Chapter 316 - Run

Chapter 316: Chapter 316 - Run

A photograph landed near Zac’s shoe.

He bent down and picked it up before he fully understood what was happening. The second he saw Claire’s face, his stomach twisted.

She looked awful in the picture. Her hair was tangled around her face, her cheeks looked thinner than in the few photos Roxie had ever shown him, and her eyes barely seemed focused on whoever had taken it. Zac already knew Roxie would hate anyone seeing her mother like this.

Then he noticed the thick black marker dragged across the bottom.

SLUT’S DAUGHTER.

Zac stared at the words for half a second before his fingers crushed the edge of the photograph.

"What the fuck?"

Dylan said something beside him, but Zac barely heard it. His attention had already snapped toward the court.

Roxie stood where she had finished her routine.

Less than a minute ago, the entire gym had been screaming her name. She had been sweaty and breathless and smiling so fucking wide after spending most of the week wondering whether everybody was waiting for her to fall apart.

Now photographs of Claire were falling around her.

One landed near Roxie’s shoe.

She looked down.

Her whole face emptied.

Zac started moving immediately.

He pushed past the people in front of him and headed down the bleachers while more photographs drifted through the gym. Students were already picking them up, turning them over and showing them to one another. Some looked shocked. Others immediately started whispering.

Zac looked at the photograph still crushed in his hand.

Somebody had planned this.

They had found the pictures, printed them, written that shit across them and carried hundreds of them into the school. Then they had waited until Roxie was standing alone in the middle of the court.

That part made his anger turn vicious.

She had fucking killed it.

For a few minutes, Roxie had looked happy then, somebody had waited until exactly then to ruin it.

By the time Zac reached the bottom of the bleachers, phones were already appearing.

A student near the front lifted his phone toward Roxie. Another girl did the same from farther back.

Zac’s vision went hot.

He started toward the court.

Karen got there first.

She grabbed Roxie’s arm and immediately stepped between her and the nearest phone.

"Put that fucking thing away!"

Angela rushed in from the other side and pulled Roxie closer. Kendall reached them seconds later, looked once at Roxie, then turned toward the crowd with murder written all over her face.

"What the fuck are you looking at?"

Several cheerleaders moved almost at the same time.

Tori started grabbing photographs from around Roxie’s feet while two other girls stepped in front of her and blocked the closest cameras. Another cheerleader shoved a phone down when somebody tried aiming between them.

"Back off."

"Give her some space."

"Put your fucking phone away."

Coach Miller was already coming from the scorer’s table, yelling toward Student Council to get staff upstairs and telling everyone around the court to lower their phones.

Zac slowed.

His entire body wanted to go to Roxie.

He wanted to push through the girls, wrap his arms around her and get her out before another person had the chance to stare.

Then movement above the bleachers caught his eye.

Someone stepped backward from the second-floor railing.

Zac froze.

A figure disappeared behind the upper wall.

His eyes moved back to Roxie.

Karen had one arm around her now. Angela stayed close on the other side while Kendall and the rest of the cheerleaders blocked the students trying to take pictures. Coach Miller had almost reached them.

Roxie was surrounded.

Whoever had done this was getting away.

Zac looked upstairs again.

Another shadow moved.

He changed direction.

"Zac!"

Dylan reached the bottom behind him.

Zac pointed toward the second floor. "Someone’s still up there."

Dylan followed his hand.

The figure disappeared.

Zac ran.

He hit the stairs hard and took them two at a time, clipping his shoulder against the wall when he turned onto the next flight. Dylan stayed close behind him.

Every step made the anger worse.

Claire dying in that motel.

Roxie identifying her body.

Roxie trying to figure out what the hell to do with the ashes afterward.

The rumors about Claire selling herself.

The questions.

Bianca making jokes.

Roxie pretending she could handle everything because that was what Roxie always fucking did.

And now somebody had taken the worst thing that had ever happened to her and printed it hundreds of times.

"If we find them, don’t do anything stupid," Dylan said behind him.

Zac kept running. "Then stay out of my way."

