•Before I Let Go•

•Chapter 10•

"A-lee-dah," Cory strained, "used to be my girlfriend. She was the first girl I ever fell in love with." Cory rested his arms on the table, keeping his eyes on Zora's. He was too afraid to see the look Alida was giving him. "I was also best friends with her brother."

Zora's lips moved to the shape of a frown, looking across the table at Alida with slanted eyes, showcasing that she knew her Mother had lied to her—she was very displeased.

"Why isn't she your girlfriend anymore?" Zora spoke exclusively to Cory.

Cory's face fell—his golden flecked eyes veered to Alida for the answer. He couldn't stomach verbalizing just how regretful he was in that decision a decade ago.

"It's complicated." Alida spoke to spare Cory—this time.

She liked how well Zora seemed to be getting along with him. She didn't want Zora to hold him accountable for something he had done ten years prior.

"Everything's complicated if you look hard enough, but there's always a reason." Zora looked over at Cory, wanting an explanation, not particularly trusting Alida to give her one.

"Well your Uncle Aidan and Cory made a pact when they were kids." Alida said, "They were gonna be musicians. They had plans to travel the world and play music. After Aidan died, Cory moved to Los Angeles."

"To be famous?" Zora's brows furrowed, "That's ridiculous—that's not thinking long term. Did you have a backup plan?"

"No." Cory smiled with a soft laugh, "I didn't know what the hell I was doing."

Cory was showcasing a lopsided grin. It reminded Alida of who he had once been. She had a strange feeling crawling into the pit of her gut, a sickening indescribable admiration.

"So you are a bum." Zora spoke confidently.

Cory shook with laughter, his cheeks blushing ever-so slightly. "I'm not a bum—but I am homeless, yeah."

"Cory is famous," Alida said. "His songs play on the radio and everything. He even has music videos." Alida spoke indifferently, as if those things were not accomplishments.

"Well if he's famous, why haven't I heard of him before?" Zora tried recanting.

"That's because you only listen to Queen—you don't listen to the radio." Alida clapped back.

"You listen to Queen?" Cory spoke in disbelief—his eyes widening with amazement and intrigue.

"She only listens to Queen." Alida said.

"You're shittin' me right now." Cory spoke, obviously impressed—Zora didn't look like the type. His eyes went to Alida, "How did she get into Queen?"

Alida shrugged. "I don't really remember. She was like a year old and wouldn't stop crying so me and Gretchen just started playing a bunch of songs and she stopped when hearing Queen. I think it was Bohemian Rhapsody, but it might've been Killer Queen, I can't remember. She's been obsessed with them ever since."

"You know, Queen was one my biggest inspirations. They're the reason I got into music." Cory admitted.

Freddie Mercury had been Cory's biggest inspiration. His most influential, however, had been The Pixies. As much as he loved heavy metal and the likes of SlipKnot and Metallica, the style itself was too meticulous for Cory. He liked grunge rock because he could be messy—it was meant to be chaotic and grimy.

Cory's music, however, had been pushed into a box. His sound became unoriginal—generic. The label forced him to make music of similar style to what was current—whatever sold millions. Names like Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles, even Shawn Mendes were "the sound to aim for."