You Rang? (Elisia.)

[Guy Roeby]

It was Friday night and Guy had strolled into the auditorium. It had been a while since he was here last. Fear of being spotted again had stopped him from coming, and he had missed the night Elisia promised to be there practicing. It wasn’t an official date or anything, so he thought she wouldn’t care as much as he did. He sent her a text to apologize at least. He just didn’t have the nerve – that part he hadn’t explained over text.

But tonight was different. It was like starting over. Wearing sweats, Guy didn’t think he looked too silly with his dark dress shirt on overtop of a black wifebeater. He hadn’t danced in a while, but the thought of doing so made him happy enough to sing to himself.

“Something in the way, she moves… Attracts me like no other lover,” It was just a song stuck in his head, it was the first thing that came to his mind. Guy had never been in love before, the girls he found interest in didn’t seem interested in him and he hadn’t pursued anyone. He was too shy, too nervous, made a fool of himself, and often wished he could just be normal.

Not bothering to use the stairs, Guy catapulted himself onto front and center stage. “I wanna rock!” He yelled, a fist pumped into the air. “Rock, dodododo,” he continued, and then started playing air guitar. Elisia would only be here in the next fifteen minutes, so it was safe and healthy to let out all his random before she got here. Besides, being extremely silly made his dancing better because it lead to extreme focus.

In the bat of an eye, Guy was suddenly dancing with a pretend partner. His vision changed to show the body heat coming off of any living creature, and the lack of body heat from inanimate objects took on a sort of bluish grey hue. He hummed to a slower song and kept on dancing. Eventually he would have a real partner. That thought made him smile broadly.

[Elisia Lark]

After being shot down the time she invited Guy to hang out with her, she was a little weary of going now. Things with Jack were pretty much done and she wasn't sure if she could handle going for another guy especially one that didn't even show up when she asked him to. Sure, he apologized, but anyone could sound sincere through a measly text message. To say the least, Ellie was a little hurt and with her first relationship being over after a few months, she was disheartened. But she was going to try, if nothing else to just dance like she typically did every Friday.

After dressing herself in one of her cute sun dresses, she hid her phone away in her dresser and threw on a pair of ballet flats she borrowed from Adrian. Elisia pulled her hair back into a braid and headed out of her dorm room almost reluctantly. With the way her luck was, she had a feeling things wouldn't go as well as she hoped. Guy probably wouldn't show up again and he'd prove to be just like the stereotypical jock that Chris was. She didn't have it in her to pursue that type.

It was just depressing. Jack had been such a good guy and though they parted friends, she was still a little upset about it. And then it turned out the other guy she developed a little crush on didn't even want to hang out with her. Once her and Jack broke up she didn't exactly want to throw herself into another relationship, but she didn't think flirting would be a crime and she thought with Guy it'd be almost worth the practice. She'd been proven wrong though as soon as she was stood up. Robbie would not be pleased by this, but she hadn't thought to tell him. The first person she told was Adrian after she got back from the auditorium and found her roommate cozied up with her boyfriend who came back finally. Then she called Callie and poured her heart out to her best friend. Fer still didn't know, but he would be her first call after this disaster.

Upon reaching the auditorium, she walked straight in, oblivious for the moment until she heard footsteps on the stage. Her eyes traveled up and she froze. He actually showed up?

[Guy Roeby]

Guy didn’t know what was going on with Eli. Mostly they had just texted each other since they’d met, and Guy almost preferred that. At least he had the time to think of half intelligent responses. Thinking about the first time he met her, he could’ve slapped himself in the face, it wouldn’t have made him look any crazier than he already did. He wasn’t trying to hurt her, he just didn’t have a clue. Luckily, he wasn’t stereotypical. And if there was going to be any pursuing, he’d do it, thank you very much.

Guy had heard through the grapevine that Elisia was taken, so he had stopped listening after that. To him she was still off limits, so breaking the date, er, meetup didn’t seem like a big deal to him. Elisia had taken a seat in the back of his mind as school and all the trimmings took over. The seasons were changing and warming up and Guy spent a lot of time training.

His hands were glowing from the heat his body gave off, and it looked pretty cool. If only he could make others see what he could see, then they would understand why he got freaked out sometimes. But this field was pretty cool. His hands fell as he noticed another reddish blob appear at the entrance, and near to show another person had walked in. There weren’t any distinguishing features, so he took a stab in the dark.

