Chapter 345 - Who Knows

Chapter 345: Chapter 345 - Who Knows

The notifications kept coming.

Roxie stared at her phone for a second before finally unlocking it. Six messages were already waiting, most from people she barely talked to anymore.

Roxie, are you with Angela?

Is this real?

Someone sent this in the senior chat.

Her stomach dropped. Karen was looking at her own screen now, her expression changing with every message she opened, while Angela still had her phone pressed tightly against her chest.

"What?" Angela asked, her voice trembling. When neither of them answered fast enough, she looked between them. "What happened?"

Roxie swallowed while Karen cursed under her breath.

"What happened?" Angela asked again, louder this time. She already knew whatever was making everyone’s phones go crazy had something to do with her.

Roxie opened one of the messages and immediately wished she hadn’t. Someone had forwarded a screenshot from one of the senior group chats. Angela’s picture was there, already surrounded by reactions, questions and people asking where it came from.

Roxie locked the screen.

Angela saw her expression. "No."

"Angela."

"No." Angela grabbed Roxie’s wrist. "Tell me."

Roxie hated that she had to say it. "It got sent to a group chat."

Angela stared at her while Karen stood abruptly and looked toward the school building.

"Which one?" Karen asked.

"Senior chat."

"Fuck."

Angela slowly looked down at her own phone as more notifications appeared across the screen. Her expression emptied, and somehow that scared Roxie more than the crying had.

Angela opened one message, then another. Whatever she saw made her fingers stop moving.

"How many people?" she whispered.

Roxie reached for the phone. "Give me that."

Angela pulled it closer. "How many people saw it?"

"We don’t know."

"How many, Roxie?"

Karen crouched beside her again. "Angela, reading every message is only going to make you panic more."

Angela looked at her with tears filling her eyes again. "How many?"

Her voice broke.

Roxie looked toward the school building as students started coming outside now that the bell had rung. Some headed toward the parking lot while others crossed toward the next building, but enough of them had their phones in their hands that Roxie’s stomach twisted.

A girl near the steps looked at her screen before glancing toward them. Her friend followed her eyes, and Roxie moved in front of Angela without thinking.

Karen noticed too. "Keep walking."

The girls immediately looked away and continued toward the parking lot, but more students were pouring through the doors now. Roxie could feel the attention spreading before she could even figure out who was looking. Phones came out, heads turned, and whispers started around them.

Angela looked up.

Her face crumpled.

"I’m done."

The words hit Roxie harder than she expected.

For a second, she was back inside the gym with Claire’s pictures everywhere, hundreds of eyes moving between the walls, the floor and Roxie. Some of those pictures were ones she had never even seen before, yet suddenly the entire school had. She remembered wanting to disappear while wondering who was laughing, who was whispering and who was pretending they had looked away.

Roxie reached for Angela’s hand. "Come on."

Angela barely moved.

"We’re getting you somewhere private."

"I don’t want to go in there."

Karen looked toward the students still coming outside. "Then somewhere else. We can use one of the athletic offices."

Angela’s fingers tightened around Roxie’s hand as her eyes moved over the people around them. "Everyone’s going to look at me."

Roxie’s chest tightened because she knew that feeling too well. "They looked at me too," she said quietly.

Angela finally looked at her.

Roxie held her gaze. "I know how horrible it feels when you think everyone knows something about you that they were never supposed to know. Stay with us, okay?"

Angela’s mouth trembled.

Karen reached for her other hand. "Come on."

They had barely gotten Angela standing when Roxie heard someone call her name.

"Roxie?"

She turned and saw Zac crossing the parking lot quickly with Dylan and Mason behind him. Whatever expression Zac had been wearing disappeared the moment he saw Angela crying.

"What happened?"

Roxie shook her head immediately.

Zac stopped.

Mason looked at Karen, then at Angela. "Is she okay?"

Karen’s jaw tightened. "Someone shared something private."

Mason’s expression changed while Dylan glanced around at the students whispering nearby.

"Is that why everyone’s phones are going crazy?" Dylan asked.

Karen nodded.

Zac looked back at Roxie. "What do you need?"

Roxie appreciated that he asked instead of demanding to know what had happened. "We need somewhere private."

Zac looked toward the building. "Athletic office. Side entrance. Almost nobody uses it during lunch."

Angela immediately pulled back. "I don’t want to go inside."

"We can get there without going through the main hall," Zac said. "You’ll barely see anyone."

Karen looked at Roxie, and Roxie nodded.

They moved quickly, with Zac and Dylan walking slightly ahead while Mason stayed behind them. People still looked, but the boys blocked enough of the walkway that Angela stopped staring at every student they passed.

