scrubbing bubbles (open)

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Em couldn't believe how stupid Becca had been. How dare she put BUTTER on a DANCE floor?! What an idiot. Though she was quite positive that she knew exactly what would happen and had a good idea of the results. She wanted to hurt people and Em thought that that girl should be in a mental institution. Wasn't this the first sign of being a serial killer? Trying to hurt people!? Next the Turners would be finding the neighborhood cats buried under their porch or something. Em wouldn't be surprised.

With the anger Em was feeling particularly OCD the past day or so and knew that the dance studio still wasn't ready to have customers on it. Becca was really lucky it was Reece who had discovered the butter... anyone else would have sued and she would have had a problem with the law. Though the fact that it was REECE made Em livid.

The itch was driving Em insane. So here she was, in the dance studio on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor as Tom Petty played in the background. It wasn't angry music but she loved classic rock and hoped that at least some fun music would calm her down enough not to scrub the finish completely off the floor.

She kept the door open as she worked, it was unusually warm for this time of year and she hoped that one of their faithful patrons would stop by and keep her company for a while. Em didn't really like being alone, in fact, it kind of scared her especially after she'd been beat up.... But it was day time and she sincerely doubted that the man who assalted her would show up.

Em drew some water from the sink and released it over the floor. Her powers were really helpful in times like this. She was able to even keep the water moving, helping to scrub the butter away all at once instead of having to scrub it all by hand. She saved the hand work for the trouble spots.

American Girl came on and Em smiled. She loved this song. It was embarrassing but she couldn't help herself. As it reached the chorus she found herself belting

"Ohyeah, All right!
Take it easy baby!
Make it last all night
She was an American girl!"

[Julian Wes]

Since first arriving at Hammel, his search for somebody new to take care of had begun. And he’d spotted a few people so far. But he was looking for a real challenge. Wanted somebody who looked like they REALLY needed help. As if their life was just one bad, horrid event after another. Of course, he felt like an ass for wishing somebody to through something like that just so he could help him or her. But bad stuff happens to everybody. So he didn’t feel too bad.

He hadn’t really thought he’d be leaving campus often though. There wasn’t really a point to him. But there were laws that he hadn’t really thought about. He was only fourteen, but he liked to smoke. Not a lot. But the occasional…

There was nothing more relaxing or comforting. After eating a big meal, it released the tension in your stomach. If you were stressed, it was the perfect thing to work it’s magic over your body and relax you. Though, those were a completely different type of cigarettes. Even those, Julian had managed to get his hands on and try once or twice. But he wasn’t crazy about it.

But cigarettes were the reason he was in town. He’d managed to bum one off a smoker he’d passed on the street. He really doubted the teachers would allow Julian’s fourteen-year-old self to smoke if they caught him. And he was multitasking. Since he was in town anyway, he was looking for people to help and take in.

Just as he took his last drag on his cigarette, he spotted a dance studio across the street. Or club rather? He had never admitted it to anybody, especially not Dylan because he would’ve teased Julian about it, but he’d always been a little jealous of dancers. Julian could move and fast because of lacrosse. But dancers were graceful. And elegant. After dropping his butt to the ground and stomping it out, he jogged across the street. If it wasn’t open, he’d be sure to come back some other time.

However, luck was on his side because when he tried the handle, the door opened up with ease. First he peeked his head in just to get a lay of the land, and then walked in entirely, trying to be as quiet as possible. He wasn’t sure if he was actually allowed to be in here, so being discreet as possible was probably for the best. At least right now.

And he heard singing. When he spotted the source, he noticed she was literally on her hands and knees cleaning. He’d always thought it was just a phrase. So, before he made his way to her, he slipped his shoes off, leaving him in only his socks. It’d be rude of him to track in whatever grossness was on the bottoms of his shoes.

“Well it was kinda cold that night,
She stood alone on her balcony,
Yeah, she could hear the cars roll by.”

Jules belted as he made his way to the pretty girl, a smile playing on his lips. “Sorry if I scared you. I’m new around here and was walking around town and spotted this place… I thought I would sneak in and check it out. I hope that’s ok?”

