The Captain's Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 77: Chapter 77 - Angela

By practice, the track felt hot enough to cook the soles off their shoes, and Angela was still wearing the hoodie.

Gray. Oversized. Sleeves past her hands. Zipped high enough that she looked like she was preparing for winter in another state.

Roxie tried not to stare.

She failed.

Angela caught her once and gave a tiny shrug like it was normal to wear three layers during cheer practice when the sun was personally attacking everyone.

Coach Miller blew his whistle. ”Lines. Full-out sideline sequence from count eight.”

The squad moved into place. Roxie stepped to the front automatically, captain face on, voice sharp enough to cut through the heat and gossip.

”Ready?”

The squad answered, but not with their usual energy. A few of the younger girls were watching her too closely, like they wanted to say something and were terrified she would bite.

Which was fair.

Roxie ignored them and hit the first count hard.

Arms sharp. Smile up. Hips square. Do the job. Look alive. Look untouchable.

The music blasted from Coach Miller’s speaker, and for a few minutes, muscle memory did what pride could not. Roxie moved, counted, corrected a freshman’s arm angle with two fingers and a look, and pretended the whole school was not slowly crawling into her life through whispers.

By the time Coach called water, everyone was sweating.

Everyone except Angela, who looked like she was being boiled alive inside cotton and denial.

Roxie grabbed her bottle from the bench.

”Roxie?”

She turned.

Maya and Tessa stood a few feet away, both holding water bottles like shields. They were juniors. Good flyers. Loud in the locker room. Usually brave when talking about boys, absolutely useless when talking to Roxie directly.

Maya glanced at Tessa.

Tessa widened her eyes like, You started this, finish it.

Roxie stared at them. ”Are you two buffering?”

Maya swallowed. ”We just wanted to ask if you’re okay.”

Roxie’s stomach tightened.

Behind them, Angela stopped twisting the cap off her water bottle. Karen looked over too.

Roxie forced a laugh. ”That depends. Are you about to tell me my toe touch is ugly?”

”No,” Tessa said quickly. ”It’s about the rumor.”

The word landed badly.

Roxie kept her face bored because that was safer than letting it do anything honest.

”What rumor?”

Maya lowered her voice. ”The one about someone’s mom. People are saying Bianca started it.”

For a second, Roxie forgot the heat, the track, the music still buzzing from Coach’s speaker. All she heard was mom.

Then Bianca.

Her fingers tightened around her water bottle.

”That’s crazy,” Roxie said.

Her voice came out normal enough. Almost.

Maya nodded fast, relieved. ”Yeah, we thought so.”

”No, I mean her.” Roxie made herself smile. ”That’s what obsession does to people. One boy ignores you for five minutes and suddenly you’re inventing family drama at lunch.”

Tessa looked relieved too, like Roxie had handed them the right reaction. ”Exactly. That’s what we said.”

Maya stepped closer. ”She’s been sabotaging you this whole week, right? People are saying she messed with your hair.”

Roxie’s smile tightened.

”And your uniform,” Tessa added. ”Everyone kind of knows.”

Everyone kind of knows.

Roxie hated that sentence instantly.

Her hair. Her uniform. Her locker. Her mom. Her life. All of it passed around the school in pieces, softened by concern until it almost sounded nice. Almost.

She hated that Maya and Tessa looked worried.

She hated that they were probably trying to help.

Mostly, she hated how small she felt standing there while people discussed the damage done to her like she was something fragile they had all noticed cracking.

”My hair was handled,” Roxie said.

Maya’s face softened. ”We know. We’re just saying—”

”And the uniform is handled.”

”Roxie—”

”I said it’s handled.”

The words came out sharper than she meant.

Maya flinched.

Roxie saw it and hated herself for that too.

Perfect. Now she was snapping at people who were actually being decent. Very captain. Very stable. Very girl who absolutely had everything under control.

Karen moved beside her before Roxie could decide whether to apologize or make it worse.

”Give her a second,” Karen said.

Her voice was calm, but her eyes were not.

Maya nodded. ”Yeah. Sorry. We just thought you should know.”

Tessa looked at Roxie. ”We’re not on Bianca’s side.”

Roxie looked between them.

They meant it.

That almost made it worse.

”I’m sorry,” Roxie said, because thank you felt too exposed. ”I snapped when I shouldn’t have. Just— just don’t repeat it.”

”We won’t,” Maya said quickly.

Tessa nodded. ”Promise.”

They walked back toward the rest of the squad, leaving Roxie with a water bottle in her hand and anger sitting too high in her throat.

Karen stayed beside her. ”They were just concerned.”

”I know.”

Roxie looked away.

