Rumors
1299 Words
CASEY
“Who’s the brunette?”
“Chloe isn’t pregnant?”
“Damn. Somebody got a summer surprise.”
“Place your bets. Who’s the father?”
“Her friend gets around so this isn’t exactly shocking.”
These were some of the comments that appeared on that BLAST post.
Chloe snatched the phone from my hands before I could manage to read more.
“Don’t read the comments.”
“What if people find out?” I whispered, suddenly aware of my surroundings.
“Stop whispering. It’s creepy. No one can hear us.”
Chloe locked my phone and tossed it on the couch.
“No one will find out anything unless you tell them.”
“What if Gregory sees it?”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “I doubt pretty boy would even suspect he’s the father.”
Our phones chimed and we both checked them at the same time.
More notifications from BLAST.
Chloe groaned. “Ugh. These people seriously have nothing better to do?”
She started typing furiously.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Reporting the post.”
“Will that help?”
“It’ll help me feel better,” she said with a smile and I couldn’t help but laugh.
She was trying her hardest.
“Alright,” she said after she set her phone down. “Let’s go shut these mofos up.”
I raised a brow as she walked into her room. I followed after her, curious as to what she was planning this time. I stopped at her door, watching her throw her clothes out of the closet like she always did when she needed to find an outfit to wear.
“What are you doing?” I asked suspiciously.
She held up a brown dress in front of her mirror and frowned.
“We’re going to Jason’s party tonight.”
I scoffed. “Why would we do that?”
She stared at me like my question was dumb.
“If you keep panicking in the comfort of your room, everyone will keep talking and they’ll want to figure out who the father is. And you don’t want that. Do you?”
I shook my head.
“So we’re going to go to this party to show that we have nothing to hide and we’re proud and that will shut them up.”
I shook my head again.
“Won’t that just make them talk more?”
She picked up another dress and held it towards the mirror. Then she smiled and turned to me.
“Imagine me in this dress. Do you think they’ll be wondering about some baby daddy when they see me in this?”
That actually made sense. Chloe did have a way with commanding attention from literally anyone.
“And besides,” she continued. “You want to talk to Gregory, right? Meeting up with him at the party won’t make it suspicious.”
That actually made no sense. Wouldn’t people just suspect Gregory if they saw me talking to him. I didn’t say anything though, and so I just marked it as: “Chloe wants to party.”
That had to be it because there was no universe where showing up to a crowded party after getting exposed on BLAST was the smart thing to do.
But she was right. I did want to talk to Gregory. I just wasn’t sure what about.
“Here,” she threw a black dress at me and I caught it. “Go shower. We leave in two hours.”
The dress was skimpy in a way that it looked like it would hug every inch of my body.
I gave her a look but she just smiled at me.
“Wanna guess how many people will stare at your stomach tonight?”
I scoffed and headed towards the bathroom.
Two hours later, we were at some off campus property, walking into the house as people stared and whispered.
Music was already blasting through giant speakers and students were packed inside. As we stepped inside, people continued to stare at us. Some guy looked down at my stomach, then at my chest, then whistled.
Ew.
“Drink?” Chloe asked as she pulled me towards the kitchen.
“Can I even drink?”
She grinned. “If you decide you’re not gonna keep it.”
I snorted and tried to ignore the multiple buzzes coming from my phone. I had no doubt they were nasty comments from BLAST.
I looked around the room as Chloe kept leading me towards the kitchen and I saw the back patio. I tapped Chloe’s arm to get her attention. She turned back to look at me.
“I need some air,” I said while pointing towards the back.
She shot me a worried look.
“I’ll be fine.” I added.
She smiled and continued towards the kitchen without me. I turned around and pushed through the crowd, even though some made space for me, and stepped onto the back patio. I felt much better the moment the night air hit my face. I leaned against the railing and took a deep breath. What now?
“Not a party person?”
The voice behind me made me jump. I turned and immediately wished I hadn’t because I was now face to face with Gregory Thorne. How funny it was that this never happened back when I desperately wanted his attention.
He was wearing a black hoodie with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows looking unfairly attractive.
His lips twitched when he saw my face.
“Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t.”
He was now leaning against the railing beside me.
Did he know? Had he seen BLAST? Did he remember sleeping with me?
Wait a minute?
Did he remember sleeping with me? What if he didn’t?
“Um,” I said weakly. “Do you remember me?”
“Yeah. Of course.”
I let out a sigh of relief.
“You’re the girl on BLAST.”
I forced a laugh, not knowing how else to respond. He didn’t remember me.
“People are being assholes about it. For all anyone knows, you might’ve been handed the wrong brochure.”
I didn’t turn to look at him. I couldn’t believe I’d been so stupid.
Of course, I couldn’t keep the baby. The father doesn’t even remember the night he spent with me. He wouldn’t want a baby, not now. Not with me.
“You’re kidding, right?”
I turned back to see Chloe staring at Gregory with an annoyed expression and a drink in hand.
Gregory turned back too, then flashed a warm smile when he noticed who it was.
“Woods,” he said enthusiastically. “What do I have to do to get you back in my bed?”
Chloe rolled her eyes at him. “In your dreams, Thorne.”
She moved closer to me, rubbing my back gently but all I wanted to do was disappear. He remembered her, but not me.
“You really don’t remember her?” Chloe asked. Her voice was getting impatient.
Gregory looked between us, confused.
“Am I supposed to?”
Chloe scoffed then turned to me. “Thought you said you gave him the best night of his life. He doesn’t even remember the girl that was on top for the whole night.”
Gregory’s eyes landed on me. “That was you?”
I bit my bottom lip and squeezed Chloe’s hand tightly.
She sighed. “Fine. Let’s get out of here.”
But Gregory stopped us before we could leave the patio. I looked at him and his face was white with horror.
“Tell me it’s not mine.”
- Writer