*sorry that it took me longer than I said it would!*

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Em smiled when she heard a voice join in with her own. Company! YAY! She was so excited to have some company and could only hope that it'd be a familiar face. It wasn't Reece, that much she recognized in the voice. When she looked up she saw a face she'd never seen before. Wonderful! Perhaps he was here to sign up for lessons! She was starting to toy with the idea of her own class. A ballet class or perhaps swing dancing, she'd become quite skilled in swing. But ballet was her heart. Not that she'd told Reece about wanting her own class... but she'd be filling in for him till he got better anyway... if she could handle it now she was sure he'd let her if she had the students. And this boy looked like the perfect person to start.

"Of course!" She told him getting up off the ground to greet him. She went over to him wiping her wet hands on her pants before outreaching one for him to shake. "I'm Emmanuelle LaBeau." She liked saying her name, her whole name. It was a bit of a mouthful and was semi intimidating but she thought it had a nice ring to it. She also always liked to see what nickname her new friends would use. Emma, Emmy, and Em were the most popular ones. Only Reece called her Manny.

"Welcome to I love salsa and to the town!" SHe said assuming he must have been a student at Hammel. She'd been bad at keeping track of who was new there, they were always getting new students and she was about to graduate so was paying the least amount of attention as possible. "Please do be careful... we've had a bit of a... mishap." She informed him... "I'm still cleaning up from it... we already had one injury so if you look around please do be careful." She really didn't want anyone else to get hurt because Becca was a psychopath.

"But what would you like to know about the place?"

[Julian Wes]

Julian smiled when the attractive girl approached him and grasped her hand when she offered it to him. Chuckling he said, “Oh wow… That’s… Well that’s a mouth full. Mind if I call you Elle for short? I’m Julian Wes. Julian or Jules is fine.” As she spoke, he glanced around the area, just trying to get a feel for the place and what not. “Thanks. I’m really sure I’m going to enjoy it.”

When she mentioned a mishap, it caught his attention and he immediately looked back at her. “A mishap? What happened?” His look of concern completely masked the excitement he felt. Maybe this was the exact right place he needed to be to help people. “If you don’t mind me asking that is. I apologize if I shouldn’t have.” Of course he desperately wished she tell him all the details of it. And if she wouldn’t he’d find a way to figure it out. Julian was good like that. He had his ways.

“Please, let me help you clean up? You’ll get done faster and I can jabber your ear off with questions about this place.” Before she answered, Julian had already slipped off his long, black peacoat, leaving him in his stressed jeans and fitted, white waffle shirt.

He turned back towards the door, laying his coat on top of his shoes. Walking back to the girl, he rolled up his sleeves and asked, “Well… I suppose my first question is, do you have all kinds of classes or is it just salsa?" He glanced around again before looking at her. "And my second question is where can I find a rag or sponge to help clean up?"

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Em smiled proudly when he said it was a mouthful. Yes, yes it was and she was even more pleased when he picked a slightly less used nickname for her. Truth be told the girl would really answer to most things at this point... the only downside was she was never sure which names to put on her name tag.... good thing Reece rarely made her wear one.

"Yes Elle's fine and Julian..." She liked his name. She was someone who believed a person's name really said a lot about who they were.

She was surprised how seriously he took mishap. "Oh uhm.... some bi- girl.. thought it'd be funny to put butter on the dance floor." She said trying to keep a lid on her absolute rage. She wanted to ring Becca's neck. How stupid! What a bitch and that was putting it nicely! If she wasn't Reece's sister... no.. even if she was Em was really starting to reach her limit with this girl and there were going to be punches thrown.

She nearly stopped breathing when he said he wanted to help. "Uhm... I.... I really have a handle on it." She told him. She was a bit OCD... and by a bit... .well she'd been going to therapy for it since she was seven and though she was doing well... she still was VERY particular about how things were cleaned and if he helped she'd just end up spending more time on it later obsessing over if he'd done it well enough.


"But i'd still love some company." She said with a smile. "No we teach a lot of classes. Our salsa teacher is really great." She said with a hint of jealousy. The girl still hardly looked Em in the eye and she didn't particularly want to know her either, hell she didn't even want to know her name.... Yes, Em was very jealous of her.... and she saw how she looked at Reece.... not that Em had any right to Reece but....

"We also teach other ballroom styles and ballet and swing." She said with a smile. "I currently am teaching the Wednesday night ballet classes.... we also have a bar here so if you're of age..." Which she knew he wasn't. "Well... you can still come at night and dance even if you're not drinking... I'm a bar tender here as well."

