The Captain's Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 4: Chapter 4 - The Missing Cheerers

Chapter 4

By four-thirty, Roxie had already called half the squad enough times to feel pathetic, and still no one answered.

Six girls stood on the court, shifting around in their sneakers while pretending they were not staring at her. Angela hovered beside the speaker with her phone gripped in both hands. Karen sat on the lowest bleacher, watching Coach Miller watch Roxie.

Coach Miller had dragged a folding chair near the bleachers and sat with his arms crossed, whistle hanging from his fingers, quiet in a way that made the whole gym feel worse.

Roxie lowered her phone after another voicemail.

”Still nothing?” Angela asked.

Roxie shook her head.

Karen glanced toward the doors. ”Maybe they all died.”

Angela’s eyes went wide. ”Karen.”

”What? At least then they’d have a good excuse.”

The chair scraped when Coach Miller shifted, and Karen immediately shut up.

Roxie turned before he could say her name. ”I’m still trying to reach them, Coach.”

”Practice started thirty minutes ago.”

”I know.”

”You have six girls.”

Roxie kept her mouth shut.

Yes, Coach. She had noticed the giant holes in her formation.

Out loud, she said, ”I’m sorry, Coach.”

The gym doors opened before he could answer.

Laughter spilled in first.

Roxie turned as Kendall walked in carrying gold streamers, looking far too pleased with herself. Two of her friends followed with poster board and tape, and the missing girls trailed behind them with their arms full of decorations.

One of them lifted a half-finished banner when she saw Roxie. ”Captain, we finished the decorations.”

The gym went quiet.

Her smile faded.

Another girl looked at the squad already standing on the court. ”Wait. Did practice already start?”

Karen let out a tiny laugh.

Angela whispered, ”Oh no.”

Coach Miller stood up.

Nobody laughed after that.

The girl with the banner glanced between Roxie and Coach Miller. ”Kendall said we were helping with pep rally prep.”

Roxie looked at Kendall.

Kendall smiled at her, small and sweet, like she had not just dragged half the squad into a mess and left Roxie standing in the middle of it.

Coach Miller’s voice stayed flat. ”Who told you to miss practice?”

Kendall’s friends looked down at the poster board.

Kendall stepped forward. ”Coach, I’m sorry. Student council was behind, and Roxie asked me to help with decorations.”

Roxie’s hand tightened around her phone.

”I asked you to help student council,” she said. ”I didn’t ask you to bring half the squad.”

Kendall blinked. ”They offered.”

The girl with the banner looked panicked now. ”We thought it was okay. Kendall said you put her in charge of decorations.”

The others nodded fast.

Roxie held Kendall’s stare.

Kendall did not even look sorry.

Coach Miller turned to her. ”Jones?”

Roxie swallowed hard.

”I told Kendall she could help student council,” she said. ”I didn’t approve anyone missing practice.”

Kendall lowered her eyes, but her voice stayed soft. ”Sorry, Coach. I got confused. Roxie told me to help however I could.”

Roxie’s stomach dropped.

Coach Miller looked at her again, slower this time. His expression did not change, but something in his eyes shifted.

He did not argue. He did not ask more questions. He just turned back to the squad.

”Decorations down,” he said. ”Everyone on the line.”

The girls rushed to the bleachers, dropping streamers, poster boards, and tape wherever they could. The girl with the banner passed Roxie with her eyes wide.

”Sorry, Captain,” she whispered. ”We really thought...”

”I know,” Roxie said.

The girl looked relieved.

That made it worse.

Kendall walked past last.

Roxie stepped closer, keeping her voice low. ”Cute.”

Kendall smiled. ”I was helping.”

”You were starting something.”

Kendall’s eyes flicked toward Coach Miller, then back to Roxie. ”Then don’t make it worse.”

Roxie wanted to laugh in her face. Instead, she stepped back and faced the squad.

Coach Miller had not sat down again. He stood near the bleachers now, arms crossed, watching her like this was another test she had not asked to take.

Roxie clapped once. ”Warm up from the entrance count. We’re not doing stunts until the lines are clean.”

A few girls nodded too fast. The late ones looked guilty. Kendall’s friends looked amused. Kendall looked sweet enough for adults to trust her, which was exactly the problem.

Angela started the music.

The beat hit the gym speakers, and Roxie moved first.

The squad followed, but the timing was off from the start. The front line came in on count, the back row dragged behind, and the second turn landed messy because two of the late girls were still trying to find their marks.

