The Captain's Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 197: Chapter 197 - I Chose

Zac sent nothing that night.

Roxie checked her phone while brushing her teeth. She checked it after changing into one of his shirts. She checked it again from the couch, though the screen had remained silent beside her for almost an hour.

No message.

No missed call.

Nothing telling her he was angry but still loved her. Nothing asking for more time. Nothing proving he had heard the fear beneath the ultimatum instead of only the threat.

Roxie eventually carried her phone into the bedroom and placed it beside her pillow.

She woke several times during the night and checked it each time.

By morning, she had stopped expecting anything.

Zac had made his choice.

He wanted Tennessee, football, and the future he had already arranged. He might have wanted Roxie inside that future, but only if she accepted the place he had prepared for her.

Being with her publicly had apparently required more thought.

Roxie dressed for school without looking toward Claire’s room. She ate half a piece of toast over the sink and left the rest on the plate.

Her phone stayed silent during the walk to school.

She reached AP Chemistry earlier than usual.

The seat Zac had taken at the back yesterday remained empty.

Roxie sat at her table and removed her notebook from her bag. She placed her pencil beside it, then adjusted it when she noticed her fingers trembling.

Karen and Angela entered together a few minutes later.

Angela sat at the table behind Roxie while Karen dropped into the chair beside her. Neither asked whether Zac had answered.

Roxie had told them enough that morning.

By today, Zac had to decide whether they would stop hiding.

Angela had asked why Roxie needed an answer so quickly. Karen, for once, had made no joke. She had only looked at Roxie’s face and stopped asking questions.

Roxie could not explain the rest without telling them Claire was dead.

Dylan entered with Mason, though Mason left after saying something near the door. Dylan glanced at Roxie before taking the desk beside Zac’s empty seat.

He knew.

Maybe all three of Zac’s friends knew about the ultimatum. They might have spent the night telling Zac that breaking up would save him from dealing with Roxie’s moods for the rest of his life.

Roxie looked down at her notebook.

She had given him an easy way out.

We stop hiding, or we break up.

She had expected him to fight the second option.

The bell would ring in less than a minute.

Mr. Callahan moved between the front table and the board, arranging papers for the lesson. He checked the clock once.

Roxie told herself to stop watching the door.

She looked anyway.

Zac entered with several students just before the bell.

He looked sober.

His hair was still slightly disordered, though someone had clearly dragged a comb through it. The redness had faded from his eyes. The split in his lower lip remained visible, but the swelling around it had gone down.

He wore a black jacket over a gray shirt. His backpack hung from one shoulder.

Zac saw Roxie immediately.

His steps slowed.

Roxie sat straighter.

He had until tomorrow.

It was tomorrow.

She waited for him to walk toward her.

Zac looked at the empty chair beside her table.

Then he continued to the back of the classroom.

Roxie’s fingers closed around her pencil.

He dropped his bag beside the same desk he had used yesterday and sat beside Dylan.

Mr. Callahan closed the door.

”Everyone appears conscious today. An improvement.”

A few students laughed.

Zac opened his notebook.

He never looked at Roxie again.

Mr. Callahan began discussing the lab they would complete later that week. Roxie copied the date from the board, though she wrote the wrong month first and had to scratch it out.

Her phone remained beside her thigh beneath the table.

Zac sent nothing.

Roxie stared at the back of his head.

She had asked him to choose her where people could see.

He had chosen the farthest seat.

Mr. Callahan turned from the board.

”Ms. Jones.”

Roxie lifted her head.

”Since the equation has earned your complete attention, perhaps you can tell us what happens when pressure increases.”

She looked at the board.

The symbols blurred for a second.

”The reaction shifts toward the side with fewer gas molecules.”

Mr. Callahan nodded. ”Correct. You may return to whatever crisis is occurring inside your notebook.”

Several students looked at her.

Karen glanced over from the table behind her. Angela’s eyes moved briefly toward Zac before returning to Roxie.

Roxie lowered her gaze.

Her pencil left a dark mark across the paper.

She had spent months fearing that people would discover she was dating Zac.

Now she had threatened to end the relationship unless they found out.

Claire’s death had made hiding feel unbearable. The motel, the forms, and the plain container beside the sink had shown Roxie how quickly someone could disappear from everyone else’s life.

Last night, public proof had seemed like the only way to make their relationship harder to erase.

This morning, she felt stupid for asking.

Zac had never promised he would choose her under threat. His face had emptied when she said they would break up.

Maybe she had already ended them the moment she used the words.

Roxie looked toward him again.

Zac stared at his notebook. His jaw appeared tight from where she sat.

He never turned.

The rest of class moved painfully slowly.

Roxie checked the clock every few minutes. Each time, Zac remained silent.

The bell finally rang.

Chairs scraped against the floor.

Zac closed his notebook and placed it inside his bag. Dylan stood beside him, watching Roxie through the students moving between them.

Roxie packed slowly.

Her hands had begun shaking again, and she refused to stand until they stopped.

Zac left first.

He disappeared through the door without looking back.

The rejection felt worse because he had never said it aloud.

Someone bumped the edge of Roxie’s table and muttered an apology. She pushed her notebook into her bag. The zipper caught twice before she managed to close it.

Karen and Angela waited beside their table.

Neither rushed her.

Mr. Callahan looked up from his desk.

