Kill Switch by Penelope Douglas

job right before my junior year started several weeks ago to
shut me up about dancing with the company, since the theater
not only showed movies but held plays, symphonies, and
ballets.
I’d started looking for a job when the last school year
ended to stay busy and enjoy some independence, but I’d had
rotten luck, so it was either this or stay home to revel in
Arion’s constant self-importance and listen to my parents
fight.
“’Okay,” Sara said. “Here you go.”
I held out my arms, and she placed the tray with the count
on a piece of paper in my hold, and held the door open for me
as I left the little room. I tucked the tray under my arm,
propped up on my hip, and held out my free hand to walk the
path to the manager’s office. I’d gotten used to navigating it
over the past two months, counting my steps and feeling my
way.
Two months.
Two months since I’d started working an actual job.
Two months until Christmas and the only time Arion and I
got along.
Two months plus one until I was seventeen.
And less than two years until I graduated, and two years
since I’d spoken to him.
Two whole years.
The night of the car ride and motorcycle ride was the last
time he paid me a visit. Why hadn’t he come back?
Scenarios and fears raced through my mind over time.
He’d been arrested.
He’d moved.
He’d died.
All of those were agonizing possibilities, but not nearly as
painful as facing the most likely one.