Chapter 313 - The Crowd Went Wild

Chapter 313: Chapter 313 - The Crowd Went Wild

Girls screamed, and then the guys in the bleachers started screaming even louder just to be obnoxious.

Roxie was already bent forward laughing when Mason reached for the first button of his shirt.

Karen slowly lowered her clipboard. "He’s doing it."

Mason opened one button, then another, and the guy beside him immediately followed. Noah noticed from the side of the court and started moving toward them, but he was already too late. The music hit another beat, all five boys grabbed the fronts of their shirts, and Roxie barely had time to understand what was happening before they pulled them off.

The gym fucking exploded.

Roxie screamed with everybody else and immediately started laughing at herself for joining in, although she could hardly blame anyone. Mason had apparently chosen his group very carefully.

They were all athletes, and under those dress shirts they had been hiding enough muscle to make half the audience forget they were supposed to have dignity.

Even Karen stared.

Roxie caught her and smiled. "Oh?"

Karen snapped her eyes toward her. "Shut up."

Angela laughed beside them. "You looked. Mason’s going to love this."

"I was looking at Henry. He got big."

"Sure. Sure," Roxie said in the most patronizing voice she could manage.

Karen glared at her.

Mason, meanwhile, was eating up every second of the reaction. He threw his shirt toward the side and kept dancing like the screaming had only convinced him he should have done this sooner. The boys around him tried to keep up, although one was laughing so hard his timing had completely disappeared while another seemed to have decided that if he was already shirtless in front of half the school, he might as well commit.

That only made the noise worse.

Mason pointed toward the bleachers when somebody screamed his name, grinned like he had just been given exactly what he wanted and started moving toward the front of the court.

Noah finally reached the side curtain and grabbed it.

Karen saw him. "Oh my God."

Mason noticed too, and his eyes widened. "No!"

The curtain started closing.

The crowd screamed even louder, which apparently convinced Mason he could somehow beat it if he danced faster.

"You can’t stop this!"

One of the boys grabbed his shirt and ran toward the opening before it disappeared. Another followed while the others started scrambling after them, but Mason stayed exactly where he was.

Naturally, the idiot stayed.

The curtain was almost shut when he dropped into one last completely unnecessary pose, chest out and arms spread like he was finishing the greatest performance Briarwick had ever witnessed.

Then the curtain closed over him.

The gym erupted again.

Roxie was practically hanging onto Angela by then, laughing hard enough that her stomach hurt, and somewhere behind the curtain Mason shouted, "CENSORSHIP!"

That finished her.

Karen bent over her clipboard while Angela covered her face, and even several teachers nearby were trying to hide their smiles. Coach Miller stood beside the scorer’s table staring at the closed curtain with the blank expression of a man reviewing every decision that had somehow led him here.

Noah eventually walked back toward center court and raised the microphone.

He waited.

Nobody quieted down.

He waited a little longer until the screaming finally softened enough for him to speak.

"I would like everyone to remember that this is still a school event."

Someone yelled, "BOO!"

Another voice followed with, "BRING HIM BACK!"

Noah closed his eyes briefly, which made Roxie laugh all over again.

"Moving on."

That caused another wave of laughter, but eventually the gym settled enough for the next act.

The performers after Mason had the unfortunate job of trying to recover the room. A junior played piano well enough that everybody finally calmed down, then two girls performed a dance together while people gradually stopped talking about Mason’s chest. A guy from Art Club followed with a comedy routine that Roxie expected to be awkward but turned out to be genuinely funny.

The event kept moving while people slipped outside between performances to buy food, take pictures and wander through the club booths before coming back in.

Students returned carrying cupcakes, photo strips, stuffed prizes and random little things they had bought outside, and the whole gym seemed to change depending on whatever act was happening.

Sweetheart wasn’t trying to be some serious talent show. It was Briarwick being loud together while cheer quietly made more money every time somebody else bought a ticket at the entrance.

Roxie liked that.

Noah eventually returned to the microphone with a look Roxie immediately distrusted.

"And apparently football has decided they have talents outside football."

The gym reacted before he even finished.

Roxie looked toward the bleachers and immediately noticed Kyle’s seat was empty. Dylan was gone too, along with Jace.

Her mouth curved.

There it was.

Football Special Performance.

