Chapter 246 - Everyone Else
Roxie had smiled for so many photographs that her cheeks had started hurting.
She stood between Kendall and Angela with the trophy held against her chest while another parent lifted a phone and told them to move closer. Karen leaned into Roxie from the other side, still wearing half of her competition makeup and the ribbon someone had tied around her ponytail after the awards.
"Everybody look here," the woman called.
Roxie looked toward the phone, and the flash went off.
Before she could lower the trophy, one of the assistant coaches called the stunt group toward another banner. Coach Miller wanted a photograph with the captains. Then the regional coordinator asked all the State winners to gather near the floor. Every time Roxie thought they were finished, someone else called her name.
She never wanted them to stop.
The venue had begun emptying around them. Other teams carried bags toward the exits while Briarwick remained near the floor, taking pictures with the trophy and replaying the moment their name had been announced.
State Champions.
Roxie still felt the words inside her chest.
Karen grabbed her hand and pulled her into another photograph beside Coach Miller. Kendall stood on his other side and fixed the trophy when it tilted.
"Hold it straight," Kendall said.
"It’s heavy."
"It was straight five seconds ago."
"You hold it."
Kendall took the base and immediately adjusted her grip.
Angela laughed from behind the phone. "Her arms are tired after one picture."
"We just competed."
"So did Roxie."
"Take the picture."
Coach Miller looked toward the camera with the tired expression he had worn since the awards, though Roxie had caught him smiling whenever he thought nobody was watching.
Angela took several pictures before lowering the phone.
"One more."
"You said that three pictures ago," Kendall said.
"This one is for me."
"They’re all on your phone."
"And I want choices."
Roxie laughed and leaned closer to Coach Miller while Angela took another.
Zac stayed near the row of chairs where the team had piled their bags. He had Roxie’s practice bag over one shoulder and her jacket folded across his arm. Whenever the trophy needed to be moved, someone handed it to him as though he had been assigned to protect it.
He never complained.
Roxie looked toward him between photographs and found him watching her.
He smiled, and the happiness inside her settled deeper.
Angela lowered the phone and turned toward the others.
"Some of us are going to dinner before we go back to the hotel."
Karen immediately nodded. "I’m starving."
"You ate three granola bars."
"That was before we won."
Kendall glanced toward Coach Miller. "What time do we need to be back?"
Coach Miller checked his phone. "Ten. Everyone returns together, and nobody leaves the restaurant without telling me."
Angela turned toward Roxie.
"You’re coming."
Roxie looked at Zac.
She had assumed they would celebrate together after the venue. He had stayed through the awards, carried her things, and waited while she took enough photographs to fill Angela’s phone.
Zac understood before she asked.
"Go with them."
"You’re sure?"
"You won State with them." He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Have fun."
"What are you going to do?"
"Go back to the hotel. Maybe find food that doesn’t come in a paper box."
"You can come with us."
Angela heard and pointed toward him. "He can, but he has to sit at another table. This is a cheer dinner."
Zac looked offended. "I carried the trophy."
"That made you useful. It didn’t make you a cheerleader."
Karen took Roxie’s bag from him. "We have her now."
Zac ignored them and looked at Roxie.
"I’ll see you at the hotel."
He kissed her forehead and placed her jacket over her shoulders.
Roxie wanted to pull him back and ask him to come anyway. Instead, she watched him take a step away and realized he was giving her the night without making her feel guilty for leaving him.
"Okay."
Zac touched her hand once before letting go.
Angela hooked her arm through Roxie’s and pulled her toward the exit.
"Come on, State Champion."
The restaurant was close enough to the hotel that Coach Miller allowed them to walk as a group.
Briarwick filled most of the long table near the back. The assistant coaches sat with Coach Miller several tables away, close enough to watch but far enough that the girls could talk without lowering their voices every time someone swore.
The trophy sat on an empty chair beside Roxie.
Karen kept reaching over to touch it as though she needed to make sure it remained real, while Angela had already told the story of the final announcement three times.
Roxie laughed as Kendall divided the appetizers into equal sections. Marissa and Tori argued over which drink belonged to whom while Ava reached for another mozzarella stick.
Kendall slapped her hand away.
"You already had three."
"Captain, there are tons."
"Not if everyone keeps grabbing without counting."
Karen stared at her. "We won State, and you’re rationing cheese."
Marissa looked at Karen. "She wouldn’t have to if you could control yourself."
"Shut up," Karen said.
"You shut up."
Roxie slapped her palm against the table. "Can we pretend we tolerate each other tonight and celebrate?"
Kendall shoved the plate toward the center. "Fine. I can buy more. Fill yourselves up."
The others missed the sarcasm and reached for the plate at once.
"Pigs," Kendall muttered.
Roxie laughed and grabbed one before they disappeared.
The girls replayed the routine while they waited for their meals. Fiona insisted Karen’s foot shifted during the final stunt. Karen said Fiona imagined it because she was too busy crying before the music stopped.
Roxie laughed until her stomach hurt.
For a while, the day stayed exactly what it should have been.
They had won.
Nobody was fighting. Nobody was leaving. Roxie sat among her teammates while the trophy reflected the restaurant lights beside her.
Ava’s phone rang during dinner. She looked at the screen and smiled before answering.
"Mom, I already sent the pictures."
Her mother’s voice carried faintly through the phone. Ava moved away from the table because the restaurant was loud, but Roxie could still see her smiling while she listened.
Across from her, Fiona sent a photograph of the trophy to her family group chat. Angela complained that her father had already posted the wrong picture on Facebook because her eyes were closed.
Roxie looked at the trophy beside her chair.
Claire could have witnessed it.
The thought came without warning. It did not destroy the happiness. It only settled beside it.
