Follow the Beat (Open)

[ellemendez]

The end of the day school bell, had rung at least fifteen minutes ago already, and the chaotic 'rush hour' had since begun. Corridors were already packed with exhausted albeit excited students, trying to get to their lockers to dump off their books, and maybe catch the latest gossip along the way. Soon, people were filtering outside, to crowd around while waiting for the various buses to arrive. Those who weren't quite ready to go home yet, hurried off to extra-curriculem classes; such as the football training, or extra maths class.

Michelle Mendez however, was an exception. Despite it being a friday, and one of those warm afternoons that begged for a roadtrip down to the beach or even the backyard for a chance to sunbathe. She, was indoors, in the gym infact, probably her favourite place to escape to. As soon as the bell had rung, she had dashed to her locker from the most boring biology class, picked up her gym kit, and made sure she fulfilled her intentions to secure a good space. There was apparently no rehearsal scheduled for the flat gym space used for dance and gymnastics practice, so much to Michelle's delight, once the last gym class of the day had buggered off, she so far had the entire floor space, all to herself.

"Thirty-eight....t-thirty....nine......FORTY!"

After the final sit-up, the British transfer fall back on the blue mats, her abdomen aching just slightly. But her warm-up wasn't over; next came leg-ups and after that, she'd make sure each of her limbs were well stretched out using aerobic exercise techniques. Pulling muscles was the work of amateurs, and that was a label she would prefer not to own.

As for her dress, casual jeans and fitted t-shirt from the school day, had quickly been replaced by light grey, soft cotton tracksuit bottoms, and a simple white vest-top. Long, thick black curls were for now, left loose, but no doubt she'd tie them up once the going got tough. She wore no jewellry, and only a slight dust of blush on her cheeks which, during the day, had probably faded away.

"That'll do, I'spose." She sighed, lifting her arms above her head and clasping her hands together, as she stretched one last time, rising up onto her tiptoes. Truth was, she didn't really have long there, maybe an hour or at best, two. But she had kick-boxing class tomorrow morning, and sunday she'd be wrapped up with various assignments so, she really wanted, needed, to get some time to just, dance.

Skipping over to the small cd player she'd brought from her locker, all she had to do was press play, having left the required CD in there already. Cranking up the volume as Carlos Santana rung out the notes effortlessly on the guitar, Michelle could already feel the rhythm pulsing through her body. She only had to take one step away from the cd player, but her hips were already swinging naturally to the beat of 'Smooth.' The song filled the room, the voice of Rob Thomas starting to sing the lyrics while she took her space on the floor. There was no instructor to tell her when to start, no fight commentator to announce the beginning. Just her own intuition as such a simple hip swing evolved, her feet hop-stepping forward while her hand swooped behind her head.

The beat pretty slow, more refined for salsa, but Michelle was intended to use it as a warm-up before moving into something more heavy. This was no ordinary dance rehearsal though, and neither was it a work-out. It was a form of training; clearly demonstrated by the way she transformed a graceful spin, into a backwards walkover. Her spine bending with ease, as her hands found the floor. Almost instantaineously, her feet left the floor, breaking the bridged position as she flipped over, landing back on her feet, but twisting from the waist as she stood, to kick her leg over in a graceful move more reminiscent of ballet. All that, followed by the slow roll of her stomach, as she incorporated what could've been a useful combat technique, into the freestyle dance routine.

Nothing ended a day better, than doing the one thing she loved most. And when the song ended, she took a brief pause to catch her breath, slowly pacing towards across the mats, to the stereo. First the cd was turned off, but then she sat down on the bench, wiping her forehead and neck with her fluffy towel, before taking a deep swig of her bottled water. Yet in her mind, she was already contemplating the next song she'd dance to.

[Leon Loire]

There is always a reason for a proverb to come into existence; hence why there is a restaurant titled "Thank God It's Friday" just down the street in San Francisco's downtown.

For the past hour and a half, Leon Loire had tread his usual path of calm analysis through the grounds of Hircine High, those navy eyes attempting to capture any new little fragments of detail or information that could add to the events of the day, the week, or the year. The last class was always Loire's free period, as his successful accomplishment of the High School's Credit system had brought all but the necessities of English and Math to its knees. The man was only one more year from graduation. Just one more year...