“Elisia?” He asked, coming to the front of the stage, and plopping himself down so his legs were dangling. Guy was all smiles. “I’m sorry for ditching last time. I had been here earlier in the day and a teacher saw me dancing and singing and I sort of, uh, got myself into trouble…” He was rambling, so he cut himself off with a chuckle. “It’s a long story.” He paused only for a millisecond. “How are you?” It was as innocent a question as ever. A hand went to the back of his neck.

[Elisia Lark]

Ellie didn't want to invade as he was dancing around. She supposed it might have been weird had anyone else walked in on him, but based on her first impression, it just seemed like his personality. She wasn't one to judge, nor did she have room to. In fact, his randomness was part of the reason she had even been drawn to him. Jack had been almost too normal for her, she didn't think she was compatible with a 'normal' person. She needed someone different, someone who could relate to her rambling when she was nervous. Guy seemed like he could relate, but she didn't want to get her hopes up.

When he spoke her name, she looked up and figured she might as well walk forward. Once she was standing at the bottom of the stage, she looked at him while he sat down. She didn't say anything as he went in detail as to the reason why he ditched her. It didn't matter much to her anyway, guys were all excuses as Robbie had said and he told her to never give them the satisfaction of instantly believing their story. That being said, she didn't want to outright call him on his lies especially if what Robbie said wasn't true for all guys.

Her arms were folded behind her, hands fidgeting as always as he asked her how she was. Ellie wasn't the melodramatic type and she didn't feel the need to get into her breakup with him. Or the fact that she rarely got to see her brother. So how to answer without him giving her unwanted and unneeded sympathy? "I've been okay. Busy with my own stuff. And you don't have to apologize, it happens..."

Ellie looked up at him, "So now that you're here, what do you want to do? The whole idea was to show me you can dance, but if you don't want to I understand."

[Guy Roeby]

Guy easily made friends, but not girlfriends. Well, girls could be his friend, but they didn’t seem interested beyond that. And he wasn’t pushy, and he didn’t know how to be brave in that area. He could stand up for himself, but he didn’t always know where to put himself and how to display himself. That worry made him more random and strange instead of actually being himself. But he wasn’t intimidating, threatening, or bold, so people gravitated towards him. But that also made him a laughing stock.

Elisia didn’t seem to be listening to what he was saying, so it was probably a good thing he shut his trap. Pretty girls like her always had the jock type boyfriends without a soul, er, without any… tenderness. Yes, that was the word. Where were we? Ah yes. Elisia had preoccupied a portion of Guy’s mind when they first met, but he wasn’t an asshole and he wasn’t going to try and flirt when she was taken. Especially since the very word made him stutter.

Nodding a couple times, Guy was glad they were past this. “That’s uh, that’s good.” What else could he say? He got a little caught up in staring at her, and it didn’t register that she was speaking until she said ‘dance’.

“Oh! Right,” he said, standing up again. She was so elegant, and he was such a klutz most of the time. Guy started humming again, and did a little moon walking, the fingers on his hands spread out wide. He stopped when he was at the other end of the stage. He was blushing enough to see the heat radiate from his face. Okay, maybe this field of vision wasn’t so cool after all. “I’m kinda nervous,” he said, pointing out the obvious. “I don’t really dance in front of other people, not on purpose.”

[Elisia Lark]

If he thought he was nervous, well he had no idea just how nerve wrecking it was when someone you were interested in and thought took some interest in you ditched you then decided they wanted to hang out. How was she supposed to handle it? Be mad at him for ditching her or acting as if nothing happened and that she didn't care? Or should she not bother even acknowledging it and just start over? That was what she was trying to do. Just start over and not let her nerves kill her courage and bravery. If that happened, she'd never socialize herself again. At least with the opposite sex that were attracted to women.

He stood and she meandered over to one of the auditorium seats, smoothing her dress before sitting. Elisia's eyes assessed him as he moved to the end of the stage. Just barely she thought she could see his face turning red, but she decided to blame it on the nerves of dancing in front of someone. She'd felt the same when she started out. His words just confirmed her assumption. She met his eyes and nodded, "I understand. You don't have to be nervous though, I'm not going to judge and I just want to see what skills you possess."

She sounded a little too formal and for that she felt a little bad, but she couldn't help it. Sometimes she just got into one of these moods that she felt like being a wallflower again. Her friends had been dragging her out of her anti-social funk, but sometimes it just didn't work. Sometimes there were things that happened that caused her to want to hide away from everyone else. Lately she'd been wanting to hide a lot.

