“Oh really? Did you fill venues like we do now?”
“No, but it’s notonlyyou. It’s our perseverance and hard work over the years that has brought us here.”
“You’re saying that as if I brought nothing to the table.” She scoffed.
“You do, but not enough to prolong this situation.”
“So you’ve already decided what’s gonna happen, and I have no say in all this. Is that it?”
“Well”—Marc lifted a shoulder—“if there’s something you wanna add… But yeah. This isourband and you are no longer part of it.”
“You could have told me this over the phone and not wasted my time by making me come here.” A high-pitched, strained voice slipped through her red lips.
“We thought the right thing to do was to tell you face to face.”
“This is so humiliating.” She huffed.
They had agreed that Marc would be the one doing the talking. He knew how to keep his cool even in the most uncomfortable situations, and the drummer was too much of an emotional mess to speak coherently right now. But a bunch of thoughts were already crowding Chris’s mouth. If she kept this shit up, he would explode.
“Humiliating is what you did tome.” Erik cut off whatever bullshit she was going to throw next. “I introduced you to everyone, offered you a home when your father kicked you out… and for what? For you to end up stabbing me in the back?”
“What is this? A witch hunt?”
“You could call it that, yeah,” Chris mumbled.
“If you have something to say, say it,” she challenged him.
“Nah, you don’t really wanna hear it.”
“No, come on. Let it all out.”
The side of Chris’s mouth curled up and a sweet stream of endorphins rushed through his veins. If his face looked anything like the sinister sensation spreading inside his chest, Pennywise would seem like an angel compared to him.
In two strides, he reached Hannah, towering over her as he said everything he’d kept silent about for way too long. “You may deceive most people with the cute little act you put on every fucking day. But I see right through you.”
“Dude, there’s no need…” Erik touched his arm, trying to stop him, but Chris was on a roll.
“You’re a spoiled brat who thinks everyone around you should kiss the ground you walk on.”
“Then, why did you accept me in your band?” she said in the same patronizing tone, chest out and head up, not letting him intimidate her.
Chris let out a bitter snicker. “Because you weren’t so horrible at the beginning. Too bad the recognition we’ve gotten during the last year has gone straight to your head and made you believe you’re the shit, when in reality you’re just a conceited, arrogant bully, good for nothing other than stepping on everyone to get what you want.”
“Sorry to break it to you, Schmidt,” she said, “but I think you’re the only one who can’t stand me, so it’s ayouproblem and that has nothing to do with me.”
“Believe what you want. I don’t give a fuck anymore. I’m happy knowing I won’thave to listen to your constant whining and complaining because you don’t like this or that arrangement, or because you hate the van and the venues we play at. Never again.It’s over.Se acabó.È finita.” His grin widened. “Bye, bye, Hannah.” Chris wiggled his fingers in her face, watching the red covering her features brighten.
“Are you really gonna let him talk to me like that?” She looked at Erik.
“What do you want me to say? We’ve been clear. You’re out.”
Aww.Chris felt so proud of his boy.
“You know what?” Hannah snapped. “Keep your stupid band for yourselves. I already have offers from others. We’ll see how far you make it without me.”
Unable to hold it in anymore, the guitarist laughed out loud. “We’ll see how long you last when they find out how ugly inside you truly are.”
Hannah stomped one foot and stifled a scream. “Go fuck yourselves!”