Yet, politics and personal conflicts could end that hope of freedom, and life in general. Mason's cries for revolution, Kvist's intent for criminal power, the Pillar's support of the Corporal Punishment System, the Watchmen's moderating belief in "protecting peace" by antagonizing their own allies - all of that, and then add teenage drama and typical school conflict, and you had the world of Hircine High.

And Leon Loire was throwing himself right in the middle of it.

'Sometimes I really am an idiot.'

Leon's intentions - with politics, ambition and chaos on his mind - were rather simple: today, on this glorious spring afternoon of young freedom and warm temperatures, the Varronite would commit to his new search for possible allies and potentials that could help sow the seed toward his own goals.

What those goals were, however obvious to some, were still relatively hidden to his own mind. He had failed once to his enemies because of careless lack of strategy, and he certainly would not follow that path again.

The free period had been spent investigating fights that broke out and students that would, at times, speak out their opinions. Nothing seemed to catch Loire's attention, so when the bell struck, his liberal conscious considered a new option: to investigate the gymnasium. After all, was the tournament not coming soon, and the need for training in combat necessary in days such as these?

'Wow, that sounded more Shakespearian than I first thought.'

Comfortably making his way towards the school's gym wing, Leon kept his sights on the lawn that surrounded the paths leading towards the separate building. His beige overshirt mimicking the light breeze, the weathered jeans acting as a loose second flesh, those lazy brown sneakers bounding off of the concrete below without hesitation. The Senior's loose hair attempted to follow its fabric counterpart yet failed because of its stronger ties, and those navy eyes kept staring forward, wondering who they'd meet.

A few minutes later, now inside the complex, Loire kept his ears trimmed to the sounds of footsteps as various sports groups marched outdoors or into the rec rooms, yet no one entered the main axillary gymnasium. At first Leon prepared to turn away, thinking that nothing would be gained by continuing, yet those same ears caught the notes of something.

"Music, eh?" Loire whispered to himself, listening as the hum of a guitar resonated alongside a voice, and unable to ignore his curiosity, the Varronite transfer motioned towards the door, his eyes catching a sight he honestly didn't expect. A younger girl of nearly two years flowed as if her mind were connected to the beat, hips rising and drifting, back swaying with the stilled wind, motion like a dancer... a fighter...

'Interesting... I have yet to meet a female with such unique combat potencies; that is, unless I'm reading her movements incorrectly.'

The song came to an end, and Loire could not help but brim a smile at the thought of an introduction. This girl was something new. It would be wise for Leon to be her first acquaintance in the dangerous school of Hircine.

Pushing the two doors to the gym open, Leon made his way through the large gym slowly, a friendly smile shadowing his face, a look of intrigue etching his gaze as the unknown female rested momentarily.

"You know, it's been a long time since I've seen someone who could carry a beat like that. I apologize for interrupting you, but I was wondering if you're interesting in giving me your name?" Leon questioned her modestly, trying not to come off as some sort of recruiter or sleaze, and rather as your classic "gentleman." Hell, it was hard to tell if Leon Loire could consider himself such a title anymore, but in days such as these, the thought of chivalry was always in the back of any man's mind.

Especially one that recognized an opportunity to gain from the skills of those women they spoke with. Most men abused such honor for sinful means; Leon had other intentions. As of yet, however, it would be best to see to meeting the girl in the first place.

[Carlos]

Laying down at the very back of the gym on top of a very large foam 'cushion' of sorts which was there for no real reason, well maybe except for the fact that I was bored and decided to visit the school for a little while, I faded out of conciousness my concious mind mingling with the thoughts in the vast space of my brain, words kept running through my head as I began to fall deeper and deeper into a seemingly death like sleep, (my usual thought disturbed sleep, how annoying...Why can't I ever get regular sleep...As long as I can get some sleep in here.....Shit i'm tired.). My mind began to shut down as if it were a super computer being shut down to reboot, and finally I was able to sleep soundly for the first time in a very very very long time....

----Two hours later----

I began to stir under the loose shell of my Bape jacket feeling the warmth my body had generated and left behind before I slipped into my temporary state of death, yet I was still deep into my inanimate state. Then through the darkness of my mind a small guitar melody began to resound as I continued to stir within my shell, I began to return to conciousness as the melody echoed louder and louder in the darkest corner of my mind, my body began to toss more and more as the music became more and more prevelent in my surroundings, I felt the flow of my blood return mobility to the rest of my body, while that happened my brain sent the electrical signals to my eyes necessary for them to open.

