feel it.

Her side.

Kendall’s side.

The space in the middle like a court line.

First her hair.

Now her uniform.

The thought hit so hard her fingers tightened around the torn shell.

Her senior picture had survived because Zac had shown up with ice and impossible hands and Angela had bullied the photographer.

But this?

Tomorrow was game day.

Full uniform. Full squad. Undefeated Ravens. Packed stands. Everyone watching.

And Roxie had nothing to wear.

Captain with no uniform.

Captain with a shredded shell and a bow in pieces.

Her chest felt hollow.

She forced her face to stay still.

That was the worst part. The work it took to stay pretty while falling apart.

Angela’s voice shook with anger. ”Who did this?”

Nobody answered.

A junior near the mirror looked at Kendall’s side of the room, then quickly looked away.

Another girl muttered, not quietly enough, ”I mean...”

Karen’s head turned. ”Finish that sentence.”

The girl swallowed. ”I didn’t say anything.”

”You tried.”

On the other side of the locker room, Kendall stood by her open locker, holding her own perfect uniform in one hand.

Perfect shell.

Perfect skirt.

Perfect bow.

Her dark hair was pulled back, her eyeliner sharp enough to make people confess.

She looked at Roxie’s ruined uniform.

Then at Roxie.

Her expression gave away nothing.

Several girls looked between them like they had paid for tickets.

Roxie’s pulse thudded.

For one second, she wanted it to be Kendall.

That would be easier.

Kendall was right there. Familiar enemy. Known problem. A fight Roxie understood.

But the longer Roxie looked at her, the more wrong it felt.

Kendall was cruel in a clean way. Public. Pretty. With witnesses and posture.

This was cheap.

Locker-room rat behavior.

Kendall would never hide in Roxie’s locker and slice her uniform apart like some hallway gremlin.

Kendall’s eyebrow lifted. ”What?”

A junior beside her whispered, ”Kendall...”

Kendall turned slowly. ”Excuse me?”

The junior shut up.

Roxie looked at Kendall.

Kendall looked back.

The room held its breath.

Someone whispered, ”Say something.”

Angela snapped, ”Shut up.”

Kendall stepped away from her locker, uniform still over one arm. ”If you think I did that, say it.”

Roxie’s jaw tightened.

Every girl in the room leaned closer without moving.

That was Briarwick. People could smell a fight before it happened.

Roxie lifted the ruined shell slightly. ”Did you?”

Angela inhaled.

Karen’s eyes flicked to Roxie.

Kendall stared at the uniform.

Then she laughed.

Cold. Short. Annoyed.

”If I did that,” Kendall said, ”I’d do it in front of you.”

A few girls gasped.

Roxie believed her instantly.

Kendall tilted her head. ”And I’d make sure you knew it was me.”

Roxie stared at her.

Then, despite everything, said, ”You’re irritating.”

Kendall’s mouth curved without humor. ”Back to you.”

The room erupted.

”Are you serious?”

”She just admitted—”

”She didn’t admit anything.”

”Roxie, are you going to let her talk to you like that?”

”Kendall, don’t let her blame you.”

”She asked!”

”She basically accused her.”

”She has a right to. Look at her uniform.”

”Maybe someone got tired of her acting like captain means queen.”

Angela whirled. ”Who said that?”

Silence.

Cowards.

Always cowards.

Karen stepped closer to Roxie, eyes scanning the room. ”Everyone back up.”

Nobody backed up.

A girl on Kendall’s side folded her arms. ”Maybe Roxie should check her own friends.”

Angela’s mouth opened. ”Say that again.”

”Angela,” Karen warned.

”No, I want her to say it clearly.”

The girl’s face flushed, but she did not back down. ”I’m just saying there’s always drama around her.”

The words landed hard.

Roxie felt them in her chest.

Always drama.

Hair.

Notes.

Rumors.

Now uniform.

Maybe that was what the room saw.

Not a girl getting attacked.

A girl dragging trouble behind her like a train.

Kendall’s eyes narrowed at the girl. ”Don’t be stupid.”

Everyone looked at her.

Even Roxie.

Kendall rolled her eyes. ”What? It was stupid.”

Then she looked down at her uniform again.

”What am I supposed to wear tomorrow?” she asked.

The room quieted.

That was the part nobody had a comeback for.

Roxie held up the shell. The Ravens logo hung crooked, split through the middle.

Her voice came out flat. ”It’s game day.”

Kendall pointed at the torn uniform. ”That’s cheap. Whoever did it is cheap. If you’re going to mess with someone, at least have standards.”

Roxie stared at her.

A locker slammed near the end of the room.

Everyone jumped.

Coach Miller’s voice cut through the locker room door from the hallway.

”Why do I hear shouting?”

Angela’s eyes went wide.

Karen muttered, ”Too late.”

The door started to open.

Roxie looked down at the ruined uniform again.

”What am I supposed to wear tomorrow?”

Her stomach sank.

Because she still had no uniform.

Tomorrow was game day.

And whoever had done this had just won the first round.