Dandelions | Julie Molina [JATP]

X. FEELINGS & COMFORT

The entire ride to Julie's was silent and full of tension. Julie and Skyler were nervously sitting in the backseat with an empty space between them, unsure of what to say. When they pulled up in front of Julie's house, they quickly hopped out of the car and began to walk up the path to the front door.

"Both of you. We need to talk," Ray stops them. Both teens let out a sigh before they turned to face him.

"I'll start with you, Skyler," Ray said, making Skyler hesitantly look up to him.

"Look. Your parents may not be here right now, but that doesn't mean you can get out of trouble from me," Ray started. "I'm also responsible for what you do. And though you didn't skip class today, you did help Julie sneak out," he said and Skyler nodded.

"And Julie," Ray turned to his daughter. "After skipping classes, missing a test, you decided to sneak out even though I told you to go to your room and study?" He questioned.

"I know. I'm sorry," Julie sighed.

"Yeah, you keep saying that," Ray said, shaking his head. "If you had just... let me in, I could've been excited about tonight, instead of having this conversation that we all hate," he said. "Why didn't you tell me that you had a band?"

Julie glanced over at Skyler and she sighed. "It all just happened so fast. These last couple weeks have changed my life. When I play music, I feel so much closer to Mom," Julie explains.

"And I love that. You know I do," Ray said softly. "But your tià is right. School needs to come first."

"We know, but without them..." Skyler starts and he glances over at Julie. "Julie never would've made it back into the music program. They played with us when she was trying to earn back her spot," he explains to the man.

"They did?" Ray asked, glancing between the two.

"Yeah," Julie nodded. "I think this is my thing, Dad. Our thing." Julie took Skyler's hand when she said that, making him smile softly at her.

"Well... I would be a jerk of a Dad if I took that away from you two," Ray said softly. "Look. If you guys are gonna stay in this band, you need to keep up with school," he says, "and you need to keep me in loop."

"Really?" The teens asks together and Ray nodded slightly.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Thanks Papa!" Julie pulls her dad into a hug and Skyler smiled at the sight. Ray turns to the Korean and signals him to join. Skyler quickly joined and the three of them hugged tightly.

"Hey, so, that lady at your show," Ray began, pulling away from the teens slightly. "She was like, some sort of manager, right? Could've been a big deal."

"Who knows?" Skyler shrugs. "Hopefully, she'll get to see us play again."

"Which we will tell you about!" Julie quickly adds, making the Korean nod his head quickly.

"Yeah, you will," Ray states. "Because if I ever catch you two sneaking out again, or if one of your grades slip, I'm gonna have to pull the plug," he tells them sternly and they quickly nodded. "Or whatever makes those holograms work."

"Do I ever get to meet these guys?" He asked the two teens.

The two teens looked at each other for a moment, laughing awkwardly. "Probably not. They don't even live around here," Julie informs him. "It's kinda confusing, but being seen isn't really their thing."

"You kids and your technology," Ray laughs softly. "It's definitely beyond me."

"Definitely beyond something," Skyler muttered and Julie nods slightly.