[Guy Roeby]

Guy was pretty bad at taking hints, so he wouldn’t ever assume that she ever liked him as something more than a friend. He wouldn’t understand why she was upset and he didn’t think she was, so, onto the dancing! Yes she was beautiful, but he didn’t want to encroach on anyone’s space, especially if that meant they wouldn’t be friends anymore. Getting friendzoned sucked, but it was better than nothing.

Sauntering back out on the stage, Guy’s hand was behind his head again. “Uh, okay?” Did this have to be a formal thing? Or was it one of this informal formal things? He wasn’t trying to push her away, but this wasn’t the sparkling girl he remembered. Something was wrong… Maybe he was clueless about romantic relationships, but he could read people pretty well.

It was hard to dance without music, so he would need some of that. But he was nervous and seeing body heat instead of people, so he just closed his eyes. He needed to find that momentum, he needed to just… do his thing. A favorite movie of his came to mind, and he began to sing a strange song to start. It would make more sense as he went along. His fingers snapped along, and the music was in his head now, even though he was the only one singing in real life. Almost a minute into the song, Guy threw himself to the side.

It was a quick beat, so his feet were moving quickly. It was a freestyle dance, and he pulled out certain moves at random that fit the song. Something a little more elegant like ballroom dancing would need real music, and a partner. But for now, this would do the trick. He was in his element and his hips matched the beat in a fun swaying motion. He had unconsciously opened his eyes again to watch where he was going, and when the song was over, he was back in center stage.

“Ta-da,” he said a little sheepishly, the embarrassment returning once the moment was over. He was such a tool…

---

'Trashin' The Camp - Phil Collins & N*Sync

[Elisia Lark]

Ellie waited a few moments before he started to find his own beat. She had brought her ipod along with her, but after he started singing, she figured it'd be more awkward to point out that she had one. His humming was actually helping her get a feel for the song itself and once she recognized it she put the music with his movements. Though she was sure it was freestyle, she couldn't help but be impressed. Each movement was calculated and yet very smooth.

He soon stopped and she realized her mouth was slightly unhinged. Guy was amazing.

Ellie stood up and headed towards the stairs a little slowly. "Y-you're incredible." And hot. Wait, what? Elisia shook her head mentally and stopped at the top of the stage. Fidgeting slightly, she played with her hair out of nervousness. "Uhm is that the only kind of dancing you do?" It was a simple question, yes or no. If yes, she wondered what kind. Ballroom was one of her specialties and if he knew how to ballroom, well she'd gladly be his partner.

Tango anyone?

[Guy Roeby]

Guy hadn’t done any professional dancing, but his mother had, and when she was practicing in their tiny apartment, Guy had a tendency to watch. He thought it was an art, conveying something through body language when spoken word didn’t cut it. One could display sorrow and the next moment, joy. But that was getting too deeply into it. But maybe that was why he could get a fair reading on people.

Glad his vision had returned to normal, he had noticed Elisia was staring at him. Or maybe… He looked behind him, but nobody else was there. Nope, she was definitely staring at him. Looking back at her, Guy wondered if it was a good or bad stare. She looked really pretty in her dress and… okay, focus.

Blushing furiously at her words, Guy smiled. “Yeah?” He wasn’t sure he believed her, but something in her mood had changed. Well, that was the idea, it was supposed to make people happy, the song had been dorky enough. “I can’t really sing ballroom,” Guy said, and then laughed at what he had just said. “God I’m an idiot…” He sighed, and stood up a little straighter. “I do more than interpretive.” He hadn’t even realized he had just called himself an idiot out loud.

“What do you do?” He asked, only now noticing that she had an iPod in her hand. Technology, how could he forget it’s existence in the most crucial moments?

[Elisia Lark]

The only reason Elisia had done any form of professional dancing was in large part due to her mother. It wasn't exactly something she liked to admit due to the fact that she didn't get along with her mother, but that was one thing she had to share with the woman who gave birth to her. Everything else she got from her fathers. Dancing was an art form, hence the name Juliard school of Performing Arts. A lot of people overlooked how intricate dancing was and that's why few people saw it as an art form, but those who watched it with an interest, they saw why it was.

She nodded and offered him a smile. Maybe it was the dancing that had cheered her up or maybe that he actually did show her his skills, which he had many of. Either way, she was in brighter spirits and now she was just dying to dance with him. Giggling at his statement, she nodded, "I can't really sing ballroom either, but that's sorta what the ipod's supposed to do right?" She stepped forward and touched his arm lightly, "And you're not an idiot."