As I felt more awake I felt my eyes opening slowly, as they opened my vision was blurred but came back to normal as I opened them more, and when they were open fully all I saw was a beige ceiling, old and decrepit from the withering effects of time, I sighed a bit and then let out a significantly slient yawn which helped stretch my jaw, then I brought my arms up and stretched them along with my legs, then slowly lifting my upper body from the foam cushion I sat straight up and brought my hands to my face rubbing my eyes gently, reaching into my right jacket pocket I brought out a piece of orbit chewing gum and I threw the unwrapped piece of flavored rubber into my mouth and began to chew on it, yawning a bit more I began to look around for the source of the music, which brought my eyes to a young woman who was moving her body along with the slow rhythm of the music, which strangly brought back the few fond memories of my childhood, flashes of me and my mother in our small old apartment back in Harlem. I shook my head and the memories left from my immediate thoughts.

As I watched the young woman dance I heard another set of footsteps which were approaching closer and closer to the gyms entrance, before the person entered I looked away and stood up, I unzipped my jacket and let it fall onto the large foam cushion which had the imprint of my body in it. As I rummaged through my pockets I heard a familiar voice resonate within the vicinity of the gym and I turned my head and looked in the direction of the voice and saw the familiar frame of my old friend Leon Loire, he seemed to be speaking to the girl so I watched as he spoke to her and then stood there waiting for her to respond, in the time it took her to respond I walked up to them casually garbed in a simple white beater and black jeans with a matching pair of white and black air-force ones. I looked over to Leon and smiled at him, then looking over to the girl I smile again and spoke to her...

"A pleasure miss. My name is Carlos."

I didn't want to introduce Leon to her because he could obviously do it himself, so I simply agreed with Leon's statement and added...

"I also wonder if you mind would grace us with your name senorita? seeing as you already know one of our names it might make it easier to introduce yourself, no?"

I stood there with a small grin embedded on my lips waiting for the girl to respond.

[ellemendez]

It hadn't occured to Michelle that she'd accquired a small audience; her focus being entirely on moving to the beat clearing her mind of all else but the rhythm resounding outside and in. But as she took a moment to relax and change the song, her ears prickled at the sound of the gym doors being pushed open calmly. She didn't need to turn, only her eyes drifted across to the doors, while she skulled half the bottle in a long swig. Soft green eyes fell upon the stranger; she guessed by his stature alone that, he wasn't younger than a junior, but he carried himself a lot like a senior so, that was her best bet. As he spoke while advancing casually towards her, she twisted the cap back onto the bottle.

Now, coming from an upper class British school, Michelle had been shocked to see that, things weren't quite the same at Hircine High. Course, she'd expected there to be, a few differences. But fights breaking out under teacher's noses? It was, a difficult environment to get used to, and she was pretty certain she wasn't even close to fitting in yet. The whole structure of the school social system and politics, was still quite an enigma to her. But so far, she'd learnt it was wise to view each and every student, unfortunately, like an opponent. Afterall, you never knew what the students at this school had to offer. Friendship? Or punching your lights out? So she remained calm, eyeing the intruder up and down briefly. Judging from the smile he wore, she had no reason to beleive he was dangerous yet, there was a certain phrase about 'never judging a book by it's cover.' Even if this book was wearing a chivalrous front page.

"Oh," she half laughed and smiled, placing the water bottle on the bench beside her, followed by the towel which had previously accomodated her lap. Her accent British, and her pronounciation suggesting that her upbringing was at least middle class. "No, well, you're not really interrupting. At least, not right now. I was taking a little break. Guess I got carried away with the warm-up."

It was charming and, quite unexpected, to be spoken to in such a manner, hence the bemused smile on her part. But it was a little suspicious how, he wanted to know her name so soon. In England, names were not given so freely, at least, that was how she always felt. Then again, she wasn't in England anymore; a fact she had problems remembering.

No sooner had she spoken though, it seemed another was intent on invading her short-lived privacy. Not like she wasn't glad to be socialising but, it was slightly un-nerving. What were they doing hanging around after school? From her previous observations, there were two types of people who did that. People like her, who wanted to use the school's facilities. Then the other kind, the ones just looking for trouble.

