Chapter 307 - Make Them Pay I

Chapter 307: Chapter 307 - Make Them Pay I

By the time Roxie made it through first period, the little bit of energy breakfast had given her was already disappearing.

She yawned while walking toward the gym with Karen and Angela, one hand covering her mouth while Karen complained about something from class that Roxie only half heard. Angela had somehow acquired another coffee since the hallway, and every time Roxie caught sight of the dark circles beneath her eyes, Caleb standing in front of that wall of condoms flashed through her head again.

Roxie immediately looked away.

Angela caught it anyway. Her eyes narrowed over the rim of her cup. "Don’t."

Roxie pressed her lips together. "I didn’t do anything."

"You were about to."

Karen looked between them with increasing irritation. "Again. What the fuck is this?"

"Nothing," Angela said.

Roxie nodded. "Nothing."

Karen’s eyes narrowed, but they had already reached the gym doors and Roxie walked through before she could start asking questions again.

Coach Miller had the cheerleaders gathered near the lowest bleachers. Noah stood beside the scorer’s table holding his clipboard while several envelopes and thick bundles of Sweetheart tickets covered the table in front of him.

Kendall stood on the opposite side with Tori and Marissa, arms crossed over her chest and looking irritated before Coach Miller had even started talking.

Normal.

Coach waited until everybody settled.

"Sweetheart is tomorrow. Today is our last real selling day. The online promotion helped, and the performances are getting more attention, but we’re still short."

Noah looked down at his clipboard. "Two hundred eighteen."

A few girls reacted immediately.

Roxie lifted her eyebrows.

That was better than one eighty-three.

Still nowhere close.

Coach Miller continued. "We need at least three hundred fifty. Four hundred would give us more breathing room with transportation, lodging and registration, but three fifty is the minimum."

The room got quieter.

One hundred thirty two tickets.

By tomorrow.

Roxie rubbed beneath one eye and looked toward the stacks on the table. For a second, the number felt stupid. They were Briarwick. There was money everywhere in this school.

And Kendall never let anybody forget it.

Roxie could already hear her if they fell short. She would probably wave a check in Coach Miller’s face and remind everyone that her family could cover whatever was missing. She had done some version of it before, always with that smug little look like the rest of them should be grateful Whitlock money existed.

Honestly, they probably could just take it.

The problem was Roxie didn’t think Coach Miller wanted that.

Her eyes shifted toward him.

He had spent the entire season trying to get people to take cheer seriously. They had stood on sidelines for football, basketball and every school event that needed bodies in uniforms screaming for Briarwick. Nobody had to beg people to support Zac and the football team. If they sold shirts, people bought them. If they sold tickets, students showed up. Parents donated. Businesses put their names on banners. People wanted to be part of it.

Cheer had won State.

They were going to Nationals.

And somehow they still had to prove people gave a shit.

Maybe Coach Miller needed the money, but Roxie had a feeling he needed this too.

People buying tickets.

People showing up tomorrow.

People choosing to support them instead of the team reaching Nationals because Kendall Whitlock’s parents wrote a check when nobody else cared.

That would feel different.

Roxie looked at Coach Miller again and caught the way his eyes moved over the team while Noah talked through the numbers. He wanted them funded, sure, but he also wanted a packed gym tomorrow.

He wanted Briarwick cheering for them for once.

Roxie looked back at the tickets.

Fuck.

Now she understood why he was making them go out and sell.

Coach Miller started dividing them into groups of three.

"Jones, Angela, Karen. Main academic building and cafeteria."

Angela nodded. "We’ll do our best, Coach."

Karen leaned slightly toward Roxie. "At least I don’t have to spend the morning with Kendall."

Kendall heard her from several feet away.

"Trust me. The feeling’s mutual."

Karen turned her head and smiled without warmth. "Perfect."

Coach Miller looked between them. "Save it."

Kendall rolled her eyes.

Coach continued assigning groups until everybody had a section. Roxie was reaching for their bundle when one of the cheerleaders near the bleachers spoke hesitantly.

"People are asking about Roxie."

Her hand stopped.

The room shifted.

Another girl looked uncomfortable. "About tomorrow. If she’s really performing."

Someone else added, "A lot of people keep asking if she’s still doing it with all the rumors."

Karen’s face hardened immediately.

Angela looked toward Roxie.

Roxie kept her eyes on the tickets.

Of course they were asking.

It had been days of Claire.

Days of people staring at her in the hallway, lowering their voices when she passed, pretending they had been talking about something else whenever Roxie caught them looking.

Now Sweetheart gave them somewhere to go stare at her properly.

Coach Miller watched her for a moment. "You okay selling today?"

Roxie almost answered automatically.

Then her gaze moved toward the gym doors.

Selling behind a table was easy. People came to you. They bought whatever they wanted and left.

Walking around campus meant Roxie had to approach them herself.

People who had spent the week talking about Claire.

People who probably knew details Roxie had spent years hiding.

People who might use a twenty-dollar ticket as an excuse to ask questions.

What if somebody started poking at her?

What if they asked whether Claire really sold herself?

What if somebody asked whether Roxie used drugs too?

She could not walk away.

Or worse, she could snap.

The stack in her hand suddenly felt heavier.

Karen moved slightly closer. "We can handle most of it if you want."

Roxie looked at her. Karen’s expression had softened but that almost made it worse. She didn’t want Karen and Angela doing all the work because she couldn’t handle being looked at.

She didn’t want the rumor taking another fucking thing.

Before she could answer, Kendall spoke from across the scorer’s table.

"What, Jones? Suddenly scared of people looking at you?"

Karen’s head snapped toward her. "Can you shut the fuck up for five minutes?"

Kendall barely glanced at her. Her attention stayed on Roxie. "They’ve been staring at you all week. You’re literally the fucking circus now."