Roxie lifted one hand, and Angela cut the music.

The silence after the bad count felt worse than the mistake.

”Again,” Roxie said.

They reset.

Angela played the track again.

This time, the first eight count was cleaner. The front line snapped together, the back row followed, and Roxie almost let herself breathe.

Then Kendall missed the turn.

Only half a beat.

Just enough for the girl beside her to adjust too quickly and throw the back line out of shape.

Roxie’s jaw tightened.

”Watch the timing on that turn,” she said.

Kendall blinked. ”Sorry.”

They ran it again.

Kendall hit the turn perfectly that time, which annoyed Roxie more because it proved she knew the count.

Then she missed it on the next run.

The girl beside her corrected too fast, the back row shifted left, and the whole formation looked wrong before they even reached the chant.

Roxie clapped once. ”From the top.”

A few girls exhaled.

Kendall smiled.

Coach Miller stayed near the bleachers.

Roxie could feel him watching. That was the worst part. He was not yelling, not stepping in, not calling Kendall out. He was watching Roxie try to hold a team together while Kendall pulled the line apart one count at a time.

They ran the entrance again.

The first count landed. The second almost did. Then Kendall stepped late, another girl corrected too fast, and the formation bent out of shape before they even reached the chant section.

Roxie stopped the music with one raised hand.

”This section is thirty seconds,” she said, keeping her voice even. ”We are not leaving this gym until it looks like thirty seconds of actual cheerleading.”

Karen looked down fast, but Roxie still saw her mouth twitch.

Angela restarted the music before anyone could argue.

The squad moved again.

The counts got worse before they got better. The late girls were tired. The girls who had been there from the start were irritated. The innocent ones kept glancing at Roxie like they were waiting to be punished, and Kendall kept smiling through every mistake like she was having a lovely afternoon.

Every missed beat felt like a tiny fuck you Kendall knew she could get away with.

So Roxie did not say her name.

She corrected the group. She counted louder. She clapped harder. She kept her voice steady even when her throat started to hurt.

”Again.”

They reset.

”Again.”

They reset.

”Again.”

By the fifth run, the entrance looked cleaner, but the energy was wrong. Everyone was tense now. Their arms were sharper because they were scared, not because they were confident, and Roxie knew Coach Miller could see the difference.

Then the gym doors opened.

Zac Prescott walked in.

A few girls turned their heads immediately.

One of them missed her count completely.

”It’s Zac...”

”Oh my God, Captain... your boyfriend’s here.””

The whispers spread fast. Two girls smiled in his direction while still trying to dance. The line shifted. Someone stepped on another girl’s foot, and the formation broke apart before the chorus even hit.

Roxie’s jaw locked.

Coach Miller finally blew the whistle.

Hard.

Everyone stopped.

The music cut off a second later.

”Enough,” he said, voice sharp. ”Showers. Jones, stay behind.”

The girls scattered toward the locker room without another word. A few of them still snuck glances at Zac on their way out. Kendall passed last, calm like she had not spent the last thirty minutes making everything worse.

Roxie stayed where she was.

Zac leaned against the wall near the doors, hands in his pockets, watching quietly.

Coach Miller waited until the locker room door shut before he spoke.

”You know why I kept you here,” he said.

Roxie nodded.

”I don’t care what Kendall did today. You’re the captain. That means you don’t let the squad fall apart just because you’re pissed at one person.” He shook his head. ”Thirty minutes on the same entrance, and it still looked like a mess. Then Prescott walks in, and the whole thing falls apart even more.”

Roxie kept her eyes on the floor.

”Fix it before Friday,” Coach Miller said. ”I’m not asking.”

”Yes, Coach,” Roxie said quietly.

Coach Miller studied her for another second, then let out a slow breath. ”Go home after this. Get some sleep. And stop letting her push your buttons where I can see it.”

He turned to leave, but stopped when he noticed Zac still standing near the doors.

Coach Miller looked at him for a long second, then back at Roxie.

His expression said enough.

Roxie swallowed. ”Sorry, Coach.”

Coach Miller did not say anything else. He just shook his head once and walked out.

The second the door closed behind him, Roxie turned sharply toward Zac.

He was still near the wall with his chemistry notebook in one hand.

Kendall had ruined practice, Coach had blamed her for it, and now Zac Prescott was standing there with homework.

Roxie clenched her jaw.

Zac lifted the notebook slightly.

He did not smile, which was probably the smartest thing he had done all afternoon.