Chapter 234 - Mall
By the time Roxie reached the third store, both of her arms were full.
Angela walked several steps ahead, carrying two paper bags and talking about a pair of shoes she had seen in the window downstairs. Karen followed beside Roxie with the team jacket folded over one arm because Roxie’s bag had started tearing near the handle.
They had bought the jacket first.
Kendall had posted the link in the team chat, but Angela insisted on finding it inside the mall so they could check the size before paying. The jacket was dark blue with white sleeves and the school name stitched across the back. Once the embroidery was added, it cost more than Roxie expected.
She had stood at the register with Mr. Robinson’s bank card between her fingers while the cashier removed the security tag.
Roxie waited for the payment to decline.
The machine approved it immediately.
Angela pulled her toward another store before Roxie could think about what she had done. The jacket became jeans because Angela said the pair Roxie wore was starting to fade at the knees. The jeans became three shirts, a sweater, and shoes Karen found on sale.
Roxie tried putting one shirt back.
Angela took it from her and returned it to the pile.
"You tried it on three times."
"I was deciding."
"You stared at yourself for ten minutes."
Angela placed the shirt on the counter with everything else. "You like it. Buy it."
Roxie bought it.
After that came travel toiletries, makeup for the competition, hair products, and enough snacks to fill half of Angela’s duffel. Roxie added each total inside her head until the numbers began running together.
Mr. Robinson’s card worked every time.
She spent more money in one afternoon than she usually spent on clothes in an entire year.
They stopped at the food court after Karen complained that Angela had been walking them around for four hours without feeding anyone. The shopping bags gathered around Roxie’s chair until she had to keep both feet between them so people passing the table would not trip.
Angela emptied fries onto the paper covering her tray and pushed them toward the middle.
Karen reached for one.
Angela slapped her hand. "Those are mine."
"You said they were for everyone."
"I changed my mind."
"You have two burgers."
"One is for later."
Karen took three fries before Angela could stop her.
Roxie laughed and pulled her drink closer. Angela began arguing about Karen having her own food while Karen continued eating from Angela’s tray without looking concerned.
For several minutes, Roxie forgot about the bags.
Angela complained about the hotel rooms for VCU. Karen said she refused to share a bed if Angela planned to kick in her sleep again. Angela insisted she had only done that because Karen stole the blanket during Regionals.
"You kicked me in the stomach," Karen said.
"You were choking me with the sheet."
"It was around your arm."
"I woke up fighting for my life."
Roxie laughed again.
A couple at the next table looked over when Karen threw a fry at Angela’s face.
The afternoon had felt normal until Roxie looked down.
The team jacket sat inside the largest bag. The new jeans were beneath it, along with shirts she had chosen because they looked good instead of because she needed them. Another bag held shoes that had never been worn by anyone else.
The sight made her stomach tighten.
She should have been happy. She had spent years seeing clothes she liked and walking past them. She bought things when the old ones could no longer be repaired or when the stains stopped coming out.
Now she had everything she needed for VCU and more.
Mr. Robinson had paid for all of it.
Roxie had used the card without speaking to him. She had not answered his calls or agreed to see him. She had taken the money anyway.
It felt like she had traded part of her anger for shopping bags.
The money had always belonged to her. Zac kept saying that. Mr. Robinson had sent it for her, and Claire had spent it before Roxie ever knew it existed.
Repeating that inside her head did not make the card feel like hers.
Angela snapped her fingers in front of Roxie’s face.
"Are you listening?"
Roxie looked up. "What?"
"I said I think Caleb and I are ready."
Karen wiped salt from her fingers. "Ready for what?"
Angela gave her a flat look.
Karen knew exactly what she meant. Roxie could see it in the small smile forming near her mouth.
"For the next step," Angela said.
Karen leaned back. "You’re getting married?"
"Shut up."
"You said next step."
"I mean sex."
Karen nodded slowly. "Use condoms."
"I know."
"I mean every time. Even if he says he’ll pull out."
"I know how pregnancy happens."
"People who know still end up pregnant."
Angela looked at Roxie. "Can you tell her to stop acting like my mother?"
Roxie rested both arms on the table. "She’s right."