[Julian Wes]

Julian didn’t necessarily believe that, names saying a lot about their person. He happened to really like his name and thought it made him a little different, there weren’t a lot of Julian’s out there after all. At least not his age. It was becoming more popular with new parents now though. Whenever he heard his name, it was usually for a toddler whose attention was needed. But then again… Maybe there was something to the theory after all. Emmanuelle seemed to be a rather good fit. Beautiful name for a beautiful girl.

Nodding, he smiled at her. “Elle it is then.” He had assumed she’d call him Julian, most people did. Jules was more of a nickname only used by his family and a few close friends. But he always offered it up to people to use. Giving or using somebody’s nickname set a good precedent to getting to know somebody better.

When she described the incident to him, a frown came to his face. “Butter? Why in the world would she do such a thing?” He looked around again. “And where in the world would you get so much butter?” He would’ve chuckled. He was honestly curious, but also trying to make a joke of it without being rude. Chuckling might have made that worse.

He had noticed her discomfort when he offered to help her clean. Perhaps, he thought, I have found the girl I’m going to be helping while I’m here. “Oh… Well is there something else I could do to help out around here for you?” If she said no, he’d drop it. Causing her more discomfort was exactly the opposite of what he was trying to do. And would most likely set him back in making any kind of progress.

“Ballet, huh?” He brought his hand up to his mouth and rubbed his upper lip, attempting to hide his chuckle. Of course, he didn’t mean anything by giggling. “Would I have wear tights?”

And she obviously knew his ‘dirty little secret’. That he wasn’t quite of age yet, but it did make him laugh. It wasn’t reeeally a secret though. But normally when people found out just how young he actually was, they tended to get this idea about the kind of person he was. His dark, long hair, gauges, and smoking habit didn’t usually help to add to that idea though. “Yeeeah… I don’t think I’ll be doing much drinking. Here at least.”

While he hadn’t put a lot of thought into the kind of classes he wanted to take, two stood out to him. Ballet, and not simply because she was teaching it, and Swing. “Are you taking any class? Um… I also go to Hammel.” He mentioned this purely because he was curious. He wasn’t going to come right out and say I’m a meta. There were still some people who were horribly accepting. “Are there a lot of students that come here?”

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Em had a hard time not scoffing when he asked who in the world would do that. On she knew who. She knew who all too well and she couldn't wait to see the brat to wring her skinny little neck and trap her in a cage of ice! Oh that'd be fun. If only this winter hadn't been so mild she'd find her outside next to a snow bank, draw the freezing water up and burry her alive in frost. "The owners sister of all people." She answer "I don't know where she got all the butter... but i don't care she's dead as far as i 'm concerned."

When he asked if there was something else he could do she stopped for a moment. She felt bad for him. Maybe he was looking for a job. She wasn't sure if she could get him one... granted now Reece might need some temp work since he was a bit out for the count and she'd have to pick up some of the slack. He was too young to bar tend no doubt though, Em was hardly old enough for that. Perhaps paper work. Yes! The pamphlets. They had pamphlets for people of all the programs. "By the door there should be a box of pamphlets that need putting together and folding. It'd be a huge help if you can start with those." She offered.

When he asked if he had to wear tights she smiled. "Oh yes. We make all of our students wear tights." She was lying. But she would laugh a lot if he showed up in tights.

"Oh you go to hammel? I go to hammel too I'm a senior." She told him and then nodded. "Yeah i take a class on Wednesdays and then i work privately with Reece Turner, he's the owner." She told him then sighed. "Though now... I don't think i'll be taking any classes at all but rather just teaching."

[Julian Wes]

When the girl told him it was the owner’s sister, he was actually surprised. “Really?” The baffle he felt was clear on his face. Julian would never do something like that to Xander or Riley. Your siblings… He didn’t understand doing something to damage their property. And the time and effort that must’ve gone into a place like this. He imagined if he owned a place like this and somebody did something like that, he’d loose his temper. One of the very rare times he ever does. But the way she spoke about the girl… He decided it was best to probably change the subject. “Well that’s just awful.”

Julian didn’t need a job. Quite the opposite actually. If he really needed anything, he could just ask his dad. He felt guilty for always as often as he did, so he always gave him, Xander, and Riley things. But Jules didn’t take advantage of it. Most of the time when he asked his dad for things, it was only things that he needed. Some would call Julian spoiled and perhaps he was. Though he most certainly wasn’t a brat. Glancing towards the door he’d just made his way in through, he smiled, happy to finally be able to do something. “Perfect. Yeah, I’ll do that.” Slowly and carefully, he moved across the floor over to the door. He picked up the box and moved it to a table closer to the girl than the door was. “Just fold them into threes?”

