Chapter 104

As it turned out, no one but her extended family got to see Erin swim. She was eliminated in her first individual heat race and her medley relay team was disqualified when their backstroker false started. She was done before Adam, Shelly, Leslie and Trinity finished their 10 a.m. class.

She was somewhat dejected to see her scholastic swimming career end with her standing quietly poolside but she was gratified that Sean, Nora, Rachelle and Mike were there to console her. Sean sent a text message to everyone to alert them to the outcome and asking them to meet them at a nearby restaurant instead of at the aquatics building. By the time classes ended at 11 o'clock, no one from Erin's school was left in any event. Even their freestyler was eliminated in the heat races.

Adam was the first to arrive. He gave Erin a companionable pat on the shoulder and a sad smile.

"I look at it this way," Erin said. "I only have one more hurdle. In eight weeks, I graduate. I don't plan to go to the prom or participate in any other event. I have 36 days of classes left then I'm done there and I can start my life here."

Adam nodded.

"You know, my graduation speaker was pretty good," he related. "He told us that even though we were leaving the best part of our lives behind, the rest of our lives were ours to choose. I think he had it part right. My life here is better than what I had to look forward to there. You're like me. You get a clean slate when you leave there. But you've already started to fill it up. You've got people up here who like you for who you are. That is no small accomplishment. Wherever you go from here is up to you. I think you'll do OK."

Adam punctuated the last statement with a smile. Of all the comforting words Erin had heard that day – or even that year – his made the most sense. She had thought about how she could put her past behind her when she came here. But he was right. No one had treated her like a perpetual screw-up in the time she'd spend in L.A. They didn't make comments about her past mistakes or how she used to behave. They had already accepted her. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt true acceptance.

"He does that a lot," Rachelle whispered. Erin turned to her with a questioning look so Rachelle went on. "He always knows just the right thing to say or do. He has a way of looking into you and seeing what you fear the most and then finding a way to make you fear it less. You'll come to appreciate it more once you know him better. I know I have."

Erin nodded her agreement. When she arrived in L.A., she planned to do whatever she could to claim Adam as her own. Now she looked at him like another older brother. Oh, she would probably accept if he asked her out. But she had seen how well he fit together with Allie, Sarah and Shelly.

Even during the rough times earlier in the week, none of them thought of bailing out. They let their frustration show – and boil over at times – but none of them were ready to quit. It wasn't even considered.

The girls were great. She had become fast friends with Trinity, Karlie and Leslie – mostly because they were hiding from the fray that was developing between the partners in Subarctic Enterprises. But all the girls were terrific. She already knew Rachelle was a good friend. But she liked Allie, Sarah and Shelly, too. Even when Mary had made an ass of herself, Erin still liked the girl. She was honest enough to admit she might have reacted the exact same way.

By 11:15 a.m., the whole crew was there except for Allie, Sarah and Karlie, who were in Day two of the Peaches shoot. Everyone who came in either gave Erin a quick hug or a pat on the shoulder or back. Nora watched the displays of friendship with keen interest.

Her daughter had no friends since she turned away from the group of losers she used to hang out with. The friends she had in her early teens didn't welcome her back. Respectable boys didn't ask her for dates. She watched as Erin turned more into herself than Sean ever had. Nora had no illusions that she was the perfect parent. She tried but she had no idea how to parent. She had very little guidance from her own upbringing. She took a few things with her that she learned in her young adulthood but most of it she was making it up as she went.

She felt a lot better after she spent time with Mike Cunningham. Rachelle was a wonderful person. Nora had gotten to know her son's girlfriend very well in the past year and half. She adored the girl but she had no idea of the dark spot in Rachelle's past until Mike mentioned it. He didn't provide specifics but he told Nora that playing things by ear was the only way a parent could react.

There was no textbook for raising a child. Parents have to make decisions on the fly and some of them turn out wrong. He pointed out the best hope for raising a successful child was to make sure they had a good understanding of right and wrong. It might take them a while but right would usually win out.

Watching her daughter with her new friends proved Mike right. She gave him a grateful smile that he didn't understand but that he returned.

"Well, it's a bad news, good news day," Sean said when everyone was seated. "The bad news is that Erin's team is out of the meet. She swam extremely well but she missed the quarterfinals by three-tenths of a second. Still, I'm proud of her and all she accomplished. I'm also happy that I've gotten the chance to get to know the young woman who has grown out of the brat I remembered. I'm really looking forward to having my sister in L.A. in a couple of months and I'm sorry I have to wait that long to have her here."

He raised his glass of iced tea in salute and a tear sneaked down Erin's cheek.

"Thanks, Sean," she said. "I'm glad you're OK with me here."

"I'm looking forward to it, Erin," he said. "I will do my best never to refer to you as 'Brat' again. Well, I will if you stop introducing me as your 'Asshole brother.'"

The siblings shared a smile.

"Deal," Erin said.

"So the good news is that we all have a little time on our hands," he said. "I spoke to Ben and he said it would be OK for the whole group to stop by and visit Daystar. He did ask that most of us run away before the video is shot and I think that's a reasonable request."

Mike and Nora exchanged glances. Neither was really interested in visiting a pornographic studio.

"You can pass, Mom," Sean said with a laugh. "The shoot is scheduled for six tonight. We're not planning to arrive until five o'clock. That means we can hang out downtown for a little while. Does anyone have anything they want to do?"

"I would suggest going to a miniature golf course but Karlie would skin me alive," Leslie said.

"I'd like to see Hollywood," Shelly ventured. "I've lived in L.A. for almost two years and I've never been there. Do you think we could take a walk down Rodeo Drive?"

The girls' eyes lit up at the mention of the shopping mecca.