"That’s exactly why I’m coming."

Zac reached the second floor and stopped.

Photographs covered the hallway near the railing. Some had scattered beneath a folding table while others were caught against the wall. A cardboard box sat on its side with more pictures spilling out.

Zac walked toward it and picked one up.

Different photograph.

Same black marker.

Claire sat against what looked like a motel wall, her face turned partly away.

LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER.

Zac’s jaw clenched.

Another picture on the floor had TRASH RUNS IN THE FAMILY written across it.

Dylan came up beside him and stared down at the pile. "Jesus Christ."

There were too many.

Somebody had sat down and written on these one by one.

They had spent time doing this.

Footsteps suddenly echoed farther down the hallway.

Zac looked up.

A figure turned the corner.

Blonde hair.

Dark jacket.

Something hanging around her neck.

Then she disappeared.

"STOP!"

Zac took off.

Dylan swore and followed him.

Mason and Kyle reached the stairs just as Zac rounded the corner.

"What happened?" Mason shouted.

"Someone’s running!"

Kyle looked once toward the hallway and immediately pointed toward another stairwell. "Other side."

Mason followed him.

Zac reached the corner and saw the stairwell door swinging.

He shoved through it.

A girl was already halfway down.

Blonde hair bounced behind her as she ran.

Bianca.

The name hit him immediately.

Zac pushed harder.

The girl reached the next landing and shoved through another door. Zac took the stairs so fast his foot nearly missed one, and Dylan grabbed the back of his shirt before he could lose his balance.

"Watch it."

Zac jerked free. "Get off me."

He hit the lower hallway seconds later.

Too late.

Students had already started spilling out of the gym after the disturbance. The corridor was packed with people talking over one another while teachers tried sending everybody back inside.

Zac searched every face.

Blonde hair.

Dark jacket.

A lanyard.

Anything.

He found nothing.

"Move."

Students stepped aside when they saw him coming.

Zac pushed through the crowd until Mason and Kyle appeared from the opposite end.

Mason was breathing hard. "Anything?"

"No."

Kyle looked directly at Zac. "What did you see?"

"A girl."

"Face?"

"No."

"What else?"

Zac forced himself to think. "Blonde hair. Dark jacket. Something around her neck."

"A school ID?" Mason asked.

"Maybe."

Kyle glanced toward the direction of the booths. "Photography Club?"

Zac’s jaw tightened.

The pictures.

The printing.

A lanyard.

Blonde hair.

"Where’s Bianca?"

Dylan moved closer. "Zac."

"Where the fuck is she?"

Mason looked back toward the gym entrance. "She was around earlier."

"She’s gone now."

Zac started toward the doors.

Dylan grabbed his arm.

"Let go."

"No."

Zac turned on him.

"I saw blonde hair."

"You never saw her face."

"I don’t give a fuck."

"Roxie will."

That stopped him.

Dylan held his stare. "You go after Bianca right now because you think it was her, and suddenly the story becomes Zac Prescott losing his shit again. Even if she did it, everybody starts talking about what you did instead."

Zac’s jaw tightened.

"I don’t care."

"Roxie does."

Zac looked away.

He hated that Dylan was right.

A few weeks ago, Zac probably would have gone after Bianca anyway and dealt with everything else afterward. He would have convinced himself Roxie would understand because he had done it for her.

Now he could only picture Roxie downstairs while hundreds of people held photographs of her mother.

She had enough to deal with.

Kyle glanced toward the gym. "There should be cameras somewhere upstairs."

Mason nodded. "And Student Council knows who had access."

Zac rubbed both hands over his face.

The anger stayed exactly where it was, but chasing Bianca through the school without knowing for sure she had done it would give Roxie another fucking mess.

Then he remembered where he had left her.

Zac turned toward the gym.

By the time he pushed through the doors again, teachers were moving through the bleachers telling students to put their phones away while Student Council members gathered photographs from the aisles. Coach Miller stood near the court directing staff toward the second floor and telling anyone holding one of the pictures to hand it over.

