Then she smiled at the mirror until it looked real enough to use.

The door opened again.

Angela walked in first, then stopped so fast Karen almost ran into her.

"What happened?" Angela asked.

Roxie turned from the sink. "Nothing."

Angela’s eyes narrowed. "You look like you’re about to stab someone with a lip gloss."

Karen looked at the empty stalls, then back at Roxie. "Who was in here?"

"No one."

Angela stepped closer. "Roxie."

Roxie looked at both of them.

Angela’s face was soft now, worried in that bright way of hers, like she wanted to hug Roxie and set something on fire at the same time. Karen stood beside her with her arms crossed, quiet and sharp and already halfway to murder.

Roxie sighed.

"Bianca."

Angela’s expression dropped. "Ooooh. The expired girlfriend."

Karen’s eyes went flat. "What did she say?"

Roxie leaned back against the sink. "That I’m reaching. That Zac gets bored. That girls like me get excited when guys like him give us attention."

Angela’s mouth opened.

Roxie kept going before she lost her nerve. "Also that I probably have an OnlyFans, send pictures, dress like I’m asking for it, and people call me a slut."

Like her mom called her. She shook her head to forget it.

The bathroom went silent.

Karen turned toward the door.

Roxie blinked. "Where are you going?"

"To ask Bianca if she wants to repeat that in my face."

Angela grabbed Karen’s arm with both hands. "No."

Karen tried to keep walking. Angela dragged her back.

"Angela," Karen said.

"No. You cannot kill someone right now."

"She called Roxie a slut."

"I heard." Angela’s voice was sweet, but her grip on Karen’s arm tightened. "And I’m very proud of your growth, but we are not getting suspended before powderpuff."

Karen stared at her. "That is your concern?"

"My concern is strategic revenge."

Roxie looked between them.

Something warm moved through her chest.

It did not erase what Bianca said. It did not fix the ugly little words still sitting under her skin. But Karen had tried to leave the bathroom like violence was a friendship language, and Angela was holding her back while looking one bad decision away from letting go.

They were ridiculous.

They were also good people.

That made Roxie’s throat tighten in a completely different way.

Angela looked at her. "You’re joining powderpuff."

Roxie frowned. "That is not the natural conclusion."

"It is absolutely the natural conclusion."

"No, the natural conclusion is me pretending I didn’t hear anything and looking flawless at lunch."

Karen lifted a brow. "That’s your default setting."

Angela pointed at Roxie. "Exactly. Which is why we need an upgrade."

Roxie stared. "To football?"

"To public humiliation, but not yours." Angela smiled, bright and dangerous. "Bianca thinks you’re reaching? Fine. Reach across the whole cafeteria. Show her what she can’t do."

Karen slowly smiled.

Roxie did not like that.

Actually, she liked it too much.

Angela continued, "Walk right up to the football table. Tell Zac you’re joining powderpuff. Ask him to coach you."

Roxie’s face warmed immediately. "No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Roxie, that girl said he always comes back to what makes sense." Angela tilted her head, still smiling. "So go make him stop making sense."

Karen nodded once. "That was annoyingly good."

Angela beamed. "Thank you. I know right. I feel like Gandhi right now."

Roxie looked at herself in the mirror again.

Her fake smile had slipped.

"Fine," she said.

Angela gasped. "Really?"

"I said fine before my brain comes back."

Karen opened the bathroom door. "Then move."

By lunch, Roxie had decided she was fine.

Fine was a flexible word.

It could mean emotionally stable. It could also mean one insult away from committing social arson in the cafeteria.

Today, it meant both.

She sat at the cheer table with her tray in front of her while Angela practically vibrated beside her.

"Remember," Angela whispered, "slow walk. Chin up. Make eye contact with her first."

"I know how to walk."

"Not like this. You need to rub it in her face real good."

Karen took a sip from her water bottle. "Angela is unfortunately correct. This is ceremonial."

Roxie looked across the cafeteria.

Bianca sat with Lily two tables away from Kendall’s group. Perfect hair. Perfect sweater. Perfect little smile.

Roxie’s stomach twisted.

Then she looked at the football table.

Mason was laughing too loud. Kyle was stealing fries. Dylan had his crutch hooked on the back of his chair like a decorative accessory. Zac sat at the end, bandaged hand near his tray.

His eyes found her almost immediately.

Her pulse jumped.

Angela leaned closer. "Now."

Roxie stood.

The cafeteria noticed fast.

It always did when someone broke pattern.

Roxie walked away from the cheer table.

Angela whispered behind her, "Oh my God, she’s doing it."

Roxie kept walking.

Heads turned.

Forks paused.

Kendall looked up from the cheer table, her smile already sharpening.

"Lost, captain?"

Roxie did not stop. "Nope."

Kendall’s eyes flicked toward the football table. "That’s not your seat."

Roxie smiled over her shoulder. "Good thing I’m not sitting."

A few girls at Kendall’s table went quiet.

Roxie passed Bianca’s table next.

Lily saw her first and nudged Bianca.

Bianca looked up.

Roxie gave her a small smile.

Sweet.

Polite.

Then she kept walking.

By the time she reached the football table, Mason had already dropped his chair onto all four legs.

"Well, damn," he said. "Captain Jones has entered enemy territory."

Dylan grinned. "Someone cue dramatic music."

Kyle looked between Roxie and Zac. "Are we in trouble?"

"Probably," Dylan said. "But in a fun way."

Roxie ignored all of them and looked at Zac.

He was still seated, watching her with that careful look he got now, like he was checking her face for cracks.

That almost softened her.

Bianca was watching.

So Roxie put one hand on the edge of the football table and leaned toward him.

"I heard powderpuff sign-ups are today."

Mason made a low sound. "Here we go."

Zac’s eyebrows lifted. "Yeah." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"I’m joining."

The table reacted immediately.

Dylan’s grin widened. Kyle laughed. Mason slapped the table once like he had been personally waiting for this moment his entire life.

Zac did not look away from her.

"You hate football," he said.

"I hate watching people do things badly. There’s a difference."

Dylan pointed his fork at her. "She’s already better than Kyle."

Kyle threw a fry at him.

Zac’s mouth started to curve.

Damn it.

That slow Prescott grin.

Annoying.

Effective.

And works more than Roxie will admit.

Roxie lifted her chin. "And since you’re volunteering as coach..."

Zac leaned back slightly, eyes bright now.

Behind her, someone whispered loudly enough to be embarrassing.

Roxie kept her eyes on him.

"You can coach me."

The football table exploded.

Mason laughed. "Oh, we are so back."

Dylan pointed at Zac with his fork. "Say yes, my queen."

Zac stood slowly.

He stepped closer, bandaged hand resting against the table.

His grin widened.

"Yeah?" he said.

Roxie tried not to smile.

Failed a little.

"Think you can handle that, Prescott?"

Zac looked at her like the whole cafeteria had disappeared.

"I can handle you, Jones."

The cafeteria lost its mind.

Roxie’s face went hot.

She had walked over here to make Bianca mad, not to get personally attacked by five words and a grin.

Zac knew it too.

His eyes dropped to her mouth for half a second, then came back up.

"So," he said, voice lower now, "practice after school?"

Roxie’s pulse jumped.

Behind her, Angela shouted, "SHE’S BUSY BUT ALSO AVAILABLE!"

Karen yelled, "Angela!"

The entire table laughed.

Zac’s grin turned helpless.

Roxie opened her eyes wider at him like this was somehow his fault.

Across the room, Bianca Reeves looked like Monday had officially become her problem.

Roxie smiled at Zac like she had meant every second of it.

"After school," she said.

His grin stayed.

"Good."