Angela stood a few feet away, still zipped into that hoodie, face flushed from the heat while pretending she was fine.

Roxie looked at Angela.

Something in her settled into place.

Karen followed her gaze. ”We need to teach her a lesson.”

Roxie did not answer right away.

Coach Miller blew his whistle. ”Water break done. Back on the line.”

The squad started moving. Angela walked toward them, pushing loose hair off her damp forehead with the back of her sleeve.

Roxie’s chest hurt looking at her.

”Are you really not taking that off?” Roxie asked quietly.

Angela looked down at the hoodie like she had forgotten it was there. ”I’m fine.”

”You’re sweating through it.”

”It’s okay.”

”It’s not.”

Angela’s smile tried to happen and failed halfway. ”Roxie.”

Roxie hated how soft her own voice sounded. She hated it because soft meant hurt was showing, and hurt was basically blood in the water at Briarwick.

Roxie’s mouth pressed into a line. ”Photography club. She still has it on Mondays, right?”

Karen’s expression changed.

Roxie’s pulse slowed, but not because she was calm. It slowed because the anger finally had somewhere to go.

Coach Miller blew the whistle again. ”Ladies. Today, please.”

Angela stepped back into formation.

Karen leaned closer without looking at Roxie. ”You know we can get into trouble with this.”

Roxie faced forward. ”I know. Let’s not take Angela with us.” Angela had taken enough hits this week. Roxie was not dragging her into the next one.

Karen nodded and looked at Angela. ”It’d be worth it.”

”It’s supposed to be.”

”Five, six, seven, eight,” Coach Miller counted.

Roxie hit the first motion hard enough to make her shoulders burn.

This time, she smiled through the whole routine.

Practice ended with everyone tired, sweaty, and pretending they were not watching Roxie.

Coach Miller dismissed them with a warning about sloppy counts and hydration, which was hilarious considering Angela looked one deep breath away from becoming a hoodie-shaped ghost. Roxie expected her to stay. Angela usually stayed.

But this time, Angela hugged her bag to her chest and glanced toward the parking lot.

”My mom’s already here,” she said.

Roxie looked at her hoodie.

”I’m taking it off when I get home,” Angela said before Roxie could say anything.

Roxie crossed her arms. ”You better.”

”I will.”

”Like, immediately.”

”Yes, Captain.”

Roxie hated how soft Angela’s smile looked.

Karen stood beside them, bag over one shoulder, eyes already cutting toward the side building where the clubs met after practice. ”Go home, and tomorrow I want you back in your chic clothes.”

Angela frowned. ”I don’t know.”

”You’re beautiful, Angela,” Roxie said. ”You’ve got it, so flaunt it. They were only saying that because they’re jealous.”

She glanced at Karen. ”I know Karen is.”

Karen grinned. ”Hell yeah, I am. Other women pay for those.”

Angela blinked like she was fighting tears. ”You think so?”

”We know so.” Roxie smiled, even though her eyes burned. ”Let them talk behind our backs. Since when have we cared?”

Angela looked between them, biting her lip. Then she nodded. ”Yeah.”

Roxie’s smile stayed in place, but something inside her twisted. Angela had always been the happy one. The supportive one. The girl who could turn a disaster into a joke before anyone had time to cry about it.

Seeing her this affected made Roxie angrier.

Karen pulled Angela into a hug. ”Better show all of them what they’re jealous of.”

Roxie hugged her too. ”Within school dress code.”

Angela laughed, and the sound made her seem like she had finally stopped holding her breath.

”Go before your mom starts honking and makes this more embarrassing than it needs to be,” Roxie said.

Angela narrowed her eyes at both of them. ”You two are being weird.”

”We’re always weird,” Karen said.

Roxie stepped closer and tugged Angela’s sleeve down where it had ridden up her wrist. ”Text when you get home.”

Angela looked between Roxie and Karen one more time, like she was trying to decide whether leaving them alone was a crime against friendship.

Then a car honked near the front gate.

Angela groaned. ”That’s my mom.”

”Text,” Roxie said.

”I will.”

”And take off the hoodie.”

Angela gave her a small salute. ”Yes, Captain.”

She walked backward for three steps, still watching them, before finally turning toward the parking lot.

Roxie waited until Angela got into the car and shut the door.

Only then did the smiles drop from both their faces.

Karen’s voice went low. ”Let’s go.”

Roxie understood her.

If she had been even a little hesitant before, she wasn’t anymore.

”You sound too excited,” Roxie said.

”I’m not excited.”

”You look like you’re about to stretch.”

Karen adjusted her ponytail. ”Maybe I should.”

Roxie started walking before Karen could turn that into an actual warm-up.