• Tomorrow Will Be Different • {J.C} (P.1)

• Chapter Twelve •

        They migrated to a booth where they sat getting shitfaced. They conversed and chain smoked—trading stories and sharing plans.

        Erin was getting to know quite a bit about Albert's friends. The friendship between Nikolai and Julian went back further than Al's. They first met at the mere age of six at a place called Lycée—an independent bilingual French school.

        Despite living on opposite sides of the country, Albert and Julian managed to get into trouble around the same time; both roughly the age of thirteen. They were sent off to the same boarding school, where they met in Rolle, Switzerland. Al was the first to admit that they weren't friends at first, but bonded over the fact that they were outcasts.

Nick, Fabrizio and Julian attended Dwight; a prestigious private school in the upper west side of the city—a college-preparatory school. Each had gone onto college soon after—all except Julian.

Though Jules had gone to college, he hadn't taken the traditional route. He dropped out of school, getting his GED and then applied for a two year musical composition scholarship at
Five Towns in Dix Hills.

        Al ran into Julian again soon after moving to the city himself while attending Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.

They decided to move in together shortly after, being as they spent most of their time together anyway. It also helped with money—splitting financial responsibilities down the middle to buy music equipment to get a foot in the door, and an actual rehearsal space—not Fab's parent's garage.

        Three beers in, and Erin needed the restroom. She had been trying to hold it for nearly an hour, not wanting to seem rude by getting up and walking out in the middle of a conversation. There were five of them, which meant when one stopped talking, another one chimed in.
        ...Well, almost all of them.

Julian had barely spoken a sentence—not just to Erin, but to anyone. He barely paid any mind to what anyone had to say, having to ask them to repeat themselves when asked a question directly.

        "I gotta go to the bathroom." Erin excused herself.

She hoped that no one would try to start up a conversation with her again until she got back—she wasn't so sure she could hold it much longer.

Luckily for Erin, no one noticed as she slipped away—no one except Julian.

        "What's a matter with you—Erin got your tongue?" Fab nudged Julian's side playfully with his elbow.

A toothy wide smile stretched across his face as he looked down at the table. Julian pressed his fingers against the edge, pushing against the table nervously as he shook his head before finally glancing back up.

         "I don't think you've ever been this quiet." Nick commented, crossing his arm over his chest as he chewed at the skin on his thumb.

        "Yeah Jules," Albert hunched forward, leaning his body across the table while looking to his roommate with mischief in his eyes. "What's goin on? Aren't you supposed to be kicking her out?" Albert spat.

Julian's face fell, staring Albert down across the table. Nik and Fab flashed a look of confusion—Nick being the first to say what everyone was thinking.

        "Wait a minute—so she's the girl that's been staying at your place?" Nick didn't wait for a response—Albert's smug grin said it all. "She's fucking beautiful—send her my way if you don't want her."

         "I'm only being nice to get through the rest of the month—that's when she's moving out, right?" Julian asked.

"Until she gets on her feet."