After Hours (boyxboy) | ✓

Chapter Twenty-Four

Emmett's POV

I didn't regret writing to Brendon. I was just being honest. I still felt for him. I hoped he did, too. But I didn't know. It was hard to tell, since I hadn't really seen him.

The main thing bothering me this Thursday morning was the storm of texts and voicemails currently clogging my phone. They were a mixture of apologies, proposals and encouragement. Everyone knew what happened with me and Brendon. How? I don't know. No one knew when we were dating. But now, all of the sudden, everyone knew we broke up? I had an inkling of who and how, but I didn't know why.

Claire was kind of the queen of gossip at our school. She chose what was said and when. She knew everything going on. I had told her to keep the Brendon thing to herself. Somehow, it never got out that we were together in the first place. But I guess Claire only said what she wanted to say.

Usually, I'd let something like this slide. It wasn't the first time my personal business got involved in Claire's gossip ring. But this was different. I specifically asked that she didn't get involved. And what did she do? She got involved.

"Morning, sweetie," my mom said as I jumped down the stairs.

"Hi, mom."

"How'd you sleep?" she asked. In a small bowl, she mixed eggs and milk together.

"Fine." My phone started ringing. I glanced at the screen to see Claire's name displayed. Just who I wanted to talk to.

"Have you-"

"Sorry, I've gotta take this."

I strolled to the breakfast room and took the call. On the other side, I heard distant chatter. Wherever she was, there were other people around.

"Emmett! How are you?" Claire asked. Behind her voice was a set of others. I couldn't tell what they were saying. Maybe she was at a party (it was unlikely since it was eight in the morning).

I stifled a frown. "Could be better."

"Oh," her voice fell. "Have you heard from Brendon? Everyone feels really bad about what happened." It almost seemed like she didn't spread all the rumors. But I knew better.

I let myself frown. "I haven't heard from him. But I have about eleven voicemails and thirty unread texts. Care to explain?"

"I don't know. News spreads fast-"

"But who told everyone? Brendon didn't, that's for damn sure." I tried not to sound too pissed off. Her lies weren't what I wanted to hear this morning. She probably meant well, but she knew she shouldn't have done it. This was a line she shouldn't have crossed.

"Maybe Donny. Or that new girl at work. Or even Laura. Who knows-"

"Claire, be real."

My mom's head appeared in the doorway. I rolled my eyes at her. She nibbled on her omelet, trying to overhear some of the conversation. This earned a glare from me. Safe to say that scared her away.

Claire cleared her throat. "I told a few people-"

I scoffed. "A few?"

"Look, I'm sorry. He just needs to learn a lesson." She sighed as if gossiping was some kind of hard work. It made me want to jump through the phone and slap her.

"That's not your choice."

"I-"

"You know this whole thing happened because of your stupid rumors, right?" I raised my voice. "This is your fault."