She had wondered what the hell Karen meant earlier when she said it was their funeral, but with those three involved, Roxie could already imagine the stupidity.

Then she looked toward Zac.

His seat was empty too.

Her smile slowly disappeared.

Wait.

The opening notes of I Want It That Way came through the speakers, and people recognized the song almost instantly. The screaming started before anyone even appeared.

Jace came out first.

Roxie laughed the second she saw him because he looked painfully aware of every single person in the gym. His shoulders were stiff, his eyes kept moving across the packed bleachers, and his expression made it obvious he had agreed to this when it sounded funny and was only now realizing several hundred people were actually going to watch him do it.

Kyle followed him looking completely calm.

That somehow made him funnier.

He barely reacted to the noise, only glanced toward Jace and lifted one eyebrow like he was quietly enjoying how uncomfortable his friend looked.

Then Dylan came out.

The screaming got louder.

Dylan smiled immediately, because naturally he did. He waved toward a group of girls calling his name, and when one of them screamed louder than everybody else, he pointed toward her with an easy grin like he had personally picked her out of the entire gym.

Roxie shook her head.

Dylan could charm a wall if somebody left him alone with it long enough.

Then another person stepped out behind them.

Her laugh stopped.

Zac.

Roxie stared at him before her mouth slowly dropped open.

"What the fuck?"

Karen started laughing beside her.

Roxie whipped toward her. "You knew?"

Karen didn’t even bother pretending. "Obviously."

Roxie turned toward Angela.

Angela smiled. "Sorry."

"You fucking traitors."

Roxie looked back toward the court and found Zac already watching her. The smile spreading across his face told her everything. He had wanted to surprise her, and judging by how pleased he looked with himself, he had probably been waiting all day to see her reaction.

Roxie pointed at him.

Zac grinned wider.

She was going to kill him.

Then the song properly started, and Roxie realized they had actually practiced.

There were synchronized turns, simple steps and ridiculous boy band poses that were easy enough to pull off but polished enough to prove somebody had forced them to rehearse more than once.

Jace concentrated on every count like his life depended on it. His movements were right, but he kept glancing toward the others to make sure he was still where he belonged.

Kyle barely changed expression. He moved through the choreography with this quiet, almost lazy confidence that made everything around him funnier. When Jace nearly stepped in the wrong direction, Kyle caught his eye and gave him the smallest look.

Jace corrected himself immediately.

Kyle’s mouth twitched again.

That was apparently the extent of his bullying.

Dylan had already turned the performance into his own personal opportunity to charm the entire gym. Every time the choreography brought him near the front, he found somebody to smile at.

When a group of girls screamed his name, Dylan grinned back without missing a step, and at one point he gestured toward the crowd with enough confidence that the stupid move looked far better than it probably had during practice.

Then there was Zac.

Roxie had expected him to be embarrassed.

He wasn’t.

He fucking loved it.

The first time somebody screamed his name, his smile widened. The second time, he looked toward the bleachers. By the third, he was fully playing into it.

Roxie stared at him.

"Oh my God."

Karen glanced over. "What?"

"He likes this."

Karen snorted. "Obviously."

Zac turned with the choreography and smiled toward another section of the gym when several girls screamed again.

Roxie’s expression slowly flattened.

A girl near the aisle leaned toward her friend. "God, he looks so good."

Roxie’s eyes narrowed.

Karen noticed immediately. "Oh, this is gonna be fun."

"Shut up."

"You flirted with half the school yesterday."

"For Nationals."

Karen lifted an eyebrow. "And what do you think he’s doing?"

Roxie looked at her.

Karen smiled.

Roxie hated when she had a point.

Another girl screamed Zac’s name, and the asshole heard it. Worse, he smiled like he enjoyed every fucking second of it.

Roxie stared harder.

He did look good.

Really fucking good.

His football hoodie was gone now, replaced by a fitted Briarwick shirt, and his hair kept falling slightly across his forehead whenever he moved. But what Roxie couldn’t stop watching was his face.

Zac liked being watched.

He liked people screaming for him.

He liked knowing he had their attention, and apparently he had zero interest in pretending otherwise.

Roxie was a little annoyed, but underneath that irritation something warmer kept getting in the way.

She hadn’t seen enough of this version of him lately. The state championship loss had wrecked him, things with his family had gotten worse, he had been kicked out, and then they had broken up and hurt each other before somehow finding their way back.

