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

• Chapter Twenty-Four •

Nearly an hour into the night, Julian had presented Erin with a nicely rolled joint. She decline his offer at first, but after some debate, Erin gave in.

As the night wore on, Erin recalled something Albert had once said to her:
"I think under different circumstances you'd get along with Jules even better than you get along with me."

Erin never imagined Al's sentiment to become true; but as they leaned over the windowsill, blowing clouds of reefer through Julian's bedroom window, Erin began to wonder if perhaps Albert was right.

When he wasn't an insufferable asshole, Julian was actually quite thrilling to be around. He was funny, his clever wit came fast and when she least expected it. He could make his voice twist and turn into eccentric accents, crossing a "posh-gentleman" and something "surf-centric."

Jules surprised Erin with his intelligence; he would say a something of astuteness, only to follow it up with something vulgar and half-witted as if to diminish his brilliance. Erin was starting to see why Albert thought Julian to be one of the best people he knew.

But then again, there was always the possibility that weed had skewed her judgement.

"When's the last time you smoked weed?" Jules asked, holding the joint between his fingers like a cigarette.

"Senior year." Erin laughed. "I kinda went crazy after I moved in with my Dad."

"Did you wanna live with him, or was it like... a custody thing?"

"Both?" Erin said. She was unsure how to answer that particular question honestly.

Growing up Erin never really knew her father, he had left her at the mere age of eight. Following her parent's bitter divorce, every other weekend with David soon dwindled to once a month—then eventually, nothing at all.

Sharon claimed that David's absence was by choice, that he had abandoned his only daughter to evade paying child support.

When David showed up on their doorstep nearly a decade later, Erin came to discovered that Sharon had lied. She could never forget the trembling vibrato of his voice when he asked her if she still remembered him.

David confessed to Erin that he had spent years trying to find her. He had ran into some financial troubles soon after the divorce. Though he paid child support, it was never on time—nor was it ever in-full.

Sharon had threatened David with more lawyers if he ever came near their daughter without full payments. It had taken almost a year, but David found a way to reach the terms of their agreement—the terms of Sharon's agreement.

When that time finally came, Sharon had already moved Erin to a different city. When Erin made the front page of the local paper for being the first student in the district to get a full scholarship to the prestigious Juilliard, it narrowed David's search.

His only daughter had been living just thirty minutes away—right under his nose.

"I was just ready to leave. I'd spent my whole life living under my Mom's thumb—concerts, rehearsals... it was ridiculous. I had no life outside of trying to build a career that I didn't even want. I told my Mom I wasn't going to Juilliard if she didn't let me move in with him. I just used him as an excuse." Erin reluctantly admitted.

"So you and your Dad are close, I take it?" Julian asked.

Erin forced a smile as her eyes narrowed nervously. "He's in prison now."