Claire would have complained about the drive to VCU. She would have hated the hotel price, the noise in the venue, and the amount of time Roxie spent getting ready. She might have arrived late or stepped outside during another team’s performance because she needed a cigarette.
She might have embarrassed Roxie.
Roxie still wanted her there.
She wanted Claire to see the trophy. She wanted to place the medal in her hand and hear her say that Roxie had always been good enough to win.
The thought tightened Roxie’s throat.
She knew better. Even if Claire were alive, she probably would have chosen to stay home. Roxie still wished she had come.
She reached for her drink and looked toward Ava, who was still speaking to her mother.
Then Mr. Robinson entered her mind.
Senior night returned clearly enough that Roxie could see the field lights and the people gathered near the track. Mr. Robinson had walked beside her because Claire never arrived. Cynthia and Jason watched from the bleachers while Roxie believed he was simply being kind to the babysitter who had no parent there.
He had known.
Her father had walked her across the field while his wife and son watched.
Roxie had smiled for pictures with him, unaware that everyone in the Robinson family except her was standing on opposite sides of the same lie.
If he had kept the truth hidden, they might have come to VCU.
Cynthia would have packed snacks and asked whether Roxie had enough hair ties. Jason would have complained about the drive, kicked the back of the seat, and then shouted louder than everyone when Briarwick won. Mr. Robinson would have celebrated her while pretending she was only the girl who babysat his son.
The lie would still have existed.
They would have been there.
Now Claire was gone, and Roxie had refused Mr. Robinson’s calls. Cynthia needed time. Jason might already know Roxie was his sister, or he might still believe she had stopped coming because she became busy.
Winning made every empty place easier to see.
"Rox?"
Angela’s voice pulled her back.
Roxie looked across the table.
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
Angela studied her face. "You went quiet."
"I’m tired."
That was believable. They had spent the entire day competing, waiting, and trying to survive the awards.
Angela nodded and reached for another fry.
Roxie looked around the table. Everyone had already returned to eating and arguing. Ava was still speaking to her mother, while Fiona answered messages from her family without worrying about what sharing those parts of herself might change.
Everyone at the table knew Roxie, but nobody knew her whole story.
What would happen if they learned everything she had hidden?
Angela might pity her. Karen might become careful, watching every joke before speaking. Kendall could remember it during their next fight, even if she promised never to use it.
The entire school could learn that Roxie Jones had spent years babysitting her own brother without knowing who he was. They could learn that she used to glue her shoes together because she had nothing else to wear.
Her skin began feeling warm.
Nobody at the table knew anything, but Roxie suddenly felt exposed.
She pressed her palms against her thighs beneath the table and took a slow breath. Nobody was looking at her differently because nobody knew. Tonight, she was still their co-captain, and the trophy beside her belonged to all of them.
Claire’s choices could not take that away.
Mr. Robinson’s money had not lifted Karen into the air. Cynthia’s silence had not held the stunt steady. Roxie had earned this with the girls sitting around her.
Angela lifted her drink.
"To Briarwick."
Kendall raised hers. "To State Champions."
The table erupted.
Glasses lifted. Someone struck a fork against a plate. Karen shouted directly beside Roxie’s ear.
Roxie laughed and raised her drink with them.
At ten, Coach Miller gathered everyone outside the restaurant and walked them back to the hotel. The lobby was still crowded with cheerleaders, families, flowers, bags, and pieces of uniforms when he stopped Briarwick beside the elevators and counted them twice.
Roxie checked her phone while Kendall tried helping and Coach Miller told her he could count by himself.
Zac had sent a message twenty minutes earlier.
Having fun?
She typed back.
Yeah.
Then she added:
Wish you were here.
His reply came almost immediately.
I’m at the hotel. Go celebrate with your girls.
Roxie smiled at the screen.
Karen noticed.
"Is he checking on you again?"
"He’s making sure I’m having fun."
Karen gave her a look.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Say it."
"You’re smiling. I’m leaving it alone."
Coach Miller finished counting and allowed them to head toward the elevators.
Roxie shared a room with Angela and Karen. Within ten minutes, their belongings covered every available surface. Angela threw her jacket over the desk chair. Karen lined her makeup across the bathroom counter and complained that Angela had taken the bed closest to the air conditioner.
Roxie changed into shorts and one of Zac’s shirts while they continued replaying the day. Angela insisted she had known they would win. Karen threatened to throw a pillow at her if she mentioned the winning pause again.
Eventually, Angela fell asleep across one bed with half the blanket twisted around her legs. Karen chose several photographs to post before switching off the lamp and lying down beside Roxie.
The room became quiet except for the air conditioner and the traffic below the hotel window.
Roxie opened the photographs on her phone.
The first few were blurry pictures from the awards. One showed Karen crying with both hands over her mouth. Another caught Kendall staring at the trophy as though she expected someone to take it back.
Roxie swiped again.
The team stood together beneath the State Champions banner. Coach Miller was in the middle, and Roxie had one arm around Angela while Kendall held the trophy.
The next photograph showed Zac holding her after the win.
Roxie had both arms around his neck, and his face was buried near her hair. Her feet barely touched the floor.
She stared at the picture for several seconds before opening Mr. Robinson’s contact.
Her thumb hovered near the message box.
She could send him the team photograph. She could write that they won State and leave it there.
He would probably answer immediately.
Roxie imagined him looking at the picture alone or showing it to Cynthia. She imagined Jason asking why Roxie had sent something after disappearing from their house.
Mr. Robinson should have seen her win without needing a photograph afterward.
She closed his contact.
Her phone vibrated before she could return to the pictures.
Zac’s message appeared across the screen.
Proud of you, State Champion.
Roxie read it twice.
She held the phone against her chest and smiled into the dark.