Chapter 265 - Sweetheart Season

Chapter 265: Chapter 265 - Sweetheart Season

Love was officially in the air, and it was making Roxie sick.

She could barely make it from the front entrance to her locker without seeing another fucking Sweetheart Dance proposal. There were flowers taped to lockers, balloons blocking half the hallway, boxes of candy, handmade signs and boys standing around looking like they were about to throw up while their friends recorded everything on their phones.

Near the stairs, some junior had spelled SWEETHEART? across the floor with rose petals.

Roxie stepped over the S without slowing down, grinning inside. Burn.

Behind her, a girl screamed.

Roxie glanced back just in time to see the junior throw herself into some guy’s arms while everybody around them cheered.

"Jesus Christ."

She kept walking. It’s Homecoming all over again and that dance made her remember things she wanted to forget.

Yesterday there had been a guy carrying a giant stuffed bear through the cafeteria. This morning someone had filled a girl’s locker with pink balloons. Before homeroom, another boy had stood in the middle of the hallway holding a poster while three of his friends played some stupid romantic song from a speaker.

Like they are in the fucking renaissance period where serenade was a fucking sport. The dance was still more than a week away. Briarwick was going to be unbearable by Friday.

Roxie reached her locker and opened it.

Empty. Which she expected but goddamn if it didn’t make her pissed more. How the hell in the years she’s been single for the Sweetheart Dance, this is the only year that her locker is empty. She can almost hear the cicadas.

She stared into the locker for a second longer than necessary before shoving her bag inside.

Whatever.

She did not even want anyone asking her.

She had just gotten out of a relationship that half the school had apparently considered more entertaining than television. Everybody knew she and Zac had broken up. Everybody had seen the scratches on him. Everybody had watched her spend two days acting like an idiot around Mike, and enough people had probably seen Zac drag her away near the gym to create another hundred rumors.

Any boy with a functioning survival instinct probably knew better.

Roxie closed her locker. She made it about ten steps before another thought came.

Still.

Nobody?

Roxie frowned.

What the fuck?

Had she suddenly become ugly because Prescott dumped her?

She slowed near one of the glass trophy cases and glanced at her reflection. Her hair looked good.

She leaned slightly closer. Face looked fine. Uniform looked good. She had won fucking State.

Roxie straightened.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with her.

A freshman walking past caught Roxie checking herself in the glass and quickly looked away.

Roxie glared at him anyway.

Maybe everybody at this school was just a coward.

That made much more sense.

By the time she reached AP Chemistry, another girl had been asked to the dance.

Roxie had barely put her things down when a boy near the windows walked into the room carrying a bouquet and a small box of chocolates. Half the class immediately started making noise because apparently everybody knew what was happening except the girl sitting two desks away from him.

She looked up.

The boy held out the flowers. "Sweetheart Dance?"

The girl covered her mouth before laughing and saying yes.

Everyone around them clapped.

Roxie rolled her eyes and pulled out her notebook.

"Jealous?" Karen asked looking at her.

Roxie scrunched her nose at her. "I don’t need you... to ask me. How many did ask you to dance?"

Angela giggled. "Not one." She faced Roxie completely before throwing Karen a look. "I thought this one guy’s gonna do it. He was holding a bouquet of roses, walking towards us but then when he saw Karen frowning, he turned back."

Karen rolled her eyes, drinking from her tumbler. "Not my fault everyone here in Briarwick is a fucking loser."

Roxie laughed. "We’ll we got each other for the dance."

"Unfortunately."

Her eyes moved across the room before she could stop them.

Zac was sitting near the back. He was talking quietly to Mason about something and had barely reacted to the whole proposal.

After the coffee shop yesterday, she had finally gotten the message. Zac could follow her outside because she looked upset. He could get jealous. He could kiss her. He could apparently still react to every little thing she did.

None of that meant he wanted to be with her again.

Roxie had cried enough about that last night.

She was done.

Someone near the windows started taking pictures of the new couple, and Roxie turned toward the board just as Mr. Callahan walked in.

He looked at the fiasco.

"If I see any flowers in my class, I’ll fail both parties."

The class laughed.

Roxie smiled despite herself and opened her notebook. And for the rest of the period, she kept her attention where it belonged.

By cheer practice, Roxie had mostly forgotten about the dance. Or forced herself too.

Coach Miller made sure of that.

He called everyone together before warmups, and the expression on his face was serious enough that the usual conversations died down quickly. Roxie sat on the floor beside Karen while Angela dropped down on her other side. Kendall was near the front with Marissa and Tori, still tying her hair back.

Coach Miller looked around the group before speaking.

"We need to talk about Nationals."

That got everyone’s attention.

Roxie straightened.

