There was silence behind me for a few seconds and as Orion caught up to me, he whispered, "Allie, I'm so sorry..." I quickly waved him off, trying to fight back tears while admitting, "It's okay; it was my fault anyway."
We had reached the studio and I unlocked the door, walking in and quickly hurrying to my corner by the stage to hide. The studio was closed on Mondays, so we were the only ones there. I sat on the floor, still fighting the tears but beginning to fail.
Orion sat next to me, gently rubbing my back. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked gently, and I shrugged, figuring that it didn't really matter at this point, since it happened so long ago.
"My dad and I were best friends. Every day we got slushies and drank them while driving around. Anyway, it was my freshman year of high school. The first day. I was texting my dad all day, telling him everything that happened. It was a horrible day. I was getting bullied and someone took my lunch and no one would sit by me in class and it was just all-around bad. My dad had already bought my slush and was on his way to Pandora, my favorite jeweler. He bought me a white gold necklace, whose pendant encased a purple pearl. It was almost $300, which was my dad's whole bonus check. He was walking to his car when two guys jumped and shot him, trying to make off with his wallet and the necklace. The security guards from the store got them both and retrieved my dad's stuff."
"I was devastated. I wouldn't talk to my mom, I wouldn't talk to anyone. I shut myself in my room for as long as I could, save for school, until almost a year later, I got into writing and dancing. I forced those activities to consume me, because if I were to be left alone with my thoughts, nothing good would have come of it."
When I finished talking, Orion scooted closer, sitting cross-legged in front of me to mirror me. He seemed to search my blue eyes for permission before wrapping his arms around me. His warmth soothed my aching heart and, as much as it surprised me, I nuzzled my head into his chest.