Mason slowed beside Karen. "Who did it?"

"We don’t know."

"Caleb?"

Karen looked at him sharply.

Mason raised his hands. "I’m asking."

"We don’t know."

His expression hardened. "Where is he?"

"Europe."

Mason blinked. "What?"

Karen sighed. "His grandma is sick. He went with his family."

They reached the side entrance near the athletic offices, and Zac opened the door while Karen guided Angela inside. Roxie followed carefully, her ankle beginning to complain after how quickly she had been moving.

Zac noticed immediately. "You okay?"

"I’m fine."

His eyes dropped toward the brace.

"Zac. Angela."

He looked back at her and nodded.

They found an empty meeting room beside the coaches’ offices. Karen closed the door while Angela sat down and covered her face again. Roxie lowered herself into the chair beside her, relieved to finally take the weight off her ankle.

Dylan and Mason stayed outside in the hallway. Zac lingered near the door until Roxie looked at him.

"I’ll tell you later."

He nodded. "I’m right outside."

Roxie gave him a small smile before he closed the door.

For a moment the room was quiet except for Angela trying to control her breathing. Karen stood near the table with both hands pressed against the edge, staring at the phone like she wanted to break it.

"We have to tell someone now."

Angela looked up immediately. "Karen."

"It’s already circulating."

"I don’t want Principal Gonzalez seeing it."

"She doesn’t need to sit there looking at your picture. She needs to know students are spreading it."

Angela looked at Roxie.

Roxie hated being the deciding vote because only minutes ago she had agreed they could wait. That choice was already gone. The picture had spread through the school before they had even figured out who sent the first message.

"We need help stopping people from passing it around," Roxie said.

Angela’s eyes filled again. "They can’t stop it."

Roxie knew what she meant. Once something was on everyone’s phone, nobody could reach through every screen and take it back.

Karen sat across from them. "Maybe they can figure out which chat it started in, pull people in, tell everyone what happens if they keep forwarding it. At least we’ll have adults helping instead of sitting here guessing."

Angela hugged herself. "What if my parents find out?"

Karen’s expression softened. "They probably will."

Angela closed her eyes.

Roxie reached for her hand again. "You shouldn’t have to deal with this alone."

"I sent the picture."

Roxie frowned. "To Caleb."

"I still sent it."

"You trusted your boyfriend with something private." Roxie squeezed her hand. "That doesn’t mean half the school gets to pass it around."

Angela started crying again, quieter this time, and Roxie moved closer until their shoulders touched.

Karen looked down at her phone. "People are deleting messages."

Roxie glanced at her. "Why?"

Karen turned the screen toward her. "Somebody said the school knows."

"Does the school know?"

"Probably by now."

Roxie checked her own phone and found even more messages waiting. The cheer group chat was exploding, Ava had called twice, Kendall had called once, and another notification appeared before she could open any of them.

Coach Miller.

Where are you three? Come to my office. Now.

Roxie showed Karen.

Karen sighed. "There."

Angela saw the message and immediately looked terrified again.

"We’ll go together," Roxie said.

Angela wiped beneath her eyes. "I look horrible."

Karen stared at her. "You’re crying. You’re allowed to look like you’ve been crying."

A small laugh escaped Angela through the tears, and Roxie smiled because for half a second she sounded like herself again.

Karen stood. "Come on. Let’s get this over with."

Angela stayed seated for another few seconds before finally pushing herself up. Roxie followed more carefully, using the table for balance while keeping most of her weight off the injured ankle.

Before any of them reached the door, Angela’s phone vibrated.

All three stopped.

Angela looked down.

Unknown number.

Her face went pale.

Roxie moved beside her. "Open it."

Angela hesitated before tapping the message.

There was only text this time.

I told you to count your happy days.

Angela covered her mouth.

Karen took the phone and read it again while Roxie stared at the words, anger quickly replacing some of the fear.

Whoever was doing this had wanted Angela to watch everything happen. They had sent the picture around the school, waited long enough for everyone’s phones to start going crazy, then messaged her again just to make sure she knew it had been deliberate.

This was personal.

Karen handed the phone back. "Screenshot it."

Angela nodded shakily and saved the message.

Roxie looked toward the closed door. Coach Miller was waiting for them. The school already knew, people across the hallways were still talking about Angela’s picture, Caleb remained unreachable somewhere in Europe, and Bianca was somewhere on the same continent.

Whoever had done this was still watching closely enough to know exactly when the picture spread.

Roxie reached for Angela’s hand. "Come on."

Angela squeezed her fingers and went with them.