For weeks, Zac had looked angry, exhausted or like he was waiting for the next problem to hit him.

Right now, he looked eighteen.

Happy, full of himself and having fun with his friends.

Roxie couldn’t stop watching.

Dylan moved toward the front during the next part and immediately worked the crowd again, throwing an easy smile toward the bleachers that made another section scream. Kyle followed and somehow got almost as big a reaction by doing absolutely nothing except keeping that calm expression while performing the stupid choreography perfectly.

Jace went next and looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him, which only made the crowd cheer harder.

Then Zac stepped forward.

The screaming doubled.

He loved it.

Roxie could see it in the curve of his mouth and the slight lift of his chin as he soaked up the attention before turning back into formation.

Karen glanced sideways at her.

Roxie kept staring. "He is so fucking full of himself."

"You love that."

Roxie looked at her. "Be quiet."

Karen laughed.

The choreography shifted again, and Dylan turned toward Zac with a grin before gesturing dramatically toward him like he was presenting the main attraction.

Zac laughed.

The crowd screamed louder.

Jace briefly covered part of his face before catching up to the next move while Kyle looked at him and slowly shook his head.

Roxie started laughing again.

Then Zac’s eyes found her.

His expression changed just enough for Roxie to notice. The grin stayed, but it softened into something more familiar while his attention remained on her.

The jealousy loosened almost immediately.

Asshole.

He knew exactly what he was doing.

Roxie felt her own smile coming and failed completely at stopping it.

Karen caught her.

"Simp."

Roxie kept watching Zac. "Fuck off."

Karen laughed.

The song ended to one of the loudest reactions of the night.

Dylan spread his arms and bowed like he had just finished a concert. Kyle gave a small bow beside him, still wearing the same calm expression, while Jace immediately stepped backward looking visibly relieved that nobody could force him through another verse.

Zac stayed where he was for another moment while people continued screaming his name, but his eyes found Roxie again.

Roxie mouthed, "Asshole."

Zac grinned.

She started toward him almost automatically, but Karen caught her wrist before she made it more than two steps.

"You have somewhere to be."

"I need two minutes."

"No. You definitely don’t have time for a quickie."

Roxie’s eyes widened as she immediately looked around them. "Could you not say that?"

Karen rolled her eyes and pulled her toward the side. "You have a performance coming up too. You can suck his face off later."

"Karen!" Roxie exclaimed, her face heating while Karen laughed.

Unfortunately, she was right.

Roxie had her own fucking performance coming up.

And Kendall.

She glanced toward the list.

Kendall was before her.

Great.

Another act started while Roxie helped Angela move some equipment away from the side entrance. She kept glancing toward the hallway anyway, half hoping Zac would appear so she could at least hit him once before she had to prepare.

He didn’t.

Probably smart.

Then movement near the changing area caught her attention.

Kendall stepped out.

Roxie stopped what she was doing.

Fuck.

Kendall looked incredible.

Her performance outfit was fitted and confident, designed to show every movement clearly without giving Coach Miller any reason to send her back inside. Her hair was styled away from her face, her makeup sharper than usual, and even the way she walked made it obvious she knew exactly what kind of reaction she was about to get.

Kendall caught Roxie staring.

"What?"

Roxie looked at her face. "Nothing."

Kendall’s mouth curved. "Scared?"

Roxie scoffed. "Of you?"

"You should be."

Kendall walked past her toward the court.

Roxie stared after her until Angela appeared beside her and followed her gaze.

"She looks good."

"I have eyes."

Angela smiled. "You sound worried."

"I’m not worried." Roxie wanted to bite her finger. Damnit, should she have performed before her? But, no matter what, they will compare them two. There was no other way.

"You’re staring."

Roxie looked at her. "Whose side are you on?"

"Yours."

"Then lie better."

Angela laughed.

Noah’s voice came through the speakers.

"Next up, Kendall Whitlock."

The gym reacted immediately.

Naturally.

Kendall was one of the most popular girls at Briarwick, the Homecoming Queen, and she walked onto the court like the screaming already belonged to her.

Roxie folded her arms and watched as Kendall took her position.

The music started.

Then Kendall moved.

Roxie’s smug expression lasted maybe five seconds before she realized she might actually have a problem.

Because fuck.

Kendall was really good.