The cheerleaders were still around Roxie.

Zac slowed as he approached them.

Karen and Angela remained closest to her, but Kendall stood slightly in front with several other girls from the team. Tori was gathering the photographs around Roxie’s feet while two cheerleaders blocked the nearest view from the bleachers. Every time somebody tried raising a phone, one of the girls moved directly into the shot.

A guy near the aisle lifted his anyway.

Kendall saw him immediately.

"Are you fucking stupid?"

The phone dropped.

Another student farther back tried aiming between two cheerleaders, but one of them shifted directly in front of Roxie and stared until the phone disappeared too.

For a moment, Zac felt something other than anger.

Nobody had told them to protect her.

They had simply done it.

The second the phones came out, Roxie’s team had closed around her.

Then Zac got close enough to see Roxie properly, and whatever relief that gave him disappeared.

She looked like she had barely moved.

Karen still held her arm while Angela kept one hand against her back, but Roxie wasn’t responding to either of them. Her eyes stayed lowered toward the photographs scattered across the court, and the blankness on her face scared Zac more than crying would have.

He had seen Roxie furious enough to throw things. He had watched her scream at him and watched her cry until she could barely breathe.

He knew what to do with those versions of her.

This one looked like she had simply shut down.

Zac started toward her when another phone lifted near the court.

His anger snapped back.

He stepped directly in front of the student.

"Put the fucking phone down."

The guy froze.

Zac held his stare. "Now."

The phone disappeared.

Dylan touched Zac’s shoulder once from behind. Zac exhaled through his nose, forced himself to turn away and continued toward Roxie.

Coach Miller was talking quietly to her when Zac reached them, but Roxie barely seemed to hear him. Karen’s fingers remained wrapped around her arm, Angela stayed pressed close on the other side, and Kendall stood nearby watching the crowd like she was waiting for anybody to try something else.

Zac stopped a few feet away.

He hated the distance immediately.

Less than an hour ago, keeping their relationship secret for one final night had seemed important. Now he wanted to walk straight through everyone, pull Roxie against him and make the whole fucking school understand exactly where he stood.

Tomorrow.

They had planned to stop hiding tomorrow.

The plan felt completely pointless now.

Roxie finally lifted her head.

Her eyes found him, and Zac saw something shift in her face. Relief appeared first, small and immediate, before her gaze moved downward again.

What replaced it looked too much like shame.

That pissed him off more than the phones.

There was nothing here for her to be ashamed of.

Nothing.

"Did you get them?" Roxie asked.

Her voice was quieter than he expected, and Zac stepped closer before answering.

"No. I saw someone upstairs and chased her through the hallway, but she got into the crowd before I could catch her."

Roxie looked back at him. "Who?"

"I couldn’t see her face."

"Zac."

"I’m serious. Blonde hair, dark jacket, maybe some kind of lanyard. That’s all I saw."

Karen immediately looked toward him. "Bianca."

Coach Miller’s expression hardened. "We’ll find out who was upstairs before anybody starts accusing anyone."

Karen looked ready to argue, but Angela squeezed her arm and she stayed quiet.

Zac barely paid attention.

Another photograph of Claire lay a few feet from Roxie. The black writing across it was still visible.

His stomach turned.

He wanted her out of this gym before she had to see another one.

"Come on," he said. "We’re leaving."

Roxie looked at him.

Karen squeezed her arm. "You can go home. Right now."

Angela nodded. "We’ll get your things later."

Coach Miller stepped closer. "Sweetheart can end here. You’ve already done more than enough tonight."

Kendall glanced toward the bleachers. "I can clear this whole fucking gym in five minutes."

That almost got something from Karen, but Roxie remained quiet.

Instead, she looked around.

Zac followed her gaze across the court. Photographs were still everywhere despite how quickly people were collecting them. Some had been stepped on and bent beneath shoes. Others had slid beneath chairs or against the bleachers.

Students kept whispering even while teachers told them to stop, and every few seconds somebody looked toward Roxie before quickly turning away when one of the cheerleaders caught them.