After Hours (boyxboy) | ✓

Bonus Chapter Five

Brendon's POV

If anyone told me five years ago that Donny Frost would be running for prom king, I would've laughed in their face. But I guess you never expect these things to happen.

Yes, my stupid best friend was running for prom king. He had posters up all around the school, half with his face and slogan, and the other half making fun of his fellow candidates. I found it pretty ridiculous — a popularity contest at best — and yet, it was the thing that he had been whining about for the past month. 

I was not running. How could I? It was unlikely for me to win, and even if I did, that would mean dancing with some random girl instead of my boyfriend. And I wasn't into that idea (especially considering my options).

"Dude, I swear she gets bitchier every day," Jaden groaned as we plastered posters to locker doors. I rolled my eyes. Him and Sarah never seemed to get along.

"Just break up with her," I said. 

His eyes widened at the thought. "No thanks."

A yell from down the hallway interrupted our conversation. "Hey, best friends!" I glanced down the hall to see my two favorite people: Claire Davidson and Theo Holst. They were the leading candidates.

"Look, it's the 'it' couple of Elmore Hills," Jaden muttered.

"We're not a couple, dork," Claire said, "That privilege belongs to another person."

I yawned and taped the last corner of the paper down. "Why didn't you run with him, then?"

"He didn't want to," Claire said, "He's shy. Plus, Theo needed a best friend to run with." 

Theo raised one eyebrow, unbeknownst to Claire. Jaden chuckled at the gesture and continued down the hallway. I followed. 

Claire scoffed behind us. "Where are you going?" 

"Hanging posters," I said, "It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it." 

We walked down the hall, ignoring Claire's sassy remarks. I guess she was just salty about not having any minions to hang her posters. And probably her boyfriend too. I didn't know him, but from what Emmett told me, he was kind of a weirdo.

Donny was currently with Laura, hanging her posters (and probably some other stuff). Prom was tomorrow, so we didn't really have any time to waste. I didn't think they'd win. It was just kind of funny to me. And Jaden needed an excuse to avoid Sarah, who was apparently bothering him (again). With all the bickering, I thought they would've broken up by now. 

"Anyways..."

Jaden continued his complaining. I zoned out, unable to pay attention to the repetitive accusations coming out of his mouth. 

Emmett was probably doing something better today. I didn't know where he was. He had grown distant, lately. We weren't fighting or anything. He just didn't talk to me as much. And when he did, he was a little strange. The last conversation we had was about what we were wearing to prom. It was odd. He wasn't nearly as enthusiastic about matching outfits as he should've been. I was the one who suggested it in the first place, actually. But he just agreed to everything I was saying.

"You good, bro?" Jaden asked, noticing my subconscious frown.

I smiled. "I'm fine."

"Boy troubles?"

"Kinda."

"There's always a problem with these people, I swear..." Jaden trailed off, spiraling back into his complaining.