Page 98 of Gabriel's Album

“I didn’t even know you had a girlfriend,” she says in an accusatory tone, and I flinch.

I’d been so wrapped up in my relationship and the tour that I hadn’t told my family about Ariana. I wanted to take her home to Chicago to meet them at the end of the tour. I feel tears pricking my eyes at the future I can’t have now.

“I’m sorry, Cel.” A wave of guilt washes over me and I cringe. “I was going to introduce her to you when we were back in Chicago.”

There’s silence for a few seconds before she asks, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” I admit.

“Okay. Well, if you do ever want to talk, you know my number.” There's another pause before she sighs and says, “Don’t lose yourself, Gabe. You might be a rock star now, you might be in all of these news articles, and you might have the world talking about you, but you’re still my baby brother, and you’re still you. Nothing will change that.”

Her words make me cry because she sees me as me. My family can do the thing that I so desperately needed Ariana to learn to do. But she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t become my family. So, she left.

“Thanks,” I choke out. “I love you, and everyone else. Give them all my love, okay?”

“I will. Love you too, Gabe. Talk to you soon.”

I hang up the call, and I cry some more. It’s so unfair of Ariana to do this to us. Did she even love me? I thought she did, but if she loved me, why couldn’t she fight for us? Every cell in my body is craving her, and I don’t know how I’m meant to keep going without her.

I open my phone and call her, hoping that maybe she’ll answer, but she doesn’t, and I feel the usual pain in my chest when I hear her voice on the outgoing message.

“Ari. I’m going to bed now, but I’ll leave my phone on. Call me.” I swallow against the lump in my throat and croak out, “Anytime. Day or night. I’ll answer.”

16

The Fifteenth Song (Chorus)

When I wake up,the other half of the bed is still empty, and I have never felt more alone than I do this morning without Ariana by my side. I check my phone, and it’s blown up with messages and calls, but I don’t check them. I just look to see if any are from Ariana, and they’re not.

I take a shower, and I can feel my anger rising. Okay, so she decided to leave, fine. But to not even bother to fucking call or text is so unfair. I remember the sad look on Heather’s face last night, and my jaw tenses. I brought Ariana into our lives. I opened my heart to her, and as a result, my friends did the same. And she walked away without giving a single shit about any of us.

I know I probably shouldn’t do it, because these thoughts are running through my mind and I’m getting angrier by the minute, but I call Ariana.

For a moment, I allow myself the brief hope that this is the time she’ll actually answer, but when I go to voicemail, my anger returns. “Ari. Seriously? You’re not going to call, are you? That’s pretty shitty. I miss you. The least you could do is call me.”

I hang up without saying goodbye and without bothering to ask her to call me back, because I know she won’t. I check one of the text messages, which is from my younger sister, Dina.

Have you seen this???

She’s sent me a link to a YouTube video of an interview that a late-night show did with Stacey last night, and I feel nausea rising inside of me. I have time to watch the ads that I can’t skip and to listen to the host introduce her before my phone rings and I see Cooper’s name on the screen.

Shit. This can’t be good.

“Hello?”

“Gabriel. Good, you answered. Get the other guys to your room, and I’ll meet you there with Tristan in thirty minutes.”

He hangs up without even waiting for my confirmation that I’ll do this, and I feel my heart begin to race. What the fuck has Stacey said now?

I call Sebastian first, and he tells me in a tight voice, “Yeah, I’ve seen it. I’ll come around now.”

“What the hell did she say?” I ask him.

“A bunch of bullshit, basically,” he growls.

I call Harrison, who’s with both Heather and Hayden, and he tells me they’ll come to my room. By the time I hang up their call, Sebastian has arrived, and he’s scowling hard.

“That bitch was the worst non-sex of my life.” He rolls his eyes. “She’s now saying I’m bad in bed. As if she’d know.”

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