His face scrunched when she informed that yes, they did in fact wear tights. “Well… I suppose I have to adhere to the dress code, now don’t I?” She’d get a good laugh at him on Wednesday night. “So uh… How exactly do I get all signed up for classes?” He asked, sitting down and opening the box and taking a stack of pamphlets.

“What a small world…” Well, more like small town really. “So uh… Can I ask what your ability is?”

Reece Turner. His sister must also be Turner then. At least possibly. He’d been thinking about finding her in the back of his mind. Somebody setting out to harm their sibling’s business like that… But she seemed upset about not actually taking classes, instead teaching them. “I’m sorry. That’s gotta be hard.” He said, frowning as he looked at the girl.

[Emmanuelle LaBeau]

Em scoffed when he said it was awful. Awful was a nice word to describe what she did... even nicer to describe who the little troll was. She was the worst person that Em had ever met and she disliked her even more than she disliked Celli, the brat always trying to poke at her sensitive side. Was she really that easy to read? It was starting to seem like Em, Em who was always so coy with relationships, was wearing her fragile heart on her sleeve. Well, maybe that was true, at least lately. She sighed. Was this growing up?

Em nodded. "yeah that'd be great.. there should be little lines on the paper that show you where to fold. They really make it idiot proof." She chuckled shoving the negative energy out of her mind before she exploded at the poor innocent boy.

Em chuckled. "If you really dont want to wear tight just wear sweats that won't fall off your ass. I won't stand for any of that." She said drawing the water off of the floor and back into the bucket. She hoped the butter was gone now, she really didn't want to have to scrub for a fourth time but she was so paranoid about someone getting hurt.

"Just leave me your name and contact info and how you plan on paying and i'll add you to my roster." She told him with a smile. "Classes are $20 each or $100 for 10... We really try to encourage students to stay in class for a full term. Even if you don't want to be a professional dancer, dance helps with other things like balance and overall health."

"Hydrokinesis." She told him feeling as though she'd been talking forever. "I manipulate water, mostly just warm and cool it but i can also move it and form it into shapes." It was unclear if Em could really do much else yet. It was a cool power but she wasn't particularly powerful. She couldn't really make big crashing waves or whirlpools... she was handy when you wanted a cup of tea though. "and yourself?" she was sure he had his own special abilities.

"It's not too bad... I feel worse for him i dont mind picking up the slack."

[Julian Wes]

Julian’s eyebrow raised when she scoffed. He wondered wordlessly if he’d said something was wrong. Thinking back over what he’d said, he didn’t think he’d something that could be taken wrong or for somebody to be offended by.

Looking down at the box as he opened it, he finally saw the pamphlets. And they did in fact have the little lines that made them entirely idiot proof. With a snort, Julian said, “Oh yeah… Look at that.” Glancing at her, he smiled. “Perhaps next time I should actually open the box and take a look at what I’m working with.” He turned back to the stacks and began folding them in threes.

“So… tights aren’t a requirement?” Relief was obvious in Julian’s voice. “Oh thank god! I was over here trying to imagine where to go to get tights and how exactly I’m supposed to know what size to get, because I’m sure they’re normally to size for girls.” With a chuckle, he shook his head. “And you don’t need to worry about sweatpants showing off my ass. I’m that much of a dumbass.”

His eyes were focused on the papers in front of him as she told jus how exactly to get ready for the classes he wanted to take. With eyebrows scrunched together, he was trying his best to get the folds exactly on the line. Julian was really OCD. But he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to fold things exactly right.

“Uh…” A small blush formed on his cheeks. “I’ll have to talk to my mom.” He found it… Slightly embarrassing to have to rely on his mother like that. And to admit it so freely. But not many people were willing to employ somebody as young as him.

Having only been at Hammel for a short time, different powers still thrilled him. And being about to do that to water was just… awesome. “Oh my damn!” He said, looking up from the pamphlets. “That’s so cool!” Being embarrassed he looked back down to the papers. “Oh well… I phase. But, I don’t have any control over it yet. It just kind of happens? Like if I should stub my toe on something, then my foot phases. Kinda lame right now, but convenient as hell.” I mean, who wouldn’t like to never stub their again? That junk hurt.