NOTE: Hey! Long time no see! Let's get right to it, shall we?
PREVIOUSLY ON THE CLASSIX: So Emeray and Chapter did their kiss scene, and Cartney showed up. They're on the set of a movie and they're about to go home. If you're someone who read the first draft, things are gonna start to change the moment they get home. Hold tight.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
EMERAY
When I walk into my trailer, Gerald is waiting for me, flipping through a magazine. He's seated at the dining area, clad in full sentry ware––from the bulletproof vest to the belt full of at least four different firearms. It's a new regulation, since the Darkening, that the entire uniform be worn by the Famoux's guards at all times. After all, if DEFED tries to get anyone by surprise, it'd be them jumping out to deflect any bullets coming our way.
His helmet is on the table, its rounded edge rocking back and forth against the hardwood like faint music. When he looks up from the tabloid and sees me, he can't seem to contain the funny look on his face.
"Uh oh," I say. "What's wrong?"
"Do you even want to know?" "What is it?"
"Well, Emeray." He rises from his seat with a cough, gaining his composure as best as possible. "I do believe I deserve a raise from my current payment as a sentry."
"Huh?"
"I mean, since the Notness Newsflash has finally figured out that I am the man who, quote, has stolen you away from Cartney Kirk, I think I should be getting some more special treatment than the other guards."
When my face scrunches up, Gerald bursts into laughter. He hands me the magazine, pointing at the headline: FAMOUX GUARD STEALS EMERAY ESSENCE'S HEART. HOW IS CARTNEY COPING? Beside a hefty block of text full with quotes from apparent "inside sources" is a blown-up image of the a time where Gerald held my hand to lead me through the front doors of a restaurant. The caption claims that I was, in fact, not on my way to lunch with Cartney, but secretly having lunch with my, erm, "kind, hunky bodyguard."
"They didn't," I say.
"Oh, but they did."
I sigh. "What are they claiming now?"
"They're mostly saying that ever since your apparent secret lover Foster passed, your emotions really needed a protector." Gerald snorts. "Get it, because I'm a guard?"
"This is the worst rumor they've made yet."
"I hear you on that one. They usually never look past you and Cartney in paparazzi shots long enough to notice I'm around." He taps one of the paragraphs on the page. "The best part of it all if how they're claiming that Kaytee and Race went out and revealed this because you exposed them to Cartney, apparently, and they're just returning the favor by revealing your own personal affair. Like damn, Notness Newsflash is pretty bloodthirsty with this one."
