The Captain's Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 274: Chapter 274 - How Do You Know Her?

Roxie watched Bianca and Lily disappear through the gym doors and lasted maybe two seconds before she moved.

Coach Miller was still talking to one of the younger girls when Roxie stepped out of formation and crossed the gym before Karen could notice where she was going. Bianca and Lily had already made it halfway down the hall by the time Roxie pushed through the doors, and the second she got close enough, she caught Bianca by the arm.

Bianca stumbled sideways. "What the fuck?"

Roxie released her only long enough to keep walking. "Come here."

"Get your fucking hands off me."

Bianca jerked her arm free, but Roxie had already reached the corner where the hallway split toward the locker rooms. She kept going until the gym doors disappeared behind two walls, far enough that nobody inside would hear unless somebody started yelling.

Lily followed them immediately.

Roxie turned around. "How do you know Claire?"

Bianca stopped and smiled.

That fucking smile made Roxie’s stomach tighten because it confirmed everything she had been thinking through the rest of the photo shoot. Bianca had dropped Claire’s name deliberately. She had watched Roxie freeze, realized the name mattered and spent the rest of the pictures enjoying the fact that Roxie could not ask her anything in front of everybody.

Roxie glanced toward the corner before lowering her voice. "How the fuck do you know my mother?"

Bianca’s smile grew.

Roxie hated that she noticed. She hated that Bianca followed the quick glance toward the gym and understood exactly why Roxie had dragged her around the corner instead of confronting her where Karen and Angela could hear.

"Why are you whispering?" Bianca asked. "Is this some top secret I’m not supposed to know?"

"I asked you a question. Answer me."

"Or what? Or what?" Bianca smirked. "I heard you and it’s my choice to answer or not."

"Answer it."

Lily shifted the tripod against her shoulder and moved slightly between them. "Bianca, leave it. We can’t have another record. "

Bianca barely looked at her. "I’m talking. I bet Roxie wouldn’t want another visit to the admin again especially with no mother to come for her."

Roxie hand twitched on her side.

"We are not doing this again." Lily tried to pull Bianca again.

Roxie’s jaw tightened. "Then tell her to fucking talk."

Lily looked at her. "You need to calm down too."

"She brought up my mother."

That shut Lily up long enough for Roxie to notice, and her attention immediately returned to Bianca.

"How do you know her?"

Bianca adjusted the strap of the camera bag on her shoulder. "What exactly do you want to know? That Claire was a druggie?"

Roxie’s fingers curled against her palms.

She already knew what Claire had been doing long before she died. She had lived with it, cleaned up after it and spent years pretending none of it followed her outside the bungalow. Hearing Bianca say it still made something ugly crawl through her stomach because Claire’s addiction belonged to a part of Roxie’s life Bianca had never been allowed anywhere near.

If Bianca knew, somebody had told her. That meant Roxie had no idea how long she had known or who else might know too.

"Where did you hear that?"

Bianca shrugged. "People talk."

"What people?"

"People who knew her."

Roxie stepped closer. "Who?"

Bianca looked almost entertained. "You really think your mother was some big secret?"

"Yes."

The answer escaped before Roxie could stop it.

Bianca’s eyebrows lifted slightly, and Roxie immediately hated herself for giving her anything.

"Interesting."

"Answer the fucking question."

Bianca leaned against the wall like Roxie was barely worth standing straight for. "She died alone in some shitty motel, didn’t she?"

Roxie’s throat tightened. "Shut your mouth."

"Why? It’s true."

"I said shut your fucking mouth."

"People around there knew her." Bianca watched Roxie while she spoke, clearly enjoying every change in her face. "She was there enough. Different people coming around. Different men. Everybody knew what she was doing."

Roxie stepped forward so quickly that Lily immediately moved between them.

"No."

"Move."

"I’m serious, Roxie."

Roxie looked around her toward Bianca. "You say one more fucking thing about her."

Bianca laughed. "What? You’ll pull my hair again?"

"Try me."

Bianca slowly looked Roxie up and down before her mouth twisted. "Guess it explains some things."

Roxie’s eyes narrowed. "Explains what?"