Once the question was reversed, Ellie blushed, "I uh, I do lyrical, jazz, ballet and ballroom." After listing them she felt like she had come off a little egotistical and frowned. "But that's only because my mother is a teacher in New York. I was sort of a shoe-in for dance classes because of her." She set up her ipod in the nearby docking station and chose her ballroom playlist with a wide variety of songs to dance to.

"Would you mind being my partner?" She asked shyly.

[Guy Roeby]

For Guy, his mother and little sister meant the world to him. Family was all the really mattered to him, spending time with them was his favorite thing to do. It wasn’t something he shared with people at school, since he didn’t want to brag about something most people hated to endure. But his mom was the best dancer, she had taught him everything he knew now. She was always joking about how when he got married, it would be the most stylish mother-son dance ever. He wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean…

His mother was right about most things. She had warned him that he had to be careful who he told about his dancing. The girls would flock, but they wouldn’t like him for him, only the allure of feeling special. Elisia seemed to light up like a Christmas tree now, and though the warning of his mother sparked in his mind, it was all but forgotten when Elisia smiled. She’d like him for more than just his good dancing, right? “Right,” he said, but she could’ve been asking him just about anything and he would’ve agreed. He smiled slightly, it was sweet of her to try and tell him otherwise, but he really was an idiot more often than not.

Guy seemed to brighten. “I do ballroom too! Some tap jazz, a lot of ballet…” He was rambling again, he really needed to stop that. But anyone could tell he was passionate about dance. He just also happened to be good at football. “New York? As in Juliard?” He asked as she setup the music. Glad she had asked, Guy simply extended his arm out to her as an invitation.

The music was light and airy, and Guy brought Elisia in before setting her free again, his movement large and sweeping. Most dancing focused on the girl, but the boy had to be strong and keep up with everything. After spinning her, Guy set a hand on her delicate waist, imagining what they would look like dressed up. “It’s almost like dancing with the stars,” he said, even though neither of them were famous. He smiled at the thought, gliding around the stage with Ellie in his arms.

[Elisia Lark]

Elisia was all about spending time with family. For her though, family meant her fathers. They had been there for her ever since the divorce, and before that it had been her biological father that she turned to. Her mother wasn't around enough to count as family. The only tie she had with her mother was the blood and that wasn't by choice. As bright and happy as Ellie tried being, the thought of her mother frustrated her thoroughly. She loved her mother because she had to, but she disliked 'spending time' with her.

Dancing was always something Ellie loved seeing from a guy. Few guys were open about their abilities and when she found a guy dancer, she would always find them attractive. But it wasn't until today that she found out about Guy. And she had been drawn to him before today. There were many things that attracted her to him. His personality, his looks, now his dancing. For him to think that he couldn't get a girl, well that just seemed silly.

"You do? That's amazing! I wish more guys took dance classes like ballet and ballroom. Hip/Hop seems to be the big class that guys take, but I don't see why. I've taken a hip/hop class and it wasn't that challenging." Who knew though, maybe it was just natural for her. Either way, she loved a guy who had great ballet technique. And good form in ballroom. So it would seem that Guy just found a girl that would instantly go weak at the knees for him. His question had her scrunching her nose slightly and she nodded, "She was just upgraded to Juliard a couple years ago." And now all she did was work, as if she hadn't been before.

Ellie was shocked by his extended arm, but she took his hand immediately afraid to miss another opportunity. She spun into him and rested her hand on his shoulder while the other stayed wrapped in his. The song that played was soothing and a perfect waltz style. Elisia giggled, "I love that show. All of the professional dancers are amazing, I wish I could dance like that." She occasionally glanced down at their feet, not because she was afraid she'd stumble, but because she was too shy to look him in the eye for very long.

[Guy Roeby]

In all honesty, Guy thought Elisia was a really cool, collected girl judging from their first meeting. She didn’t act like she was too good for him, and there seemed to be more behind those pretty eyes of hers. Everything about her was pretty, but there was probably more to it than that. Guy looked forward to getting to know her, knowing that she would have her hang-ups just like everyone else did. He didn’t exactly have the perfect family either, but he loved who was actually involved in his life – and he had a goofy way of showing it.

Most guys around Hammel seemed to think they were all that and a bag of chips. Maybe he was a bag of chips, preferably plain, but he didn’t really put himself out there. He went to parties and stuck to the wall or couch, joking around with the people around him. He couldn’t gather enough courage to ask girls to dance, despite how pretty they were, mostly because he looked like an idiot half of the time and a doofus all of the time.