Still, she graced this, Carlos, with a warm smile, nodding her head as he introduced himself. He too, looked like at least a Senior. But..where the hell had he come from? To just appear like that was, a little scary. Unless, he was there all the time?

"Vale, niza para satisfacerle Carlos. En cuanto a mí, me llamo Michelle." Seeing as he not only looked hispanic, but also addressed her as senorita, Michelle decided to test the waters, maybe show off a little, as she replied in the basic Spanish she knew. Still softly smiling, her eyes then drifted to Leon and, just incase, she introduced herself once more.

"Well, I suppose it's polite to exchange names, and ladies first, I presume." It was a rhetorical question, perhaps a little arrogant, and she tilted her head to the side slightly as she continued. She couldn't help herself though, to be cornered by two guys out of the blue, didn't mean she wasn't about to start giggling like a cheerleader. "I'm Michelle, and you are?"

--------

((Translation: Okay, nice to meet you Carlos. As for me, my name is Michelle.))

[Carlos]

As I stood amongst the other two my eyes began to drift around looking at random objects in the gym, I caught sight of a few interesting things, such as some graffiti on the ceiling of the gym, which I was astonished to see considering that the gym ceiling was pretty high up, but then again the graffiti wasn't so extravagent so it helped me grip that fact a little better, even though I've seen graffiti on the empire state, but that was a whole different thing. Snapping out of whatever kind of mental state I had put myself into I looked back over to the girl as she responded to me, but most surprising was that she responded to me in spanish, which took me completely off guard, though it was nice to hear someone else speak spanish to me other then myself.

So when she introduced herself properly to both Leon and I, I took the liberty of responding the same way she did to me...

" Que Chimba. Otra persona que habla espanol menos yo, al fin. Pues mucho gusto Michelle. Un plaser en conoserte, Ve y de donde eres, tu asento parese de una espanola que nazio en Inglaterra."

I spoke like a typical Colombian from Cali, fast and to a certain rhythm only known by people from there, but even though the rhythm wasn't known to anyone else it held some very helpful advantages, it allowed me to identify where any spanish speaking person hailed from, which was a great thing to be able to do since I normally didn't have to ask where the person was from, but with this girl it was confusing, she seemed to be from Spain but she had a hint of British and Brazilian, so i wasn't really sure, physically she looked Brazilian though, but I couldn't be to sure, so I just stood there waiting for her to respond to me and thinking to myself (Hopefully she knows that much spanish and this can respond.). I shrugged mentally and stood there flashing a friendly smile before letting it disappear and letting my face morph back to it's usual blank expression, it was a habit for me I guess, even though I've been told I had a nice smile I never really liked to show it, but now and then and when I was laughing or in the rare mood to I would flash a smile.

Looking over to Leon I laughed to myself because he was probably lost due to the speaking of a language he couldn't understand for his life. But I was sure he didn't mind the exchange. Letting my mind wander but still paying physical attention to her, random thoughts began to pop up in my head, (What am I gonna have for dinner? Am I gonna light one tonight? Am I gonna go out to a club tonight? What am I gonna do after I leave?), shaking my head I stopped the thoughts from compiling to much, it annoyed me when my mind wandered like that, but it was better then the other type of wandering my mind did. Remembering that I saw Michelle dancing I wondered if she knew how to dance salsa, hoping she did I asked her...

"Oye ermosa. Sabes bailar Salsa? O merengue?"

Hoping in my head that she did, cause it had been a while since I met a girl who could actually dance it and keep up with me at that, if she said yes then it would be interesting to see how well she knew it and it would be fun as well.

(Translation for first statement: "Oh shit, finally another person who speaks spanish aside from me. Well nice to meet you Michelle, it's a pleasure. Hey what nationality are you because you accents tells me your from Spain but was born in Britain?")

[Leon Loire]

Leon felt a bit of satisfaction at the girl's positive reaction, considering the clear fact that regardless of her comforting words, Leon had still interrupted her, and he could still very well be seen as a distraction. Standing with ease, arms at his sides, Loire's navy eyes watched in curiosity as the girl seemed to quickly analyze the surroundings. Yet Leon found himself perplexed; weren't they alone?

Apparently not.

Turning his own sight towards his right, Leon felt his brows raise significantly at the sudden figure of Carlos Fernandez collect at the space as if he had simply jumped in. Where had he been? Looking toward the girl as she replied to the new arrival in fluent Spanish, Loire realized that she was remarkably different to her outward appearance. While Leon knew she was clearly of Hispanic lineage, her accent was actually from Britain, and her attitude suggested other differentiations to her physical appearance.