"I didn’t ask if she was right."
Karen continued as though Angela had said nothing. "And make sure you actually want to do it before you’re already naked. You can change your mind whenever you want."
"I know that too."
"If he complains, get dressed and leave."
"Karen."
"And tell someone where you are."
Angela dropped her forehead into both hands.
"I’m trying to talk to my friends about having sex, and you’re giving me a safety seminar."
Roxie laughed as Angela lifted her head and threw a napkin at Karen.
Angela pointed toward Roxie. "What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Have you and Zac done it?"
Roxie took a drink.
"No."
Angela stared at her.
Roxie lowered the cup. "What?"
"You’re making me look like a slut."
Karen picked up another fry. "You are a slut. That’s why we’re friends."
Angela threw the remaining napkins at her.
Roxie laughed hard enough that her stomach hurt. Karen tried blocking her face with the food tray while Angela reached across the table to grab the fries she had stolen.
People at the next table looked over again.
Roxie covered her mouth, but that only made her laugh harder.
For a few minutes, she was sitting in a food court with her friends while they talked about boys, sex, makeup, and who would steal the hotel blankets.
Nothing felt broken.
Her phone vibrated beside her tray.
Zac’s name appeared on the screen.
Where are you?
Roxie typed back.
Eating.
His response arrived immediately.
Food court?
Yes.
I’ll wait in the parking lot.
Angela leaned toward the screen. "Is Zac coming inside?"
"He already finished getting groceries. He’s waiting outside."
Karen glanced at the bags around Roxie’s chair. "He might be waiting a while. We still have to carry all this."
"He can help."
Angela smiled. "Designated driver and bag carrier. You trained him well."
Roxie placed the phone beside her drink.
It vibrated again several minutes later.
Send me a picture.
Roxie opened the camera and held the phone in front of her. Angela noticed and leaned into the frame with her mouth open while Karen lifted a fry beneath her nose like a mustache.
Roxie took the picture and sent it.
Karen looked over her shoulder.
"Is Zac checking on you every five fucking minutes?"
"No. He’s waiting outside. He wants to know where we are."
Angela smiled. "That’s sweet."
"That boy is obsessed with you," Karen said.
Roxie laughed and put the phone down.
Fiona had said nearly the same thing.
Zac had never been like this with her. He barely called, let her leave when she was angry, and accepted their breakup without trying to stop it.
With Roxie, he wanted pictures. He asked where she was. He waited outside the mall while she spent hours with her friends.
His attention should have felt excessive.
Instead, it made something warm settle inside her.
She was different.
Roxie unlocked her phone again and opened the conversation beneath Zac’s.
Earlier that afternoon, she had sent Ethan a message telling him she would miss the rest of the week because VCU was Saturday.
His answer remained beneath it.
Okay.
That was all.
Ethan had barely spoken to her since the fight at the bungalow. He answered when the manager needed to know whether Roxie was coming to work, but he no longer sent pictures of burned food or complained about customers while she was at school.
Roxie typed a message.
Are you still mad at me?
She stared at it before deleting the words.
She already knew the answer.
Ethan came when she called because he thought she needed help. Roxie defended Zac, pushed Ethan away, and told him to stay out of their relationship.
He was finally doing what she asked.
By the time they reached the parking lot, the handles had begun cutting into her fingers.
Zac stood near the back of the Tesla with his phone in one hand. He had changed out of his school jacket, and the bruising along his cheek had faded enough that someone who had not seen him earlier in the week might miss it.
He smiled when he saw her.
Then his attention moved to the bags.
"What did you buy?"
"Nothing," Roxie said.
Angela laughed. "She nearly emptied the mall."
Zac walked toward Roxie and took the bags from both of her hands before she could argue.
Karen held out the jacket bag too.
"She needs help."
"I can carry my own things," Roxie said.
Zac placed everything near the back of the Tesla and opened the trunk.
"Doesn’t look like it."
Angela pointed at him. "See? Trained."
"I heard that."
"You were supposed to."
Karen helped place the remaining bags inside. "She finally bought clothes."
Zac looked at the amount filling the trunk.
"Good. She needed things."
Heat moved into Roxie’s face.