By the time lunch came around, Roxie had convinced herself she wasn’t nervous.

She was wrong.

Roxie stopped outside the athletics office and took a breath.

She knocked once, then pushed the door open.

Coach Miller was sitting alone at the long table with a plastic container of salad in front of him. He looked up when she entered, his expression already tired. The other coaches were gone. Their chairs were pushed back, and one clipboard had been left behind on a seat. The room smelled like old coffee, sweat, and salad dressing.

Coach Miller stabbed his fork into the salad, lifted a piece of lettuce, stared at it for a second like it had personally offended him, then ate it with a grimace.

Roxie stopped at the door.

He pointed his fork at the chair across from him. "Jones. Sit."

Great. He looked exactly as happy as he sounded.

Roxie stepped inside and left the door halfway open before sitting across from him with her bag on her lap. She kept her back straight and her hands folded on top of her bag.

Coach Miller swallowed, pushed the salad aside, and picked up the folder beside it.

"Kendall came in this morning," he said.

Roxie kept her face still. "Okay."

"She said you embarrassed her in the hallway."

"She was talking shit about me."

"Language."

Roxie pressed her lips together.

Coach Miller sighed and opened the folder. "I’m not asking who started it. I’m telling you it’s becoming a team problem."

Roxie looked down at her bag.

If someone missed counts, it came back to her. If the line looked messy, it came back to her. If Kendall cried in the athletics office before lunch, somehow that came back to her too.

"You’re captain," Coach Miller said. "So I’m asking you first."

"I know."

"That picture from the bus is already enough of a distraction. I don’t need the two of you making it worse."

Roxie’s jaw tightened, but she said nothing.

Coach Miller tapped the folder with two fingers. "Pep rally’s Friday. You’re leading the routine, and Kendall’s with you for introductions."

Roxie looked up.

He pointed at her before she could speak. "Don’t make that face. I know you don’t like it."

Her mouth closed.

"I don’t need you two to be best friends," he said. "I need you standing in the same gym without turning it into a soap opera. The routine has to be clean. The introductions have to be clean. If Kendall says something, ignore it. If the football boys start acting stupid, ignore them too. I don’t care how annoying they get."

His eyes lifted to hers.

"And they will be annoying."

Roxie glanced at the folder.

Zac Prescott’s name sat near the bottom of the page. She didn’t need to read the rest to know what it said.

Coach Miller followed her gaze, then let out a tired breath. "Especially that one."

Roxie swallowed the first answer that came to her.

Coach Miller kept his eyes on her for another second. His expression softened, just a little.

"Look," he said. "I’m not going to yell at you over that picture. But if it doesn’t die down, expect the office to call you both in."

Roxie froze.

Coach Miller tapped the folder once. "You know your cheer scholarship has conduct conditions."

Her stomach tightened, but she kept her face still.

"I’m not saying that to scare you," he said. "I’m reminding you."

Roxie nodded.

One more year.

That was all she needed. One more year at Briarwick, one more year on the squad, one more year of swallowing whatever girls like Kendall threw at her. After graduation, she could flip them all from a safer distance.

For now, she had to stay.

"Yes, Coach," she said.

Coach Miller looked back at the folder, then at her. "And be careful with Prescott."

Roxie’s eyes lifted.

"He’s got a reputation," Coach Miller said. "I’m not getting into that. You’ve heard enough."

Her jaw tightened, but she said nothing.

Coach Miller tapped the folder again. "And Prescott’s not just some boy with a jersey. His family matters here. So be careful."

"I don’t plan to," Roxie said quietly.

Coach Miller looked like he wanted to say more, then changed his mind. "Good." He pointed toward the door. "Out, Jones."

Roxie stood up and walked out before she could say something she would regret.

The hallway felt colder than it had ten minutes ago.

Angela was waiting by the wall, blonde hair twisted into a messy bun, her notebook hugged to her chest. Beside her, Karen leaned near the trophy case, sharp black eyes already on Roxie, chewing gum with the same bored expression she always had.

Angela pushed off the wall the second she saw her. "Are you okay? Did he give you a hard time?"

Roxie adjusted the strap of her bag. "No. Just the usual."

Karen snapped her gum. "She’s just so irritating."

Angela gave her a look. "Karen."

"What? She lies with the exact same face every time."

Roxie started walking before the freshman near the water fountain could pretend any harder that he wasn’t listening. "Kendall is such a brat, but Coach is right. This is affecting the team."

Angela hurried beside her. "What did Coach say?"

"Pep rally’s around the corner, so we need to work together. We need to polish the dance, help with decorations, and make sure Kendall doesn’t turn Friday into her personal theater production."