Leon felt awkward enough knowing this girl was far more than a simple name could tell; it made it even more awkward with the two of them speaking in a language that Loire could not even force himself to understand.

'The Language Barrier... bleh...'

Finding the girl now identifying herself as Michelle, Leon's face became a weak smile of momentarily nervousness - mostly from their use of Spanish made him feel like an outcast - and nodded toward her, "Good to meet you; I'm Leon Loire, your local Liberal ranter."

Leon felt himself cut off a bit, however, as Carlos returned to Spanish, something Leon wasn't crazy about. He recognized "bailar" sure enough from his basic foreign language courses, yet the natural tongue of Carlos' native language was too much for the California-bred American to endure, and simply listened intently.

'I feel alienated here... I'm sure that could be how Michelle here feels being in a new school. Our politics are different, our culture's different - everything is different.'

So Leon merely stayed silent, watching intently for the girl's - of course, Spanish - reply to whatever Fernandez requested, or stated, or demanded. He could not help but feel a furrow of confusion pass over his head, regardless of his own pride.

[ellemendez]

The look of slight shock was easilly identified by Michelle, as she managed a triamphunt smile from catching her new spanish speaking accquaintance off guard. It was something she loved to do back home when she went out clubbing, illegally of course, the drinking age being 18 but nothing a fake ID couldn't get past. She'd go out with her friends and pretend to be a Spanish exchange student, finding entertainment and delight in the attention she'd gain just from speaking a foreign language. Alas, it seemed her skills were not quite up to par with Carlos' however. Her smile was quick to fade in confidence as his words seem to roll so effortlessly off his tongue in fast rhythm. Que Chimba indeed...

Now, that curse being one her father used often, she was able to translate it immediately. But soon she was struggling slightly with his last words, trying to make some sort of translation while putting on a brave face. It wasn't easy, he didn't speak like the Spanish she was used to on her vacations to Spain. Plus one idle glance at the other stranger, and she could tell he was even more lost than she. It was such a beautiful language though, so melodic to her that, at first, she really couldn't resist answering in that tongue.

"Si...erm, well that is, yes." She decided to continue in English for the purpose of including the other. Now came the tough part though, as she struggled to choose between telling a white lie, and telling the truth. "I was born in England," there goes the white lie. "And, well I guess I'm quite a crazy mixture really. Let's see; Brazillian, Spanish, French, American, and let's not forget British."

She read them off like a boring, ordinary list, ending with a little nonchalent shrug. Okay, so by blood she was only Brazillian and American, but they didn't need to know that she was adopted. Why exclude those who had become her only true parents? The one named Leon introduced himself at last though, and she nodded a smile in greeting. Though before she could answer, her eyes snapped back to Carlos, following the voice that spoke those foreign words. She could already predict that he might getw get a little bit harder to understand, but she wore a smile as she tried her best to communicate. Maybe she was just a little rusty too, for now it was basic conversation but Michelle had learnt things got complicated way to easilly when she was involved.

"¡Adoro Salsa! Baile...esta mi pasión; mi razón para vivir. Y....Pero, yo no sé, donde puedo ir a bailar aquí. ¿Usted baila cualquiera de?"

Looking back to Leon with a light smirk now that, possibly unbeknownst to him, she'd included him in the second conversation. For now it was quite fun, swapping and changing between dialects. It seemed to give her a sense of power knowing she could exclude and include people. Though she had no reason to be so cruel to this Leon yet, and so she told herself it would have to stop now. Alienating was a form of bullying, and she had no reason or desire to bully Leon. Michelle swiftly remembered though, what she was going to say, had Carlos not asked her about dancing.

"So, you're the local liberal ranter." One eyebrow rising curiously at the rhetorical question. "Sounds rather political...though I shouldn't really be so surprised to hear that, at least, not at a school like this. Hmmm...I haven't seen either of you in my classes so, I take it you're seniors?"

----------------

Translation: I love salsa! Dance...it is my passion; my reason to live. And...But I do not know, where I can go to dance here. Do either of you dance?"

ooc: Gah! Apologies, I found myself netless for awhile after Easter x.x Everything should be okay though now ^^'