"There is a Wally Walrus store up there," Rebecca said. "We could stop in and compare what we've got to what's there. Nora, did Erin show the picture she took of us in our swimsuits?"

Nora rolled her eyes.

"I have handkerchiefs bigger," Nora said. "Mike, did you see it?"

Mike shook his head and breathed a sigh of relief. He had been shown a picture of the first pool day that had only half the participants of the second one.

"I'll get you a copy for your desk, Daddy," Rachelle said. "I can probably get it autographed for you, if you'd like."

"How about an 8-by-10 for his wall," Mary giggled.

Nora seemed to finally hear the rest of what Rachelle said.

"You took that picture?" she asked, turning to her daughter. "I thought maybe Adam did. How did you manage that? You're in the picture?"

"I have a remote," Erin said. "I set up the shoot, moved to where I wanted to be and triggered the shutter with a remote. You got me a really solid camera, Mom. I'll have to show you some pictures I took for Allie's new web site."

She took a moment to fill her mother in on her new job when she got back to L.A.

"She is a good photographer," Sean said. "I only saw a couple of the pictures she took for Allie. But I can tell you I couldn't see a difference from what she did than what a professional might take. She has a real eye for it."

Erin decided everything was going so well that she should broach the subject that Adam mentioned to her.

"I've been thinking about going somewhere else instead of USC," she said. "I'm looking at Santa Monica Junior College. They have a good program for photographers. Plus, well, it will cost a ton less. I can get a two-year degree and transfer the credits to USC later if I want to. But I like taking pictures. Well, since you have about 3,000 of them, I suppose you know that. Do you think we can consider that?"

"Honey, you're 18, you don't need my permission," Nora said.

"But I want you to be OK with the decision," Erin explained. "Sarah said she would get the phone number of the guy who is doing the shoot for Peaches Magazine. He'll have a better idea of what I need as far as education. She took some shots I've done this week out for his opinion. If he thinks they're crap, I'll probably change my mind. I just can't see taking loans to pay for USC when I'm not really sure of what I want to do with my life. I mean, Sean knew he wanted to be a business mogul since he was beating us at Monopoly when he was 10. He needs a four-year degree and probably a master's to do what he wants with his life. I might not. Even if I do, the credits will transfer."

"Do you know people who go there?" Nora asked. She worried that her daughter would lose the camaraderie she had developed if she went to a different school.

"Not right now but I will," Erin said, smiling. "Allie, Sarah and Karlie are starting there during the summer. None of them need a bachelor's degree to do what they want to do in the future. Right now, I'm not sure I will either."

"It's not a bad plan, Mrs. Silverman," Leslie put forth. "The first two years at USC, Erin would be taking mostly generic requirements. She will be taking a lot of the same sort of classes at a JC. I've been at USC for two years now and I've not declared a major yet. If I had any sense, I would have saved my money and done my core requirements somewhere a lot cheaper. The funny part is that a lot of professors from USC teach classes at Santa Monica. The ones who are too new for tenure work both places. Plus, the class sizes are a lot smaller. I think Erin would benefit from that, particularly if she wants to study something artistic."

"I'm not against the idea," Nora said. "So long as Erin is good with it, I'm fine. I just want her to land somewhere she is happy and can lead a good life. I don't care if that means she joins the Air Force, a nunnery or goes to college."

"Thanks, Mom," Erin said. "It's not set in stone. But I really want to think about it for the next few weeks. I've been accepted to USC and I downloaded an application for Santa Monica. I don't think I'll have trouble getting in there. We'll look at everything and come to a decision together."

Adam found Hollywood Boulevard to be highly overrated. He was never overly enamored by film stars or socialites.

Everyone else, though, appeared awed. They walked around with their necks craning, hoping to see a TV or movie actor or actress. If one crossed their path, Adam didn't recognize him/her. From Hollywood, the group caught a tour bus to Beverly Hills that promised to take them by the mansions of the rich and famous. The houses were impressive, Adam had to admit. But he couldn't see why someone would waste so much land in a state where every acre as precious. Vanity, he settled upon.

Rodeo Drive was filled with high-end retail shops that probably employed staff who would cringe outwardly if Adam Walters ever crossed their threshold. He was happy enough to find a spot to sit and drink a soda with Mike, Walt and Sean while Nora and the girls hit the shops.

"Good God," Adam muttered. "Just think about the amount of money being pissed away in just the stores we've passed in the last two hours."

"Money means nothing to these people," Walt said. "I read somewhere that an actress is getting paid $40 million to appear in a movie."

"It's no damned wonder it costs $30 to see a film at a theater," Sean added. Mike only chuckled.

"Do you realize in a few weeks, every one of you could afford to own a place out here?" he said.

Mike's comment caused Adam took at his watch. It was 2:30 p.m. and Celina hadn't called. He wasn't sure if he was happy or sad about that. It was a lot of money – enough that if he was even halfway smart he would never have to worry about it again. But he hated the thought of selling out to PlayCo.

"What do you think they'll do?" Sean asked Adam.

"What do I think they'll do or what do I hope they'll do?" Adam countered.

"Both," Sean said.

"I think they'll buy it," Adam said. "I don't know if Yoshi Yamamura's ego is worth a quarter billion dollars. I hope they pass. I'm not sure why. I have nothing personally invested in Polar Power. I'm not the least bit interested in all the work it will take for us to market this ourselves. I'm not even positive that there is another company who might be interested that is any better than PlayCo. I guess I'm just prejudiced against that company because of what my professor presented last semester."

"Aren't you the one who always tells me to take what my professor says with a grain of salt?" Sean asked. "You're right about that. They tilt their presentations to introduce you to what they want you to know, not necessary what is correct. I don't know PlayCo. My ethics class was more abstract, you know. It didn't give examples of a company that was crappy. Have you wondered why your professor picked PlayCo and not something else?"