"The clothes. The boys." Bianca shrugged. "Walking around like everybody should be looking at you. Guess you had somebody to learn it from."

Roxie’s hand curled harder.

Lily planted herself directly between them. "Bianca, enough."

Roxie wanted to reach around her and grab Bianca anyway. She could remember exactly how easily everything had gone to shit the last time. She had gotten one hand into Bianca’s hair, Karen had ended up fighting Lily, students had crowded around them and teachers had come running.

If Roxie started another fight here, the gym doors would open and everybody inside would come looking.

Karen and Angela would hear.

That thought stopped her faster than Lily ever could.

Roxie forced her fingers open because she could handle Bianca saying almost anything about her. What she could not handle was Bianca turning around and telling Karen and Angela exactly what Claire had been while Roxie stood there unable to control any of it.

"Move," Roxie told Lily again, though she stayed where she was.

Lily shook her head. "No."

Bianca smiled from behind her. "Smart."

Roxie ignored the insult. She barely cared about fighting anymore. "How do you know?"

Bianca’s smile faded slightly.

Roxie stepped sideways enough to see her clearly. "You knew her name. You knew she was my mom. You knew about the motel and the drugs. How?"

"I told you. People talk."

"That doesn’t explain how you knew she was my mother."

Bianca shrugged.

Roxie’s stomach tightened again. "Did you meet her?"

Bianca smiled.

"Did you?"

"Maybe."

"What the fuck does maybe mean?"

"It means maybe."

Roxie took another step, and Lily shifted with her.

"Did you fucking know her?"

Bianca held her eyes for several seconds before answering. "More than you think."

Roxie went still.

The muffled music from the gym continued through the wall, mixed with sneakers squeaking against the floor and Coach Miller’s whistle somewhere in the distance. Practice was still happening barely thirty feet away while Roxie stood in the hallway trying to understand how Bianca fucking knew anything about Claire.

"What does that mean?"

Bianca smiled again.

"Answer me."

Footsteps came from around the corner, and Roxie’s stomach dropped before she even saw who it was.

Karen appeared first with Angela directly behind her.

"Rox?"

Fuck.

Karen’s eyes moved from Roxie to Bianca and then Lily before her expression hardened. "Seriously?"

Angela looked equally annoyed. "You disappeared to fight her? I told you I don’t want to be kept in the dark."

"We’re just talking." Roxie stepped backward immediately, already thinking about how to get both of them out of there. She walked toward them and caught their arms. "Come on. Let’s go. This is a waste of time."

Karen looked past her at Bianca and Lily. "Yeah. This looks incredibly conversational."

"Karen, come on."

Roxie wanted them gone so badly that she could hear the panic creeping into her own voice. Karen and Angela had been her best friends for years, but there were still parts of her life she had never managed to tell them. Every time she thought about doing it, she imagined their faces changing when they realized what Claire had been, what Roxie had grown up around and how much of it she had hidden from them.

She had always told herself she was protecting her privacy.

The uglier truth was that she was scared they might hate her too.

Roxie felt Bianca watching her, and when she finally glanced back, Bianca was no longer looking at Karen. She was looking directly at Roxie. Watching her grip on Karen and Angela’s arms. Watching how quickly she was trying to get them away. Watching the panic Roxie could no longer completely hide.

Then Bianca looked toward Karen and Angela and grinned. "Oh."

Roxie knew immediately what she had figured out.

"Shut up."

Karen frowned. "What happened?"

Bianca looked between them. "She never told you?"

Roxie’s whole body went tense.

Karen looked at her.

Angela did too.

Neither had any idea what Bianca meant.

For years Roxie had wanted to tell them about Claire and backed out every fucking time because she could never get past the possibility that they might see her differently afterward. They would know how she lied about everything. How shitty her life had been, and how much of her personality was built around hiding it.

Now the truth was about to come out of Bianca’s mouth instead of hers, and there was nothing Roxie could do to stop it without making the whole thing more obvious.

"Bianca," Lily warned.

Bianca ignored her. "About Claire."

Karen’s expression barely changed.

Roxie stared at her, terrified that the next thing out of Karen’s mouth would be a question.

Who is Claire?

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