Page 86 of Don't Love the Boy Next Door
“What do you mean you don’t want to be in the band?”
She’s quiet for a little bit. “I just don’t think it’s the right thing for me right now. I’m sorry.”
I drop down on my bed. “But you’re amazing. You made the band what it is. We can’t do this without you.”
She’s quiet again, then says, “I’m really sorry, Ethan.” She hangs up.
I stare at my phone as if she’ll call back. Of course she doesn’t.
She quit the band? Just like that? No, no, no. This can’t be happening. Not now.
After throwing on a shirt and jeans, I storm to Eric’s room and blast the door open. A little too wildly, because Eric whirls around with his guitar nearly catapulting out of his arms.
“What the heck?” he demands.
“Don’t you what the heck me.” I chuck my phone at him.
He gives me a confused face before peering down at the screen. His face clouds over. “She…quit?”
“I called her to try to talk her out of it, but she refused to listen to me. What theheckhappened between you two?”
His eyes flash to mine. “Who said I have anything to do with this?”
“You serious, bro? Youknowyou’re the reason she quit the band. And the concert isthisweekend!”
He leans back in his chair with a thoughtful look. “I guess we’ll have to hold auditions.”
“What? No way. Go next door and ask her to reconsider.”
A look of pure agony takes over his face. The anger I feel toward him suddenly soars out the door. Because my brother’s not being a jerk. He’s in a lot of pain.
Pulling a chair next to him and dropping down, I say in a more gentle tone, “What’s going on, Eric? Come on, talk to me. I’m your brother.”
His lips shake a little…and are those tears in his eyes? But he blinks them away so fast I don’t know if I imagined them. “There’s nothing to talk about,” he says in an empty voice. “Things just…they just didn’t work out, okay? And you’re not helping by bringing it up. I want to forget about the whole thing.”
He’s right, I’m being selfish. I’m making it seem like I only care about the band. But my brother’s in pain and I need to respect his wishes. So with a sigh, I say, “Can we really replace her? Katie changed our entire look. No, not just our look. She changedthe band. There’s no one out there like her, Eric. Should we cancel the concert?”
His eyes bug out. “No way. You know how many strings I had to pull to get us the concert? And all the people who bought tickets.”
I fall back in my chair with a frown. “Right. Hadn’t considered the fans.”
We both sit there quietly.
“We have no choice,” Eric finally says. “We’ll have to hold auditions and hope to find someone as good. There’s got to be the right person out there somewhere.”
Even I hear the doubt in his voice.
“Maybe I can try talking to Katie again.” I’m about to get up, but his chest puffs up as a heavy breath seeps out of his mouth.
“No, Ethan…” He squeezes his eyes shut. “I don’t want to make her uncomfortable.”
“But I’m sure she can endure it for a few more days, at least until after the concert.”
He shakes his head, eyes on his guitar. “The musical rehearsals are bad enough. We both have to put on a smile and pretend like everything’s okay. I don’t want to do this to her, man. We have to let her go.”
I rub a hand down my face as my head pounds. “But to get a replacement in such short notice? Maybe we should just forget a girl and you’ll be lead singer.”
He twists his lips. “I kind of promised the guy we’d have a female lead.”