“I’ve never tried that style before,” he said, not seeing the point in bragging about something he would later regret. A soft smile was on his lips; he’d never been complimented so thoroughly by anyone other than his mother, and that was sort of her job. “What was easy about it?” Guy liked taking an interest in other people, genuinely interested in listening. But Ellie’s smile faded abruptly at the mention of her mother, and Guy knew he had struck a chord. His eyes averted momentarily before thinking of something else.

“Does your dad dance too?” They might as well get to know one another if they were going to dance together. Guy’s smile broadened at her laughter, finding her endearing. Elisia wasn’t to be underrated. But she also seemed capable of being fierce. Her judge-like behaviour was proof of that. “The amateurs aren’t bad either,” he said, “it’d take a lot of courage for someone to put themselves out there like that, famous or not.” Just because you were famous didn’t mean you could dance. Guy alternated between looking around and looking at Ellie. “You really don’t need to worry about anything,” he said.

There was a hitch in the music, and Guy took the cue and set his fingers along the curvature of her shoulder blades, lifting her quite easily before spinning her around once in a grand arch. Either she was really light or he was stronger than he thought, but obviously she wasn’t new at this and knew how to hold herself while airborne. Still, he couldn’t help but admire her as the music played on. She could make anyone look good, even him.

[Elisia Lark]

Elisia nodded slightly, “I did for like one session that my mom was teaching while I was there.” It wasn’t anything special. She had only been in the beginner’s class so of course it wouldn’t be too hard. The technical stuff came rather easy to her, it didn’t make much sense as to why because she had the sex appeal of a rock, but her body just moved easily. “I’m not sure how to really explain. It was like any other type of dance with its own type of movement though. Like ballet is all about being precise and perfect, lyrical is about the emotion, jazz is about the sass and hip/hop is about the fluid movements of your body.” That seemed like a good way to explain. Or at least, she hoped he’d get it.

Despite the mentioning of her mother, she was enjoying the conversation they were having. It was personal, but not too personal and she could just be herself while she was dancing. She didn’t have to stress about how she could express herself in words, it just flowed naturally when she was dancing. His question caught her off guard briefly because she hadn’t expected him to ask about her parents after the way she’d reacted to talking about her mother. Best be honest though, if he had a problem with it, she’d just leave. “Yeah, both of them do. More jazz style than anything because boy do they have sass, but my biological father also took ballet.” For all she knew, he’d make the same mistake everyone else did and think that she was talking about her biological and step father, the one married to her mother. Little did they know her mother wasn’t the one who had been remarried.

Giving a frantic nod, she answered, “Oh I know! They’re actually really good after a little while. Heck some of them end up like professionals towards the end.” It was crazy what some people could do if they were truly dedicated to it.

Just as the music changed key, she’d seen many dance renditions of it and it was the perfect part for a lift, but she hadn’t been expecting it. At first her body tensed, but once she realized what was happening, she took the form she’d been taught and kept her toes pointed, hands pretty. Her mother always threatened to cut her toes off if they weren’t pointed. Not that she’d do it for real, but as a child it had terrified Ellie. A smile lit her face as she was presented so well by him. The man was the support system for dancing and he was doing a great job.

[Guy Roeby]

Guy nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face as his mind drifted. “I think it’s like the elements. The Latin dances would have to be fire, contemporary can be icy, but I guess it could be a lot of the elements depending on what you’re dancing about...” He flushed, and laughed at himself. “I’m not making any sense am I?” He asked with a sigh. He understood dance, he just didn’t know how he understood it. That didn’t make any sense either.

“Uh, okay...” Guy said, trying to figure out what she meant by that. But he couldn’t leave it alone. “Both of them?” He asked hesitantly, stretching his body up on tiptoes, his hands behind his back. She could answer him, or not. It was up to her. “Think you were meant to be a dancer?” He wondered that sometimes, late at night when he couldn’t sleep. He always wondered if everyone else wondered when they probably should be sleeping.

Setting her down as the song came to an end, Guy found Elsia’s smile stunning. And contagious. “Thanks for dancing with me,” he said, unsure if she wanted to continue and too afraid to ask. “I’m just glad I could lift you,” he said, relief on his face as he swung his arms back and forth. Horror struck his face. “N-not that you’re fat or anything, I just haven’t done this with anyone in a while...” Guy looked away, embarrassed. God, he was just terrible with words.