Chapter 106: Chapter 106 - She Has A Name
Roxie tucked the flowers carefully near her cheer bag and got ready for the game.
The Ravens played hard.
The stands stayed loud. Senior Night had turned the stadium emotional, and every tackle, every pass, every cheer felt bigger because parents kept standing up to film. Roxie hit every count with a tight smile. Coach Miller watched the squad like he could see every personal problem hiding under their uniforms.
She did her job.
Zac did his.
She saw him across the field, throwing clean, moving sharp, jaw tight every time Coach Hayes spoke to him. Once, between plays, his eyes found her near the track.
This time, Roxie did not look away first.
His gaze moved briefly to Mr. Robinson, who was sitting near Cynthia and Jason in the lower bleachers.
Then back to Roxie.
Something passed over his face.
She turned toward the field before she could name it.
The game ended with another Ravens win.
The stadium stayed busy afterward. Families pulled seniors into pictures. Coaches shook hands. Little kids ran along the fence. The band packed up slowly. The cheerleaders were released after Coach Miller gave them a short speech about keeping focus because regionals did not care about Senior Night emotions.
Roxie carried her flowers and cheer bag toward the parking lot.
Cynthia stopped her near the gate.
"You did great."
"Thanks."
Jason hugged her around the waist without warning. "I knew it. You are famous."
"I was announced. Not the same thing," she said, smiling as she bopped his little nose.
Daniel smiled. "Need a ride home?"
Roxie shook her head. "I have one."
It was a lie.
She had not checked the bus schedule yet, and Uber money made her stomach hurt, but she needed space more than a ride.
Cynthia looked like she knew.
Roxie adjusted the flowers in her arms. "I’ll be okay. I just need to grab something first."
"Text when you’re home," Cynthia said.
Roxie nodded.
She meant to go toward the main parking lane.
Instead, she walked deeper into the lot.
The far side had fewer cars, more shadow, and colder air. The noise from the stadium thinned behind her. Roxie stopped near a row of SUVs and leaned against the side of a light pole.
Her chest felt too full.
The flowers were still in her hand.
She looked at them.
Red and white.
Pretty.
Real.
Claire had missed it.
Roxie pressed her lips together.
Then voices cut through the parking lot from the other side of the SUV row.
She froze.
The first voice was Zac’s father.
Controlled. Low. Angry without needing volume.
"Senior Night is done. Now you can focus."
Roxie should have moved.
She didn’t.
Zac answered. "The season isn’t over."
"No," his father said. "But the ceremony is over. The public sentimental part is over. We have entertained the school. Now we return to the actual plan."
Another voice came in. Nathan.
"Dad."
"I’m not asking for your opinion, Nathan."
Zac’s mother spoke next, sharper than Roxie expected. "Your academy applications are not going to complete themselves, Zachary."
Military.
Roxie’s fingers tightened around the flower stems.
Zac’s voice came rough. "I told you I’m not deciding that tonight."
"You are not being asked to decide tonight," his father said. "You are being reminded that football is not a life plan."
Silence.
Then Zac said, "It can be."
His father gave a short laugh.
It sounded nothing like humor.
"Football is what boys with no discipline call a plan. You know who does that? You know who does that? Meatheads who think catching a ball makes them special."
Roxie went still.
Zac did not answer immediately.
His mother filled the space. "You had your game. You had your senior moment. Everyone took pictures. Enough. Your father has given you a path that actually leads somewhere."
"The season is not over," Zac said again.
His voice was tight.
Controlled.
Roxie knew that tone now.
She had heard him angry. She had heard him defensive. This was different. This was Zac holding himself in place because moving wrong would cost him.
Nathan said, "He’s not wrong about the season."
Their father snapped, "Stay out of this."
Nathan went quiet.
Zac’s mother sighed. "You are making this harder because you are distracted."
"I’m focused."
"Are you?" she asked. "Because after homecoming, I would say your focus is questionable."
Roxie’s stomach dropped.
Zac’s voice sharpened. "Homecoming is over."
"Exactly," his mother said. "And yet people are still talking. The girls around you. One girl in particular."
Roxie’s face went cold.
His father spoke again. "We are not letting some teenage drama derail everything. Ahhh. Forget it. Let’s go home. Zachary knows what I mean."
"She has a name," Zac said.
Roxie stopped breathing for a second. It became too silent.
His mother’s voice lowered. "Zachary."
"Leave her out of it."
"She is part of the issue."
"No, she isn’t."
"She is a risk," his mother said. "We don’t even know where she came from."
The word hit Roxie so hard her grip loosened on the flowers.
A risk.
Zac’s voice came back fast. "Roxie is a person."
The parking lot went silent.
Roxie stood behind the SUV with her heart beating too hard.
No one moved on the other side for several seconds.
Then his father spoke, quieter now. "You are proving my point."
Zac said nothing.
His mother’s voice cooled. "Get in the car."
Nathan muttered something Roxie could not hear.
A door opened.
Roxie stepped back instinctively.
Her shoe scraped against loose gravel.
The sound was small.
Still, Zac heard it.
He moved around the back of the SUV before anyone else did.
Roxie froze.
He stopped when he saw her.
For a second, neither of them spoke.
He was still in his football pants, jersey untucked, eye black smudged under one eye. His Senior Night flower was crushed slightly in his hand. His face changed the second he realized she had heard.
Roxie held her flowers against her chest.
Behind him, his mother said, "Zachary?"
Zac did not look back.
His eyes stayed on Roxie.
She hated that she knew what he was thinking.
She hated that she had heard enough to understand more than she wanted to.
Her throat tightened.
Zac took one step toward her.
"Roxie."
She stepped back.
His face tightened.
She shook her head once.
No.
Roxie turned and walked away.
Zac did not call again.
Maybe his parents were behind him.
Maybe he was still angry.
Maybe he finally understood that she had heard too much.
Roxie kept walking through the parking lot with the flowers pressed hard against her chest.
Her eyes burned.
She did not look back.
Tonight, people had shown up for her.
Claire had not.
And Zac—
She didn’t care.
Not really.