”Ms. Jones, I assume there is a reason you are moving at the speed of a sedated turtle.”

”I’m trying to enjoy your classroom.”

”That answer concerns me.”

Roxie stood once her legs felt steady enough.

Karen picked up her bag. ”Did he say anything?”

Roxie shook her head.

Angela’s expression tightened. ”Maybe he’s waiting until you’re outside.”

”He already answered.”

Karen opened her mouth.

No insult came.

That frightened Roxie more than anything she could have said.

The three of them walked toward the door.

The hallway was crowded. Students moved between classrooms, filling the space with voices, footsteps, and lockers slamming shut.

Mason, Dylan, and Kyle stood several feet from the chemistry room.

Zac was with them.

Roxie stopped.

He had left first because he was waiting.

Mason said something to Kyle, but neither boy moved. Dylan leaned against the lockers with his arms folded.

Karen and Angela stopped behind Roxie.

Zac stepped away from his friends.

He moved directly into her path.

Roxie tightened her hand around the strap of her bag.

His face gave her nothing.

”What time does tomorrow end?” he asked.

Roxie stared at him.

”What?”

”You said I had until tomorrow.”

His voice remained low, but the anger from yesterday had survived the night.

Roxie looked toward his friends.

Mason watched them openly. Kyle had stopped pretending to be interested in his phone. Dylan already knew enough to remain silent.

”You made your choice,” Roxie said.

Zac’s eyebrows pulled together.

”You didn’t even wait for me to answer.”

”I waited all night.”

”I was thinking.”

”You had all of chemistry.”

”I still have the rest of tomorrow.”

Roxie laughed once.

The sound came out weaker than she wanted.

”You sat through class without looking at me.”

”I looked at you.”

”When?”

”Before I sat down.”

”That was supposed to be enough?”

Zac stepped closer.

Students moved around them, though several slowed after recognizing him.

Roxie felt their attention begin to collect.

She glanced back at Karen and Angela.

Karen looked between Roxie and Zac. Angela held her bag against her chest, watching him carefully.

Zac followed Roxie’s gaze.

He looked across the students watching them.

For one second, neither spoke.

Roxie had demanded this.

Now that people were looking, her stomach tightened.

She had months of practice pretending Zac meant nothing to her at school. The habit remained inside her body even after she decided she hated it.

Zac looked at her again.

”You wanted everyone to know.”

He reached for her hand.

His fingers closed around hers in the middle of the crowded hallway.

Roxie looked down.

He held on when someone nearby whispered his name.

Her heart struck hard against her ribs.

Zac stepped closer.

Roxie lifted her eyes.

His expression remained angry. The split in his lip pulled when his mouth tightened, and the exhaustion beneath his eyes had never completely disappeared.

This was no gentle apology.

He raised his free hand to the side of her neck and kissed her.

Roxie froze.

For the first second, her mind failed to follow what was happening.

Zac Prescott was kissing her outside AP Chemistry.

Mason, Dylan, and Kyle could see them.

Karen and Angela could see them.

Everyone in the hallway could see his hand around hers and his mouth against hers.

Then the shock broke.

Roxie grabbed the front of his shirt and kissed him back.

Zac’s hand tightened slightly against her neck. The kiss remained firm and unmistakable, but he ended it before it could become something performed for the crowd.

Roxie stayed close after his mouth left hers.

The hallway had gone strangely quiet.

A locker slammed farther away.

Then the whispers started.

”Oh my God.”

”I knew it.”

”Since when?”

Karen’s compact slipped from her hand and struck the floor.

Angela stared at them with her mouth open.

Mason said something under his breath that made Kyle shove his shoulder.

Zac continued holding Roxie’s hand.

Relief came so quickly that it almost made her dizzy.

Everyone knew.

Their relationship had witnesses. It existed outside locked rooms, empty cemeteries, and the privacy of her bungalow.

Roxie’s fingers tightened around his shirt.

He had chosen her.

The ultimatum had worked.

The realization should have bothered her more than it did.

Instead, the fear that had followed her all morning disappeared beneath the sight of his hand holding hers where everyone could see.

Roxie searched his face.

”Are you sure?”

Zac’s expression hardened slightly.

”You gave me a deadline.”

The relief inside her faltered.

Her fingers loosened around his shirt.

Zac saw the change in her face.

His jaw shifted.

Then he looked directly into her eyes.

”I chose.”

Roxie held his gaze.

The words settled differently.

He remained angry. He still hated being cornered. He had still walked into the hallway and taken her hand in front of everyone.

Roxie glanced toward Karen and Angela again.

Karen had retrieved her compact but continued staring. Angela finally closed her mouth.

Roxie returned her attention to Zac.

”Even with your parents?”

His thumb moved once across the back of her hand.

”They were never part of the decision.”

His father would hear before the day ended. His mother might hear from another parent before lunch.

The same family that already blamed Roxie for Zac’s disobedience would know he had chosen her publicly.

Zac appeared prepared to accept that.

Roxie moved closer.

The hallway noise slowly returned around them. Students passed while continuing to watch. Phones had already appeared in several hands.

Zac noticed them and made no effort to release her.

”Now you answer me,” he said.

Roxie’s relief tightened into caution.

She knew what he meant before he said another word.

”Tennessee.”

Zac’s eyes stayed on hers.

”You wanted me to choose you where everyone could see.”

”This isn’t the same.”

”It feels the same to me.”