Free Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg Page A

reaches for her jacket.
    “Okay. Carter.” I take her jacket from her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s just …”
    “I know. It’s …” She bites her lip and my heart sinks. “I don’t know.” She falls back down on the couch, looking defeated. “The last few weeks have been weird. Sophie keeps disappearing, and I don’t think I need to tell you how things have been between you and me. It’s nice to have someone to talk to.”
    A lump rises in my throat. I used to be that person, but I don’t know what I am to her anymore.
    We sit in silence for a few moments. I figure she needs to hear it. “Do you have any idea how much you hurt me?” I try with every ounce of strength I have to not cry. But I think back to that day and what happened.
    I walked into practice fifteen minutes late and I felt like crap.
    “Sorry I’m late,” I said. So it’s not like I didn’t say I was sorry.
    “Dude, did you just wake up in a gutter?” Jack asked.
    I knew I was a wreck. I hadn’t slept in days, my hair was a mess, I hadn’t shaved, my clothes were wrinkled and dirty.
    “No,” I told them. “Kelsey and I broke up.”
    Nobody said anything.
    “For real this time. I screwed up. What a shock, Ethan screwed up. I told her everything that happened after last week’s gig. About that girl. Whose name I can’t even remember. I’m devastated. I threw away everything for someone whose name I don’t even remember. I shouldn’t have had those drinks before the gig. I just needed to get some courage. It was our biggest gig ever, you know?”
    More silence.
    “What? Am I missing something?”
    They all exchanged glances. Ben finally was the one to speak. “Well, I mean, it isn’t the first time you guys have broken up. Or the first time you cheated …”
    Jack broke in. “Yeah, like every song you write is about it.”
    “But we’re really done this time. There’s no way she’s going to take me back.”
    Ben sighed. “Doesn’t she always?”
    Emme let out a laugh. “Yeah, but she shouldn’t.”
    “Oh! Burn!” Jack went to put his hand up to give Emme a high five, but she shrugged instead.
    “I’m sorry, is this funny?” I couldn’t believe that, out of everyone, Emme would take Kelsey’s side in this.
    “No, not at all.” Emme rubbed her eyes. “It’s not funny. It’s exhausting, Ethan. We go through this all the time. So just write your forgiveness song so we can move on.”
    “Like it’s that simple? Emme, really? How can you be so cold to me?”
    Emme’s face got flushed. “Get over yourself, Ethan.”
    “What?”
    She got up. “How can I be so cold? Am I the one who continually cheats on my girlfriend? That’s cold.”
    I stared at her. I’d never heard her say anything negative about anybody. Ever. Did she really think that about me?
    “You know what gets me? You really are an amazing person, seriously. I used to respect you so much.”
    The words used to stung.
    “You’re one of my closest friends, but when I think about the stuff you do … sometimes I don’t know why I trust you so much. I’ve never met anybody who hurts someone as much as you do. And now you’ve started drinking and doing God knows what before our shows. You’ve become so unpredictable onstage, we never know what you’re going to do.”
    This riled me up. “Okay, so first I’m too quiet, now I’m too unpredictable. Can I ever do anything right?”
    “Don’t blame your behavior on us. Take responsibility for once.”
    “This isn’t easy for me, you know.”
    Emme got in my face. “I’ll make it easy for you. STOP CHEATING.”
    We were all surprised by Emme screaming. Jack, who is always smiling, looked stunned.
    “Just STOP IT. Oh, you don’t know how you can get her back? STOP CHEATING, Ethan! It’s not that hard. Really, it isn’t. Or, better yet, stop getting back together and making promises you can’t keep.”
    I tried to defend myself, but came up blank.
    “You want