Since State, Nationals had mostly been something they talked about like it was guaranteed. They qualified, which meant they were going. At least that was how Roxie had been thinking about it.

Coach Miller apparently had other news.

"Qualifying gave us the opportunity to compete. It didn’t magically pay for the trip."

A few girls glanced at each other.

Coach Miller continued. "Transportation, lodging, registration, meals and the rest of the expenses add up quickly. The school is looking at what they can cover, but administration wants to see actual support before they commit more resources."

Kendall raised her hand slightly even though nobody had asked her to.

"My dad can donate."

Roxie glanced toward her. Show-off. No one is asking.

Coach Miller nodded. "And I’m sure the school would appreciate that, but one parent writing a large check isn’t what they’re asking for."

Kendall frowned. "Why? Money is money."

"It helps. It doesn’t solve the whole problem."

Coach Miller crossed his arms. "They want participation. Students supporting you. Parents. Teachers. People in the community. They want something we can bring to administration and show them Briarwick actually wants this team representing the school at Nationals."

Karen leaned toward Roxie. "So basically, we need to prove people care."

Roxie whispered back, "Good luck."

Coach Miller looked directly at them.

Roxie smiled innocently.

He continued. "We need fundraising ideas that people will actually participate in. Car washes and bake sales are fine, but we need something bigger."

A few suggestions came immediately.

Food booths.

A raffle.

Selling shirts.

Someone suggested another cheer clinic for younger kids.

Coach Miller wrote a few things down while the team talked over each other.

Then Marissa spoke from near the front.

"They did something for Sweetheart before right?"

The room quieted slightly.

Coach Miller looked at her. "What?"

Marissa shrugged. "Like five years ago. The last team that went to Nationals. My cousin was there."

"What did they do?" Angela asked.

Marissa thought for a second. "Some kind of Sweetheart fundraiser. They had people perform before the dance or during the week before it. Students donated to whoever they wanted to win."

Coach Miller lowered his clipboard. "You want to do that?"

"Dances, we can do. Short ones. Some were couples, some were just people doing stupid shit because everyone wanted to watch them."

Angela laughed. "That actually sounds fun."

Marissa nodded. "Every performer had a donation thing. I think they used jars back then, but we could do that and online payments now. Every dollar counted as a vote, and whoever raised the most won at the Sweetheart Dance."

Angela immediately sat straighter. "We need a name."

Karen groaned. "Here we go."

"Sweetheart Showdown."

"No."

"Dance for Nationals."

"Terrible."

Angela looked offended. "You haven’t suggested anything."

"I’m preventing bad ideas. That’s my contribution."

A few girls laughed.

Coach Miller was already thinking about it. Roxie could tell from his face.

"It ties directly into something the school is already promoting," he said. "Students are already paying attention to Sweetheart. If we get enough volunteers and enough people voting, administration gets the participation they want."

Kendall nodded. "And my dad can still donate."

"Yes, Kendall. Your father is still allowed to have money."

That got a laugh from almost everyone, including Roxie.

Angela looked back at Marissa. "How did they get people to volunteer?"

Marissa shrugged. "They asked."

"That easy?"

"No." She smiled. "They used people everyone wanted to watch."

Coach Miller gave her a look.

"What?" Marissa asked. "That’s how they made money. Nobody’s donating twenty dollars to watch some random freshman dance badly."

A freshman cheerleader near the back looked offended.

Marissa pointed toward Kendall.

"You use her."

Kendall lifted her chin slightly like being selected for public consumption was somehow a compliment.

Then Marissa pointed toward Roxie.

"And her."

Roxie looked behind herself.

There was nobody there.

She turned back. "Why the fuck am I involved?"

Several girls laughed.

Marissa looked at her like the answer was obvious. "Because people would pay to watch you."

"That sounds creepy and you sound like a pimp."

"I didn’t mean it like that."

Karen leaned toward Roxie. "I’d pay five dollars to watch you fall."

Roxie elbowed her.

Marissa kept going. "Half the school loves you, half hates you and everybody wants to know what you’re doing."

"That math makes no fucking sense."

"You know what I mean."

Unfortunately, Roxie did.

Ava grinned. "Especially right now."

Roxie narrowed her eyes. "What does that mean?"

Ava immediately looked less confident. "Nothing."

Karen started laughing beside her.

Roxie turned. "What?"

Karen covered her mouth.

Angela was already smiling too.

Roxie looked around at the rest of the team.

Then it clicked.

The breakup.

"Oh, fuck all of you."

Marissa raised both hands. "I’m just saying people are already watching."

"One more reason for me to stay the fuck out of it."

Coach Miller looked at Roxie.

She pointed at him before he could speak.

"Absolutely fucking not."