Angela’s eyes practically twinkled. "We’re polishing the dance?"

Karen rolled her eyes. "Please don’t sound excited about suffering."

Roxie glanced toward the corner of the hallway where three students had slowed down to look at them. It was that look people always gave a group of cheerleaders when they passed together, half interested, half waiting for one of them to say something worth repeating.

"Fix your faces," Roxie said under her breath. "Everyone’s looking."

Karen lifted her chin. "Let them look. I know I’m pretty."

"Yeah," Angela said sweetly. "Pretty annoying."

Karen’s gum stopped for half a second.

Roxie looked at Angela.

Angela blinked back at them, all innocent eyes and messy bun, like she hadn’t just attacked someone in broad daylight.

"Are we helping with decorations?" Angela asked.

Roxie nodded. "Student council asked for help, so yes. After practice, we check the routine, the introductions, and whatever they need for the gym."

Angela hugged her notebook tighter, already too excited for someone who was about to spend her afternoon touching poster paper. "Okay. We can do that as long as there are no more dramas."

"She only got co-captain because of her parents anyway," Karen said, falling into step on Roxie’s other side. "Everyone knows it."

Angela gasped softly, but she was laughing before she could hide it. "Karen."

"What?" Karen said. "Am I supposed to lie now? I thought we hated that."

Roxie kept her eyes forward. "Can we not say that where people can hear?"

Karen looked around the hallway. "Why? Maybe if they hear it enough, it becomes a school announcement."

Angela laughed into her notebook.

Roxie shook her head, but the corner of her mouth gave her away.

They moved toward their next class with Angela already listing things under her breath, colors, supplies, and some emotionally sincere plan involving streamers. Karen walked beside them like she was being dragged to community service.

"So," Angela said after a moment, softer now. "What’s with you and Prescott?"

Roxie’s almost-smile disappeared. "Nothing."

Karen’s sharp eyes slid to her. "That was quick."

"Because there’s nothing," Roxie said, adjusting the strap of her bag. "And I don’t plan on changing that."

Karen looked at her. "You better, because that man has been in everyone’s pants on campus."

Angela made a face. "That is not true."

Karen kept chewing. "Give him time."

Angela’s cheeks warmed a little. "He does look hot, though."

Roxie didn’t answer.

Prescott was a problem she did not need.

She already had Kendall, practice, the pep rally, and a routine that had to look perfect by Friday.

She looked toward the classroom door and tightened her grip on her bag.

"Well," Roxie said, "I already have problems."

And because apparently saying it out loud was an invitation, Kendall was waiting outside their classroom with two girls from the squad beside her.

She had that stupid little grin on her face again, the one that made Roxie want to scratch it clean off.

"Ah," Kendall said, looking her over. "Did anyone get in trouble?"

Roxie’s mouth opened before her brain could stop it.

There was a crybaby who couldn’t keep her mouth shut.

She breathed in through her nose and smiled instead.

"That’s sweet, Kendall. Very concerned of you."

Karen made a quiet choking sound beside her.

Kendall’s smile tightened. "I was just asking."

"Right." Roxie adjusted her bag and kept her face calm. "We need to prepare for the pep rally on Friday. I was thinking, as co-captain, you can help student council with decorations later."

Kendall’s grin disappeared so fast it was almost satisfying.

"And what will you be doing?" Kendall asked.

"Me?" Roxie widened her eyes a little. "I need to polish the routine."

Angela pressed her notebook against her mouth to hide her smile.

Roxie stepped past Kendall. "Good luck."

Kendall nodded like she understood perfectly, which was exactly why Roxie didn’t trust her.

"Sure," Kendall said. "I’ll handle it."

Then she walked into the room with her two girls beside her, already chuckling under her breath like Roxie had said something hilarious.

Roxie watched them pass.

That was not a good laugh.

That was the kind of laugh Kendall used when she had already decided how to make something ugly.

And Roxie could not take it back now without looking petty in front of everyone.

Karen followed, grinning. "I thought you two were going to be best friends."

Roxie dropped into her seat and set her bag down. "I didn’t mean to say it like that."

Angela slid into the chair beside her, still fighting a smile. "She’s not going to let that pass."

"I know." Roxie opened her notebook. "She’s just so..."

"Irritating?" Karen supplied.

Roxie looked at her.

Karen shrugged. "I was helping."

Roxie’s mouth almost curved. "For once."

Kendall had settled into her seat with two girls from the squad whispering beside her. "You think she’ll actually help with decorations?"

Roxie looked over.

Kendall was smiling down at her phone now, thumbs moving fast.

Roxie did not know what she was planning.

She only knew Kendall was planning something.