Page 77 of Don't Love the Boy Next Door
“Katie.” Phoenix rests her hands on my shoulders and stares into my eyes, her own full to the max with worry. “Tell me what’s going on before I have a heart attack.”
“Eric…” The words get stuck in my throat again.
“What about him?”
“He…he…” I hiccup as my whole body shakes. “He broke up with me.”
“What?”
“I mean, I don’t know if it’s even considered a breakup,” I say as another hiccup takes over me. “We weren’t really together. Not even a day.”
“Hold up, hold up.” She steps back and studies me. “Are you sure he broke up with you?”
I nod. “Very sure.”
“Butwhy?”
I lift my shoulders and wipe my eyes.
“There has to be an explanation. Eric’s crazy about you. I know it. This must all be a misunderstanding. I’m sure if you try to talk to him—”
“No,” I say, a little too roughly. “You convinced me to open my heart. Now I did and I feel…” More tears roll down my cheeks. “Now I feel even worse than before.”
“I’m sorry, Katie.” She gently takes me in her arms again. “I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”
“I know. I’m sorry I snapped at you. This isn’t your fault. I guess…” A heavy sigh seeps out of my lips. “I guess the sweet Palmer twin isn’t as sweet as we thought.”
“No way.”
I shrug. “We don’t really know them that well. They just moved here a month ago.”
She steps back and stares in the distance, nothing but disbelief on her face. “I don’t get it,” she mutters to herself. “It was so obvious how much he liked you. What the heck is going on?”
“He’s a jerk.”
“No.” She spins around to face me. “I refuse to believe that. He’s like the sweetest guy I’ve ever met.”
And that just makes a whole lot of fat tears stream down my cheeks. Because the truth is that I know he’s a good guy. One of the sweetest ones out there. Yet, he broke things off with me. After he made me feel so special last night…
“I’m so messed up,” I say. “And we weren’t even officially together. How am I going to get through this, Phoenix?”
She once again gathers me in her arms and hugs me tight. “You will,” she promises. “And I’ll be by your side the whole time.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Eric
Watching Katie up there at the mic with her shoulders hunched over during band practice, it kills something inside me. Because I’m the cause of that. I’m the one who hurt her. But I keep telling myself over and over that it’s for the best.
When Ethan and I were kids, we used to hear our mom crying over Dad every single night. I don’t think she realized how loud her tears were. We would look at each other and not say anything, both of us wishing we knew what to do to help her. I think even at that young age I promised myself I would never hurt a girl like that.
But my dream is to be a successful musician. I don’t want to hurt anyone as I try to make my way to the top. I’d rather be alone.
I wish I never told her that I had feelings for her. I know I would probably pine after her for a while—maybe even the rest of my life—but I hate myself for putting her through this pain. The only thing that makes me feel just a little better is that ending this early will prevent me from hurting her in the future.
She hasn’t glanced my way once. My heart urges me to march over to her. Tell her how much she means to me and that I want to spend all my days with her. See her eyes light up, hear her beautiful voice, feel those soft, warm lips against mine. But my brain reminds me to stay planted in my spot. Because there’s no way I could achieve my dream and have a future with her. I have to let go of one. She’s so important to me, but music was my first love, ever since I was a kid. I have a hunger that won’t ever be satiated, just like my dad. But I won’t make the same mistakes he made. I won’t hurt the people who matter most to me.
Beauty and the Beastrehearsal was brutal. Luckily, Katie and I didn’t have to rehearse any romantic scenes, but we were pretty awkward. I tried as much as possible to avoid her because I couldn’t bear to see the pain on her face. Miss Diaz had to stop us a million times, claiming our chemistry was way off. She scolded me for not looking at my Belle, and she reprimanded Katie for not opening herself to her Beast. I have no idea how we’ll pull this off, but isn’t that what acting is about? To let go of yourself and be someone else. But I’m having a big problem separating my fake self from my real one.
